[Wreckt]

Bought a M235i new 2016 on April 30th 2016. Car has about 7700 miles on it.

The tire pressure indicator popped up this morning and I brought it in to service.

I was told that the tire had uneven and extreme wear due to misalignment issues. Michelin PSS Tires

The car has been babied, never hit a pot hole (not even scratches on the rims).

I have the tire and wheel warranty and was told that I would only have to pay the deductible, but I have to also pay for re-alignment.

Will this be covered under warranty? I don't really want to pay $350.00 on front tire realignment on essentially a new car.



Thanks,
K

[3.0L]

I presume that you returned the car to your BMW servicing dealer. If that's the case, I would think that the worn tire and alignment would be covered under the warranty. Except for hitting something quite hard, I simply do not see a less than 5-month old car with less than 7000 miles on it being out of alignment unless it was delivered to you in that condition.

Question: have you examined the worn tire personally and if so, describe what you see. How does the tire look when compared to the other tires? How was the car driving/handling?

Somehow, the out-of-alignment deal from whomever is servicing your car does not pass the smell test.

[Wreckt]

I was not there. My dad took it in for me since he has time being retired and all.

Handling has been fine. No vibration or anything at any speeds.

Like I said, I have babied the car and never hit anything. The Rims are in perfect condition, there isn't even any curb rash.

It was at a BMW Dealership service center where they told me about the "misalignment".

I am taking it to the dealership I bought it from tomorrow in the AM to have it checked out in person.

I have also called BMW NA and filed a report.

[chattanooga240]

Dealer should be covering this under warranty. Short of hitting something very hard, it's alignment should be straight and true.

[overcoil]

Mercedes had/has a one year from purchase alignment offer/warranty - read your BMW documentation to find out.

Also, when parking and hitting a curb that can knock you out of alignment in some instances.

[XutvJet]

How exactly is the tire worn to the point that they've determined excessive and uneven wear?

Was the tire pressure warning the first indication of a problem or were the tires getting excessively loud?

Why didn't you just put air in the tire rather than taking it into BMW? Was there something else indicating a problem?

My guess is the tire got pretty low on the air and during driving (perhaps with some hard corners thrown in), the outside shoulders got toasted and "excessively" and unevenly worn. High wear on the outside shoulder blocks of the front tires is common in these cars, especially if you corner fairly hard or track the car.

If this was the case, I recommend 1) running higher than recommended front tire PSI (I run 37-38psi vs the recommended 33psi) and 2) check the onboard tire monitoring system at least once a week. It will tell you if you're underinflated or possibly have a slow leak. I don't think the tire pressure warning system comes on until 20psi or something like that.

[Dylan86]

I've put over 15k kms on my PSS's and I drive hard almost every day here in the mountains. I've worn through about 1/2 of the usable tread so far, which is pretty good considering how hot it was here this year.

I try to get 30-40k kms (2 seasons approx) out of a street performance tire. Alignment on mine is still stock and unchanged. Currently sitting at 29k kms. I also run mine at 38PSI, always have with PSS's..

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by Dylan86

I've put over 15k kms on my PSS's and I drive hard almost every day here in the mountains. I've worn through about 1/2 of the usable tread so far, which is pretty good considering how hot it was here this year.

I try to get 30-40k kms (2 seasons approx) out of a street performance tire. Alignment on mine is still stock and unchanged. Currently sitting at 29k kms. I also run mine at 38PSI, always have with PSS's..

Your running 38 psi up front ? You don't pump up rear for continual high speed work a few extra pounds?

Just had dealer mount four new PSS A/S and the tech did front at 37psi, guess he did that on purpose.

[Dylan86]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

Your running 38 psi up front ? You don't pump up rear for continual high speed work a few extra pounds?

Just had dealer mount four new PSS A/S and the tech did front at 37psi, guess he did that on purpose.

I have them set at 38PSI on all four corners. I tend to get better, more stable high speed cornering at this pressure. I initially ran 35-36PSI and I noticed at about 100-120km/h (60-70mph) when cornering hard, that I could feel the tire moving underneath the wheel (if that makes sense) as if it was folding over.. Since raising it up to 38PSI I haven't encountered this again and I drive the same road daily which I initially noticed it.

