Just looking for a bit of advice..
Have had a few issues with a BMW AUC car I bought a few weeks back and have been complaining about the pulling to the left almost ever since.
The car has now been KDS and was found to be out of alignment. This has been done at their cost (thankyou)
I do however, feel that the tyre should also be replaced as to me it is worn on the inner edge.
The salesman (and tyre tech) say that the tyre does not need replacement ?
I know that a legal tyre has to be over 1.6mm over 3/4 of the tyre but what about inner edge wear ? what is the required limits ?
here is the tyre which is the rear passenger side :-
tinyurl.com/yl5btds
when this picture was taken I had put on about 670 miles
Edited by Pugugly on 18/11/2009 at 08:56
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It must have visible tread over the remaining 25% and as such, although it is hard to be conclusive from just a photo, I would say that your tyre is illegal as the tread blocks appear to be flush with the lower surface of the casing at one point.
Hope this helps,
Neil
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An interesting posting. Sorry I can't provide an answer but have had a similar experience with BMWs.
For a couple of years I had a BMW 118d fitted with run-flats as a company car. The back tyres weared fairly evenly (as you'd expect with an "enthusiastically" driven RWD) but the fronts weared (at about 38,000) to the point at which they were bald on the outside but still had sufficient tread for the remaining 75%. To me, the car didn't handle as well and felt borderline unsafe particularly in the wet/damp on fast flowing roundabouts.
The leasing company refused to authorise changing the tyres, and in retrospect I wish I'd offer the Kwik-Fit chap a test run to demonstrate the issue. Might be worth showing them with a swift 5min test run the problem?
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Sorry it's still legal.
However it may start to pull drift over when in a straight line you need the tracking doing also check for worn/bent steering components.
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To me the car didn't handle as well and felt borderline unsafe particularly in the wet/damp on fast flowing roundabouts.
I could show you similar handling behaviour on "as new" tyres just by going faster than is prudent for the conditions!
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I find that new tyres offer very low grip for the first few hundred miles until they get scrubbed in - especially in the wet.
As for the OPs tyre - legal, only just though - IMO.
If it had worn that badly after around 600 miles due to a fault with the car I would expect the tyre to be replaced.
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My old banger has just passed it's MOT again much to my amazement - the two rear tyres were wearing on outer edges and front near side was also - took it to a national tyre dept and they said front was because of where we live - loads of roundabouts - I had two new rears fitted then booked it in at a specialist wheel tracking company - they use bluetooth equipment and check from 16 points on car - rear left was 4mm toe in and right 2mm toe in - front's were OK but they adjusted camber or cast - cost me £58 but was worth every penny - car goes round corner smooth instead of the threepenny bit way it went before and on motorway at the average outside lane speed it feels steady and secure.
I will never use any national type tyre chain again for tracking.
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I'm sorry but having had another look at the photo on a bigger monitor (previously viewed on my iPhone) I am convinced that this tyre is illegal... There is clearly a band at the right hand side of the tyre which has no visible tread. I would certainly not drive on such a tyre.
Neil
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I've just spoken to the dealer pricipal who will give me his opinion later today.
it seems that although it would pass an MOT, I possibly might still get pulled on it by police.
There just dosen't seem to be any stipulation about the inner tread wear....
or not that I can find it anyway
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There is clearly a band at the right hand side of the tyre which has no visible tread.
Legally there only has to be visible tread for the entire circumference of the tyre - bald edges are OK.
Merc's wear their front tyres on the outer edges and I got an advisory on mine one year. I didn't use the car much the next year and the tyres weren't mentioned at the next MOT. Both tests done at the same MB dealers.
I changed them, but only because they looked bad. The centres still had 4mm.
Edited by Bill Payer on 18/11/2009 at 10:04
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If that tyre has done less than 700 miles from new I'd want it replacing free of charge.
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So the tyre has worn because the car's suspension was misaligned - I'd be making threatening noises about Trading Standards etc, etc.
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If the tracking is wrong, it would tend to wear both front tyres on the insides or outsides.
If it's just one tyre that's affected, it could be that the wheel is out of alignment vertically, which is usually more difficult to fix (depending on the type of car). Possibly a suspension issue or distortion in the cars's structure? Or, on a less morbid note, maybe it's just a faulty tyre with a distorted cross-section causing the wear. I had that problem once - tyre wearing rapidly on the edge - replaced it and the new tyre showed no signs of early wear.
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If the tracking is wrong it would tend to wear both front tyres on the insides or outsides.
Whenever I've had tracking problems in the past, it's only ever worn one tyre on the inner or outer edge, not both of them.
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