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Re: Thanks! "New" 1998 528i (archive)
[ Follow Ups ] [ 5-series (E39) Message Board ] [ Msg. Board FAQ ]
Posted by Jim Cash on July 23, 2000 at 10:30:48:

In Reply to: Thanks! "New" 1998 528i posted by Bill on July 23, 2000 at 08:30:57:


Here's one: The owners guide recommends against rotating the tires from front axle to back, and vice versa? What's up with that?

-Bill


Tires develope their best adheasion after they wear-in a tad - adapting to the usage pattern for that wheel.

Front wheels have a different contact patch than rears. Every time you change them the contact patch is not optimum, and it takes a few hundred miles to achieve that.

Therefore every time you change you loose some period of performance.

While rotation may give you more even wear, and some longer life, you have to balance that against the costs of:

- time/cost to rotate.
- less than optimum performance for periods.
- possible confusion regarding ballance issues if you are moving around wheels that are not perfectly ballanced.

I think BMW are taking the "easy approach" and saying they don't recommend it, because these trade-off issues make it more of a hassle than it is worth.

Cheers
Jim Cash

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