Do you rotate your tires?

[@E46Eric]

I'm looking to take a poll and hear of your experience with or without rotating your tires. The Bentley manual says not to rotate the tires, but convention tell us to rotate every 7500 miles for even wear and longevity. I assume the rather aggressive alignment specs may be why, but I'm interested to hear if rotating, or not rotating, your tires has improved tire longevity, decreased it, caused uneven wear and/or vibrations, etc. Or maybe these cars just eat tires in general and there's no real way around it. I'm interested to hear your opinion and experience.

[dworthy]

Nope, it's not worth the bother, as each axle wears the tires differently. When you do rotate tires, you have about 500-1000 miles of less traction, so that is way Bentley and BMW doesn't recommend rotating them.

[All2kool]

Can't - they're staggered BMW Style 286.

[@E46Eric]

Nope, it's not worth the bother, as each axle wears the tires differently. When you do rotate tires, you have about 500-1000 miles of less traction, so that is way Bentley and BMW doesn't recommend rotating them.

Thanks for the reply. I currently have tires on my car that i bought new which now have about 48000 miles on them. I did have a 4 wheel alignment done at the same time, but feel they are wearing rather quickly. With over 200k on the clock it could be time for some rear control arms and RTAB bushings too. I have been doing tire rotations, although not religiously, maybe 1-2 times/yr. I have a feeling I may need tires in the spring and wanted to get some feed back. I forgot to mention I drive an 04 330xi 6-speed.

[Eaglesail]

My 2003 E46 I discovered that all my Michelin tires were in fact rotated...including the spare since beginning new in 2003. The Michelins DOT date late 2002. Interestingly here is that 3 of the original BMW factory supplied Michelin tires are still with my e46! In fact, the front tires are the original tires now with 122k but are heavily cracked and not likely to pass state inspection next time round! Only two tires were replaced in 14 years and they date to DOT 2007..yet they still have good tread and will remain as rear tires.

[dworthy]

Shoot I am lucky to get 20k out of the rear tires on the M-3!

I swap between summer and winter tires, and on the wagon get about 40k out of each set in the best of times.

[@E46Eric]

Shoot I am lucky to get 20k out of the rear tires on the M-3!

I swap between summer and winter tires, and on the wagon get about 40k out of each set in the best of times.

So I'm right within the expected time frame for replacement, maybe a little better. So I guess I can't complain. I should expect to replace tires every 3-4 years or 40-50k miles. Comes with the territory of owning a German sport sedan.

[dworthy]

That's a fact. Unless you want to go with some cheap hard tires that give no grip, then you can get 60k or more. But if it snows where you live, it wouldn't be a bad idea to do summer/winter rotations.

[Eaglesail]

You know what...I never have seen 100k tires...ever

A tire guy explained to me why my Michelins still live.......and after 2 or 3 minutes listening why, I pardoned myself and went on my way!

[jclausen]

I rotate my tires, plus my michelins are symmetrical I can flip them on the rims when the I see the inside edges starting to wear

[legoman67]

nope, mine are staggered.

[jmo69]

Every time I drive it the tires rotate.