Checking Tyre Pressure

[E46Fanatic]

I dont rotate my tyres at all, since its a staggered setup, and I find the wear to be pretty even and acceptable. I think rotating staggered setups won't really prolong the life of your tyres that much. For E46 I found that rears wear faster than fronts. For E90, front seems to wear out faster than rears. I must be the only one here who eagerly awaits the tyre to wear down to change to a new pair. I love the quiet drive and suppleness of a fresh set of rubbers. The again I don't travel that much and my tyres will likely expire before wearing down . If I run through a fresh set of tyres each year, maybe my thoughts of rotating tyres would be different.

 

[Schwepps]

Schwepps, where do you normally do your balancing & alignment ? My tyre is RFT.

PM-ed you bro.

 

[Schwepps]

I dont rotate my tyres at all, since its a staggered setup, and I find the wear to be pretty even and acceptable. I think rotating staggered setups won't really prolong the life of your tyres that much. For E46 I found that rears wear faster than fronts. For E90, front seems to wear out faster than rears. I must be the only one here who eagerly awaits the tyre to wear down to change to a new pair. I love the quiet drive and suppleness of a fresh set of rubbers. The again I don't travel that much and my tyres will likely expire before wearing down . If I run through a fresh set of tyres each year, maybe my thoughts of rotating tyres would be different.

I'm the same wrt new rubbers bro. For non-RFTs, I normally change after 12-18 months regardless of wear. Although my E90 is a mid-2008, my tyres are mid-2007 manufacture and I don't feel good about their age at +160kmh. But being RFTs, I'll try to stretch them a bit longer for obvious reasons.

Prolonging tyre life with regular maintenance and rotation is only one factor. The more important factor for me is having even thread depth and good toe-in and camber settings to maximise driveability and safety.

 

[astroboy]

You're a strange one. So similarly, as long as you don't hear your brakes screeching, changing brake pads is not necessary; as long as you don't hear your v-belt squealing, changing v-belts is not necessary, etc?...

No, I don't wait until brake screeching to determine pad change. I do visual check to see the remaining pad thickness (can peep through the rims cavity), my front pads now have about 8mm, so long way to go. I normally run my pad until 3mm before replacing, sometime 2mm (max). Why 3mm or 2mm u may ask and not 1mm. That's because pad wear are normally uneven, so since we can't see the inner pad wear from outside, we should not push beyond 3mm or 2mm...

V-belt is another consumable part that can be inspected visually for wear and tear. I check my v-belt every other week to look for crack lines and side wear (peeling of nylon). V-belt squealing can be due to age but most of the time is due to looseness, all it need is some tightening.

....My tyre check interval is every quarter, which works out to about 5k since I average 20k a year.

That's a very prudent practice and is a great recommendation to all.

Like I said, I have my own "methods"..

.... The more important factor for me is having even thread depth and good toe-in and camber settings to maximise driveability and safety.

I fully concur to the above statement.. :wink:

 

[Schwepps]

No, I don't wait until brake screeching to determine pad change. I do visual check to see the remaining pad thickness (can peep through the rims cavity), my front pads now have about 8mm, so long way to go. I normally run my pad until 3mm before replacing, sometime 2mm (max). Why 3mm or 2mm u may ask and not 1mm. That's because pad wear are normally uneven, so since we can't see the inner pad wear from outside, we should not push beyond 3mm or 2mm...

Glad you're at least prudent with your brakes! :wink: Anyway, by 1 mm, the built-in steel tab that every brake pad has would have started screeching on the rotor, driving you insane and straight to a workshop. Having said that, I've heard cars on the road with screeching brakes and squealing belts. Some people really punish their cars unnecessarily and end up spending more money! :stupid:

 

[racheltoh]

Yesterday afternoon I attended tyre lesson part deux.
conclusion hor
- must check tyre weekly
- go for alignment & balancing quarterly
- dont brake at cornering
- u can have Run flat and conventional tyre MIX.. ie front tyres run flat and back normal..Technically! but not good for long term...
- if u hv no time to wash ur car, but have clean rims...ur car is still clean ;p

 

[astroboy]

..
- if u hv no time to wash ur car, but have clean rims...ur car is still clean ;p

I know one that practice just that, in fact the rims are wash everyday! Yes, just the rim!

