Weird tyre wear...

C

christhomasleeds

Member
 Leeds
Just took my rear wheels off to give them a good clean to discover this...

TyreModded-1.jpg


Think another alignment might be in order (as well as some new rears) because something ain't right here!

Scary, they looked fine from the outside edge...
 
Looks like the whole tyre is useless anyway as you're well into the wear bars.

The usually issue is that most people simply put their finger into/along the first (i.e. outside) circumferential groove to check the wear rate - unfortunately inside wear is nomally higher than outside on the rear due to the amount of negative camber it's set up with, so you need to be checking the inside grooves instead.
 
mmm-five, I agree the tyre is due replacement but surely the tyre having a groove worn on the inside edge is not normal even with the factory camber setup?

Ben g, The car hasn't been lowered but has been through numerous rear springs! I was actually thinking about getting replacement non-OEM springs all round to prevent them failing again which I guess would mean yet another alignment...
 
christhomasleeds said:
mmm-five, I agree the tyre is due replacement but surely the tyre having a groove worn on the inside edge is not normal even with the factory camber setup?
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On mine (admittedly a Z4M with maybe a little more rear negative camber), if I left the outside get down to 2mm (i.e. above the wear bar) then the inside would be as bald as yours, and is why I replace mine when the inside is nearing the wear bars even though the outside still has 4mm-5mm.

Strangely, since I've had my PPS tyres on this phenomenon doesn't seem to be playing out the same as when I ran SportContact M3.

However, in your case it may simply be that you've caught the edge of a pothole/speedbump and it's weakened the shoulder more than normal.
 
Regarding the 'groove' is it possible the tyre has not been inflated correctly, or the wear has gotten so bad there is actually a small hole, deflating it and running effectively flat ? Is it a run flat ? It almost looks like it is flattening a bit when on the car with weight, and when you've taken it off it has sprung back into shape. Maybe :?
 
mrlozzer said:
That wear looks scarily uneven...
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TBH I think it's just well worn, the tyre might have started to bulge at that point hence extra wear.

OP you need to check your tyres more often.
 
mmm-five said:
On mine (admittedly a Z4M with maybe a little more rear negative camber), if I left the outside get down to 2mm (i.e. above the wear bar) then the inside would be as bald as yours, and is why I replace mine when the inside is nearing the wear bars even though the outside still has 4mm-5mm.
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+1 My M does exacty the same. I think if you drive it a lot on track you get more even ware. But I could be talking pants there.

For sure you have an alighnment issue, with the on in the photo. Plain scary to be driving on that and not know. You could have ended up very dead infact. :|
 
That's not an uncommon wear pattern, there's a couple of threads on the Alpina Register. I'm watching mine now and had an alignment done just in case. Also watch out for a tell-tale ridge that starts to build up if you've got too much toe in on the fronts. They aligned mine to the M geometry which has less toe in and it's transformed the handling.

Here's a pic from a thread on the Alpina register of a Michelin Pilot Sport 2 from a B10 which is an extreme version of how my rears are wearing... :?
Worntyre2.jpg
 
I did this to a pair of Contis last Friday...except I was on a track and started the day with only a few millimetres on the inside edge. I drove home on canvas and steel ply :oops:
The negative camber is exaggerated by the car squatting at the rear under heavy acceleration so this wear pattern is not uncommon. A predominance of high speed motorway miles with little hard acceleration will tend to wear the central portion of the tyre preferentially.
 
I think you'll find it's normal for a Z4.It's how they wear if left on the car for too long.Fronts go the same way.It's they way the geo is set up on these cars.From your photo, you've left them fitted for way too long before swapping them out.
 
Mr Truman, I see your minor Alpina tyre scuffing and raise you tyre wear ///M style :P :

DSCF3479.jpg


and in close up:

DSCF3478.jpg


Whoops :D
 
BMWZ4MC said:
Mr Truman, I see your minor Alpina tyre scuffing and raise you tyre wear ///M style :P :

DSCF3479.jpg


and in close up:

DSCF3478.jpg


Whoops :D
Click to expand...

Holy Crap! Good job you were watching or you could have ended up under the tender care of one of your colleagues! :o

I'll check mine again at the weekend. Hate that most of the tyre has loads of life in it, but a small area means a few hundred pounds kissed off
 
This was from a track day on really grippy tarmac, so I lost a couple of mm of rubber and at least one of canvas and steel in the course of a few hours...I did drive c 100 miles home on these without checking them again as they looked fine at lunch time. I was a bit surprised to discover this when I changed back to my road wheels :oops:
I know what you mean about wearing badly in one area and the rest being ok, it's very annoying. My last set of fronts did the same on the outer side wall from understeer with high speed turn in to corners. I'm now on a mission to abolish all understeer :D
 
It's not an a Z4, but this tyre was swapped for one of my two spares on my M5. Unfortunately the other three weren't much better and despite swapping out 2 for legal ones, I had to stop every 30 mins to top up with air.

It did teach me not to bother with track day tyres on an airfield event :oops:

Baldy_R888.jpg
 
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