BMW 335i Convertible Style 230 tire wear issue!

[233eclipse]

Hopefully you all can help me out with this predicament. My father ordered a 2008 335i convertible with style 230’s. Since he has had the car, it has been plagued by a bizarre tire wear issue that we have been unable to resolve. The inner ½ inch of the tires are wearing irregularly, the rears are only lasting about every 10,000 miles. The front tires are over 25,000 miles old but the tires show almost no wear expect for the inner ½ inch. The car is driven 120 miles daily 90% of the time on the highway. Our local BMW dealer has agreed that the wear is irregular and has replaced the rear tires once on the car for us at no charge. The techs are all scratching their heads on this one as they can’t explain the tire wear. After our most recent service of the car and the latest bout with the tires BMW will not replace the tires and have told us that this is normal wear and we would have to replace the tires every 10K miles. Take a look at the pictures and I would welcome any theories as to a cause for this wear. It is completely unacceptable for BMW to say that the car is fine and this is normal wear.
I understand that these Bridgestone Potenzas wear quite fast, I have them on my Z4 and know about the wear. What is most bizarre is the front tires actually. They show almost no wear after 25,000 miles, again except for the inner part of the tire. The pictures will hopefully speak for themselves.
Thanks!
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/<a href= http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/<a href= http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/<a href=
http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/233eclipse/BMW%20335i/IMG_5287.jpg
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[mryakan]

Did they check the alignment and suspension?

[233eclipse]

The dealership has checked the alignment twice; both times found the car was perfectly aligned. My question to the service guys was if a car is perfectly aligned, why would it wear tires like this?

They said, “we have had other 335’s in here with the 19 inch rims and they don’t wear like this.”

BMW seems to be backing out of helping us with the situation forcing us to either put new tires on the car every 6-8 months, or trade it in on something different. Being BMW loyalists for over 20 years, this is the first time we are getting a very sour taste.

[brucemoore]

Are the tires overinflated? That will cause the tire to wear more in the middle than the edges.

[233eclipse]

yeah, good thought about the air pressure but dealers have checked and as have I and that's not the problem. Under inflation has the habit of often doing it to both the inside and outside edges of the tires. This is a signifigant wear mark on the extreme inside edges of all 4 tires tires.

When you see it you almost think it is rubbing against something but there really isn't anything for the tires to wear against.

My uneducated speculation is that the tires are somehow being pulled down the road as if the car was rolling 'bow-legged'

[mryakan]

Moved to the wheel/tire section, you may get a better response there.

[cabledudemike]

I have the same exact problem but in 13000 miles the 1st time 5000 miles the 2nd time. Alignment was completed at 13000, now I have 18000 and my rears look exactly like yours. I don't know how much off spec this would need to be but my rr camber was -2.03 lr was -1.47 after alignment. Spec is -2.1 -1.6. Toe was rr 0.10 lr 0.07. spec is 0.10 0.20 The dealer said I must have hit a pothole. Went to another dealer for alignment and measurements before were camber rr -2.2 lr -2.4 Toe is rr 0.33 lr 0.06. I am not a mechanic and I do not know what these numbers represent but I do know the numbers on the left rear were out of spec when it left from being aligned the 1st time with 2 new tires on the rear. I have the 19" wheels with the sport package.

[alloy]

I have the same set up. 08 e93 with 19" 230's. I just had the Conti DWS's installed. They told me that the rear tires were wearing the same as in your picture. I'm wondering if the alignment specs are the same as the coupe. With that said, we are using the trunk to hold the weight of the roof and glass rear window. I have noticed the toe out (like this: / \. I'm not an expert here, just an observer) from the back with the top up. So with the top up most of the time (like this crappy Md. weather), we are riding on the inner 1/2 to 3/4 of the rear tires. This would create the wear that we have seen on our rear tires. And why BMW won't say it's irregular wear.

[cabledudemike]

Sounds logical. Only thing is in my case I probably only drove with the top down less than 1,000 of the 5,000 miles since this wear. At this point, this car is so uncomfortable I try to avoid manhole covers that are flush with the pavement, and I am hearing the excessive road noise everybody has been complaining about with the run flats. I am ready to ditch the 19's and RFT's and switch to 18's with go flat tires. I do not drive competitively and do not really need the performance aspect along with the aggravated pinched nerve in my neck every time I hit an expansion joint in the road. Tired of arguing at the dealer about the problem and thinking less expensive tires in the rear is less aggravating every 5-10,000 miles. Why should I have to replace tires before I need an oil change? The other, more expensive option I was thinking of was trading the car in but I would take a worse beating that route!

