# Fronts or rears wear out faster on staggered set-up e39?



## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

I didn't put this in the tire forum because I really want to get the experiences/opinions on tire wear from people with e39s.

I've seen some people say the rears go twice as fast as the fronts, and others say the outside of the fronts go first, but not sure which is true or if the difference is due to staggered vs. non-staggered or something else, so I'm wondering what people's experiences her have been with the 540 (or other e39's) with a staggered set-up since I'm trying to decide whether to get 2 or 4 new tires now.

Here's my dilemma. I bought the car with 32K miles and 17" staggered set-up (can't be rotated) with OEM Dunlop 2000s. The outside fronts were worn and I knew I'd need to replace them in 5 or 6K miles, but the rears showed little wear at all. The car now has 37K miles and need to be replaced soon, but the rears still have a ton of tread left. I've heard these Dunlops can last well into the 40k mile (plus) range even claim to have gotten nearly 50K on this car (540) so I don't know if these are the original tires or not but if they wear that long, I think it's possible UNLESS the rears really do go twice as fast on this car. In that case the rears have probably been replaced. (I do see what looks like a spot where a weight might have been at one time on one of the rear wheels.)

So . . . . . if I buy Dunlop fronts now and the rears typically wear twice as fast, then I'll end up needing another rear set long before the new fronts wear out and _if that's the case, I'd rather get out of the Dunlops now and into another brand_. But if the fronts wear out faster than the rears and I buy two new fronts now, I might get full use out of all 4 tires and it may be worth it to do that. I know some people say the Dunlops stink on this car compared to other tires, but I have nothing to compare them to on this car yet and haven't found them to be all that bad that I couldn't live with them until they all wear out and save myself a few hundred $ for now. I just don't want to be stuck with them forever.

Opinions?? Thanks in advance.


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## Ågent99 (Jan 7, 2002)

Well, this doesn't answer your question but just adds some extra experience. On my 530i (same tire all around), I had my inside rears wearing out very quickly. Personally, I think I got a bad set of tires because the first set (identical to the second set) did fine. I'm skipping Michelins now.

I have Goodyears on my car right now and I RELIGIOUSLY rotate them and life is very good with them.

I have a ED 545i coming soon and so will need to get used to the staggered setup since it can't easily be rotated. You can rotate them but you have to take the tire off the rim and turn it around...quite a PITA.


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## Nick325xiT 5spd (Dec 24, 2001)

with a good alignment, the rear tires will tend to wear faster on a RWD car.

When the car is pushed, the front tires will burn off very quickly, though.

Unfortunately, now that I've got coilovers, I'm back to wearing the rears. I just can't get enough camber in the tail, and it burns them pretty well.


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## acourvil (Feb 6, 2005)

I have a '99 540iA w/ sport package (inc. staggered wheels). The fronts wear more quickly than the rears by a noticible amount.


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## TXE39 (Oct 2, 2003)

Overall my fronts are wearing faster than the rears on mine (245 front/265 rear) but the inside of the rears are worn badly...and happened very fast.


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## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

Ågent99 said:


> Well, this doesn't answer your question but just adds some extra experience. On my 530i (same tire all around), I had my inside rears wearing out very quickly. Personally, I think I got a bad set of tires because the first set (identical to the second set) did fine. I'm skipping Michelins now.
> 
> I have Goodyears on my car right now and I RELIGIOUSLY rotate them and life is very good with them.
> 
> I have a ED 545i coming soon and so will need to get used to the staggered setup since it can't easily be rotated. You can rotate them but you have to take the tire off the rim and turn it around...quite a PITA.


Yeah, that's another thing I've heard . . . that the inside rears wear out fast, but the outside of the fronts. I checked the inside of the rears this morning and I may have a little of that, but there's not enough wear yet to be able to tell for sure. Do you have the F1 GS-D3s? People seem to be raving about them. If all 4 were worn I'd probably buy those now, but seems like a waste to with rear tires that look almost new.

BTW, been watching your posts about the new car on the way. Congrats! :thumbup: I'm jealous though.


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## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

Thanks for the replies, guys. But you're convincing me that I should just be practical and buy a new set of fronts and that's not what I wanted to hear!  I wanted to have a practical reason to blow $800 on 4 new Goodyears. :bigpimp:

Or . . . I found another site with numerous e39 owners raving about Fuzions saying they are the best tires they've ever owned. Not sure if I believe _that_, but based on the reviews they're probably a better tire than the OEM Dunlops and the price is borderline ridiculous. At Tirerack prices I could get a full set of Fuzions for not much more than 2 Dunlops. Tempted just to try them out.


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

1Dreamer said:


> At Tirerack prices I could get a full set of Fuzions for not much more than 2 Dunlops. Tempted just to try them out.


Goodyears in 265/35/18 (rear) are on sale for $100 less than the sight says. Talk to Gary from our Tire Rack Tire and wheel forum. Great deal!


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## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

PropellerHead said:


> Goodyears in 265/35/18 (rear) are on sale for $100 less than the sight says. Talk to Gary from our Tire Rack Tire and wheel forum. Great deal!


 I saw your post about that and was about to grab the phone, but then I saw him post that he only had a couple of sets in that size at that great price and I have 17" wheels with 255/40s in the rear. I'll be curious how you like them though.


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## 540 M-Sport (Apr 23, 2004)

I have a 01 540 M-Sport with the staggered set up. I replaced the factory Dunlop 2000's in the front at 28k miles, with outside edges looking pretty bald, but inside fine. I ended up replacing the rears at 40k miles. Let me tell you, I went with the Goodyear F1 DS3's and should have replaced the rears sooner, those Dunlops suck! Lot's of tread, but no stick!

