Maximum age for tires?

[BMWE46]

my E46 tires are around 5 years old, Continential sportcontact 2. Milage only 35K plus. Full thread and in near perfect conditions. Should i change them or they can last another couple of years?

 

[bmw7833]

1st at all better u intro urself in newbie section..

It is ok if u can accept and drive gentle in town..But ready to blow up in high speed and hot climate. Btw u wil feel more stiff..

 

[funfer_fahrer]

Maximum age for tyres on average is 3 years.

 

[BMWE46]

thanks guy. Look like my wallet will become thinner soon. How much Conti SC3 nowadays? if i remember correctly, i paid around 800 a tire for SC2(germany made) five years back.

 

[astroboy]

My father's 1994 Volvo tyre date stamp is 1994 also and odo mileage is only 60k km. Had to replace 2 of the aging tyres because leaks all over it. The tyre shop fella also gave up, but still got thread wor..

How long can u store a beer? The bottle no expire date also..

Best you check your tyre for cracks. Aging tyre rubber will disintegrate and you will see plenty of hair line crack. Never push your luck with such tyres because can explode under high speed or over inflate.

Tyre shops are not suppose to store a new tyre for more than 2 years and I always check my new tyre date. If more than 12 month, I don't want unless can get 50% discount..

If u speed a lot, better don't push your luck with more than 2 years old tyres. Can explode!

 

[James Chun]

My Friend Just Change His 1997 Tyre Last Month, His Tyre More Than 10 Years, Pirelli Tyre, So Tough???

 

[Mouse]

my E46 tires are around 5 years old, Continential sportcontact 2. Milage only 35K plus. Full thread and in near perfect conditions. Should i change them or they can last another couple of years?

quote from the website below, "u should never use tyres more than 6 years old"
http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

 

[cempaka]

Well, it is indeed possible for tires to last 5-10 years, but the risk of a blowout increases with age. If low mileage like yours the tread portion is actually usually fine at that age but it's the sidewalls that have a higher chance to give out. Especially since low mileage cars are usually parked and stressing one part of the sidewall for extended periods of time. It's actually worse for the tire than driving every day as it creates weak spots in the sidewall that can later fail.

It's difficult to predict when a tire will fail, and some brands seem to handle this low mileage/high age thing better than others. So in the end the decision is up to you whether it's worth the risk or not. If you know how to stop safely when a blowout happens and don't drive high speeds you can probably get a bit more use, whereas new tires would bring some more peace of mind.

 

[BMWE46]

Cempaka..well said.

 

[Jules]

let me tell u two stories....

Story one - i had a 323 ( the mazda kind ) when I was uni student abroad and it had well threaded Michelin tyres when I bought it 2nd hand......it drove well enough on the straight until it decided to slide at the rear at a mere 40kph round a street corner, in a dry altho cold weather and a slight uphill climb. Yes, it taught me oversteering real fast.

Story two - my fellow forumer had a crate of racing kart tyres.....still in plastic wrappers.....Damm happy cos we got to drive them for free. The tyres, full of thread tho slicks ( via dimple indicators ) were a handful......the first 5 laps EACH time we went out.

So the moral of story is - dun be your own tyre engineer. Read the manufacturer's recommendation and they are there for technical reasons, and approved by their lawyers too since they wun want any lawsuit from those who want to differ.

Tyres are more than just thread.....compound and its construction plays a role and they have a finite life.

No matter how slow you drive - you are compromising your life, your loved ones and other road users like me.

please stop skimping the only one thing that is holding you down and for god sake, you are driving a BMW!

just my professional opinion,
Your friendly BMW driver, a qualified engineer too.

 

[astroboy]

Rubber turn powdery and brittle over age. Yes, the grip would reduce over age. The lousiest el-chepo Hankook brand new tyre would have better grip than a 5 year old CSC2.

A more than 5 year old tyre is no better than a "celup tire" .. or is it the other way round..

 

[BMWE46]

Thanks guys. Manage to change tires to PP2. Was on stock rim, very difficult to find size of choice tires. One rim seems to bengkok a bt. So have to use spare rim.