# Tire blowout at 8000 miles



## j2 (Jun 13, 2003)

So, I had the Firestone shop check out the tire. They showed me two nails in the tread. One of them had gone completely thru the tread, and you could feel the nail from the inside of the tire. They told me that once you lose pressure, the sidewalls tend to give out rather quickly on these low profile tires. Also, once you get a nail, they lose their Z rating. 

So, apparently, it had nothing to do with my lack of attention to the tire pressure, and everything to do with sheer bad luck of picking up a nail in the middle of nowhere. :tsk:


----------



## ·clyde· (Dec 26, 2001)

numbersguy said:


> Blowouts happen a lot in the desert, as evidenced by all the tire carcasses and debris on desert highway shoulders. What happens is that people who go fast in short little bursts of city freeway driving will take a trip through the desert and go fast for an hour or more at a time. An underinflated tire will generate heat faster than it can dissipate and the result is that tires get hot enough to de-laminate. Tires are the weak link and must be treated as such.


 Most of those "alligators" that you see on the highways in the desert are recaps from heavy trucks that gave out.


----------



## MG67 (Aug 19, 2003)

*Tire blowout*

I think I have seen your car around Woodland Hills, I work in the Warner Center. I just checked the tires on my Touring w/ Sport Package and I have the Dunlop SP 2000 Sport which I really like. I remember that my wife had the same Bridgestone tires on her 2000 328i sedan, they lost treat really fast I must say and we had to replace them before she turned it in at the end of the lease.


----------



## drmwvr (Feb 21, 2003)

justinu said:


> Now, I'm going to head on over to the BMW dealership and ask them to demonstrate proper usage of the jack that came with the car (my guess is they won't be able to do so).


Your car probably moved because you did not use the triangle shaped wheel chock in front of the tire opposite and across from the tire that had the flat. If you look where the spare is stored, you will notice that it is attached towards the back of the car on the left hand side (I think). I figured this out when I had to change a tire. Keep us posted on your findings and keep those tire properly inflated! EDIT: keep those nails out!


----------



## Emission (Dec 19, 2001)

Wow. I would have also suspected low tire pressure (which technically, still caused the tire to fail).

I rotate my tires every 5000 miles, and check diligently for nails and damage when they are off the vehicle (remember to check the inside sidewalls too). Check tire pressures every other week, and visually all the time.

Glad to hear you are OK. Many have blowouts at lower speeds and don't live to post pics.


----------



## j2 (Jun 13, 2003)

drmwvr said:


> Your car probably moved because you did not use the triangle shaped wheel chock in front of the tire opposite and across from the tire that had the flat. If you look where the spare is stored, you will notice that it is attached towards the back of the car on the left hand side (I think). I figured this out when I had to change a tire. Keep us posted on your findings and keep those tire properly inflated! EDIT: keep those nails out!


Good info, you're probably right about the car rollling. I thought about that after it happened. I'll dig around in the trunk and see if there's any chocks in there. Thanks!


----------



## TGray5 (Jan 22, 2002)

Sorry to hear of your woes...but it could have been worse had you been in an M3 with no jack and no spare, so look at the bright side. 

Its also possible those nails were in the tire for a long period of time causing structural damage to the tire and the high temps that you reached on your drive further weakened the tire leading to its demise. 

By the way, can you describe the handling conditions when the tire blew...fishtailing, etc?


----------



## j2 (Jun 13, 2003)

StahlGrauM3 said:


> By the way, can you describe the handling conditions when the tire blew...fishtailing, etc?


StahlGrau,

See post #12 (i think) for more details, but there was a slight amount of fishtailing, but keeping very light even pressure on the brakes to help the car slow down kep the rear end from comming out on me. I'm not sure if DSC was doing anything though, I was a little too busy to check the instrument cluster. Overall, I thought the car behaved very well, considering the circumstances.


----------



## drmwvr (Feb 21, 2003)

justinu said:


> Good info, you're probably right about the car rollling. I thought about that after it happened. I'll dig around in the trunk and see if there's any chocks in there. Thanks!


Heres a picture I took during lunch showing the location of the wheel chock....hope this helps :thumbup:


----------



## tramping (Sep 27, 2002)

Same problem here, Bridgestone Turanza and the rear left tire blew out. By the time I got to the shoulder the tire had shredded nicely. Incedentaly I check my tire pressure weekly and had checked it the day it happended. Luckily I had Tirexam (its one of those useless dealer add ons that provides the air pressure indicators on the tires) which paid to replace the tire. Looks like we have a problem with these tires.

Cheers all...


----------



## drmwvr (Feb 21, 2003)

tramping said:


> Same problem here, Bridgestone Turanza and the rear left tire blew out. By the time I got to the shoulder the tire had shredded nicely. Incedentaly I check my tire pressure weekly and had checked it the day it happended. Luckily I had Tirexam (its one of those useless dealer add ons that provides the air pressure indicators on the tires) which paid to replace the tire. Looks like we have a problem with these tires.
> 
> Cheers all...


Did yours seperate at the inside or outside edge? Mine seperated at the inside edge. Maybe the heat from the exhaust has somthing to do with it :dunno:


----------

