[AP]

have a 530D msport in the Uk with 351 style 19" wheels with Michelin Primacy Hp tyres.
have already had the car through a KDS check which found that the rear right toe-in was out by a third of a degree - that has been addressed and everthing else is within spec.
HOWEVER
the faster the car goes, the more it feels it still wants to drift left. Camber certianly influences it (which is fair enough to a point) but I feel most of the time on motorways and fast roads it is pulling to the left.

Today i was casually looking at the tyres (as you do!) and noticed that the tread was different on each side.
Now I don't know if the tyres I have should be directional , they look wrong to me. The tyres on the right hand side of the car look wrong to me whereas the ones on the left look right.

Can't seem t find out if these tyres are directional?

Shot in the dark but wondering if this may be the cause?

Thoughts?
Front Right


Front Left


Rear Right


Rear left

[JoshVS4]

Originally Posted by AP

have a 530D msport in the Uk with 351 style 19" wheels with Michelin Primacy Hp tyres.
have already had the car through a KDS check which found that the rear right toe-in was out by a third of a degree - that has been addressed and everthing else is within spec.
HOWEVER
the faster the car goes, the more it feels it still wants to drift left. Camber certianly influences it (which is fair enough to a point) but I feel most of the time on motorways and fast roads it is pulling to the left.

Today i was casually looking at the tyres (as you do!) and noticed that the tread was different on each side.
Now I don't know if the tyres I have should be directional , they look wrong to me. The tyres on the right hand side of the car look wrong to me whereas the ones on the left look right.

Can't seem t find out if these tyres are directional?

Shot in the dark but wondering if this may be the cause?

Thoughts?
Front Right
Attachment 712185

Front Left
Attachment 712188

Rear Right
Attachment 712186

Rear left
Attachment 712187

Your fronts look different directions looking at tread patterns. Looking at the other pics I don't see a directional arrow that should be imprinted on the tire.

[BigKutta]

Fronts don't look right.

[Ellmat]

Hard to believe BMW QC would miss such a basic error...but maybe..????

[A900ss]

If the tyres don't have a 'rotation' arrow on them, they are designed for the writing to be on the outside edge of the tyre (and both your tyres have the writing on the outside).

Put your hands on the inside of the tyre, my guess is no writing on either tyre.

[clarence]

If u cannot find directional arrows on the sidewalls, then the treads of all 4 tyres should face the same direction (i.e. asymmetric). The Primacy HP is I think not a symmetrical tyre, u better check with Michelin or BMWUK.
Having a 2nd look at the fotos, it seems the tyres are fitted correctly, cos both the outside & inside shoulders of the tyre treads of each tyre are different (outside shoulder have deep grooves, inside shoulder have shallow grooves between deep grooves), yet they're symmetrical on both the left & right of the car (i.e. on all 4 pics the deep grooves are on the outside whereas the shallow grooves are on the inside). Just to be sure, u should find the words "Outside" on the sidewalls of all 4 tyres.

[HighlandPete]

The Michelin Primacy HP ZP is not a directional tyre, it is an asymmetric design and has an 'outside' marking.

The tyres are correctly fitted from looking at your pictures.

If you suspect it is a tyre issue, you can have the front wheels changed side to side. (Yes, the complete wheels, as is). If it changes the way the car drives, then it is possibly a tyre issue, (it may even solve the issue) but I'd still suspect the alignment, if it is more than road camber. You can prove if it is road camber by getting on a flat road, or riding the middle (crown) of a cambered road, (when safe to do so) and see if the car tracks straight.

HighlandPete

[AP]

thanks, I checked the tyres in more detail this morning and they do all have 'outside' on them so are fitted correctly. so thats that theory down the drain.

I'd have thought that this feature would be consistent across the board.
Must be plenty of people with 19" wheels so presumably EVERYONE must be see the same 'issue'
I do accept camber will affect it and my understanding is that the larger the wheel (lower profile tyre) the more pronounced it is.
My previous E39 had 18" wheels and I certianly don't recall it feeling like this.

Am I being too fussy?

KDS states it all set up correctly.

With both hands on the wheel (which arguably I should be doing all the time anyway) its not really a big deal, one hand though and I'm aware of it to some degree.

[gspannu]

Your tyres are mounted correctly. I have compared these with my Michelin 18 Primacy RFT - they have the same tread pattern. So you are OK inn tho front.

I have 18" on my 3 series Coupe. When fitted, these had a tracking issue, but got fixed once I got it on a laser tracking machine. (I got this done independently of BMW from Micheldever Tyres)
My 17" F10 too has a slight tracking left issue - BMW have had a look and say that its within limits - I'm not too annoyed by this at the moment - but will report back in few weeks if I still feel its an issue.

[HighlandPete]

A lot will depend on whether the KDS is "in specification" or reading exact figures, sometimes "in spec" isn't good enough. Have you seen the readout? If so, what is the thrust angle reading?

Wheel size sould not make any difference to steering pull. Yes, may contribute to a more sensitive camber drift/pull and tramlining, but not a pull that indicates incorrect geometry.

As a pointer does the car drift, even pull to the right on the opposite road camber?

HighlandPete

[rayhwc]

We drive on the same side of the road as the UK, and my F11 Msport 535i does the same pull to the left. BMW have done the alignment and it came within specs. They rotated the strut and still no result.

I believe that the people who drive on the other side of the road experience the pull to the right and according to that posting on this forum, the problem was solved by some software update. Problem is my BMW dealer does not seem to be aware of that solution.

[AP]

Highland pete, yes I did see teh printout bti wasn't alloowed to kep it as it was being sent of to BMW for waranty purposes. the rear right toe in was out by a third of a degree but was put right, everything else was withing their tolerences.

Yes the car drift right when the camber is very obvisouly sloping to the right.

I expect itto drift a bit but is such a difference to my previous car. I even orrwed a X1 whislt the KDS check was being doen and this this diddn't drift of to the left anywherre near as much. I know its a different car altogether but even so.

This saturday I have booked to drive a technician in the car to see the issue. Will drive along the motorway - not sure when hey tested it they did that, its not so obvious at slower speeds.

Given the car is only a month old, surely it has the latest steering software - especially given his issue has been reported for some time. If ehe is a fix, I'd have thought hat wold have been implemented in production cars from tat point onwards.

Its making me think I'm being fussy and that this is jsut what his car does but I don't find it slightly annoying and spoling what is other wise a fine car.