[danchang79]

Hi all, I got my 2 front tires replaced last Aug due to wear on the outside and did an alignment at the same time at an AD. But I noticed an abnormal wear of the sides of the 2 front ones AGAIN recently which is now not even 6 month into it.
My car is 2018 X3 X30i, 20in wheels, staggered setting on my tires, 4 wheel drive, and M sport package.

I dont drive aggressively, the road conditions are not bad in where I live or to work. I do notice the front 2 tires might have "positive camber" causing the abnormal wear, because my rear 2 tires are completely fine.


I have never driven the car aggresively either just my commute in the past was longer than now, but I dont know why isnt there significant wear on the rear ones but just the front ones?

Also I am wondering could it be they didnt remove the transportation block on the front 2 wheel circled in the picture attached?
And is it normal to have wider wheel gap (the space between the body of the car and the tire) on the front than in the rear wheels? Or they should have the same wheel gaps all around?

I am going to the same AD this week and I want to find out if it has to do with the alignment that they didnt done right last time, and I am afraid that if that is indeed the cause they are no willing to help me replace the tires. Also want to know what is exactly causing this issue, thanks.

[Wgosma]

The only 'wrench adjustable' front suspension parameter on BMW cars is "toe". Adjusting camber (and castor) up front can be done but requires work beyond simple wrench adjustment- fronts are not designed to be readily adjustable for those parameters as it's rare they would ever be out of spec, unless car suffered accident or encountered a major pothole.

Excessive Wear at the outer edge of the tire as your pic shows can be caused by incorrect toe setting. My guess is the alignment you had done last year was not performed correctly.

Not certain I understand your comment about the suspension "block".

[freshxdough]

These cars don't come with shipping spacers. Those white things are part of the shock.

[Tokke]

I have a very similar setup on my car, only I have the Pirelli’s. My wear is similar to yours. I guess it is just a consequence of the natural setup of the car.

[yllwwgn]

I can confirm I had the same wear on the fronts... the outer wear bars. Typically this can also be evidence of hard cornering, but you know how you drive the car and if that’s the case. As mentioned above, get an alignment done and insist on the tech zeroing out the front toe-in; it appears that it may be excessive on your car. The only toe you really need is a bit of toe in on the rear.

[danchang79]

Originally Posted by yllwwgn

I can confirm I had the same wear on the fronts... the outer wear bars. Typically this can also be evidence of hard cornering, but you know how you drive the car and if that’s the case. As mentioned above, get an alignment done and insist on the tech zeroing out the front toe-in; it appears that it may be excessive on your car. The only toe you really need is a bit of toe in on the rear.

Thank for the reply. So basically camber is not the issue but the toe in? But why would the tech do that with the alignment? Do they not know doing this can lead to wear?

[danchang79]

Originally Posted by Wgosma

The only 'wrench adjustable' front suspension parameter on BMW cars is "toe". Adjusting camber (and castor) up front can be done but requires work beyond simple wrench adjustment- fronts are not designed to be readily adjustable for those parameters as it's rare they would ever be out of spec, unless car suffered accident or encountered a major pothole.

Excessive Wear at the outer edge of the tire as your pic shows can be caused by incorrect toe setting. My guess is the alignment you had done last year was not performed correctly.

Not certain I understand your comment about the suspension "block".

Sorry for the confusion but I meant the shipping spacer/block. Because on my last Audi A4 they forgot to remove the shipping spacers on my car and I had to go back to the dealer to have them removed, not happy at all.

[danchang79]

Another thing, can anyone tell me the correct PSI I should do for both front and back? The label states 32 front/35 rear when cold.
I feel I need to be adjusting it when temperature change sometimes from week to week or even day to day. Can doing this lead to the wear as well?

[FREEDOM2020]

Originally Posted by danchang79

Another thing, can anyone tell me the correct PSI I should do for both front and back? The label states 32 front/35 rear when cold.
I feel I need to be adjusting it when temperature change sometimes from week to week or even day to day. Can doing this lead to the wear as well?