D

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

Your running 38 psi up front ? You don't pump up rear for continual high speed work a few extra pounds?

Just had dealer mount four new PSS A/S and the tech did front at 37psi, guess he did that on purpose.

37-38 all around. At 33psi, the front MPSS tires feel like they roll over too much and the front feels a bit loose. With the higher psi, the front feels quite a bit better too me through the wheel, the tires feel happier, and back seems to be more eager to rotate when I want it to. I could be making all this up in the head, but I notice an improvement plus the shoulders on my tires (7000 miles) is still in great shape.

I had 235/40R18 MPSS on my 2012 WRX and running 37-38psi all around was the sweet spot. Running 34psi or less made the sidewalls roll over too much and 37-38psi kept the tires cool enough when running the car hard. I'm seeing the same with the M235.

I do wonder if the recommended front PSI is to create a bit more understeer, which I think it does. It also makes for a softer ride compliance in the front (blah!).

[Wreckt]

Tire pressure warning was first sign of problems.

I commute 30 miles to work and wanted to make sure the tires were ok, which is why I took it to dealer.

There has never been excessively loud noises coming from the tires.

Also this car has never been tracked and only driving moderately in the city.

[Dylan86]

I'd definitely take the issue up with the Dealership you purchased from. If that doesn't get you anywhere I believe Michelin will do a pro rated warranty for you. I'd try to approach it as "premature wear". Have the Dealership check alignment etc, as that could be posing a larger issue than just tires/pressures.

[nike001]

Everyone knows BMW factory alignments are shotty.

I just got mine aligned and it's wearing better than my last set of PSS's.
I run mine at 36-38psi F&R cold FWIW

[hoppy6698]

Originally Posted by nike001

Everyone knows BMW factory alignments are shotty.

I just got mine aligned and it's wearing better than my last set of PSS's.
I run mine at 36-38psi F&R cold FWIW

I also had mine aligned by a tuning shop - made a world of difference on wear and cornering. I didn't assume BMW was wrong, but I just wanted it a little more enthusiastic in its alignment for back roads/tracks

[Kolyan2k]

Originally Posted by hoppy6698

I also had mine aligned by a tuning shop - made a world of difference on wear and cornering. I didn't assume BMW was wrong, but I just wanted it a little more enthusiastic in its alignment for back roads/tracks

Isnt more "enthusiastic" alignment = more wear on tires and vice versa ? OEM alignment specs being the balance between the 2

[Dylan86]

Originally Posted by Kolyan2k

Isnt more "enthusiastic" alignment = more wear on tires and vice versa ? OEM alignment specs being the balance between the 2

If you're actually driving the car hard, you'll have more contact area (less outer tire wear) in-turn with added camber and vice-versa. If you have added camber and do not corner hard, go to the track often, or live in a somewhat flat environment with no "twisties" it's a waste.

[Wreckt]

Yeah dealership still charged for realignment, which sucks.

BMW NA also wouldn't do anything saying that alignment is covered only in first 2000 miles, which I think is bullshit considering how do I even know how the car is aligned or how it bad it is in the first 2000 miles.

I have a feeling that the alignment was never checked when I took delivery of the vehicle.

On top of this I essentially have to replace the tires in the next 2 months for another $1000+ (Only 5/32 and 4/32 left on all tires after 8000 miles and 4.5 months of driving).

I admit, I miss-remembered the mileage on my car, I thought it was around 6700 but it was around 7500 when I brought it in.

I have never tracked the car.

This is probably the last BMW car I will purchase for myself or my family, we will probably going to migrate to Porsche for our next SUV and my next fun car.

While I really like the community aka you guys on the forums.

I feel the service that BMW NA and the BMW Dealership provided is unacceptable.

BTW it is Advantage BMW of Houston and Momentum BMW of Houston if anyone was wondering.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by Wreckt

Yeah dealership still charged for realignment, which sucks.

BMW NA also wouldn't do anything saying that alignment is covered only in first 2000 miles, which I think is bullshit considering how do I even know how the car is aligned or how it bad it is in the first 2000 miles.

