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      10-23-2011, 05:05 PM   #1
LEDZEP
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First tire rotation @ ~5,000 Miles

Rotated my tires today, having just crossed the 5,000 mile mark. I try to rotate every 5k with all seasons on a square setup.

Date Mileage
10/23/2011 5,235
Tread Depth
Wheel * 1 2 3 4 Average
1 - Orig L F 0.2725 0.293 0.3025 0.2545 0.2806
2 - Orig L R 0.2565 0.2955 0.2985 0.2575 0.2770
3 - Orig R F 0.253 0.2875 0.2955 0.256 0.2730
4 - Orig R R 0.259 0.302 0.2905 0.253 0.2761

Overall Average 0.2767

The overall average tread depth comes in a about 9/32". The tire spec indicates about 10/32" new, so that's not too bad for 5k of summer driving. The 1-4 above is where I measured each 'circumference' tread groove beginning with the outside and moving inward.
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      10-23-2011, 10:58 PM   #2
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Which tires do you have?

With a 1/32 inch wear in 5K miles and allowing for a minimum legal tread depth of 2/32 inch, that sounds like you can expect at least 40K of use on those tires. Usually, tire wear is actually not linear and as the tread depth decreases, the tires actually wear at a slower rate. That's due to the rubber hardening as it ages and the tread blocks having less flex (therefore less wear) as they become "thinner" with use.

I've noticed this especially on summer performance tires. Once the tire wears down to about 1/3rd remaining tread depth, additional wear is at a much slower rate. Of course, it's then pretty much a dry weather only tire and prone to hydroplaning in any significant water depth, so should be replaced anyway.
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      10-24-2011, 03:13 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lotus7 View Post
Which tires do you have?

With a 1/32 inch wear in 5K miles and allowing for a minimum legal tread depth of 2/32 inch, that sounds like you can expect at least 40K of use on those tires.
40K on tyres I will have had three new Cars in that mileage.
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      10-24-2011, 06:44 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lotus7 View Post
Which tires do you have?

With a 1/32 inch wear in 5K miles and allowing for a minimum legal tread depth of 2/32 inch, that sounds like you can expect at least 40K of use on those tires. Usually, tire wear is actually not linear and as the tread depth decreases, the tires actually wear at a slower rate. That's due to the rubber hardening as it ages and the tread blocks having less flex (therefore less wear) as they become "thinner" with use.

I've noticed this especially on summer performance tires. Once the tire wears down to about 1/3rd remaining tread depth, additional wear is at a much slower rate. Of course, it's then pretty much a dry weather only tire and prone to hydroplaning in any significant water depth, so should be replaced anyway.
I have the Goodyear Eagle LS2's, 245/45 R19 all season. I would actually expect to get 40k out of them... as the E90 I traded had just broken the 50k mark and was still sporting the OEM factory tires! Albeit, they were due to be changed, but since I was planning to trade I didn't . They were Conti's, so I'm hoping the GY tires do as well. Both were rated 400 for treadwear, though that number is very misleading.

My commute is 99% highway driving, so my tires tend to wear fairly evenly - even so I like to rotate them to try and prevent feathering problems on the front.

On the X5, I run summer performance tires in summer and all season tires in winter, which really helps both sets live a longer life.

You're right about the jackstand locations - or lack of them. I had a hard time finding a suitable rear point to place the stand and wound up using part of the suspension that looked "stable". I was very tempted to try that center block too - but decided against it.
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      10-24-2011, 07:41 AM   #5
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I don't understand why Germans insist on designing their cars to require special tools for common functions, like lifting the car requires special jack point inserts.

I wanted to see how much the 2012 X3 35i OEM tires cost that come with the 19" 309's, but Tirerack doesn't have them. Where else can I look for tires? When I need replacements I want to make sure they will quality for the 5 year tire warranty I purchased.
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      10-24-2011, 08:26 AM   #6
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I did a quick spot check on the Pirelli P7 RFTs on the red X3. I only checked at (2) radial positions (across the tread) on each tire. At almost 6000 miles I see an average of 0.275 depth remaining on the fronts and 0.290 on the rears. The P7's have a "rated" original depth of 0.3125 (10/32) so the wear is 0.0375 (F) and 0.0225 (R). That's for 90% suburban driving with a large amount of cornering, mostly with 2 people in the vehicle and mostly with no additional load in the back.

It's interesting that you're seeing pretty even F/R average wear, while it looks like I'm seeing more relative wear at the fronts. I guess it reflects the difference in the amount of city/highway use of the cars.

Since in most "regular" driving, the X3 is essentially a rear wheel drive vehicle, I would not have been surprised to see more rear tire wear, but it seems the AWD system prevents any significant rear wheel spinning, so the fronts get the most wear in city driving.

I'm definitely a fan of regular tire rotation for all the reasons you've stated.
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      10-24-2011, 08:31 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dukat View Post
I don't understand why Germans insist on designing their cars to require special tools for common functions, like lifting the car requires special jack point inserts. ...
It's because they don't vant no dumb 'mericans messing vitt their cars.
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      10-24-2011, 10:47 AM   #8
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Lotus - agree that the differences are likely the subtle driving differences. "Around Town" suburban driving means lots of cornering, as you indicated. It also means a lot more braking, and I think people don't take into consideration the extra friction involved in braking when it comes to tire wear -especially to the fronts.
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      10-24-2011, 11:27 AM   #9
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I tried rotating mine, but the fat ones looked too funny up front so I moved them to the back.
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      10-26-2011, 12:01 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnbmw6 View Post
40K on tyres I will have had three new Cars in that mileage.:
Most people don't wreck them that often.
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      10-26-2011, 06:48 AM   #11
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Most people don't wreck them that often.
LOL
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      10-26-2011, 10:17 AM   #12
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40, 000! Who get's that kind of milage?

I would love to get 40,000 miles on a set of tires. I've always had 17-19 inch rims so, the options have been limited until of late. 5 years ago you couldn't find much more than summer Z rated tires...

Even so, I've had a couple 50,000 mile rated tires and probably didn't even get half that... I don't think I'm an aggressive driver but maybe my tires would disagree.

Also, I want LEDZEP to take care of my car. Open up a shop here and Colo Spgs and I can guarantee you my business.
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      10-26-2011, 10:54 AM   #13
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On my Japanese cars the soonest I've ever replaced tires was 48,000 and only because a bad alignment caused excessive wear on 1 side of the tires.

The longest I've used a set for was 75,000 miles. Nothing special about them, stock tires the cars came with.
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      10-27-2011, 07:10 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GenX3 View Post

Also, I want LEDZEP to take care of my car. Open up a shop here and Colo Spgs and I can guarantee you my business.
Thanks, that is a great compliment. Sometimes when I'm spending 10 hours in the garage detailing one of the cars (the black X5 is a major project) I think how fun it would be to do that all the time. But I don't think I'd make any money because a pro would be done in half the time at least.
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