HELP NEEDED: front tire feathering

[Haihan]

Hello all,

I’ve been struggling with the front tire featuring issue for years and no one has provided a solution that can effectively address it. Thus I’m looking for some wisdom here.

I have owned the car since it was brand new on the lot with white protective films still on it. It is a 2018 model and currently has 80,000 miles on it. 70% highway, normal driving and no abuse.

I’m on my third set of tires and feathering happened to every set of front tires at round 8/32 tread (rear ones never had a issue). I have asked BMW dealer to investigate this issue every time I was in for serveice, but they kept saying it’s due to the car’s suspension setting and it’s how the car is. Wheel alignment at dealer twice failed to make any difference.

I know this is not going to prevent me from driving and enjoying my car every day but the road noise is really annoying.

Anyone can help here? Thanks in advance!

[tavyx]

I have same issue on my wife's 2017 x3. It's like it is chewing the outside of the tire. the car has never been abused or driven aggressively.

I will follow this thread.

[Clifton]

I’m afraid the dealer is correct. It’s normal for the X5/X6 to feather the outside edge, but not normal in general.

It’s a suspension flaw in the front and there isn’t an adjustment point to correct the positive camber. That’s why alignments won’t really adequately address the issue. I do believe there are some aftermarket solutions that can help.

I’ve opted to live with it until I refresh the suspension.

[jbfrancis3]

Its normal for this chassis to wear the outer front tire edge. There isn't enough negative camber, and there is no camber adjustment, as others have mentioned.

Fortunately, Meyle has come out with a solution to allow adjustment at the upper wishbone. You can get about -0.9 deg of negative camber which will cure the tire wear and make the vehicle turn better.

The other solutions, like KMAC adjustable bushings, don't work - they loosen up. Finally, the X5M solutions are quite a bit more expensive.

These Meyle parts are no-brainers in my opinion, BUT there's a good bit of labor to get them in.
Right: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...ly-31126863786
Left: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...hd-31126863785

[blue dragon]

I had the same issue on my E70 with adaptive drive. Does your car have dynamic drive? The only thing that really fixed it was changing the toe to as close to 0 without being 0 and changing the upper control arms to give some more negative camber.

[Haihan]

Originally Posted by Clifton

I’m afraid the dealer is correct. It’s normal for the X5/X6 to feather the outside edge, but not normal in general.

It’s a suspension flaw in the front and there isn’t an adjustment point to correct the positive camber. That’s why alignments won’t really adequately address the issue. I do believe there are some aftermarket solutions that can help.

I’ve opted to live with it until I refresh the suspension.

I’ve been living with this issue long enough to be ok to ignore it. Was hoping there is an easy fix but it does seem so. Thanks for confirming that dealer is not wrong

[Clifton]

Originally Posted by Haihan

I’ve been living with this issue long enough to be ok to ignore it. Was hoping there is an easy fix but it does seem so. Thanks for confirming that dealer is not wrong

Agree - The fix is to replace the front upper wishbone with an aftermarket component that allows for camber adjustment at the ball joint. If you are going to do that, then you may as well replace the struts and a few other bits too. It's not worth the isolated replacement IMHO.

FCP Euro has a nice user guide (Click Here) for the X5/X6 suspension with DIY how to videos. There is also a section where they mention the issue with the front upper wishbone.

[Haihan]

Originally Posted by jbfrancis3

Its normal for this chassis to wear the outer front tire edge. There isn't enough negative camber, and there is no camber adjustment, as others have mentioned.

Fortunately, Meyle has come out with a solution to allow adjustment at the upper wishbone. You can get about -0.9 deg of negative camber which will cure the tire wear and make the vehicle turn better.

The other solutions, like KMAC adjustable bushings, don't work - they loosen up. Finally, the X5M solutions are quite a bit more expensive.

These Meyle parts are no-brainers in my opinion, BUT there's a good bit of labor to get them in.
Right: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...ly-31126863786
Left: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...hd-31126863785

I wish I am handy enough to put them in myself. But definitely good to know that there is a solution to address this for good. Thanks for replying

[Haihan]

Originally Posted by blue dragon

I had the same issue on my E70 with adaptive drive. Does your car have dynamic drive? The only thing that really fixed it was changing the toe to as close to 0 without being 0 and changing the upper control arms to give some more negative camber.

My car does not have dynamic handling package. Not sure if it is even a package available for f16. Negative camber makes sense.

[Haihan]

Originally Posted by Clifton

Agree - The fix is to replace the front upper wishbone with an aftermarket component that allows for camber adjustment at the ball joint. If you are going to do that, then you may as well replace the struts and a few other bits too. It's not worth the isolated replacement IMHO.

FCP Euro has a nice user guide (Click Here) for the X5/X6 suspension with DIY how to videos. There is also a section where they mention the issue with the front upper wishbone.

Thanks for sharing.

Wondering if simply airing down the front tires could create more tire contact and even out the tread wear. If so, that would be much easier.

[Clifton]

Originally Posted by Haihan

Wondering if simply airing down the front tires could create more tire contact and even out the tread wear. If so, that would be much easier.

That's what I did. I adjusted tire pressure higher to help make the tires last a little longer. My First set of 20" RF Pirellis PZeros lasted 32K miles. At replacement, the feathering had smoothed out the outer tread blocks and they were just starting to blister.

Air Pressure wear factors:
Higher = more center / less outer - better MPG, less wet traction
Lower = more outer /less center - less MPG, better wet traction

[Haihan]

Originally Posted by Clifton

That's what I did. I adjusted tire pressure higher to help make the tires last a little longer. My First set of 20" RF Pirellis PZeros lasted 32K miles. At replacement, the feathering had smoothed out the outer tread blocks and they were just starting to blister.

Air Pressure wear factors:
Higher = more center / less outer - better MPG, less wet traction
Lower = more outer /less center - less MPG, better wet traction

Thanks for confirming my theory. I will start with lowering the pressure.

[clegg]

Rotating the tires regularly also helps, as long as you have a square setup. Same size tires front and rear.

[Tomcat_F15_STL]

I rotate my square setup and am at 40k miles. The outsides are gone.

But, I do not fret because they are Run-Flats, right!

[TENSNE1]

I'm new to this forum, does anyone have any experience or comments on Atlas Force UHP tires?

[Haihan]

Originally Posted by clegg

Rotating the tires regularly also helps, as long as you have a square setup. Same size tires front and rear.

Mine is staggered unfortunately.