Alignment
 

My 2009 X5 3.0i has uneven tire wear, outside part is wearing way faster than inside. Can't tell really if it's the front axle, rear, or both axles responsible for uneven tire wear (I rotate tires every 7-10k miles).

Took it for alignment (see printout attached), and now I feel like car is pulling to the right a bit. Not sure if it's just crown of our roads or my caster is out of wack (right side less than left).

What do you guys think about slight pull and excessive outside tire wear?

read this thread: https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=668729


your toe on each wheel should be 0.01 to 0.02.


Your camber is seems aggressive. What size tires?



What tire pressure you running?


I know you will find the whole 'toe is the root of evil' thing hard to accept. People eventually do though, as you will read in that thread.



Caster cannot be changed, should not be your issue.

I actually asked mechanic to do 0.02 toe in all around, but he convinced me not to do it because it would be out of spec. I guess I shouldn't have listened to him and insisted on 0.02. My tires are so worn on the outside that I will most likely need to change them within next 5k miles, and most likely do alignment again.

I got sport package, so it's 255/50-19 all around. I used to run 32/35 psi (per door sticker), but now changed it to 34/35 psi, and do feel ride to be a bit harsher.

What's the best camber setting, why do you think it's too aggressive?

Also, I moved two most worn tires to the rear, but now since toe is 0.06 in the rear, not sure if that was the right move.

He is wrong, 0.04 IS NOT THE SPEC.


Yup




All I can thinks is with low pressure the sidewalls are 'rolling under' due to the toe in and you are getting outer edge wear. More pressure on the fronts should help. Do keep in mind that 'door jamb' numbers assume FULLY LOADED car. Do you drive if fully loaded? If only 1-2 people, inflate the tires to match. I actually will run more air up front for a big diesel with a 105lb driver. 36/34.




Its not horribly aggressive, but usually you see the front neutral and some camber at the back. You are past 50% front and rear. Not the end of the world,






If it rains where you are, just beware this can lead to hydroplane-induced oversteer. (all things being equal, when you begin to hydroplane, the rears- with less tread- may release first.) Just keep it in mind

lol
burlingame. Same has here. a month or two before the rain....

Your outside wear problem was most likely due to the excessive .09" toe-in and the low inflation pressure. Check the tire sidewall for the max allowed inflation pressure. Then pump the front tires to 40 psi. This is what I run and it will reduce the edge wear. If tires don't have an "outside" marking, dismount and remount with worn edge inside.

:D Yep, hoping to get decent amount of rain this season, you know how it is here , you never know... I also go skiing at Tahoe, so I might have to change tires this winter if we get a lot of snow.

I will go with 35 psi all around and see how that goes. I occasionally tow wake boat, do you recommend increasing tire pressure when towing?

Just checked my tires, looks like 40 PSI is the max pressure and there is "outside" marking.


Don't you think 40 PSI in front would be too much causing very harsh ride and hard on suspension?

Personally I dont think you need to max out in one step.




If you want to 'save' the current tires for as long as possible, sure- maybe go to 40 and try and have them basically riding on the center of the tread...


But if you fix the alignmnet, get down to 0.01-0.02...then 36 is prolly fine.


dont worry about 'harsh on the suspension'... it is taking an absolute BEATING with everyday use. Will it feel harsher? yes. you wont really notice it in a few weeks.



oh, do you know about www.newtis.info? They have specs there. Although BMW used to include 0.00 as 'in spec', I think it now has 0.02 front as the min (and 0,00 rear as before)

GL

Not at all. It all depends on how badly you want to avoid buying new tires.
I'm surprised your max inflation pressure is only 40 psi. What type of tires are these? My Goodyear LS2 runflats need 50psi to get the advertised load rating. My non-runflats on other Bimmers are in the mid 40's. I run fronts at 40 and rears at 36 on the X5. Outside edge wear has all but disappeared.

Are these XL tires?

I was wrong, when I looked at my tires this morning it says 50 psi max. Not sure where I got 40 psi :dunno:

They are Pirelli SCORPION VERDE ALL SEASON RUN FLAT 255/50R19 107H XL. I just looked them up in Tirerack and here what it says:

"XL/RF tires required if 255/50-19 is used on rear axle. This requires higher tire pressure levels of 42psi for proper load."

I inflated to 40 psi all around this morning, should I go with 42 in the rear?

Yes, 255/50R19 107H XL.

SO there is a maximum load that is specified by BMW... and to achieve THIS load, you should inflate the tires to the max pressure ON THE DOORJAMB PLACARD.

This can be independent from the maximum load for a given tire, and the inflation pressure to achieve that load.

My recollection is that you do not need to run tires at 50, 51, whatever to hit your maximum load rating that BMW states the car can handle. (and presumably BMW has determined 'at a fully laden configuration, the rear axle sees XXX lbs and therefore needs YY psi'.) And both of these numbers are UNDER the max tire load rating and max PSI ratings

So two different things... Correct?

There is some pretty basic math to get even tire patches. I was curious so I did the math for my car.

My car typically weighs in as 1200# front corner and 1600# back corner (2400+3200=5600).

When loaded like I drive BMW recommends 32# front 39# back.

That works out to 1600/39=41 in.² patch rear and 1200/32=37.5 in.² front. Very close. To get them equal would take 1600/37.5=42.667 psi which I'm betting BMW did their homework and figure out it's best to let the back patch be bigger.

I get perfectly even tire wear and superb car-like handling. (cheat a little bit with $300 winter tires year 'round).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

But WHY is this 'better' for BMW?

To give them a car that plows like a dog with horrible understeer so soccer dads cant get into trouble?

Or to set up the X5 as a world class driving machine??


:cool:

The second. my car drives like a car even when loaded with 1000# of tools.

Yes, two different things.
I'd like to think that BMW did the calcs as you describe, but my gut tells me the lawyers were also involved to prevent oversteer. My point was that tire mfr's have a recommended pressure to achieve the tire's load rating and that BMW's pressures aren't even close to that limit. Virtually all of the 13 Bimmer's I've owned need 4-6 psi higher pressure than shown on the B pillar to get uniform front tire wear.

You must drive like an old woman....... :rofl:

Woof, woof...........

Alignment
 

If she takes city corners at 30 without brakes and 270 off ramps at 40+ than sure.

I wasn't sure just how close I drove to the adhesion limits until I drove a buddy's nearly identical X5 that has all season tires and drifted up the first onramp just driving how I normally drive.

Fwiw, when I lose traction in a corner it's almost always oversteer not understeer. Possibly partly due to the added weight I have in back and the 32/39 pressure but also due to my driving habits I'm sure the front tires are typical higher psi from the friction.

Only on near frictionless surface do I typically see understeer in my X5 but wifes with the non sport suspension I've noticed it's more likely to understeer.

Even on slick like rain surfaces I'm more likely to kick out the back and have DSC kick on and slam the outer front brake to counter the fishtail than push toward the center in the front.

I've never felt any need to tweak the front/back pressure to get a better balance. In the rare case I start to drift it feels like I'm sliding straight sideways.

Now without 500-600# of tools in the back things would be much different.

Oh also I use winter tires year 'round that was the primary difference with my buddy's car that caused his car to oversteer so much where I was nowhere near the cornering force I'm used to every day. Dunlop GrandTrek WT M3. They are run on flat and have stiffer sidewalls and help the handling by being firmer in addition to the Spiderman like grip on the road.

There are so many statements in that post that defy logic, I am not sure where to begin...
Maybe I'll just let Ard handle it. ;)