[clemsondds]

Hey guys, I have a 435i gc and it has been serviced at the same dealership I purchased it from. I am right at 2 years, on my 3 year lease. I took it to get my state inspection, and the front tires failed. They only has 12k miles on them and the middle of the front tires and the back tires are in great shape. But the outside edge are very thin. I had them pick up the car yesterday and take it back to take a look at it. Today I heard from them and they said that the wheel alignment definitely caused the excess wear on the tires.
My question is: am I responsible for wheel alignment on a lease? I think I am but I'm just checking. The kicker is that I just had the car in service there 2 months ago and they didn't say anything about it. Am I just up the creek or do I have any recourse? I figured I would need to buy tires at the end of the lease but not with only 12k miles on them. I have had the car in for service with them, several times and they have never said anything about it. And for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure I have the wheel and tire insurance.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[clemsondds]

Anyone?

[dc503]

Yes, you are responsible for alignments if necessary.

[Billfitz]

I bet the car was out of alignment from day one. The dealer wouldn't know it, because unless you ask to have it checked they won't. But they should have noticed the wear on the tires.
You said the middle was ok and the edges thin. That's usually from under-inflation, especially if it happened on both the front and rear. The front will wear faster, due to scrubbing in turns. Did you ever have the tires rotated? Undue wear should have been noticed if they did.

[otay]

Similar situation for me. 2 years into lease, had state inspection last week and the right front tire was considerably more worn on the outside. All 4 tires were worn enough to be replaced, which I did.

Then went to the dealer for alignment. $170 later and the front camber was off by a significant amount.

I had put Michelin A/S 3's on the car at 2000 miles (now at 16k), and did not get an alignment at that time, so maybe it's my fault. (Kinda hard to believe the Michelin's wore out in 14k miles though)

[mmmmm235i]

I have had a similar problem on every BMW I have owned or leased. You are responsible for this under a lease and the kicker is if your tires failed inspection it is most likely that your tire insurance will not cover them because they measure wear at the lowest point. So even if the rest of the tire has plenty of tread, you are out of luck. Personally I think that the wheel and tire coverage is a scam. The warranty does not cover replacement of bent rims unless the wheel no longer holds air. This is laughable when the car is advertised as a sports car and comes standard with tires speed rated for 155 mph. They also do not cover damaged winter tires. I always make a point to have them check the tire pressure and alignment when I go in for service. Somehow this is not part of their complimentary "service inspection."Good luck.

[chiefneil]

It's good practice to keep an eye on tire wear, although I slack off on it personally. I eyeball the rear tires whenever I'm walking up to the car, but unless the front tires are turned at an angle they're hard to see without squatting so I'm not so great about those.

[otay]

Originally Posted by mmmmm235i

I have had a similar problem on every BMW I have owned or leased. You are responsible for this under a lease and the kicker is if your tires failed inspection it is most likely that your tire insurance will not cover them because they measure wear at the lowest point. So even if the rest of the tire has plenty of tread, you are out of luck. Personally I think that the wheel and tire coverage is a scam. The warranty does not cover replacement of bent rims unless the wheel no longer holds air. This is laughable when the car is advertised as a sports car and comes standard with tires speed rated for 155 mph. They also do not cover damaged winter tires. I always make a point to have them check the tire pressure and alignment when I go in for service. Somehow this is not part of their complimentary "service inspection."Good luck.

Not to hijack thread, but... I had a decent experience with Michelin warranty.

Went to Discount Tire and they measured the thread at 3 places on each tire...inside, middle and outside. Although it looked bad on the outside of the tire, it was only 1/32" different than the middle of the tire. 3/32" near the outside (legal limit here) and 4/32" in the middle. He called into Michelin while I waited, and it seems this is acceptable to them. It was also within 1/32" from front to back, so I didn't have to show proof that I had the tires rotated.

In the end, I received about 50% off on new Michelins. This was acceptable to me, because everything else about the tires has been awesome.

[otay]

Originally Posted by chiefneil

It's good practice to keep an eye on tire wear, although I slack off on it personally. I eyeball the rear tires whenever I'm walking up to the car, but unless the front tires are turned at an angle they're hard to see without squatting so I'm not so great about those.

Agreed. The front tire that was more worn was on the passenger side, so rarely looked at it.