[morellomax]

.... may have been largely due to tracking and alignment issues.

Car only has about 10k miles on it. Never hit anything hard with the wheels. Took it in for new tyres, am experimenting with some Uniroyal Rainsport 3's to replace Michelin Primacy 3's. Both non-rft. Thoughts on that another time.

Anyway, they offered a free check on alignment and tracking. Hunter 4 wheel setup. Every measurement flashes up red on the screen. They adjust everything carefully to BMW factory specs.

Steering feel is definitely better. In particular:
- less effort required to turn wheel at any speed, but particularly at high speed;
- effort required is more consistent and predictable;
- steering unwinds itself more naturally as you put down the power out of roundabouts and junctions.

Primacy 3's are a great tyre so I think the steering improvement is down to the tracking and alignment being fixed.

One or more of the new tyres isn't quite balanced so I'll wait till that's sorted before saying anything about how they compare with the Michelins.

[The Beast]

Hold on you're changing tyres at 10k! What you been doing to the car, I thought I was heavy on mine but that must be a record!!

[morellomax]

Rears were down to 3mm, plenty of life left in the fronts, swapped all 4 and kept the old fronts as spares for now. Trying a different tyre as an experiment in road noise and ride.

(and I suspect the massive toe errors at the rear didn't help with the tyre wear....)

[Sp123]

Hi max

I've just had my wheel alignment done and it's mega important for tyre wear on any car but especially in these big 5ers.

A mis-alignment will play Havoc on the rolling geometry of the car and the outcome is on fuel consumption and tyres wear massively!

The cars hits pot holes and take it on its stride as the cars rock solid but it throws out the toe massively! I'm going to keep on top of mine now and tyres pressure as well!

[babaikram]

Do you need wheel alignment on a new car?

[Pottsy]

Originally Posted by babaikram

Do you need wheel alignment on a new car?

Yes, if you are fussy (like me). But do it after 1,000 miles, which is enough time to allow the suspension to settle down.

Also, get a place with a decent operator, not just a decent machine.