Tire Question

[KANdaddy]

Hoping to get some help here. I have a 2012 X6 but that forum is dead. Figured I'd ask here since our cars are mechanically similar.

Got my car in July of 2011. Put 11k miles on it and the front tires are balding. Was about to replace the fronts only since the rears still have plenty of tread. Guy at tire shop tells me I cannot have mismatched tires front/rear as it will damage my all-wheel drive. He also said having run-flats on the rear and not front will also ruin my car. I'm pretty saavy when it comes to cars and I've never heard this before. Although, this is my first all-wheel drive car.

Smells like BS to me and the tire guy is trying to pressure me into buying 4 tires. Anyone offer any insight or advice??

Thanks in advance

[TahoeM3]

You can replace the fronts only, but since you are keeping the stock rears, use OEM tires/sizes for a matching set. Do not replace the fronts with a different type of tire, including non-RFT, as the compound and handling characteristics would be different and potentially dangerous. If you are planning to go to non-RFTs, you have to do all of them at once.

[KANdaddy]

Originally Posted by TahoeM3

You can replace the fronts only, but since you are keeping the stock rears, use OEM tires/sizes for a matching set. Do not replace the fronts with a different type of tire, including non-RFT, as the compound and handling characteristics would be different and potentially dangerous. If you are planning to go to non-RFTs, you have to do all of them at once.

OK. Cool. So it sounds like the guy was half right. I can have mis-matched tire brands as long as I stay with same sizes (which I was planning to do). BUT since I do want to go non-RFT (hate RFT), I guess I have no choce but to change all 4.

Thanks for the help, man!

[TahoeM3]

No prob...but it is recommended to keep all 4 tires the same, not mismatched tire brands. All 4 tires should be the same so that they all have the same handling characteristics.

To clarify, I mean that all 4 tires should be type, as in Bridgestone Dueler, etc. in BMW-recommended sizes. They don't have to be runflats or any particular brand, but should be in the sizes BMW recommends in order to prevent problems with the x-drive. There are some good non-RFTs out there in stock sizes.

[jacb1301]

I have been learning more and more about the whole tire replacement business the last few months as we plan on taking off our stock RFT ASAP. Something I just read about is the iDrive can also get hung up if the tread depth on the tires are different. And different tire manufactures use different treads even for the same size tires, so just be careful there. Where I live you have to have four matching tires on your vehicle, you can't mix brands and makes. That is not the case everywhere, but there is some logic to it.

Yes for sure you want to keep either all RFT or all non-RFT on the car. The driving is totally different between the two. Safety as well as ride quality would be seriously compromised.

Good luck!

[KANdaddy]

Yea, thanks guys. I was planning to get the fronts and then run the existing rears as they have at least a few more months, if not more, in them. Guess I will just swap all four out at once. Prob going to go with the Hankook Ventus ST RH06 as they have gotten great reviews and are inexpensive. Had Hankooks on my M3 and they lasted and performed great.