Have you ever rotated the tires front to rear, you would have gotten better wear. Please don't tell me BMW does not recommend it.

[garz747]

Hes got a staggered setup so no rotation possible! This could just be normal wear with the standard suspension setup.My other BMWs eat the rear tires first! Anyway, Im on square 19" setup and fine for now...

[teaston]

Originally Posted by danchang79

Another thing, can anyone tell me the correct PSI I should do for both front and back? The label states 32 front/35 rear when cold.
I feel I need to be adjusting it when temperature change sometimes from week to week or even day to day. Can doing this lead to the wear as well?

That is way too low for the fronts, I’m pretty sure that’s a big part of the cause for the uneven tyre wear. I have it on my summers too, but more on the left than the right (lots of going clockwise round roundabouts in uk) so also partly due to cornering too.

[danchang79]

@teaston, so what Psi y ou think I should put for the front ones? This is the label for recommeneded psi btw.

[Douggie]

Originally Posted by danchang79

@teaston, so what Psi y ou think I should put for the front ones? This is the label for recommeneded psi btw.

I'd try 35-36PSI for a start. I feel 32 is really kinda low and seems to explain the increased wear on the edges.

[danchang79]

Does anybody actually know the correct Psi settings for these tires?

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Douggie

I'd try 35-36PSI for a start. I feel 32 is really kinda low and seems to explain the increased wear on the edges.

Originally Posted by danchang79

@teaston, so what Psi y ou think I should put for the front ones? This is the label for recommeneded psi btw.

Yes I went for 36 psi

[Ravenous666]

I'm running 39psi on my winter tires. That's the BMW 19" 245 recommendation for fully loaded car and i always tend to go to the higher values of the recommendation. The tradeoff for lower tire wear is slightly reduced comfort.


But it worked for me for the past years on all my cars.

[danchang79]

Originally Posted by teaston

Yes I went for 36 psi

I wonder if I should do the same psi for front and rear? Since my rear tires are bigger than the front ones, or staggered setting.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Ravenous666

I'm running 39psi on my winter tires. That's the BMW 19" 245 recommendation for fully loaded car and i always tend to go to the higher values of the recommendation. The tradeoff for lower tire wear is slightly reduced comfort.


But it worked for me for the past years on all my cars.

Yes you do trade off a bit of comfort, but it's better for tyre wear and fuel efficiency.

[dkreidel]

Originally Posted by Wgosma

The only 'wrench adjustable' front suspension parameter on BMW cars is "toe". Adjusting camber (and castor) up front can be done but requires work beyond simple wrench adjustment- fronts are not designed to be readily adjustable for those parameters as it's rare they would ever be out of spec, unless car suffered accident or encountered a major pothole.

Excessive Wear at the outer edge of the tire as your pic shows can be caused by incorrect toe setting. My guess is the alignment you had done last year was not performed correctly.

Not certain I understand your comment about the suspension "block".

I've seen a near new (~400 miles) G01 have the camber off on both front wheels; BMW agreed and installed the -0.5* links right and left to bring it into spec.

[pskdude]

Dealer constantly states "bad wear" is normal to these cars....
Im 25k miles in and on my 4th set of tires in the next month.

[VTX3]

My Bridgestone alenza did the exact same thing after ~8k miles, and I believe there have been a few other threads with this issue and these tires.

I always kept mine at the recommended pressure (32F/35R) and agree that's probably too low. I've bumped the pressure on my winters (also Bridgestone RFTs) to 35F/37R and don't see that kind of wear.

I'll be picking up Michelin PS4 SUV as replacements and plan on running 35F/37R on those, along with an alignment when they're put on.

[danchang79]

Originally Posted by pskdude

Dealer constantly states "bad wear" is normal to these cars....
Im 25k miles in and on my 4th set of tires in the next month.

What are you doing about it? I get frustrated everytime I need to reason with them because they almost always say there's nothing they can do.