Rear tire wear on 325xi Sortwagon

[cochise325]

My 2006 325xi wagon has 63,000 miles on it and is wearing the inner edges of the rear tires more quickly than it did when new.

I have owned this car since it was new, and it has not had any suspension work done (yet!).

For those of you that have already dealt with this, where should I start? I have a Bentley manual and I see lots of bushings, but where to start?

Thanks in advance for sharing your expertise.

[kens]

These cars have are notorious for tire wear, especially on the rear. I have a e93 with sport suspension. Need to replace tires every 8 - 10,000. The camber is set that way especially in the rear to offer more stability in the turn. I had the same issue on my 530i. Both had annual alignment. If you look at the wheels from behind the car at about 20 feet away you will see the angle of the wheel. If you have 63,000 miles on your tires that is exceptional.

[cochise325]

These cars have are notorious for tire wear, especially on the rear. I have a e93 with sport suspension. Need to replace tires every 8 - 10,000. The camber is set that way especially in the rear to offer more stability in the turn. I had the same issue on my 530i. Both had annual alignment. If you look at the wheels from behind the car at about 20 feet away you will see the angle of the wheel. If you have 63,000 miles on your tires that is exceptional.

Thank you for the reply. The car has 63,000 miles on it but not the tires. The original run-flats lasted 10,000 miles and were replaced with Michelin Pilot Exalto tires. I also run snow tires in the winter months, so the Pilot Exaltos probably went 35,000 miles. My OEM run flats were Bridgestones and I doubt I will ever buy run flats or Bridgestones ever again after that experience.

[smc850ci]

I bought my 325xi with 60k on it last Feb. The tires were original run flats and were worn different on each tire. Inside tread (over inflated), outside tread (under inflated) left tread, right tread... and hard as a rock! At least there was no cupping :cool

Replaced them with +2" wheels & "regular" tires, much better.

[cochise325]

OK folks. Had the alignment done.

Rear camber was set at 1 degree 45 minutes, which is the max specified. Target spec is 1 degree 30 minutes plus/minus 15 minutes.

Rear toe was off a little bit, so this was adjusted.

The good news is that all the suspension parts, including the bushings were determined to be in good working order at 66,000 miles. In fact I was told that E9x cars with 140,000 + miles are still going strong on their original bushings. So I think the multilink rear end is more robust than the E46 rear suspension design.

[smc850ci]

Good news. Now get yourself some new tires for Christmas!

[Critter7r]

OK folks. Had the alignment done.

Rear camber was set at 1 degree 45 minutes, which is the max specified. Target spec is 1 degree 30 minutes plus/minus 15 minutes.

Rear toe was off a little bit, so this was adjusted.

The good news is that all the suspension parts, including the bushings were determined to be in good working order at 66,000 miles. In fact I was told that E9x cars with 140,000 + miles are still going strong on their original bushings. So I think the multilink rear end is more robust than the E46 rear suspension design.


For a typical DD, I generally recommend that owners set the rear camber to the minimum spec (1 deg 15 min in your case) to minimize inner tire wear.

[cochise325]

Good news. Now get yourself some new tires for Christmas!

Thanks, that is good advice. I already have them at home. I am running winter tires, so come Spring the new ones will be ready to roll.


For a typical DD, I generally recommend that owners set the rear camber to the minimum spec (1 deg 15 min in your case) to minimize inner tire wear.

You know that is exactly what I was thinking. But my service writer at the BMW dealer said that if the car is "in spec" they don't make any adjustment. So he left mine a 1 degree 45 minutes.

[Critter7r]

You know that is exactly what I was thinking. But my service writer at the BMW dealer said that if the car is "in spec" they don't make any adjustment. So he left mine a 1 degree 45 minutes.

That's a crappy dealer.

The tech is there to do an alignment, and they're not charging you any less than if the car was out of spec (i.e. they are charging you for the adjustment regardless of whether they do it or not). So, if you request it to be set at a particular setting when you bring it in for an alignment, they should oblige your request.