[cadman50]

I just got new 19" tires installed on my X3 35i. The old ones were wearing more on the outsides of the fronts. I also have a winter set of 18" tires/wheels that I change in Nov/Dec time. I had one done after I swapped over this past winter and now that I have new tires I wonder if it's worthwhile doing one. I don't want to see excess wearing on the outsides of new tires. Since I have different tire/wheel combo's for summer/winter does an alignment now change how my winter tires will wear. They seem to be wearing evenly after I had the alignment done this past winter. Do you think I should do one now that I have new tires?

[Peter_R]

I am in a similar position as you are, and in my opinion you should not need another alignment check. This was confirmed by my dealer some months ago when I had similar wear on the outside of my 19" staggered setup and had an alignment/adjustment check carried out. No matter which tyre size you have on the car, the alignment settings should always be the same.

[Tjalle]

There seem to be an alignment frenzy in the US - possibly due to large chains specializing in tires/alignment.

There is- no way - any need for re-alignment after tire change.

I lowered my X4 about 5 month ago - without re-alignment. I was a bit concerned, but has monitored: handling performance and tire wear. No problem.

[cadman50]

Originally Posted by Peter_R

I am in a similar position as you are, and in my opinion you should not need another alignment check. This was confirmed by my dealer some months ago when I had similar wear on the outside of my 19" staggered setup and had an alignment/adjustment check carried out. No matter which tyre size you have on the car, the alignment settings should always be the same.

My thinking was not to wear the new tires on the outside like the worn out ones. If they are wearing on the outside I would think an alignment problem. I've heard in the past that wearing on the outside is common with BMW's but that's just conjecture at this point. Nothing to back it up.

[Peter_R]

Originally Posted by cadman50

My thinking was not to wear the new tires on the outside like the worn out ones. If they are wearing on the outside I would think an alignment problem. I've heard in the past that wearing on the outside is common with BMW's but that's just conjecture at this point. Nothing to back it up.

OK....but, if I read your first post correctly, you have already said you have had an alignment carried to correct the wear on a set of the previous tyres, so you do not need yet another alignment carrying out unless you have hit a curb or pothole. See your first opening post I repeat below..........

Originally Posted by cadman50

I just got new 19" tires installed on my X3 35i. The old ones were wearing more on the outsides of the fronts. I also have a winter set of 18" tires/wheels that I change in Nov/Dec time. I had one done after I swapped over this past winter and now that I have new tires I wonder if it's worthwhile doing one.

Yes it seems this is a trait on some X3s. They appear to wear the outer shoulders on the front tyres. At least I have seen it on mine and two others in my local area. That is the reason I had an alignment check carried out. There was a slight error on mine, so the adjustment should mean the new tyres will wear evenly. I can only hope.

You have to realise that once the alignment has been checked and the error corrected out (if there was an error), the tyre(s) should then wear at an even rate across the complete tread. Naturally because the shoulder has already worn more than the rest of the tyre, this will show up later and there may be less tread left on the offending shoulder area, but the rest of the tyre might be fine.

[cadman50]

Originally Posted by Peter_R

OK....but, if I read your first post correctly, you have already said you have had an alignment carried to correct the wear on a set of the previous tyres, so you do not need yet another alignment carrying out unless you have hit a curb or pothole. See your first opening post I repeat below..........



Yes it seems this is a trait on some X3s. They appear to wear the outer shoulders on the front tyres. At least I have seen it on mine and two others in my local area. That is the reason I had an alignment check carried out. There was a slight error on mine, so the adjustment should mean the new tyres will wear evenly. I can only hope.

You have to realise that once the alignment has been checked and the error corrected out (if there was an error), the tyre(s) should then wear at an even rate across the complete tread. Naturally because the shoulder has already worn more than the rest of the tyre, this will show up later and there may be less tread left on the offending shoulder area, but the rest of the tyre might be fine.

The roads around here suck. There are so many deteriorated surfaces and sunken manhole covers that my tires and suspension have taken a beating since my last alignment. So I decided to go for it again and in fact the alignment was off and showing how it could be the outer side of the tires. So hopefully these new tires will wear better and the snow tires I'm going to put on in a few months too.

[TJNies]

I just had the same issue of outside-wear. Had to replace all 4 tires, and was kind of at the dealer's mercy since the annual inspection is due Sept 30.

To the OP, some places (such as Sears) will do a free alignment check. Of course they are going to push you to have one done, but at least you will know the specs.

[3002 tii]

Alignments aren't necessary unless you hit some curbing/pothole that would shift things around like your control arms (and in most cases you're just compensating for a bent arm). BMW's in general tend to wear out unevenly due to the camber settings from factory. You can dial out some camber (to be more positive) but you sacrifice handling which may not be a big deal considering we're driving SAV's.