BMW 5 series owners: how many km did your first tyres last?

Caspero

Interested because our dealer is suggesting replacing all 4 tyres after an unexpectedly short period.

artanevilla

Why do they need replacing? Have you not checked the thread depth yourself?

Caspero

artanevilla wrote: »

Why do they need replacing? Have you not checked the thread depth yourself?

It's my wife's car and she dropped it to the garage. I'm at work. They're claiming the tread is worn down to a point where the tyres need replacing (it's not a puncture or anything)

Alanstrainor

Caspero wrote: »

Interested because our dealer is suggesting replacing all 4 tyres after an unexpectedly short period.

Don't be getting your tyres replaced at a dealer. They're recommend you replace them way above the minimum, even if you count 3mm as min. Look yourself and make a decision. If you're not sure maybe post a picture here.

Tyre wear is not about mileage, it is about the type of driving and how your drive. You don't mention what 5 series, I presume a 520D of some year? Either way, it's like asking how long's a piece of string, there's no real answer.

Caspero

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Don't be getting your tyres replaced at a dealer. They're recommend you replace them way above the minimum, even if you count 3mm as min. Look yourself and make a decision. If you're not sure maybe post a picture here.

Tyre wear is not about mileage, it is about the type of driving and how your drive. You don't mention what 5 series, I presume a 520D of some year? Either way, it's like asking how long's a piece of string, there's no real answer.

Thanks for the reply, yes 520D (Jan) 2018. Typical usage is on country Irish roads (think rural Cork). It's my wife's car but I don't think her driving style is atypical.

Not sure the string comment is entirely accurate - there's probably a normal distribution at play here, would even help to know how many standard deviations we are away from a sample of answers.

P.S. agreed re not replacing at dealer. Wouldn't be there at all if were my car.

Caspero

OSI wrote: »

There's not really. Someone who does nothing but motorway mileage on cruise control will get considerable longer life out of tyres than someone that does backroad driving with near constant accelerating and breaking.

Thanks OSI, but wouldn't the motorway driver just be on one end of the distribution and the back road driver be on the other?

What sort of mileage are we talking about?

Just over 30k km

Avns1s

If it's any help, I replaced 4 on a 520d f10 last weekend. The fronts had 40K miles and the rears had 30K miles. (The rears should have been replaced 2k miles ago by right!!)

All the drive and a lot of the braking is done by the rear wheels on these cars to so the rear tyres will typically wear a lot quicker than the front.

+1 on all the points made by Alan in the previous post.

Caspero

Avns1s wrote: »

If it's any help, I replaced 4 on a 520d f10 last weekend. The fronts had 40K miles and the rears had 30K miles. (The rears should have been replaced 2k miles ago by right!!)

All the drive and a lot of the braking is done by the rear wheels on these cars to so the rear tyres will typically wear a lot quicker than the front.

+1 on all the points made by Alan in the previous post.

Interesting thanks Avns1s, just wanted to confirm - you did mean to write miles not km right? I ask because having grown up in the period when they switched from miles to km I find I still say miles instead of km sometimes..

Avns1s

Caspero wrote: »

Interesting thanks Avns1s, just wanted to confirm - you did mean to write miles not km right? I ask because having grown up in the period when they switched from miles to km I find I still say miles instead of km sometimes..

Yes Caspero, miles! And my driving would be mixed - backroads, motorway and everything in between. I should maybe have said that my car is the MSport so tyres are a bit wider, maybe they wear slightly slower as a result.

I could see perhaps how your rears could be getting close at 30k km but I'd be surprised if the fronts need replacing at this stage, unless tracking is out or something.

As others have said, there are quite a number of factors which determine tyre wear. Distance travelled is just one of them.

bazz26

30k km is fairly good mileage out of a set of tyres on a 520d especially if they are the rears but as said you need to inspect and measure the tread depth yourself. 1.6mm is the minimum legal tyre tread depth but the 5 Series has run flat tyres and they loose their effectiveness a lot sooner than conventional tyres.

Either way avoid buying new tyres from a main dealer, they charge an incredible mark up on them in my experience.