[alloy]

But some non-rft's. Plenty of choice and prices out there. I bought my Continental Extreme Contact DWS's from Tirerack. $774 for four. The issue is finding an installer (I had Tirerack do that for me also) that will take off the 35 and 30 size tires. I told my installer, If you can't get them off by conventional means...cut them off. That's how much I hated those Bridgestones. Installer took two hours and $196.00. But man is it worth it! Now my E93 rides smooth over all frost heaves and pot holes. The handling isn't as sharp, but I went with the all season DWS's. It does snow here... and I don't drive agressively. Otherwise, I would have gone for the Hankook Evo Ventus. Summer tire that handle as well as the originals but for a lot less money.
Try going this way and you will more than likely enjoy your Bimmer more.

[cabledudemike]

Thanks for the advice. I am ordering wheels with the Conti DSW as I am dropping from the 19's to 18's so I will have them mounted & balanced with sensors installed and put them on myself. I will put a plug kit and compressor in the trunk and if that can't fix it I will call for roadside assistance. I like this car except for the tire issue. West German BMW Service manager did not even return my calls when I left him 2 messages about the alignment issue. I guess I will have to wait for another class action suit that covers the 2008's with this problem. Time will tell and I will have the original wheels and tires in my basement waiting for recall or compensation from the lawsuit.

[233eclipse]

Just spotted that the tires were getting very bad. Take a look at these pictures. I like the car too much with the style 230's to get rid of wheels. The 18's just don't look nearly as good. Since I can't drive the car with the tires as is, I'm going to have to replace the tires now and hope BMW will do something for me. What do you think about the Conti SportContact 3's?

Good point about the oil change. Why would I replace tires in between oil changes. My car is now on 19,000 and still doesn't think it needs an oil change.



http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/233eclipse/IMG_5376.jpg

http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/233eclipse/IMG_5375.jpg

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http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/ae266/233eclipse/IMG_5367.jpg

[cabledudemike]

I don't have experience with the 3's and I am only choosing the DSW's because I have read that people were happy with them. I did get stuck in the snow 1 day when it was not supposed to snow so they might help a little for a dusting on the ground. I shopped for wheels on Tirerack and liked the 18's in this picture, (hopefully link works, I could not figure out how to attch the picture. I do agree the 19's definitely look better but I just don't really want to spend the extra money for tires once or twice a year and I do have curb checks on 2 of my wheels.

Something is definitely wrong here. I am now noticing a burnt rubber smell when I pull my car in the driveway and my tires wore exactly like yours but I do not see the threads just yet.http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/MiniWheelSearchServlet?nonWinter=true&partNum=SE14880325120BS&autoMake=BMW&autoModel=335i+Cabriolet&autoYear=2008&autoModClar=Sport+Package&wIndex=26&grid=true&sw=1440

[alloy]

WOW!!!! 233eclipse...that tire is corded and is junk! Do not drive on those tires! Replied to your PM.

If you check Tirerack's website, do the size of your tires not your vehicle as they don't have a convertible with 19" wheels listed. I went with 225/35/19 front and 265/30/19 rears. They shipped them to my installer in two days.

[233eclipse]

Yeah, pretty bad huh considering that's less than 10,000 miles. Less than every oil change! Tires are doing this on all 4 corners; worse on the rear. As you can see there is PLENTY of life left on all but the inner 1/4 inch of the tire. This CAN'T be considered normal wear, can it?

Car is still under warranty

[cabledudemike]

Tire rack has it listed as 335i cabriolet. The O.E.M's are on there for $1424.00 for a set of 4.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?tireIndex=2&autoMake=BMW&autoYear=2008&autoModel=335i+Cabriolet&autoModClar=Sport+Package&frontWidth=225/&frontRatio=35&frontDiameter=19&frontSortCode=57257&rearWidth=255/&rearRatio=30&rearDiameter=19&rearSortCode=57425&tab=All

So much for "NO COST MAINTENANCE FOR 4 YEARS."

