# Roatating Tires?



## Maverick (Jun 25, 2003)

When should I rotate my tires? Given I have 325 sport package. Michelins, I believe. Thanks :thumbup:


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## Nick325xiT 5spd (Dec 24, 2001)

There's no definitive answer, really. BMW says not to, but I like to do it every 5K or so.


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## [email protected] (Jun 10, 2003)

True. I personally do it about every 5K as well.


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## mquetel (Jan 30, 2003)

Nick325xiT 5spd said:


> There's no definitive answer, really. BMW says not to, but I like to do it every 5K or so.


Assuming that you have the same size wheel on all four corners, does anyone know why BMW makes this recommendation?

Thanks in advance.


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## [email protected] (Jun 10, 2003)

One idea is that the service intervals are generally so long now that they don't want to have you in for a 'free' rotation every 3 to 5K miles in addition to the regular service.


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## Nick325xiT 5spd (Dec 24, 2001)

mquetel said:


> Assuming that you have the same size wheel on all four corners, does anyone know why BMW makes this recommendation?
> 
> Thanks in advance.


 Front and rear, BMWs tend to wear the tires differently. The inside edge goes on the rear tires while the outside edge goes on the fronts. In theory, you compromise traction when you rotate the tires. In practice, I can't tell. :dunno:

Edit: This is the reason BMW gives.


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

The reason is a tire that has been worn to the rear pattern may develop cupping when run on the front. The leads o excessive vibration.

BMW doesn't want you to rotate because they don't want to deal with owners bring their cars in for service due to vibration related to tires.

I no longer rotate tires because of problems with this. Of course on our BMWs it is moot due to staggered wheels/tires.


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## F1Crazy (Dec 11, 2002)

I have some questions on tire rotation so I bump this old thread.

Given that I have the same tires on all 4 corners I decided to follow my dealer's recommendation to rotate the tires but I haven't done it often enough to make a difference. I plan to to do tire rotations myself every 5K miles once I get new tires.

My first question is what is the correct rotation pattern on RWD car? I was taught to move rears to opposite fronts and fronts to rears on the same side of the car.

My second question is if I should rotate directional tires, of course the same sides only? Main reason I want to do it is to make them wear evenly and prolong their life.


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

Any rotation pattern that crosses sides naturally only works on non-directional, non-staggered tires. Note that this DOES work on asymmetrical, non-directional tires (like ContiSports). But as has been said in this thread already, the differences in wear patterns may not make this work well, especially if you wait long enough between rotations that there is a noticeable wear pattern.

Just to throw something out there, what might make sense is to try and gauge overall tire life so that they get rotated an odd number of times in their lifetime, no more than 4-6k apart. This would ultimately mean that each tire lives on one end of the car for half its lifetime.


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## tgravo2 (Dec 7, 2002)

would it be any different for tires like pilot sports because the tread points a certain direction and i would want all of them pointing in the same direction. If I put a right rear tire on the front left, the tread pattern would be opposite right?


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

Actually Grassroots Motorsports Magazine tested this. And found unless you are driving through very deep water, it doesn't make a big difference. In fact they tested it at Michelin's SC trest ground. 

Typically rotation is not recommended by BMW due to problems with the rears slightly cupping and this causing vibration in the steering wheel when they are moved to the front.

I have had this happen on other cars, and got out of rotating tires, ESPECIALLY front to rear. I maybe lost a few thousand miles, but it was worth it.

If you really want to do something with directional tires, you can have the flipped on teh rim. This way the outside edge becomes the inside edge. I just did this with my Sumitomo track tires for the front. The left front outer edge was getting a bit worn, but that was the only part of both front tires that ws worn significantly (most road racing tracks run clockwise, so mostly right turns).


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

rumratt said:


> Can anyone expalain why moving the tires from the rear to the front causes cupping? I don't get it.  :dunno:


No, that's not what causes cupping. The rear tires naturally cup in the back (I've seen this for myself, and it wasn't from overinflation) and I can see how putting cupped tires up front could cause handling issues.


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## Pinecone (Apr 3, 2002)

Kaz said:


> No, that's not what causes cupping. The rear tires naturally cup in the back (I've seen this for myself, and it wasn't from overinflation) and I can see how putting cupped tires up front could cause handling issues.


Exactly.

But putting cupped tires on the front, makes the cupping much worse for some reason, so if you then swap them back, you will feel vibration in the rear.

It seems that in the rear, they lightly cup, but then hold that amount. In the front the cupping rapidly increases.

I have found it just isn't worth the vibratio and handling problems for a few thousand miles of tire life, if even that much.


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