Have you ever experienced a sudden odd vibration in your steering wheel, floorboard, or seats while taking your BMW for a spin? If the answer is yes, it’s a signal that your car’s tires need to be balanced. This can occur through normal day-to-day tire treadwear. After a while, your tires will experience changes in their weight distribution, which leads to unbalanced tires. While it’s not the most serious car issue, driving on unbalanced tires can lead to other problems.
Unbalanced tires can cause rough rides and create safety hazards. And if it’s not tended to promptly, the repairs can be costly. So, instead of pushing it aside, continue reading to learn how often you should balance your BMW’s tires and what can happen if you don’t.
How Can You Tell When It’s Time for a Balance?
When it comes to tire care, knowing how often the tires on your BMW should get balanced helps you get the most use of your tires and allows you to have a smooth, worry-free drive. Of course, if you notice something odd while driving, it’s always best to get a second opinion immediately before ignoring the problem. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Unlike other BMW maintenance issues that tend to hide until the situation gets out of hand, it’s easier to tell when you need to have your tires rebalanced. If you are experiencing heavy vibration in the steering wheel, it’s most likely your front tires. If you are experiencing heavy vibrations in the back seating, it’s most likely your rear tires. If there are vibrations throughout the car, all of your tires need to be balanced.
When there are no warning signs, a good rule of thumb is to get your tires rebalanced after every 3,000 to 5,000 miles driven. Another easy solution to this common problem is going ahead and having your tires rebalanced every other time your tires are rotated. Pairing the tire rotation with rebalancing is a quick and easy service that can potentially save you from spending money on costly repairs in the future.
How Does Balancing Benefit Your Car?
Tire balancing is one of the recommended maintenance services listed in your BMW’s manual for a reason. There are many benefits to having the wheels on your vehicle properly balanced. Tire balancing can ensure that you have:
- A smoother ride: One of the many benefits is the smoother ride. If you’ve never experienced your tires being freshly balanced, the difference could surprise you.
- Better gas mileage: Not only does balancing your tires improve the quality of your ride, but it can improve your gas mileage as well.
- Extended tire life: Unbalanced tires can add unnecessary wear and tear to your tires. Having them balanced when needed prevents that from happening, which extends the life of your tires.
- Safer ride: Overall, the most important thing to keep in mind is your safety. Having your tires balanced improves the safety and handling of your vehicle.
Having this regular maintenance done to your BMW goes a long way toward ensuring your vehicle and safety are in good standing.
What Can Happen If You Don’t Balance Your Wheels And Tires?
Now that we know how often the tires on our car should be balanced and the benefits of tire balancing, here’s what happens if you neglect unbalanced tires:
- Impact on vehicle suspension: Over time, the vibrations from your unbalanced tires can have an impact on your vehicle’s suspension. Its job is to absorb the energy from things like bumps in the road. The added vibrations from your unbalanced tires can throw your vehicle suspension out of whack.
- Uneven tread wear: When tires are unbalanced, they can develop dangerous bald spots and uneven tread wear, making it more difficult to control your vehicle. This also could lead to tire blow-outs.
- Problems steering: The steering, especially at high speeds, will start to shake, which can get out of control and pose a serious hazard.
- Poor fuel economy: You will notice a drop in fuel economy in your BMW if your tires are unbalanced. Your vehicle will end up using more gas, especially at higher speeds.
Tire Balancing: Don’t Neglect It
BMWs are one the most popular luxury car brands worldwide, so you need to make sure you take care of yours. With the proper maintenance, including wheel balancing, your BMW will run well and last for a very long time.