Which corner tire wears out faster?
 

For those that have NOT rotated their tires (I know BMW does not suggest rotating tires), can anyone tell me which corner tire wears out faster?

A friend of mine took his BMW for service and they made him buy all 4 new tires since one wore out faster than the other three. They claim that "the iDrive makes that one tire wear out faster and that you need to have all 4 tires equal depth". I smell BS.

So now, I am asking if anyone noticed any tire wearing out faster than the other three.

Maybe you mean "Xdrive" instead of iDrive? Still would sound like BS.

Doh! You're right. I meant xDrive - another stupid BMW marketing moniker.

It is advisable to have 4 tires of similar tread depth. Otherwise the xDrive systems will have trouble dealing with the different rotational speeds and can lead to unintended DSC activation, or worse, transfer case problems.

Oh PLEASE...you don't beleive that garbage, do you?

People need to use their brains and think, and not mindlessly regurgitate car manufacturers 'fear-speak'.

1. Tires ALWAYS rotate at different speeds.

2. Tread depth is a MINOR contributor to tire diameter. A full tread is 10/32, a 50% worn tire is 5/32. Running a 5/32 with a 10/32 will create a MINIMAL mismatch- about 1/6 of an inch or 15 revs per mile, within about a 2% variance from the nominal size. Nothing a modern BMW transmission cannot handle. Has there EVER been a report ANYWHERE that DSC has activated due to this????

3. This crap is put out by BMW dealerships to allow them to sell 4 tires instead of one.

We can talk math if you'd like- I did this analysis before....the Xdrive is nothing 'special' or 'fragile'..it can compensate for varying wheel speeds with easy, and adapt to those speeds without impact to the dynamic system performance.

Tire mfgs began using this scare tactic to get people to buy a pair of tires.. .but the advent of "AWD" cars brought the argument that "all 4 need to be replaced"

Any yes, the same crap will be repeated at tirerack (he guess what they sell?) and other places.

Nothing like fear to sell to clueless consumers.....like BMW now 'recommending against tire rotations since it can cause handling issues'...what a joke.

+1

What ard said. Thanks for doing the typing.

+2

Uneven tire pressure can contribute more rotational differences and tire age will contribute more handling differences than a few 32nd's wear

:iagree:
How can anybody fall for that bogus X-Drive techno-babble, when it is so obviously a problem with the OP's friend's iDrive. Surely no Authorized BMW Dealer would mislead their customer just to sell more tires. :rolleyes:

FWIW I keep my tire wear balanced by making sure I always turn the iDrive controller the same number of clicks to the left and right. Of course, I frequently end up listening to radio stations I don't like; but it's worth it. Those run flats are expensive :wow:

Funf Dreisig

To be clear, I actually think many dealer employees and tire store employees actually believe this... heck, they believe the nitrogen scam....

:)

I know my right rear tire wears out fastest because I make u-turns my bitch on a daily basis... As for selling tires, I simply let the customer know the condition of all the tires, show them if they want, and let them make the decision. If they ask my opinion I'll tell them what I would do given the individual circumstances.

As for dealer and tire store employees believing the tire riff-raff and nitrogen scam, the experience that comes with time in the business makes a lot of difference. When they don't have the knowledge or experience personally they have to go with the info that is available and/or taught to them.... which is often misleading or flat out wrong. Knowledge and experience is what makes better/smarter techs.