[cabledudemike]

Just put these on and what a difference (Continental DWS were on backorder for months). No more bone jarring manhole covers. The originals 19" run flats are like concrete! This car is actually comfortable to drive now and quiet. I dont think the wear problem will be resolved but at least I can rotate these.
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</td><td align="left" bgcolor="#dddddd" height="20" valign="middle" width="65">Total Price
</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>225/40R-18 Yokohama ADVAN S.4. XL</td><td>In Stock</td><td>$169.00</td><td width="65">$676.00</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>18x8 Sport Edition SE-14 Bright Sil</td><td>In Stock</td><td>$124.00</td><td width="65">$496.00</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Required centering ring</td><td>In Stock</td><td>N/C</td><td width="65">N/C</td></tr> <tr><td>20</td><td>Required lugbolt for vehicle</td><td>In Stock</td><td>N/C</td><td width="65">N/C</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Retaining clip for al-p ring +</td><td>In Stock</td><td>N/C</td><td width="65">N/C</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Required Valve</td><td>In Stock</td><td>$8.00</td><td width="65">$32.00</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>433MHz Tire Pressure Sensor</td><td>In Stock</td><td>$41.00</td><td width="65">$164.00</td></tr> <tr><td>4</td><td>Mount and Balance (No Charge)</td><td>
</td><td>N/C</td><td width="65">N/C</td></tr> <tr height="4"><td height="4">
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</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600"> <tbody><tr height="16" valign="bottom"> <td rowspan="5" height="92" width="204"><img alt="Track this order" border="0" height="23" width="107"> (http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=BG1&url=/tracking/OrderStatusServlet&orderNum=B995010&billToZip=18974+1041)</td> <td align="right" height="16">Shipping:</td> <td align="right" height="16" width="45"> $85.47 </td> </tr> <tr height="16" valign="bottom"> <td align="right" height="16">Tax:</td> <td align="right" height="16" width="45"> $.00 </td> </tr> <tr height="16" valign="bottom"> <td align="right" height="16">Excise Tax:</td> <td align="right" height="16" width="45"> $.00 </td> </tr> <tr height="16" valign="bottom"> <td align="right" height="16">State Disposal Fund Fee:</td> <td align="right" height="16" width="45"> $.00 </td> </tr> <tr height="28" valign="bottom"> <td align="right" height="28"> Order Total Including Shipping:

</td> <td align="right" height="28" width="45"> $1,453.47 </td></tr></tbody></table>
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[alloy]

Mike, he actually has 19" wheels, not 18". The 19" Conti DWS's are available. I had the Yokohama Advan S-4's on my 05 Nissan Maxima. And initially, they felt great and handled great. But when I had 10,000 miles on them, they were squirmy (greasy?) in the corners. I didn't feel comfortable with them, so I traded the Maxima for my 335i.

No, it wasn't just the tires. Two transmissions and cam sensors, plus extended warranty was up in 2,000 miles.

[pbclax423]

Thats extreme camber wear, or it is rubbing the shock towers.

underinflation could be, but that would be a distinct wear pattern.

P.s. you should probably change your oil more often than you think.

[brinkmann0]

Did they check the alignment and suspension?

That's the only thing I can think of.

[Z4honey]

I have the same exact problem but in 13000 miles the 1st time 5000 miles the 2nd time. Alignment was completed at 13000, now I have 18000 and my rears look exactly like yours. I don't know how much off spec this would need to be but my rr camber was -2.03 lr was -1.47 after alignment. Spec is -2.1 -1.6. Toe was rr 0.10 lr 0.07. spec is 0.10 0.20 The dealer said I must have hit a pothole. Went to another dealer for alignment and measurements before were camber rr -2.2 lr -2.4 Toe is rr 0.33 lr 0.06. I am not a mechanic and I do not know what these numbers represent but I do know the numbers on the left rear were out of spec when it left from being aligned the 1st time with 2 new tires on the rear. I have the 19" wheels with the sport package.
cabledudemike (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/member.php?u=274070) I think the numbers you've listed are the degrees your wheels are set, perfectly flat tires would be set at 0, but our tires are set at a slight angle to provide better road grip. My tire guy told me there is an aftermarket kit I can get which would allow me set the wheels to 0 but I would compromise the handling.

[JimRasmussen]

I had a very similar problem, had a non-BMW alignment, same thing, a BMW alignment, same thing. I got a bit nasty with the BMW service writer when he said I should just expect that type of wear on my 2008 335i Cab. I said I wouldn't put up with always needing new tires. Then he said, "We can easily fix the problem, but the car won't be to BMW specs and won't handle as well at the track. We can just reset the rear camber and end the problem." They did that and the problem went away.