Not sure what exactly causes the front wear, but I had an alignment done when I had the front tires mounted, and the guy said the toe was a bit off (no camber adjustment). 13k miles later, and wear looks pretty even....

Dave


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## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

540 M-Sport said:


> I have a 01 540 M-Sport with the staggered set up. I replaced the factory Dunlop 2000's in the front at 28k miles, with outside edges looking pretty bald, but inside fine. I ended up replacing the rears at 40k miles. Let me tell you, I went with the Goodyear F1 DS3's and should have replaced the rears sooner, those Dunlops suck! Lot's of tread, but no stick!
> 
> Not sure what exactly causes the front wear, but I had an alignment done when I had the front tires mounted, and the guy said the toe was a bit off (no camber adjustment). 13k miles later, and wear looks pretty even....
> 
> Dave


 I was hoping someone with the same car who also started out with the Dunlops would chime in. Thanks for the info. Did you replace the fronts at 28K with Goodyears or another set of Dunlops and then replace them all at 40K with the Goodyears? I don't want to mix brands and I have no big complaints with the Dunlops, but I think that's just because I haven't driven the car with anything else yet and as I do I'm gonna realize how bad they suck. LOL.


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

1Dreamer said:


> I saw your post about that and was about to grab the phone, but then I saw him post that he only had a couple of sets in that size at that great price and I have 17" wheels with 255/40s in the rear. I'll be curious how you like them though.


Yeah- you know the more I think of it, I should buy another rear set to have on reserve. From what I hear, going force fed causes some real wear issues on those rear tires. :eeps:


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## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

PropellerHead said:


> Yeah- you know the more I think of it, I should buy another rear set to have on reserve. From what I hear, going force fed causes some real wear issues on those rear tires. :eeps:


 Well, he said it was extremely rare that he has deals like that and only had a couple of sets, so it might be worth it IF you think you'll wear out the rear set in a relatively short amount of time. I asked right after I got the car if tires degrade when they've been sitting around because I was thinking of getting one new front and using my matching spare which is brand new, but he advised against it. At the rate I'm putting on miles right now( 4500 in 6 months) an extra set would be sitting around for a couple of years.


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## Oscswa (Sep 23, 2004)

My fronts wore twice as quick as the rears....01 540ia Sport stag set

Here is the strange part my alignment is good, but the fronts were made in Japan and the rears were made in Germany.

Is there anything to do where the tires are made, different componds from different contries?

I thought I read somewhere that the German made tires seem to last longer?


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## PropellerHead (Jan 3, 2002)

Oscswa said:


> My fronts


Dewd... We have GOT to get close up of that ride!


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## liuk3 (May 3, 2004)

I had Dunlop sp2000 17x8 all around. The inside of the rears wore through MUCH quicker than the fronts. I believe that this is due to the negative camber on the car. I just switched to Kumho MXs and am gonna try rotating frequently to see if i can get this set of tires to last longer.


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## markseven (Apr 30, 2004)

I replaced the OEM Dunlops on my non-staggered Touring at 40k - the rears were worn more that the fronts. I put on a set of Yoko AVS ES100's :thumbup:

<HIJACK>
Hijack in progress: Was the staggered set-up an option on sport-pack sedans? Was it offered on the Tourings with the SP?

-Mark


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## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

markseven said:


> I replaced the OEM Dunlops on my non-staggered Touring at 40k - the rears were worn more that the fronts. I put on a set of Yoko AVS ES100's :thumbup:
> 
> <HIJACK>
> Hijack in progress: Was the staggered set-up an option on sport-pack sedans? Was it offered on the Tourings with the SP?
> ...


 I appreciate all the feed back. It explains the extreme differences in people's experiences with the same car. I think it's starting to become clear that whether the fronts or rears wear out faster probably depends on whether we have a staggered set-up or not. You'd think BMW could figure out how to set up the car so they'd wear out more evenly, wouldn't ya? 

Mark, highjack away!  I have the M-tech package and know the staggered set-up was part of it. Not sure if there was another Sport version where it wasn't.


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## markseven (Apr 30, 2004)

1Dreamer said:


> You'd think BMW could figure out how to set up the car so they'd wear out more evenly, wouldn't ya?


Dreamer, you know BMW doesn't recommend rotating tires, ya?

-Mark


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## 1Dreamer (Oct 23, 2004)

markseven said:


> Dreamer, you know BMW doesn't recommend rotating tires, ya?
> 
> -Mark


 Ya, I do. This is my 3rd BMW.  I was just referring to how the rears seem to wear out much faster on non-staggered and the fronts wear out faster on staggered, so maybe a car that was 50% staggered would make the tires wear evenly. 

-Russ


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## Ågent99 (Jan 7, 2002)

Yes, I have the F1 GS-D3s. They are great and are wearing absolutely evenly with rotation.

Yeah, I leave tomorrow morning on my way to Munich...should be a ball! 



1Dreamer said:


> Yeah, that's another thing I've heard . . . that the inside rears wear out fast, but the outside of the fronts. I checked the inside of the rears this morning and I may have a little of that, but there's not enough wear yet to be able to tell for sure. Do you have the F1 GS-D3s? People seem to be raving about them. If all 4 were worn I'd probably buy those now, but seems like a waste to with rear tires that look almost new.
> 
> BTW, been watching your posts about the new car on the way. Congrats! :thumbup: I'm jealous though.


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