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Camber is the angle at which your wheels are slanted in or out when looking from the rear or front. If the top of the tire slants inward, its negative camber. Slanted out is positive.
My '06 BMW X3 (all-wheel) typically is set with a lot of negative rear wheel camber (-1,5 to 2.0 degrees), and a small amount of negative (-0.5 degree) in front -- factory specs.
They call for that because they say it drives safer at high speeds (technical exam withheld), but the payback is significantly shorter tire life from uneven tread wear. We don't have autobahns in the US, so I'm thinking of having the next set of tires set at 0 degrees if possible. The car will handle differently, but I'm betting not significantly so.
The current set of skins have approx 41,000 miles on them, with the outer edges down to near cord level. Very uneven wear and they are maxxed out for further use. I know that all-wheel drive vehicles get less tire mileage because all the tires are constantly stressed. But at this point, I'd like to get more from the next set.
What are your thoughts?
Follow Ups:
Would you describe your driving habits as spirited?
Your vehicle's excellent road holding ability could encourage driving that does not promote tire longevity.
I recently recycled my '88 Mazda 626 4WS under the California 'buy back program' at 227,000 miles with a failing trasmission. The four Michelins were still fully legal and had 80,000 miles on them, but I had been driving that car very carefully the last ten years (I'm weird) because I really did want to see how far it would go.
I once did alignments for a living and found that on very small cars placing about 75 lbs on the drivers seat made for a more accurate alignment.
I wouldn't recommend altering BMW specs.
Also weird in that I'm curious in how far this car will go. Half a mil or bust!
The service director at the local BMW store said I could have one of their loaners for a weekend if I ever wanted to try one out. It seemed like they always had major engine and transmission work going on in their shop though so it always worried me about getting problem free big miles out of one. We've had Acuras since 1980 and have gotten almost 300,000 miles out of each one of three of them. The first two rusted out at high mileage but mechanically would have most likely made 500k without a problem.
We got caught in a hail storm in the third Acura about three weeks ago and it did more damage than blue book on it. We got the check from the insurance company and I'm thinking of taking advantage of that BMW for a weekend.
Only problem is my wife doesn't want to because "she knows she'll love it and want one." I told her that is one poor excuse. She said she'd rather travel with that kind of money.
The 3-Series is their bread-and-butter lineup; few problems with the motors, trannies, or drivelines, or so I'm told.
My X3 has been rock solid in those regards, but the small crap (and BMW will give you much of that) like sunroofs, heated seats, interior electronic gadgets, etc, are all nagging items. I think any make of car suffers these. I have never replaced a muffler or any exhaust components. No wheel bearings. Only one battery and one set of MacPherson struts in the 9 years and 227,000 miles I've had it and put on it.
I just returned from a 5,600-mile road trip to Detroit, round-about, and used only 1 quart of oil. No transmission, transfer case, differentials, u-joints, ball joints, ... nuthin' replaced in those areas. That's why I'm trying to keep it. I change fluids quite often.
The X5 (5-Series line) on the other hand, has not fared so well in the basics.
I'm kidding, because whether finally assembled by BMW or Magna, the components are sourced from other third parties. You would like the new X3, made in America by BMW, but you should keep yours as long as you can. Only replace it if you want a completely different kind of car.
The new ones drive nice, but once mine kicks it in, then I'll probably shop for a used Yugo or something.
These early X3's ('04 through '13, I think) were made in Austria by contract to Magna Steyr, a company that does not badge the cars they make for others, but is one of the largest auto manufacturing companies. Short on finesse; long on stout.
A running Yugo may be hard to find.
Even junkyards won't take them. Since White's infamy, no one wants to be that close to one.
I'm having the BMW shop do the aligning. I'll ask for a wear analysis at that time.
Especially concerning the toe-in -- thanks Lee.
Its been quite awhile since I've had an alignment, preceeding this current set of tires, so anything found out of whack has to include my negligence.
I'll place a follow-up here if I find any significant news.
What tire manufacturer and model tires are you using? Makes a difference in wear.
Thanks!
They were at a great price and have a stiffer sidewall than some others in the showroom, so I went for a set. I take my X3 off-pavement, so I wanted the stiffness.