Harcrid

On my 520d I am getting 25-30k km on the rears, and approx 40K Km's on the fronts.

rabbitinlights

Caspero wrote: »

Not sure the string comment is entirely accurate - there's probably a normal distribution at play here, would even help to know how many standard deviations we are away from a sample of answers.

MetzgerMeister

I got less than 10,000km from a set of Pirelli P Zeros on the rear of an F30 330d

mikeecho

Bmw reccomend changing tyres at 4mm

You could keep driving on them till they get to 1.6mm and still be legal.

Stallingrad

Feel into one of the grooves for the tread wear indicator ridge, then you will know exactly how much tread you have before changing. Have a look at buying tyres online, then see if a local fitter can price match.

Henry Ford III

Caspero wrote: »

....Just over 30k km

That's not bad at all.

Truckermal

Henry Ford III wrote: »

That's not bad at all.

It's very good the wife only got 17k on the front of her A4, using Kumhos now and getting 25K from the fronts.

enricoh

I know a girl that wrote off her beemer, single vehicle accident. Assessor came out and the first thing he did was measure the thread depth on the runflats.
She was just over the 1.6mm, the assessor said if it was under they wouldn't be paying out. Dunno if it would stand up in court or not.

Whatwicklow

Wifes 520d rear at 15k front at 20k. Like clock work. 300000km done.

Blazer

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

I got less than 10,000km from a set of Pirelli P Zeros on the rear of an F30 330d

They’re way too soft. Got once and never again.
Plus sidewall is weak as crap

TCP/IP

Wife has a 520d as well and I change all four tyres when the first tyre gets below 5mm.
Never judge your tires by km traveled also go by age and thread depth.
Also never get it done with the main dealer. Just paid €1280 for four new Good Year run flats from my local independent.
Nearly change yearly coming into Winter to be safe.

James Bond Junior

TCP/IP wrote: »

Wife has a 520d as well and I change all four tyres when the first tyre gets below 5mm.
Never judge your tires by km traveled also go by age and thread depth.
Also never get it done with the main dealer. Just paid €1280 for four new Good Year run flats from my local independent.
Nearly change yearly coming into Winter to be safe.

You would be as well off getting a set of winter tyres in that case. Once a year seems overkill IMO unless the mileage is high.

CalamariFritti

mikeecho wrote: »

Bmw reccomend changing tyres at 4mm

You could keep driving on them till they get to 1.6mm and still be legal.

Wow, never knew that. 1.6mm sounds not a lot tbh. 1.6mm would look almost like slicks imo.

heroics

Depends on the tyre as well. On mine I have Michelin primacy and got about 40k on the rear and about 60k (km) on the front. Had Bridgestone Potenzas on before that and they didn’t last nearly as long. Mix of back roads and motorway around Wicklow

Bye Michelin say not to replace their tyres until 2 mm https://m.independent.ie/life/motoring/car-news/the-case-for-and-against-running-your-tyres-to-minimum-legal-depth-35795271.html

heroics

Whatwicklow wrote: »

Wifes 520d rear at 15k front at 20k. Like clock work. 300000km done.

What tyres are they? Is she doing Burnouts in the local Tesco or something

Wildly Boaring

TCP/IP wrote: »

Wife has a 520d as well and I change all four tyres when the first tyre gets below 5mm.
Never judge your tires by km traveled also go by age and thread depth.
Also never get it done with the main dealer. Just paid €1280 for four new Good Year run flats from my local independent.
Nearly change yearly coming into Winter to be safe.

What??

I assume you do no mileage?

I get 35k to 40k km to a set.
1.5 to 2 sets a year.

Drive to the wear bar.
€650 a set, tracked, Nokians or Bridgestone

FDave

heroics wrote: »

Depends on the tyre as well. On mine I have Michelin primacy and got about 40k on the rear and about 60k (km) on the front. Had Bridgestone Potenzas on before that and they didn’t last nearly as long. Mix of back roads and motorway around Wicklow

Bye Michelin say not to replace their tyres until 2 mm https://m.independent.ie/life/motoring/car-news/the-case-for-and-against-running-your-tyres-to-minimum-legal-depth-35795271.html

+1 for Michelin Priimacy. They have some of the best compounds on the market and wear better than most. They are also proven to perform like new right down to their wear limits.

bazz26

TCP/IP wrote: »

Wife has a 520d as well and I change all four tyres when the first tyre gets below 5mm.
Never judge your tires by km traveled also go by age and thread depth.
Also never get it done with the main dealer. Just paid €1280 for four new Good Year run flats from my local independent.
Nearly change yearly coming into Winter to be safe.

