Best practise - Tires and rear Tires life - Rex

[EVMan]

I have not been following the recent developments in i3 tires

My problem is this
i3 is fun to drive , and for that you need to press the accelerator.
if you press the accelerator , due to low milage life and staggered design of rear wheels, by 12k miles , the delater will declare your rear wheel need replacement and unsafe to drive. They will even refuse to swap Left -Right by 12k , as they say , insufficient life is left in them.

The problem is compounded by that fact, most tier companies including costco, only offer discounts , when you replace all 4 wheels together. Even after discounts , its like more than $650 for 4 wheels, for these purposely designed proprietary wheels.

Any comments on solutions.
1) is there a 3rd party tier available now ???? I am not concerned of low range mileage , due to rex

2) Is there a place i can get a discount to replace only 2 tiers at a time.
I was thinking , replace rear wheel every 15K. Will the front one will last for 30K ? Then i can replace all for together at 30K miles

3) Can i just buy 2 snow rear wheels ? Use snow wheel in rear , this way extend the life of rear wheels .

I hate to throw out good front wheels , due to the rear wheels, specially the right rear ( first to wear unevenly ) and throwing is cheaper than replacing only 2

.
I like this car, but all the savings of electricity is wiped out due to the rear wheels.
P.S. - recently had a flat tier of rear. the inflator did not help. the cra had to be toed. luckily i had a older tier, got it replaced.

 

[Fisher99]

I buy my tires from www.tirerack.com. They will want to sell you 4, but if you use the website it will allow you to order just 2.

 

[EVMan]

I never used winter tires before. I am planning to relocate to a place with snow conditions.
I read winter tires are same size 155 in back and front , even for Rex

So when i install the winter tiers, will i need a new rim for back ? Do 155 and 175 tiers use different rims ? I have 19" wheels.
Thx

 

[eXodus]

what is you miles/kwh ? My car gets 30k out of the rear tires at 4miles/kwh.

The front tires where changed @36k miles

You can change them separate from each other. They are different sizes anyhow - so doesn't matter if you only change rear or front.

I always only change the axel which is worn down. Only on 4WD cars - changing all 4 is recommended at the same time.
Otherwise - as necessary.

 

[eXodus]

3) Can i just buy 2 snow rear wheels ? Use snow wheel in rear , this way extend the life of rear wheels .

I hate to throw out good front wheels , due to the rear wheels, specially the right rear ( first to wear unevenly ) and throwing is cheaper than replacing only 2

.
I like this car, but all the savings of electricity is wiped out due to the rear wheels.
P.S. - recently had a flat tier of rear. the inflator did not help. the cra had to be toed. luckily i had a older tier, got it replaced.

Sounds like you got an alignment/suspension problem, which is eating the tires -one tire should never wear more then the others.

Get the car a 4 wheel WEIGHTED alignment. Your BMW dealer does that, or a really high end tires places.

So they weigh all 4 corners of the car and get it adjusted. If you only get a regular one - your car will eat tires.

 

[alohart]

I hate to throw out good front wheels , due to the rear wheels, specially the right rear ( first to wear unevenly ) and throwing is cheaper than replacing only 2

Sounds like you got an alignment/suspension problem, which is eating the tires -one tire should never wear more then the others.

Many i3 owners have reported faster right rear tire wear which is happening with our BEV as well. Our i3 has averaged 5.2 mi/kWh since it was new, so I don't drive aggressively. I rotate side to side to even out the tire wear. I've not had the alignment checked, so the faster right rear tire wear rate might be due to a misalignment. I'd suspect that this is the case if I hadn't read so many other reports of faster right rear tire wear.

 

[eNate]

I've ordered four tires but had only 2 installed. So that yoy don't become overstocked on fronts, you can order four rears and take two home. An added benefit to having an extra front sitting around is for use as a spare, since these are sometimes not in stock.