40k on your car seems really good to me. But, since you do so many miles on highways and have outer edge wear, you should check the alignment, more likely toe, as Lee says, and think about tire pressure. Cold pressure at most monthly, alignment annually. Rotate every 5k. They probably can't adjust the camber as much as you were thinking, and anyway, too much negative camber would wear the inside edges. Unless you're looking for a dofferent feel, I wouldnt stray from the specs. Check the BMW forums for your model and see if other owners are running a little more tire pressure than BMW specifies.
Haven't heard of that model. I ran Yokohama AVS on the 2002Ti. Very good tires. I liked them much more, than Pirelli P7's. No longer made. Think ADVAN Neova AD08-R are the closest things, these days.
Edits: 09/01/15
Wifes Mazda6 CAME with Yokohama A83A ADVAN skins. So far, with only 2400 miles or so, I really like 'em.
If available AND these last properly, I'll replace them with 'same'. which is something I have never done before.
Tire Rack gives 'em a 2.5 on a 5 point scale, with worst marks for the snow category.
Too much is never enough
Edits: 09/01/15
"The current set of skins have approx 41,000 miles on them, with the outer edges down to near cord level. "Yeah, that's not normal wear. You need to go to another shop.
Aside - I had an '89 Acura Legend. When the original tires wore out, I put on a set of Pirelli tires. Never again. It was like driving around on balloons - no control.
BTW, I've met Lee M, and he knows what he's talkin' about on this topic.
:)
Edits: 09/01/15
If your tire are wearing on the outside edges, bringing the camber more positive and closer to zero would accentuate the problem if that were indeed the problem. That's assuming that the camber is set close to the -.5 and -1.5 settings now. BMW went even further negative to -.67 and -2.25 on the 05 X3. Cars are generally tolerant of camber with regard to tire wear.
I'd bet money you'll find too much toe-in as the culprit if they are wearing on the outside edges. I'd certainly try running the toe toward zero and then see how it handles. Wet or snowy roads would be where you would want to test drive it as that's where it would probably show any bad handling characteristics first that could be induced by varying the specs.
Un-calibrated equipment or technicians could certainly also be an issue. P.S. I installed and calibrated wheel alignment equipment for 30 years before retiring.
I've heard or read about issues with this SUV. But, nothing specific about wheel alignment or tire wear issues. Except, with those Run-Flat tires. They seems to have problems.
You may want to have someone else check your wheel alignment. The repair place you use may not have calibrated their instruments.
1.5 to 2 degrees negative camber rear and 0.5 neg front is not too bad. Prolly done to maintain road contact, during high speed turns. Maintain understeer, which is comfortable to most drivers.
What brand & model of tires are you using? The wear issue could be more of a specific tire thing, than an alignment issue.
I'll inquire at the BMW shop. They have pretty good alignment tools for their cars.
After I posted, I started to think maybe the particular tires are suspect -- Yokohamas -- which are not in their preferred tire inventory (a Discount Tire value special).
I put a PAIR of Yokes on my wifes Camry. She drives like Maria Andretti. Good results.
Her NEW car comes with Yokes so I'll let you know in 40k miles
Key? ROTATE 'em on a regular schedule. My OEM tires on my 'Lament were replaced at 35K with poor and uneven wear. They were getting NOISY, too. Never rotated 'em, either.
The new tires? A good, 2nd string tire, the Kuhmo. So Far? 34K miles and much more to go. BUT, i rotate at 5K intervals Like Clockwork. That made all the difference.
Allignment checked when I bought the new tires, but NOTHING adjusted.
Too much is never enough
Can't rotate.
What is 'staggered' tire setup?
If you mean different sizes front and rear? Now THAT's a problem.
If by staggered you mean the tires were aired with Nitrous, than that's a different problem.
Stock the X3 is a single size vehicle. Is this an 'M' version or something?
Too much is never enough
Yup. Different sized wheels. Think it depends on what package the owner bought.
A couple posts up, 'free', the OP says same size wheels.
all wheel drive works BEST that way. Differential sizing is difficult to make work with different size tires. You'll 'wind up' a driveline. At least that was so in the 'old days'.
All I KNOW is that tire rotation helps a LOT and is worthwhile.
Too much is never enough
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