Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[e90m3_6MT]

I had a problem this year, I bought last year pirelli winter tires for my M3 (18's on 8inch wide rims all round).

when I put them on this year, I wanted to rotate my back tires to the front and put the front ones in the back.

the problem is that there's a pretty big vibration in the steering wheel. the same thing happened last year when I put on my LM-25's (after loving the during their first winter) prompting me to buy pirelli's at the beginning last year.

Do you have any idea why spending a winter as a back tire makes the tire unusable as a front tire?

recap:

1st winter: LM-25 first winter, perfect
2nd winter: LM-25 rotation front to back, vibration in the steering, bought pirelli's, no more vibration
3rd winter: rotation of the pirelli's front to back, steering vibrations, put the tires like they were last year and everything went back to normal.

what causes this problem?

[ben@tirerack]

Did you notice any irregularities or patterns to the treadwear? That would be my guess if the problem is specific to when you rotate back to front. I know BMW often does not recommed rotation even on cars that are not staggered, as the alignment settings sometimes cause irregular wear even when the alignment is in spec (inside edges of rears wearing due to negative camber is a common example).

Have you had the the balance checked on the tires? Possible that a weight may have fallen off or a tire developed some type of flat spot while in storage.

All of this is hypothetical, and there may be something I'm not thinking of, but those are the most likely thinks I can think to check on.

[Radiation Joe]

Have them balanced. You didn't notice the vibration previously because they were in the back. These cars are very sensitive to balance in the front. I rotated my winters back to front for four seasons.

[bobbyd1961]

wow how do you know what were on front and what were on rear? i have no idea

[e90m3_6MT]

Originally Posted by bobbyd1961

wow how do you know what were on front and what were on rear? i have no idea

I keep them on a dedicated set of 18's plus the fact that they are at 6/32 and the fronts are at 10/32.

I had them rebalanced to no avail. now that my setup is the same as last winter, there's no vibrations.

[e90m3_6MT]

Originally Posted by ben@tirerack

Did you notice any irregularities or patterns to the treadwear? That would be my guess if the problem is specific to when you rotate back to front. I know BMW often does not recommed rotation even on cars that are not staggered, as the alignment settings sometimes cause irregular wear even when the alignment is in spec (inside edges of rears wearing due to negative camber is a common example).

Have you had the the balance checked on the tires? Possible that a weight may have fallen off or a tire developed some type of flat spot while in storage.

All of this is hypothetical, and there may be something I'm not thinking of, but those are the most likely thinks I can think to check on.

I have them stored by the shop, they store them piled up on their sides

they were rebalanced before they put them on

[e90m3_6MT]

Originally Posted by ben@tirerack

Did you notice any irregularities or patterns to the treadwear? That would be my guess if the problem is specific to when you rotate back to front. I know BMW often does not recommed rotation even on cars that are not staggered, as the alignment settings sometimes cause irregular wear even when the alignment is in spec (inside edges of rears wearing due to negative camber is a common example).

Have you had the the balance checked on the tires? Possible that a weight may have fallen off or a tire developed some type of flat spot while in storage.

All of this is hypothetical, and there may be something I'm not thinking of, but those are the most likely thinks I can think to check on.

I haven't see irregular wear nor did the guys at the shop. could it be a side wall problem?