Dont know the actual date, I'll look it up later. Dunlop says they have a 5 year warranty from date of sale if I have the receipt, which I have.

Tyre pressures are as recommended, I check regularly, and there's a warning system on the car just in case.

A few years ago when my car went in for its MOT the tester noted that there was "cosmetic" cracking on the sidewalls but it was not an issue. It was for me since I check my tyres regularly and had not seen the cracks a couple of weeks earlier, they were that obvious.

Spoke to Michelin, only had the tyres about 3 years and 15,000 miles (used winter tyres 5 months a year) but the date code siad they were actually 2 years older. They said they they warranty tyres 6 years from the manufactured date and set out the proceedure which was replace tyres, take tyres to ATS who would then send themback to Michelin for inspection. If they were deemed faulty I would get a %age of the cost of new tyres refunded.

It was late September by this time so I stuck the winter tyres/rims on and the tyre chappy up the street took the Michelins off for a drink. Once off the tims the cracks were much worse than they appeared, you could actually see the reinforcement so I took the tyres to ATS who moaned about it costing them money to send the tyres back etc etc but when I said to leave it and I would contact Michelin again regarding alternative arrangements he shut up and gave me a receipt for the 4 tyres.

About 3 weeks later I got a letter saying that Michelin would be issuing a cheque for about £192 which I received the next day.

Before the following summer arrived I spotted a set of alloys on E-Bay the same as mine that were fitted with virtually new "summer" tyres and they were only about 15 miles from home. Put a bid on them and to my shock I was the only bidder, got them for £65. Seller seemed upset when I collected them but that was his problem. They were exactly as described, 2 as new Uniroyals and 2 as new Vriedesten tyres on slightly grotty rims. Chap up the street fitted the tyres to my own rims for a drink so I had 4 new tyres and a spare set of rims for little more than the cost of one new tyre.

Sold rims on E-Bay the follwing October for £170, what a result.

So I would suggest you let Dunlop deal with the tyres, hopefully they are as genuine as Michelin.

The cracks are reported on the BMW dealer service sheet as "tyres perished in between treads", but I must confess I didn't look at the MOT cert. I will when I get home.

Edited by Dean Duneclift on 25/08/2016 at 15:52