A woman damaged the rim and tire on her new BMW with 2330 miles. The shop advised her to replace not only the damaged wheel and tire, but also the tire on the opposite side of the axle, even though it only had 2330 miles on it. So she did, but then questioned other shops later and was told she did not need to replace the tire on the opposite side. Do the tires need to match not only size, but brand, etc. for future rotation purposes? What’s the right course of action here?
Yes, the tires should be the same brand and model, not only size, for predictable handling. Was she unable to get an exact replacement for the damaged tire?
I agree. And it’s well worth the extra bucks.
The only time you should consider not replacing the pair is when there is low mileage and you are replacing the same make, model and size tyre. You should also replace low mileage tyres if they are showing abnormal wear.
In addition you should always have the BEST tyres on the rear wheels, no matter what kind of drive the car has.
Normally I would say 2000 miles difference might not call for a replacement, but only if they could get the same make model and size.
I’ve always replaced one damaged tire at a time. No shop ever tried to bamboozle me into buying a second tire. Of course, I’m talking about my econocars, not performance cars or upscale vehicles. But if anyone had suggested it, I would have turned them down.
My vote goes to the second group of shops who challenged the need for a second tire.
Hogwash regarding a second tire!. I replace tires, one at a time as needed with whatever brand is to my price requirement and have no problem. If you want to do more than that, make sure that your new tire has the same traction and temperature rating as your old tire as noted on the sidewall. There is nothing holy, in my view, about tires for a BMW in ordinary usage compared to a Chevrolet, for example. If you drive in Germany, you would want to mind the temperature/speed rating as well. Tires are not as sensitive as was inferred and if so, this would certainly be addressed in the owner’s manual and I seriously doubt that it was.
Your method is fine for normal driving conditions. However running mismatched tires in severe(ice/snow/rain) or emergent conditions can lead to some squirrelly handling and possibly an accident.
Yes, the only time a problem will usually show up is when you need it most. At all other times there is seldom any indication.last time I had a tire replaced, the tire dealer showed me a trick. Use the spare (full size) and the replacement tire (same brand & model) opposite each other. They are both new. Use the undamaged (but partially worn) one as your new spare.
In addition to the comments about severe conditions, high performance cars like BMWs often come with tread designs that have significantly different rolling resistance and handling characteristics that the average tread. I’ve had ultra-high-performance tires on my car now in three different tread patterns, all rated as all-season, and they all had noticably different characteristics, dramatically different on sketchy traction conditions. Based on my own experience I think it’s well worth the expense to match the tire.
I used to do that, but full service spares seem to be a thing of the past. Many cars are going to run-flat tires (blah!) and don’t even have spares.
but not all