[M5Pageco]

Hi everyone...

My right rear tire (looking at the tires from behind the car), gave out today. (little note here: the tire monitor worked very well! I heard a chime and then the info screen said tire defect. I was able to drive home, but took it easy...great feature!!!)
Both rears need to be replaced. But the tire wear on the rear right is different than all the rest. It is wearing heavily on the inside. The left side rear tire is worn, but worn down evenly. What would cause this to happen, and how do I correct after I put $600+ worth of tires on it tomorrow?

Thanks! (some pics for you all to see)
:M5launch:

 

[SACM5]

Hi everyone...

My right rear tire (looking at the tires from behind the car), gave out today. (little note here: the tire monitor worked very well! I heard a chime and then the info screen said tire defect. I was able to drive home, but took it easy...great feature!!!)
Both rears need to be replaced. But the tire wear on the rear right is different than all the rest. It is wearing heavily on the inside. The left side rear tire is worn, but worn down evenly. What would cause this to happen, and how do I correct after I put $600+ worth of tires on it tomorrow?

Thanks! (some pics for you all to see)
:M5launch:

They both look worn pretty bad. Maybe it is more of a subconscious fact that you take left hand corners harder than right. Maybe you are a left handed drifter. Or maybe your camber is out of whack, which I doubt unless you have done some off-roading with it.

 

[Beamer_usa]

I hate to say it but the last time I saw one rear tire wear like that on a car was when I was in college. My friend had purchased a VW Jetta from a real shady used car dealer. He had the same problem the right rear tire would wear on the inside much faster than the other. Go to find out the car was involved in a serious accident and the frame was bend, and never properly repaired.

I hope I am wrong in your situation, and it's not the same situation, but I would have the car immediately inspected, preferrably not from where you bought it.

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[Teutonaddict]

I hope I am wrong in your situation, and it's not the same situation, but I would have the car immediately inspected, preferrably not from where you bought it.

Let's not go too crazy with conspiracy theories here. This is a fairly standard wear pattern on E34 and E39 5ers, as the rears have a bit of negative camber dialed in from the factory. I think you're creating unnecessary angst by brigning up unibody damage.

As SACM5 aptly noted, these rears ARE worn pretty bad. The inner edges were corded only because the wear bars had long ago been burned through. It wouldn't take too many more miles for the left side to begin looking just as bad.

I'd suggest popping $99 for a computer alignment to verify the rears are within specs, buy the OE replacments (or PS2s), and keep a better handle on wear rates on this set of treads.

Good luck!
-Dave

 

[hudson]

M5Pageco,

Wow I'll bet this car handle well in the rain. <!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" oreferrelative="t" path="[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@[email protected]@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"/> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"/> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"/> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"/> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"/> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"/> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"/> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"/> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"/> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"/> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"/> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"/> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"/> </v:formulas> <vath o:extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"/> <o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t"/> </v:shapetype><v:shape id="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style='width:11.25pt; height:11.25pt'> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/Joe/LOCALS~1/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_image001.gif" o:href="http://www.m5board.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif"/> </v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->You need to keep better track of your tires, could be dangerous to you and anybody around you.

As Teutonaddict mentioned E39's run negative camber in the rear so you could expect some uneven wear. When the tires hit the wear indicators get rid of them. An alignment check is in order to make sure all is well. <!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_i1026" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style='width:11.25pt;height:11.25pt'> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/Joe/LOCALS~1/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_image002.gif" o:href="http://www.m5board.com/ubb/smile.gif"/> </v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->


Joe

 

[BmwNut]

That's exactly how the tires looked on my E39 when I was done with them. It took a near spin to realize that wear bar tread depth on the outside means death on the inside of the tire. You might need to check the camber as it should wear evenly, but if the car isnt always loaded up evenly one will wear more than the other.
:cheers:

 

[DavidS]

M5Pageco,

First of all you are lucky to still be alive driving on those tires. A little bit of rain and a fast corner, and you could have been in very serious trouble.

Secondly, the wear is pretty similair. Both tyres are completely shot.
(Do you always drive with the DSC off?)

Thirdly, the difference in wear is probably due to a slight difference in inflation pressure.

Finally, with all the wear on the inside of the tyre and no wear on the outside, you simply don´t track the car enough.

David

 

[M5Pageco]

Yes I do drive with DSC off (too dangerous to drive with it on), and yes I the tires are very worn-out from this winter of slipping and sliding in all the rain. (I LOVE IT!) Professional Driver on Open-Public Road, Don't Try this at Home.


I went with the Michelin Sport A/S to see how long they last. I read some of the other posts...they seem to be pretty popular. Oh, also the car was never in any accidents, frame etc is fine.

And yes...I DO need to track more and work less! I will agree with that!

Thanks all...

:M5launch:

 

[mottati]

Rear camber IS adjustable on the e39, i think you just need a visit to a good alignment shop. If you don't track the car, you could get rid of some negative camber and enhance your tire life.
Mike

 

[Beamer_usa]

Let's not go too crazy with conspiracy theories here. This is a fairly standard wear pattern on E34 and E39 5ers, as the rears have a bit of negative camber dialed in from the factory. I think you're creating unnecessary angst by brigning up unibody damage.-Dave

Wasn't trying to ruffle anyone's feathers, just giving a real life experience. Just my two cents worth of opinion. Yes, I am familiar with negative camber, I've owned 3 E39's over the past 8 years.

 

[TXE39]

Same thing happened to me last week. Guess from now on I'm going to actually look every once in a while under the car to see what the tires look like. I've never driven on a tire this far gone before.

 

[03E39M5]

Even with the negative camber we run on the rears, the wear pattern does not look right for the rears. You really ought to expect more even wear across the rears....even if you are a super-agressive driver. I would seriously consider investing in an qualty alignment job before throwing on new rubber. If your rear camber looks OK from a quick "eyeball" check from the rear, it's amost certain that your rear toe is way out of wack (probably from an impact), and that (in conjunction with the natural negative camber) is likely what's causing such excessive rear inside wear.

 

[davem3smg]

Firstly, when you get the new tires put on, make sure they balance your wheels. Next, have an alignment done by a shop you trust and make sure that toe-in, caster and camber are all aligned. After the alignment is done, you should ask to see the print-out sheet of the before and after specs. Your pre-alignment rear tire camber numbers should read far negative out of the spec range. If it doesn't you might want to check into other things such as frame issues.