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[bcicles]

I have a 2011 335i with the M package. I took off the run flats and put on Mich. A/S 3's. I got low tire pressure warning on the way home and saw this picture below. I've worn straight through the tire. I have roughly 18k miles on these tires. No aggresive driving and have crazy amounts of wear on the inside edge. Is this normal?? I bought this car CPO about a year ago and im still under the orginal manf warranty.

[ferocity02]

Check the toe. Mine looked like that when they were toed waaaaay out. Steering was also overly sensitive to the road's surface.

[Game]

I'm going to take a wild guess and say you've never had an alignment done.

Toe has to be way out of spec.

[1QuikWS6]

Or too much Negative Camber (tires pointed in toward engine at top)

More Toe will aggravate the too much Neg Camber setting...


I had the very same wear on my 225/40-18's the last (2) times a installed tires.

That is OEM size for my car & the tires were from different mfg.

Fronts actually wore down to the cords as in your pics only on inside edge both sets of tires.

Of course the dealer stated that is normal & just the way BMW's are set up for handling purposes

Took the car in for an alignment (usually do this every 2 yrs), showed them the wear pics - they adjusted the Camber & Toe - still within spec range but Toe @ lower end of range & Camber less negative

Wear has since evened out

> It should be noted that the Toe was within spec range when this wear was occurring


And since I don't track the car, I haven't noticed any handling difference...

Originally Posted by 1QuikWS6

Or too much Negative Camber (tires pointed in toward engine at top)

More Toe will aggravate the too much Neg Camber setting...


I had the very same wear on my 225/40-18's the last (2) times a installed tires.

That is OEM size for my car & the tires were from different mfg.

Fronts actually wore down to the cords as in your pics only on inside edge both sets of tires.

Of course the dealer stated that is normal & just the way BMW's are set up for handling purposes

Took the car in for an alignment (usually do this every 2 yrs), showed them the wear pics - they adjusted the Camber & Toe - still within spec range but Toe @ lower end of range & Camber less negative

Wear has since evened out

> It should be noted that the Toe was within spec range when this wear was occurring


And since I don't track the car, I haven't noticed any handling difference...

What were your camber settings before/after?

Also, being "within spec range" could mean a lot of different things. Specifics please?

[1QuikWS6]

For my car the BMW factory 'spec range' for my front Camber & Toe are as follows (including my Before/After settings):

Camber

> Left = -0Deg34' Max Allowable Difference +0Deg20'/-0Deg20'

Before -0Deg44'
After -0Deg31' (less neg Camber)

> Right = -0Deg35' Max Allowable Difference +0Deg20'/-0Deg20'

Before -0Deg41'
After -0Deg34' (less neg Camber)

Toe

> Left = 0Deg01' Max Allowable Difference +0Deg05'/-0Deg05' Range +06'/-04'

Before 0Deg09' (out of acc range)
After 0Deg04'

> Right = 0Deg01' Max Allowable Difference +0Deg05'/-0Deg05' Range +06'/-04'

Before 0Deg10' (out of acc range)
After -0Deg02'

> Total = 0Deg03' Max Allowable Difference +0Deg10'/-0Deg10'

Before 0Deg18' (out of acc range)
After 0Deg02'

[prelude2perfect]

Take it back to where you bought it and raise hell about the car being WAY out of alignment when they sold it to you

Originally Posted by 1QuikWS6

For my car the BMW factory 'spec range' for my front Camber & Toe are as follows (including my Before/After settings):

Camber

> Left = -0Deg34' Max Allowable Difference +0Deg20'/-0Deg20'

Before -0Deg44'
After -0Deg31' (less neg Camber)

> Right = -0Deg35' Max Allowable Difference +0Deg20'/-0Deg20'

Before -0Deg41'
After -0Deg34' (less neg Camber)

Toe

> Left = 0Deg01' Max Allowable Difference +0Deg05'/-0Deg05' Range +06'/-04'

Before 0Deg09' (out of acc range)
After 0Deg04'

> Right = 0Deg01' Max Allowable Difference +0Deg05'/-0Deg05' Range +06'/-04'

Before 0Deg10' (out of acc range)
After -0Deg02'

> Total = 0Deg03' Max Allowable Difference +0Deg10'/-0Deg10'

Before 0Deg18' (out of acc range)
After 0Deg02'

Ugh, your logic makes my head hurt.

The reason why your tires "wore down to the cords" was because you had severe toe in; plain and simple. After looking at your *before* camber settings, that tiny amount of negative camber had nothing to do with "aggravating" the increase in wear; it's all toe in this instance. -0Deg44' when compared to -0Deg34' is hardly enough to cause any noticeable amount of wear, no matter what your toe figures look like. -1Deg44' maybe; but something this minuscule; no.

Also, that just goes to show how wonky "factory spec" is when it comes to alignment figures. The below example shows a car with ridiculous toe values, but still qualifies as being within "factory spec":
FL: +06' | FR: -04'
RL: -04' | RR: +06'

Having said that, you may want to go in for another alignment soon considering that your right tire is toe out and your left tire is toe in. That's hardly a desirable setting to have and I have absolutely no idea why anyone would let that car leave the shop in such a manner.

[1QuikWS6]

Well I never claimed to be an alignment expert

The 'After' numbers are all in the 'green' which led me to believe that they were acceptable according to the machine. Normally any values out are in 'red'

At any rate, I talked to the tech today that did my alignment - he stated that he never sees numbers (values) like what is on final printout when he is aligning the car.

He goes around & adjusts the settings in order machine requests, & while he is adjusting there is a line on the screen with arrows that shows target value for whatever setting he is currently adjusting.

He simply adjusts one way or the other till the suggested line on the screen turns green.

The numbers come from the machine at the end during the printout...

I've never actually watched them do a BMW alignment, but he said if I wasn't happy to bring it back in, he would do it again & I could watch to see how he does it.


Honestly, the car does drive smoother than before & handling feels crisper (if that's a feeling)

But that may also be due to the fact that my right rear camber was way out, along with my left rear toe

You adjust one side, adjust the other, then sometimes have to go back to the original side and keep tweaking. Setting one corner to spec then locking it down for good is obviously not a good idea when adjustments to the opposing corner could change the recently set values. This is why it's important to go back and check your work, otherwise you end up with figures like you posted above.

I'm assuming he pulled the pins in order to take out negative camber up front? Was weight put onto the driver seat to match your body weight? Full tank of gas? etc.

[1QuikWS6]

Don't know whether he pulled the pins or not

Gas tank was Full

I know SA stated they put some kind of weight on DS & lock the steering wheel straight ahead


Guess I could take it back, it's a PITA because the closest dealer to me is pretty far away

[2turboz]

I had this problem when my toe was way out of wack

Originally Posted by 1QuikWS6

Don't know whether he pulled the pins or not

If he didn't pull the pins, then how did he manage to adjust the camber in front? Bounce up and down on the front end of the car until the numbers decreased?

Pop your hood and check.