[TekkaMaki]

My 2011 328i Xdrive sedan (new to me) had half of the tires replaced 15k miles ago (rear), half replaced 3k miles ago(front.)

The fronts have 6.2 mm of tread remaining.
The rears have 8.2 mm of tread remaining. Tread wear is very even between each set of Continental RF tires.

Should I:
A. Leave them & not rotate.
B. Rotate Front to back
C. Rotate Front to back next March when I remove the snow tires.

[mainbearing]

I would rotate them, (B).

Do you know if the shop put new tires in the rear for that amount of wear in 3 months?

[335i54n]

its A, if they are square

leave more tread in rwd/wear position to even out the wear asap. also more tread in rear is also a safety factor/recommend

[TekkaMaki]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

I would rotate them, (B).

Do you know if the shop put new tires in the rear for that amount of wear in 3 months?

According to the date codes, the (less worn) fronts are much newer than the rears.

[Efthreeoh]

If you read most BMW owners manuals BMW had always recommended not to rotate tires. The reasoning being if you pay to have the tires rotated the cost to rotate is more than the value of tire wear saved that would require a later replacement. Also, for driving dynamics, BMW believes moving tires to new spots on the car upsets the handling characteristics. This goes for the E90 too.

My experience is I rotate my tires around every 5,000 miles and it helps extend a set of tires treadlife and I've never experienced any significant handling issues. That's on a square setup where you can cross rotate (cross the fronts to the rear and move the rears straight up). On my BMWs with staggard tires, I've found the rears wear twice as fast as the fronts.

I've not owned an x-drive Bimmer, but given the tread difference I'd rotate the tires somewhat frequently to try and get back on a 4-set replacement schedule. I'd only do this if you DIY the rotation events. If you have to pay, just leave them be.

[mainbearing]

Maybe the new front tires started out with less threads to end up with now 6.2 mm remaining (vs the rears of 8.2).

Anyway, I am inclined to rotate them just like on AWD Audis. I believe that will help even out the thread wear over time, regardless of what car manufacturers claim.

Of course, you can always stick to what BMW tells you. That would be fine by the book too.

Originally Posted by TekkaMaki

According to the date codes, the (less worn) fronts are much newer than the rears.

[335i54n]

^ newer awd audi are different; it is more like fwd with on-demand awd. The best reason to rotate depending on how you drive is to even out front cornering edge wear vs. rear center acceleration wear.

[ctuna]

There is and xdrive subforum here.

[Brian86]

xi e9x still exhibit more wear on the rear tires than the front. But the effect is less pronounced. Perhaps 2x front sets for every 3x rear.

I rotate. Either when switching to snows, or changing oil. Usually don't bother otherwise.

My athletic driving tends to wear the rear inside shoulder, and the front outside shoulder. Swapping them front/back gets me a little more life before structural rubber starts showing through. Left/Right doesn't seem to matter much on a street driven car.

I also like to replace them in sets of four. I'm unusually anal about having matching tires and perfect pressures.

[krhodes1]

I can't be bothered. The tires on both of mine wear all but perfectly evenly front to rear and side to side. If yours don't, get an alignment. Or go lighter on the loud pedal. Or rotate them once in a while if they seem to need it. But as others have said - it's right in the manual to NOT rotate them. Of course that didn't stop my dealer from strongly suggesting that I pay them handsomely to do it every time my car was in for service in the maintenance warranty years.

One caveat - I would not be surprised if sport suspension cars, even with factory alignment specs, wear tires less evenly due to the more aggressive suspension geometry. But most of them have staggered wheel sizes so you can't rotate them properly anyway.

[Cyril Sneer]

Based on the information given, the only (short term) answer is A. Leave the greater tread on the rear in hopes of evening them out.

But, I don't think the OP information is accurate. No way the 3K miles fronts have only 6mm tread remaining. Something's been reversed.

[Cyril Sneer]

If the info were to be correct, I'd propose option D - stick with option A, but with xdelete set to a much more rear-biased setting . Win/win.

[TekkaMaki]

Originally Posted by Cyril Sneer

Based on the information given, the only (short term) answer is A. Leave the greater tread on the rear in hopes of evening them out.

But, I don't think the OP information is accurate. No way the 3K miles fronts have only 6mm tread remaining. Something's been reversed.

Yes, I reversed it. Fronts have the most tread remaining.

[Cyril Sneer]

Originally Posted by TekkaMaki

Yes, I reversed it. Fronts have the most tread remaining.

Makes more sense. Then my suggestion would be to move the newer tires to the rear. Then my other suggestion still stands.

Side discussion - I've read somewhere on here that the AWD system is better to have one axle 'overdriving' the other axle vs the other way round (in the case of variances in tread wear, for example). But, I don't remember which axle, and I've searched but can't find it.

Would be great if anyone knowledgeable in this area could chip in ... or find where this has been discussed before.

[GoRomeo]

I ve alwaya owned bimmers with staggered wheels so I wouldn’t know ☝️😂