Do I need tires?

[coyote]

Our BMW spent some time in the dealer shop, towed in when the water pump failed.

My wife drives this car, and deals with the dealer when it gets worked on.

We have top of the line Michellin touring tires on this car. Nicely maintained and rotated regularly. They pass the "penny test", but just.

Tanya drives this car less than 5 miles a day on surface streets. We are inclined to let them go a few more miles.

My "dealer is fishing for more$" alarm is going off. She was presented with a "this car is unsafe to drive" pitch.

Thoughts?

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

Your tires abilty to displace water and prevent hydroplane is worsened as they wear. So be careful in the rain is all

[ford]

Tires are one of the parts of a car I don't like messing around with. I'd suggest shopping around for tires on a site like tire rack, then look up their recommended installers. They probably have a couple not too far from you. Take your car there, get their opinion.

[punkncat]

TBH am surprised that you got even enough wear for the tires to "penny test" without being worn on the insides, and I hope you looked.
BMW have such good road handling because they commonly have quite a bit of camber in them. You could well be showing threads on the far inside.

[Jordan]

I've heard different measurements but AFAIK anything under 5/32" is deemed unable to maintain wet traction in a satisfactory manner.

I don't know what the "penny test" measures at, but if it's less than the above number i can understand BMW recommending new tires.

[Cunha]

Are they showing metal belting? Are they showing heavy cracks?

If not, they are OK.

Show us pictures of them. Some cars will wear one edge very rapidly compared to the other due to positive or negative camber or other factors (like a ford econoline front end)

So they might be ready to go even though they look mostly decent.

[Paintslinger16]

If you are keeping the car, you need tires soon, if you plan on trading I wouldn’t put your money in it now, I would trade sooner then later.
Do you live in a annual inspection state? If it doesn’t pass you will need to do it then, what the time of that? for everyones safety tires are what’s between you and the road.

[caylegeorge]

Also note that rubber gets harder over time just on age alone and will have less traction. Look up the date codes on your sidewall for the manufacture date.

Regardless of how much tread is left, debatably, some say after 6 years they are getting hard enough to consider replacement. After 10 years imo its a definite replacement.

[shadow191]

Specifically, what is their reason for it being unsafe? If it's just age, probably a jidgement call as to whether you should replace. I might just to be safe, but if they're not showing cracks or some other damage probably fine.

There may be excessive wear on inner tread due to camber on BMW. Take a look at inside and see if tread is uneven there.

I never trust the dealer and especially not BMW dealers. Most dealers will make things sound a bit worse like maybe your brake pads aren't worn down yet but they push to replace. BmW dealers take that to whole new level.

My brother once went in for alignment and while his car was on rack, they said they noticed leak from transmission pan. So he paid $250 for diagnosis. They came back and said entire transmission was shot and $12k to replace. He drove it out, we took a look, and no leak at all. That was 3 years and 40k ago.

[Nish]

As long as they pass the penny test, and with only 5 miles a day being driven, I wouldn't worry about it unless there is something else going on, bulges, cracks etc.

Just exercise a little caution in heavy rain.

[coyote]

It's springtime in a drought year, so little rain is expected.

I've run my hands on the insides and find no problems.

[Diesel imp]

how much is the old lady worth to you?
how dumb is someone that runs their hand over a tire to determine condition?
not to be nasty, but come'on man,

[Mr. Hick]

Run it. The balder the tires get the better the braking performance anyway.

Seriously though: You're fine. Here in the great north east where we have Mandatory vehicle inspection you would fail, but that doesn't mean you can't squeak out another couple of months before you drop $1,000 for the new tires.

[Tinybear]

It’s pretty simple ask what thread depths of the tires are.

But the long and short of it is. If the tires are questionable then your best to change em. Yeah it costs money and yeah it sucks. But You wouldn’t be here asking us if you didn’t question it your self. would you send your wife out on a paintball field with a questionable PB mask lens?

Here in Canada 2/32nds is the legal limit for rears and 4/32nds for steers. 2/32 is damn near bald. As a licensed truck tech I won’t sign a safety with anything less then 6/32nds because I’m liable. The school bus company I work for says change em at 6/32nds. But In winter obviously we try to run tires with more than 10/32.

That being said Canadian vehicle standards are FAR more stringent than the states.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Sounds like you can get a lil more out of it. But I would change them soon. If you are driving in heavy rain, possibly snow or drive aggressively change them now. It’s not unsafe to drive but expect less performance especially in less then optimal conditions. They will be more likely to hydroplane in the wet. I wouldn’t want to drive in the snow especially with worn all seasons. However if your wife is generally driving the car it might be a good idea just to change them.

I buy cheap tires and change them more often on my daily. But I have access to an alignment rack, mount and balance tools.

I do run higher end tires on my sports cars but they sit all winter so they get summer specific compounds.

Also I would shop around BMW is going to hammer you on tires. Guaranteed they mark up everything and there labor costs are super high! Local tire shop can save you $100’s of dollars for sure when you are ready to replace them.