Bridgestone Potenza's

[gtopaul]

I was washing my M5 a few days ago and noticed the back tires, 255/40/17 Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position, have developed cracking around the tread/sidewall. I bought the tires back in 2010 and they have less than 2k miles on them since the car seldom gets driven and lives in the driveway under a car cover. I got the date code information from the sidewalls and called the Bridgestone tech line to ask about the cracking. The tech guy I talked to got defensive and quickly told me the tires were out of warranty (4 yr) and that the cracking was probably due to ozone exposure. Funny the front tires don't have cracking. I could care less about the warranty and just wanted to know whether they should be replaced. He said "yes, right now." Which brings me to another question, I bought the tires from Tirerack in 2010 and the date code says they were manufactured in 2008 so basically I'm buying new tires that already have run off 2 years of warranty sitting in a warehouse somewhere? Seems the 4 year warranty should be from the day they were sold. These tires still almost have a 1/2" of tread and look like new other than the cracking. I bought a new set of Hankook's Thursday and will use them for sitting in the driveway and occasional runs to keep the battery up. Those damn Bridgestone's rode hard anyway.

http://www.MyEasyPics.com/is.php?i=1153135&img=bridge1.JPG

http://www.MyEasyPics.com/is.php?i=1153136&img=bridge2.JPG

Paul
Montgomery, AL