 

[eXodus]

Many i3 owners have reported faster right rear tire wear which is happening with our BEV as well. Our i3 has averaged 5.2 mi/kWh since it was new, so I don't drive aggressively. I rotate side to side to even out the tire wear. I've not had the alignment checked, so the faster right rear tire wear rate might be due to a misalignment. I'd suspect that this is the case if I hadn't read so many other reports of faster right rear tire wear.

Might be good idea to get a recall going

So everyone I talked to - which had that weighted alignment done - improved their tire wear. The standard two wheel alignment check does nothing for the i3.

You need 4 wheel - corner weighted, alignment.
The dealer needs to put in a few hundred pounds of ballast into the car, at certain places.
That's in the BMW spec.

And you got a 2014 - that's 7 years - it's recommended to get the alignment checked every 2 years! So you are well overdue my friend. Most of my other cars had one worn tire after 2 years and needed an alignment.

 

[alohart]

And you got a 2014 - that's 7 years - it's recommended to get the alignment checked every 2 years! So you are well overdue my friend. Most of my other cars had one worn tire after 2 years and needed an alignment.

Our i3 has been in storage for a total of 2 years and hasn't been driven much when not in storage. As a result, it's been driven only 11k miles. It has always tracked straight, hasn't had any incident that might have affected its alignment, and wear on all tires has been even across their treads, so I see no evidence of a misalignment. The right rear tire's tread had worn ~1/32" (~0.8 mm) more than the left rear tire in 11k miles (18k km), so is it's pretty minor and apparently fairly common.

Also, changes in alignment aren't a function of time but are a function of distance driven. The recommendation that our i3 have an alignment check every 2 years would mean every ~3.3k miles. At that rate, I'd pay as much as much for alignment checks in 10k miles as I'd pay for 4 new tires yet my tires are on schedule to last more than 30k miles. That's a ridiculous waste of money, so I'll pass for now!

If I hit something that shocks the suspension, if I measure uneven tire wear, or when I buy new tires, I'll have the alignment checked. However, having it checked every 2 years makes no sense unless one just wants to contribute to an alignment shop's bottom line.

 

[eXodus]

Also, changes in alignment aren't a function of time but are a function of distance driven. The recommendation that our i3 have an alignment check every 2 years would mean every ~3.3k miles. At that rate, I'd pay as much as much for alignment checks in 10k miles as I'd pay for 4 new tires yet my tires are on schedule to last more than 30k miles. That's a ridiculous waste of money, so I'll pass for now!

Like I said it's a recommendation. Not a rule, So you are not the average driver the recommendation had in mind.

The initial thread poster is running down a tire after 15k miles - you haven't even driven that far. What you drive in a year I drive in two months.

At your rate I wouldn't do a alignment myself. Your tires age out, before they get worn out :lol:

But I had enough new cars to say:
Do not assume a car comes perfectly aligned from the factory.

 

[EVMan]

1) I like the idea of ordering 4 wheels at a time , but replacing the front and back at different times.

This will save money e,g. Costco will offer $150 additional rebate , ONLY when you buy 4 wheels, that is on top discount of buying 4 wheels as a set

It comes to like $200 in savings which is almost as 1.5 tiers free when you buy set of 4.

4 set - $650
2 rear $460
These wheels are among the costly ones

My Honda civic tires lasted 60K and were cheaper. so this savings is not a luxury for me. kind of negating a drawback on i3 tire cost issue.


2) I would like to make a distinction between people using their wheels for 20k or more miles and the car declare declaring the tires are worn out and unsafe .

When i went for the tire rotation at 13K miles, the Firestome / wheel works declines that ,he will NOT do so , as the rear wheels at 13K have insufficient tread for a tier rotation. He claim by law they cannot do rotation with this less tred, and you drive at your own risk.

Of course i am still using them like some people claim they last longer ( but its always in the back of my mind that i am taking a risk, trying to save money , and may regret on a rainy day )

same issue with all the lease return cars in CA
All cards with 15k miles or more , had issues with wheels when the lease was over. BMW charged tire replacement costs, and that made some pople very unhappy.
So yes people like me use it longer. But not sure , if its wise , when tire experts declare it to be unwise to drive on those wheels ???