What size are those?

I have 255/40/r19 on the front and 275/35/r19 on the rear of my 530d, 4 Goodyear Eagle F1 RFTs are coming in at around €900 total delivered:

https://www.tyreleader.ie/car-tyres/goodyear/eagle-f1-asymmetric-3/245-40-r19-98y-600117
https://www.tyreleader.ie/car-tyres/goodyear/eagle-f1-asymmetric-3/275-35-r19-100y-600119

Fitting locally is around €70 for all 4. Local bricks and mortar tyre centres never could come near those prices.

Del2005

enricoh wrote: »

I know a girl that wrote off her beemer, single vehicle accident. Assessor came out and the first thing he did was measure the thread depth on the runflats.
She was just over the 1.6mm, the assessor said if it was under they wouldn't be paying out. Dunno if it would stand up in court or not.

Car wasn't road legal so the insurance company won't have to pay out. If she'd of hit someone they would have covered the 3rd party but there's a chance that they could then sue her for the payout and since it'd be civil case they'd win.

Driving a defective vehicle can get expensive now that insurance companies are chasing up payouts to 3rd parties.

MetzgerMeister

Blazer wrote: »

They’re way too soft. Got once and never again.
Plus sidewall is weak as crap

They're a performance tyre so I wouldn't expect anything else. Mine are RFTs so the sidewall is actually quite strong.

darragh o meara

Have 20K on the 2 Goodyear eagle f1s on the back of my 520d and there’s plenty left in them. Looking through the service history and it seems my car got tyres roughly every 30k, car has always had Goodyear’s eagle f1’s if that makes any difference.

MetzgerMeister

The Eagle F1s are a superb tyre.

bazz26

The only downside to the latest Eagle F1s is the rim protector on them is pretty poor.

MetzgerMeister

bazz26 wrote: »

The only downside to the latest Eagle F1s is the rim protector on them is pretty poor.

That's true. The protector on the P Zeros I have is massive but the allows still got damaged a number of times

darragh o meara

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

The Eagle F1s are a superb tyre.

Agreed, they wouldn’t have been my first choice at the time but when you get a puncture 3 hrs away from home and no spare you really need to take what you can get. At the time, the only tyres they had locally in the size were F1’s. Having had them, I’ll be getting them again for sure but will hopefully be able to get them online as the last lad I got them from usually supplies the lease companies and charged me lease company prices..€400 a piece... So much for having the upgraded 19” rims

rex-x

bazz26 wrote: »

The only downside to the latest Eagle F1s is the rim protector on them is pretty poor.

They fixed that now, it was just a small run of the AS3's that had the small rim protector

MetzgerMeister

darragh o meara wrote: »

Agreed, they wouldn’t have been my first choice at the time but when you get a puncture 3 hrs away from home and no spare you really need to take what you can get. At the time, the only tyres they had locally in the size were F1’s. Having had them, I’ll be getting them again for sure but will hopefully be able to get them online as the last lad I got them from usually supplies the lease companies and charged me lease company prices..€400 a piece... So much for having the upgraded 19” rims

€400 per tyre?! :eek:

And I thought I was bad with €189 per tyre for PZero RFT 19's!

darragh o meara

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

€400 per tyre?! :eek:

And I thought I was bad with €189 per tyre for PZero RFT 19's!

Yeah, I got nailed. Didn’t really have a choice though, unusual size and needed them for the trip home that evening the lad supplying them usually only dealt with lease and hire companies so really could charge what he liked for them, otherwise I’d have had to wait 2-3 days for someone else to get them in and they weren’t much cheaper either.

The downside to not having a spare... although where you’d put a tyre that size in any car ai don’t know...