# No tire warranty??



## tcuprof (Jul 23, 2017)

We took our 2019 X3 in for a state inspection and the dealer said the car would not pass inspection because "the tires are bald" - meaning, below the minimum tread depth to pass inspection. Since the car is two years old and has only 16,700 miles, I assumed there would be some tire warranty. The dealer said no, there is no warranty for "normal wear." We called Bridgestone and they said, "if there is any warranty, it has to be obtained by the dealer." So, we gave the dealer a reference number (provided by Bridgestone) and asked them to call. Today, the dealer said, Bridgestone will not warranty the tires that came with the car but would give us a discount on their much cheaper "low performance" tires. So, long story short, no warranty from BMW and no warranty from Bridgestone. 

1. Am I being unreasonable to think that tires should last longer than 16,700 miles?
2. Do I have any recourse?

TIA


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## Doug Huffman (Apr 25, 2015)

Get an alignment. See @ard signature block. That’s how mine is aligned and I am very pleased.

Alignment alignment alignment inflation rotation.

The alignment and its numbers - precisely - are your responsibility. For tire longevity, 0.02º toe-in all around. Mid-range balanced left and right camber.


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## Autoputzer (Mar 16, 2014)

1. Yes.

Your owners manual case probably came with a small tire warranty booklet in it. Also, you can look up Bridgestone's tire warranty on the Interwebs. You're on the X... M board. An X3M has ~500 h.p. of tire-shredding awesomeness. Also, high-performance tires don't last as long as so-so-performance tires (a.k.a. "all-season" or "touring" tires). The rear tires get about 60% of the engine's power with xDrive. So, they wear faster than the front tires. Finally, run-flat-tires tend to wear unevenly (more on the sides than in the middle, as if they're under-inflated) and therefore not last as long. (Goodyear run-flat-tires are probably the worst for this.)

Most tire manufacturer's mileage warranty requires four-tire rotation to get the full mileage warranty. They also require even wear of the tire before they honor a mileage warranty claim.

A four-tire rotation pattern would even out the wear among the four tires, but if you have performance tires you also have a staggered set-up (wider tires and wheels in the back). So, you can't do a four-tire rotation pattern.

2. Buy rear tires about twice as often as you buy front tires, and continue to enjoy driving your BMW hard.

Life is full of choices. 

I chose to order Frau Putzer's 2018 X3 xDrive 30i (~250 h.p.) with all-season, non-run-flat tires with a square set-up, and they're coincidently also Bridgestones (Dueler H/P Sport AS's). They came with 9/32" of channel depth in the two side circumferential channels and 10/32" of depth in the two middle circumferential channels. Since they're in a square set-up I rotate them in the four-tire, RWD rotation pattern (LF > RR > RF > LR > LF). After 29k miles, the outside channel depths are between 5.7/32" and 6/32" The middle channels depths are between 6.9/32" and 7.3/32". The inside channel depths are between 6.2/32" and 6.4/32". *So, Frau Putzer will get somewhere between 60k and 70k miles out of these tires. *The tires will probably age out (six years) before any of the channel depths are down to 3/32".

I have ultra-high-performance Michelins on my 535i, but in a square set-up. I got 40k miles out of my last set. The wear rate in the rear was just over twice that of the front. But, that four-tire rotation pattern evens that out.

If your wear is reasonably even, what you're seeing is normal. Here's a cheat sheet of what alignment and suspension problems cause which type of wear. *If your wear is uneven*, then an alignment is worth doing. (Ard will be along shortly to poo-poo the diagram and tell everybody I'm full of crap.)


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## ard (Jul 1, 2009)

You ARE being unreasonable.

Yes, tires should last longer than 16k miles.

You alignment from the factory probably sucks- too much toe in.

BMW only warrants the alignment for 2000 miles. Yes, 2000. Had you noticed the wear and gone to them in 2k, they make have not just fixed the alignment but also replaed the tires.

Follow the link below in my signature.

If you dont fix your alignment, whatever you put on will likewise only last 16k.

Yes, Id be annoyed if I were you...but you dont have much of a leg to stand on. It happens.


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## HotGrbg (Apr 23, 2021)

You’ve driven across the United States long ways 6 times in a performance oriented vehicle. I’m not sure there’s any recourse.
The tires that came on the vehicle were designed to give the best grip not last the longest. I’ll speculate they probably have a 300 treadwear rating. When you buy new tires pay attention to treadwear ratings ( the higher the number the longer they last ) but it’s a trade off. Higher ratings are stiffer rubber and less “grippy”.


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## tcuprof (Jul 23, 2017)

Thanks for the replies everyone. Too bad no one at the dealer seems to know what you've all explained. I've decided to replace the Bridgestones with Pirellis. Not that they'll last any longer, it just irritates me that Bridgestone wouldn't even talk to me.


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## Ziggy328xi (Sep 27, 2018)

tcuprof said:


> Thanks for the replies everyone. Too bad no one at the dealer seems to know what you've all explained. I've decided to replace the Bridgestones with Pirellis. Not that they'll last any longer, it just irritates me that Bridgestone wouldn't even talk to me.


as a dealer tech i rarely see more than 25k out of a set of tires on these x3's. they just eat tires like nobodys business.


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## ard (Jul 1, 2009)

Ziggy328xi said:


> as a dealer tech


As a dealer tech, where do you set toe on BMWs?

If BMW lists (say) 0.08 +/- 0.08, do you hit 0.08 and call it 'dead on'?

If yes, agree they will eat tires like nobodys bidness

Bridgestones DO suck. I get 40-45k on my Michelin Latitude ZPs....but...wife driven


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## ard (Jul 1, 2009)

tcuprof said:


> Thanks for the replies everyone. Too bad no one at the dealer seems to know what you've all explained. I've decided to replace the Bridgestones with Pirellis. Not that they'll last any longer, it just irritates me that Bridgestone wouldn't even talk to me.


So you are going to get an alignment, right? What are you going to tell them to align it TO?


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## Markst (Apr 3, 2018)

16k miles on an X3M with staggered wheel is probably more than average, I would be happy.


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## ard (Jul 1, 2009)

Markst said:


> 16k miles on an X3M with staggered wheel is probably more than average, I would be happy.


This sounds nuts, TBH.


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## Ziggy328xi (Sep 27, 2018)

ard said:


> As a dealer tech, where do you set toe on BMWs?
> 
> If BMW lists (say) 0.08 +/- 0.08, do you hit 0.08 and call it 'dead on'?
> 
> ...


i set to .01 toe in. on every car i do, as you accelerate it pulls it right to 0. i take a lot of pride in my work and try to get all specs as close to dead nuts center as i can unless its a custom alignment for a lowered car or something like that.


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