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Car Forum / BMW Cars / August 2005

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Tyre Stability Problem E46 330D with GY Eagle F1 gsd3

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M C - 06 Aug 2005 09:19 GMT
Hi,

I have a E46 330D SE Touring (MY2000).  I've been running it on 225/45ZR17
Good Year Eagle F1 GSD3 now for about 40,000 miles but the rears needed
changing as they were almost illegal, however the front tyres were fine.  I
decided to keep the front tyres and install 2 new tyres of the same type
exactly on the rear.  So thats what I did, and after driving out of the tyre
shop I noticed that the car's handling had changed dramatically.  The car
was handling brilliant up to the tyre swap and now it's down there with the
worst ever handling car I've ever had!

I thought that it might be me being oversensitive at first so I left it for
a while in the hope that it would improve.   I've checked the tyre pressures
twice and tried the car at the low end and high end of whats acceptable
based on the door sticker tyre pressure guide.  I've also checked that the
wheels are on tight and it's been in to a BMW specialist who cannot find any
fault with it.  However, the car handles like a 'boat' and feels dangerous
at speed.  It tramlines a lot and the rear of the car wants to steer on its
own and needs constant attention and correction of the steering.  Often I
head over the while lines and need to pull the car over.  Its really quite
bad on the motorway!

Has anyone any idea what may be causing this and how I can get the fault
identified and remedied ?

I am taking it back to the tyre shop hopefully today to get the tracking
looked at and see if the tyres may be at fault.

Thanks for all your help

Marc
fbloogyudsr - 06 Aug 2005 16:43 GMT
> I have a E46 330D SE Touring (MY2000).  I've been running it on 225/45ZR17
> Good Year Eagle F1 GSD3 now for about 40,000 miles but the rears needed
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> I am taking it back to the tyre shop hopefully today to get the tracking
> looked at and see if the tyres may be at fault.

You are probably going to have to get new front tires, too.  Try this:
swap the fronts for the rears.  If it doesn't tramline as much, either
leave the new ones on the front, or get another set.

I have a 330xi with that size summer tires (actually, they're the US's
325i sport package wheel/tire), and when I put on my summer tires
this spring I had a similar experience.  I swapped them around so that the
best (least worn) tires were on the front and it was magic.  I'll be sure
to mark them this fall so that doesn't happen again.

Floyd
Pete - 06 Aug 2005 23:46 GMT
>  So thats what I did, and after driving out of the tyre shop I noticed
> that the car's handling had changed dramatically.  The car was
> handling brilliant up to the tyre swap and now it's down there with
> the worst ever handling car I've ever had!

You've probably checked this already, but if not, make sure the tires
are mounted the correct way, since they're directional.

Brand new tires will not feel as quick and responsive as worn out ones
due to tread depth.  More tread - more squirm.  Also, new tires need a
few hundred miles to break in - that's when all the manufacturing
greases wear off.  But none of that would explain such a dramatic change
in handling like you described.  Something else is going on.

Cheers,

Pete
M C - 07 Aug 2005 22:21 GMT
Thanks for your input.

I went back to the tyre shop and they swapped the front with the rears so
that the new tyres are now on the front and the worn ones on the rear.

The car is far better, and immediately back to it's predictable ways.  I
also spoke to a friend of mine at the weekend who claims that new tyres
should normally be fitted to the non-driven wheels and says that there's
some explanation for this. (He drives a Westfield).   To complicate matters
further I had read somewhere else in the past that with a rear wheel drive
car to put the new tyres on the rear.  It's difficult to know what to do for
the best!  Maybe it's dependent on brand and tread design ?  Pretty weird
that such a noticable change in handling can be caused by fitting new tyres.
I'd go as far as saying that the car actually seemed quite dangerous for the
duration that I was trying to get this sorted out.   Anyway, I'm happy again
now.

If anyone has a scientific explanation for this anomaly can you please
oblige and add to the thread.

Thanks

Marc

>>  So thats what I did, and after driving out of the tyre shop I noticed
>> that the car's handling had changed dramatically.  The car was handling
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> Pete
Mike G - 08 Aug 2005 01:57 GMT
> Thanks for your input.
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> If anyone has a scientific explanation for this anomaly can you please
> oblige and add to the thread.

I've no doubt it has something to do with slip angles being greater with new
tyres than part worn.
I'll leave it to someone else to expand on that theory. :-)
Mike.
zerouali - 08 Aug 2005 11:02 GMT
Always new tyres to the back, no matter what wheels drive the car. The AA
(major motoring organisation in UK), Michelin, Kuhmo and Yokohama all state
this, and that's just what I could find in two minutes of googling! Always
to the back! :-)

>> Thanks for your input.
>>
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
> I'll leave it to someone else to expand on that theory. :-)
> Mike.
Pete - 08 Aug 2005 15:20 GMT
> Always new tyres to the back, no matter what wheels drive the car.

Well, the OP did just that, yet experienced major handling issues until he
put the new tires on the front.  Personally, I'm still puzzled by this,
unless he had some sort of an alignment issue.

Cheers,

Pete
zerouali - 09 Aug 2005 16:05 GMT
>> Always new tyres to the back, no matter what wheels drive the car.
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Pete

I'm none the wiser as to why the OP has the problem he did, but when it
comes to tyres I tend to trust the people who make them, they usually know
best!
Mike G - 10 Aug 2005 11:06 GMT
> >> Always new tyres to the back, no matter what wheels drive the car.
> >
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> comes to tyres I tend to trust the people who make them, they usually know
> best!

In a general sense, yes. In particular, not necessarily.
Mike.
zerouali - 08 Aug 2005 11:03 GMT
Here's a link : http://www.michelin.co.uk/uk/auto/auto_cons_bib_pqr_neuf.jsp

>> Thanks for your input.
>>
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
> I'll leave it to someone else to expand on that theory. :-)
> Mike.
 
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