Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[yipronny]

Hi all,

I recently replaced my rear right tire due to a mysterious slash on the inner sidewall while I was driving on the highway. It lost pressure completely. I didn't notice I hit anything and I inspected my dashcam footage as well. I ended up replacing my tire and noticed the slashed tire was balding on the inner excessively. The alignment shop said it's normal since that's how BMWs are setup like that but mine are wearing waaaay more than the usual.

Within a month my rear left leaked air as well, I haven't had the time to take it to a shop yet. But I find no nails or slashes or any sort of signs leading to air loss. I tried pumping air at a gas station and i hear it leaking out from the inner side rims immediately. Any thoughts if an improper alignment can lead to flat tires?

Thanks

[juld0zer]

Yes, it is a valid reason amongst many.

[techwhiz]

I have had a tire go bald on the inner shoulder.
1. get a proper alignment and have them dial out all negative camber possible.
2. Never run with an under inflated tire.

Unlike most cars a BMW with negative camber will wear the inner shoulder not the middle of the tire if under inflated. Once that starts happening, there is no way to reverse it. You are better off running them slightly over inflated (hard) to prevent this.

Originally Posted by techwhiz

1. get a proper alignment and have them dial out all negative camber possible.

That's the most Prius answer ever.

Dial out toe, sure...negative camber though? Might as well trade the car in for a golf cart.

[techwhiz]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

That's the most Prius answer ever.

Dial out toe, sure...negative camber though? Might as well trade the car in for a golf cart.

Even if you dial out the camber on a e90 it's still negative. The limits of dialing it out make it impossible to get the tires perfectly straight. You want the minimum negative camber if you want tire wear.

Unless you are tracking the car, you won't be able to tell the difference. Wider tires aggravate this inside wear pattern. I'm running a 19x9.5 with a 275/30.

Dialing the toe is not what affects the inside wear.
Long tire life and great handling do not go hand in hand. Pick one, and live with the other.

Originally Posted by techwhiz

Even if you dial out the camber on a e90 it's still negative. The limits of dialing it out make it impossible to get the tires perfectly straight. You want the minimum negative camber if you want tire wear.

Unless you are tracking the car, you won't be able to tell the difference. Wider tires aggravate this inside wear pattern. I'm running a 19x9.5 with a 275/30.

Dialing the toe is not what affects the inside wear.
Long tire life and great handling do not go hand in hand. Pick one, and live with the other.

Absolutely not true at all...please do some reading on the subject before making such bombastic claims.

[shadow191]

If you're in OEM camber range, it shouldn't be enough to actually wear through the cords and so on. I ran right at -1.8 in the rear and didn't have excessive camber wear. The inside wore quicker but it was still relatively even wear from centerline in. I ran -3 camber on my other car and still go 20K from the tires. Improper toe will chew through tires much quicker than negative camber will. I once went through a front tire in a few thousand miles because the toe was out on that side (likely hit a pothole). Replaced tire and aligned car and no more excessive wear. Camber wasn't changed but getting toe back into spec made tire wear go away.

OP, I doubt excessive tire wear caused your sidewall to fail. You'd have to go through the rubber and cords and get the the metal. Did you ever run the tire low? If you did that for long enough, you can damage the sidewall and it is more prone to fail. Maybe this is a good lesson to regularly do a visual inspection of your tires.