I have a feeling that the alignment was never checked when I took delivery of the vehicle.

On top of this I essentially have to replace the tires in the next 2 months for another $1000+ (Only 5/32 and 4/32 left on all tires after 8000 miles and 4.5 months of driving).

I admit, I miss-remembered the mileage on my car, I thought it was around 6700 but it was around 7500 when I brought it in.

I have never tracked the car.

This is probably the last BMW car I will purchase for myself or my family, we will probably going to migrate to Porsche for our next SUV and my next fun car.

While I really like the community aka you guys on the forums.

I feel the service that BMW NA and the BMW Dealership provided is unacceptable.

BTW it is Advantage BMW of Houston and Momentum BMW of Houston if anyone was wondering.

Can you post the alignment sheet? You should have been given it. I'm curious to see how bad the alignment was off. On the M235, the only adjustable part on the front end is toe. Camber and caster are not adjustable. If the toe was wildly off, you'd know because the car would be really darty and/or the tires heavily feathered which causes a dump truck like roar from the tires as the feathering gets more pronounced. You can easily confirm a toe issue by simply using your bare hand and feeling across tread for hot spots. If the outside or inner portions of the tire are much hotter that the parts of the tread, then you likely have a toe issue.

Also, I'd check the tire depth yourself just to make sure they're not yanking your chain. You can buy a tire depth gauge for a couple of dollars or even do the penny method. The tires have wear bares which indicate the point at which you should replace.

Just a couple FYIs here:

1) The M235 has minimal camber up front, thus the car can be hard on the outer shoulder blocks of the front tire. You should consider pumping the front tires up to around 37-38psi. You'll get better feel and reduced front tire wear.

2) Your car came with Michelin Pilot Supersport (MPSS) tires. These are summer tires have a low tread wear rating. These are probably the best handling and performing summer tires that you can buy for performance and wear. However, the tires can wear quickly compared to a more standard tire because you can't get exceptional performance from tires (or brakes) without elevated wear. Plus, like I said, the M235 is hard on front tires. You should not expect the front MPSS tires to last longer that 15,000-20,000 miles depending on your driving style.

3) The tire pressure warning light does not come on until the tires are grossly underinflated. Underinflated tires can wear very quickly, especially on the shoulder blocks because the shoulder tends to roll over a lot more. Summer tires will wear MUCH quicker if they're underinflated. You should use the onboard computer to check tire pressure on a very routine basis.

4) If you don't drive the car hard, then there's not much sense of running summer tires and should consider getting a higher wearing performance tire that will get the wear where you're more accustomed.

5) Most Porsches wear out tires at a more rapid pace then the M235, but the wear is flipped around. Most mid/rear engine Porsches will go through a set of rear tires about every 10,000-15,000 miles. Wide tires and a very aggressive performance factory alignment largely account for this. Porsche SUVs completely destroy both front and rear tires at a rapid pace. Be prepared.

[Dylan86]

Great points ^^

OP, I'd strongly suggest switching out to the Pilot Sport A/S 3's as they are exceptional tires ,if you're not already considering them. They wear better, have better wet grip, and are quieter than the PSS's. They perform at about 80% of what the PSS's are capable of, but still lots of grip and feedback. Also cheaper... Just a thought since it doesn't sound like you "need" PSS's

D

[Wreckt]

This is the alignment sheet.

Tread Depth is LF: 5/32" LR: 6/32" LF: 5/32" LR: 6/32"

[pikcachu]

Originally Posted by Wreckt

This is the alignment sheet.

Tread Depth is LF: 5/32" LR: 6/32" LF: 5/32" LR: 6/32"

Alignment doesn't really look that bad.... also you still have quite a bit of tread left...

Does the tire look worn unevenly? inside, outside ?

[rich8566]

Originally Posted by nike001

Everyone knows BMW factory alignments are shotty.

I just got mine aligned and it's wearing better than my last set of PSS's.
I run mine at 36-38psi F&R cold FWIW

I've never had an issue with a factory prepped BMW in terms of the alignment.