Buying new tires for your BMW is likely not a task that you look forward to. It’s more than the hassle of picking out a place, finding the right kind of tires for both front and rear, and driving your vehicle in to get the tire replaced. It can also be a costly process. Each tire may cost hundreds of dollars. So, it’s wise to make the most of your investment. There are ways that you can make your BMW’s tires last longer, which also have side benefits like keeping other parts of the vehicle in good condition as well. Here are several tips we have to keep your BMW tires in good condition.
Change Your Driving Habits
Certain driving habits that you may have contributed to early tire wear. They create more friction between the tires and the road, which wears down the tread faster. Here are some of those habits:
- Spinning your tires: Of course, spinning your tires when you’re not moving forward creates a great deal of friction that can wear down your tires.
- Hard braking: Hard braking will also wear down your tires. You should not be afraid to hard brake when you need to, the safety risks aren’t worth saving your tires. However, you should try to avoid putting yourself in a situation where you have to hit the brakes very hard.
- Fast acceleration: Quick acceleration stresses the tires. Although, if you enjoy the responsiveness of your vehicle, you may want to keep accelerating quickly regardless of how it affects your tires.
- Driving at high speed: Again, if you enjoy driving your BMW at high speeds, or you travel on the highway frequently for practical reasons, it may not be worth it for you to try to limit this just to save some of the tread on your tire. However, you should know that fast driving will wear your tires out faster.
Regular Visual Inspections & Audio Check
Catching problems early is key to adjust your vehicle and prevent further wear to your tires. Performing a regular visual inspection, yourself, or having the professionals do it, is helpful to notice these issues. Here is what you should be looking for if you want to look your tires over yourself:
- Tread wear: Can you see uneven wear or diagonal marks on any of the tires?
- Scrapes: Deep scrapes are a bad sign and may indicate tire wear from rolling against curbs, potholes, or other wear.
- Bulges: Bulges in tires are not a good sign and may mean the tires need to be replaced.
Unusual noises while driving can also be a sign that your tires need to be replaced.
Maintain the Right Air Pressure
Every tire has an ideal air pressure range that it is designed to operate within. Your tires will be installed at the right pressure. However, temperature and time affect air pressure. Eventually, they may need to be adjusted. In fact, they may lose one or two pounds of pressure a month and need to be adjusted monthly. Some vehicles will alert you to very high or very low tire pressures, but others will not. If yours does not, it is a wise idea to use a pressure gauge once per month to measure every tire.
Ensure Proper Alignment
All four tires need to work in tandem in order to keep the tires in proper condition. When one or more of your tires is out of alignment, they will put additional stress on certain tires and wear them down faster, and on dangerous angles that can make driving more difficult and stress other parts of the car. Tires that are worn down improperly can become dangerous, pulling your vehicle in one direction.
You can visually check on the alignment of the tires, but the various problems can be hard to spot for the untrained eye. Essentially, the ties should look straight when you’re looking at them from the front or back. They shouldn’t tilt one way or the other.
Before improper alignment starts to affect your vehicle, you can get the wheels professionally aligned to your manufacturer’s specifications. Checking on alignment regularly and getting it fixed will help you keep your tires in good condition.
Complete Tire Rotations
Tire rotations are a wise idea to keep your current tires as long as possible. Naturally, some tires will be worn faster than others. By switching them up, you can wear them as evenly as possible. Some BMWs have different front and rear tires, so these can only be swapped with one another. Nevertheless, it is still a good idea.
In need of an alignment or tire rotation? Contact us today!