Btw, I check my tyres daily (visual check)

Quarterly check on alignment and balance seems reasonable.

Don't brake during cornering... hmmnn.. u are suppose to brake before corner, balance on the accelerator through the corner and full throttle upon exit.. :wink:

I have in fact just rotated my tyres for my little MPV, since front/rear running different tyres, I only did a left/right swap on the same axle. I located the mid point cross beam and jack the car with the single jack to lift both wheel. Quite an effort.. to cut the story short...

The car doesn't feel right after the swap, steering wheel is pointing about 30 degree away from the center, when doing high speed run on the highway car tend to have difficulty moving straight, felt like suffering from cross wind ..

Its really a pain to wait for the wear down of the rubber after rotation, for a better tyre-to-road surface contact. Those who frequent doing spirited drive, rotating tyre is really such a pain! .. and best be avoided.

 

[Schwepps]

I know one that practice just that, in fact the rims are wash everyday! Yes, just the rim!

:flute: :flute: :flute:

 

[E46Fanatic]

Yup sounds like Schwepps. Glad u 2 finally met! Been trying to organize the 2 of u to meet for so looooooooong!

 

[astroboy]

Nope. We have not met.. Not fated.. what to do?! Cupid not on our side..

 

[racheltoh]

:flute: :flute: :flute:

unker unker opps handsome gentlemen... know how to treat a princess :top:

 

[Schwepps]

:9: :9: :9:

 

[astroboy]

Now only I know what the Cupids are up to..

 

[racheltoh]

Now only I know what the Cupids are up to..

Dont jealous la.... next time I will organise for you and Schwepps to meet. But then, 2 sifu coming together, they will talk about what le???

our case was different. We (me and another E9x) went for Education cum lunch and yet treated by the oldest gentleman

 

[astroboy]

Explanation will only worsen the situation.. silence is gold for such circumstances.. shhh..... the ability of imagination is such a wonderful gift from the creator of human being.. :15:

 

[ALBundy]

Astroboy, all the tyres of my E90 -320i are of the same size. Should I rotate the tyre ?

If one checks the BMW Owner's manual, it is mentioned that its NOT advisable to rotate the tires.

 

[ALBundy]

Explanation will only worsen the situation.. silence is gold for such circumstances.. shhh..... the ability of imagination is such a wonderful gift from the creator of human being.. :15:

LOL!! :handkiss::8:

 

[astroboy]

If one checks the BMW Owner's manual, it is mentioned that its NOT advisable to rotate the tires.

Yah! Yah! that's my advise too, if found tyre wear uneven, straight away do alignment or camber without rotating tyres. That way, handling least compromised.

 

[etquah]

If one checks the BMW Owner's manual, it is mentioned that its NOT advisable to rotate the tires.

Yes, I had read and it says Not Recommended. Well, just to check whether to follow or not. As for the gear oil it is suppose to be for "life" but I was told better to change from 40K km onwards

 

[astroboy]

Yes, I had read and it says Not Recommended. Well, just to check whether to follow or not. As for the gear oil it is suppose to be for "life" but I was told better to change from 40K km onwards

BMW has further clarified "Life" = 160k km, as the useful life for the vehicle. You fill in the rest of the equation to cater for your personal needs.. :wink:

I read many are practicing ATF change at 60k km interval, which I felt its fair too but bear in mind that every spirited drive the transmission has gone thru, will accelerate degrading of the ATF life.

I saw some calculation somewhere for JDM, every 2 hours of constant speed above 80% of the factory recommended top speed will shorten the recommended ATF interval by half.

Go figure..

I have another problem, almost 2 years old car can't even reach 30k km, warranty almost habis lio!! Which supposedly protect me for 60k km, which ever comes first. The car don't get much chance to go outstation family trip because not enough seats