[Danman5666]

So I finally met with my regional field rep today. He was very nice and understanding of my continued wheel shim issue. He drove my vehicle and felt the same symptoms I did. He authorized replacing the Continental SSR's with the Pirelli P7's, he believes this will fix my issue - he told me he's heard of some issues on the SSR's as of late. If this doesn't resolve it, he said we could explore other options (buy back I guess?).

New Pirelli's come in next week - so let's see how they roll!

[Orion4]

The Conti-sport SSR'sare a lousy tire. Hard and noisy ( hum- rumble). I got my 13 335i used with 12k miles. Manages to last/ suffer to 25k miles. Super Sporta going on next week.

[Jvac]

Reviving an old thread, just wanted to put my situation up for discussion. At recent visit to dealer, was told front tires are cupping so I should have an alignment done for 250$. I declined since Firestone will do it for 99. Then I took off my wheels and looked things over for myself.
Tires are Firestone indy 500 go-flats. They have barely 6000 miles on them. Car has almost 28000 on it. I am second owner and don't believe it's ever had an alignment, but...

Drives straight. No weird noises. Rides smoothly.
Ran my hands along the tire surfaces. I feel no cupping. I measured tread depth on all 4 tires thoroughly - took measurements every 1-2 inches all the way around in each of the 3 water channel/grooves. The rears are wearing a little faster than the fronts (duh!) but other than that, the tread depth is uniform at 8/32 front and just over 7/32 rear. There's almost no variation in depth anywhere.
I also looked over all of the suspension linkages and everything looks great. I'm no expert, but I everything looks uniform left vs right, and looks as it should according to the Bentley manual. All bolts tight, no play in the control arms, end links, tie rods, or tension struts (just a little wiggle in the last one because of those gooey bushings). Nothing looks bent. All the bushings look good as new. Strut bolts tight - top and bottom. The car is not that old and hasn't been driven too hard, and there aren't a lot of potholes around here so I didn't expect to see anything terribly wrong. I think the guy was full of shit, am I wrong? I really doubt they spent half as much time as I did looking everything over. I think they just throw out the 'tire cupping' line because they think most people don't know any better.
It's not really about the money here, as I said it's only 99$ for the alignment, but I am trying to learn what I can from the situation for my own knowledge.

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by Jvac

Reviving an old thread, just wanted to put my situation up for discussion. At recent visit to dealer, was told front tires are cupping so I should have an alignment done for 250$. I declined since Firestone will do it for 99. Then I took off my wheels and looked things over for myself.
Tires are Firestone indy 500 go-flats. They have barely 6000 miles on them. Car has almost 28000 on it. I am second owner and don't believe it's ever had an alignment, but...

Drives straight. No weird noises. Rides smoothly.
Ran my hands along the tire surfaces. I feel no cupping. I measured tread depth on all 4 tires thoroughly - took measurements every 1-2 inches all the way around in each of the 3 water channel/grooves. The rears are wearing a little faster than the fronts (duh!) but other than that, the tread depth is uniform at 8/32 front and just over 7/32 rear. There's almost no variation in depth anywhere.
I also looked over all of the suspension linkages and everything looks great. I'm no expert, but I everything looks uniform left vs right, and looks as it should according to the Bentley manual. All bolts tight, no play in the control arms, end links, tie rods, or tension struts (just a little wiggle in the last one because of those gooey bushings). Nothing looks bent. All the bushings look good as new. Strut bolts tight - top and bottom. The car is not that old and hasn't been driven too hard, and there aren't a lot of potholes around here so I didn't expect to see anything terribly wrong. I think the guy was full of shit, am I wrong? I really doubt they spent half as much time as I did looking everything over. I think they just throw out the 'tire cupping' line because they think most people don't know any better.
It's not really about the money here, as I said it's only 99$ for the alignment, but I am trying to learn what I can from the situation for my own knowledge.

It sounds like you did your due diligence, so i wouldnt stress about it. Maybe just check again around the time of your next rotation, or in 5-10k if you dont rotate.

It may or may not be related, but i think there has been a uptick in recommended services during the current pandemic, even if they arent totally necessary. Dealers and shops are running all kinds of promotions to try and get people in the door. I took my car in for an oil change and was recommended a coolant flush at 45k miles on a 2015... they had no reason when i asked why, just that it was preventative maintenance. Just my 2c.

[Jvac]

Originally Posted by thejeremyman9

It sounds like you did your due diligence, so i wouldnt stress about it. Maybe just check again around the time of your next rotation, or in 5-10k if you dont rotate.

It may or may not be related, but i think there has been a uptick in recommended services during the current pandemic, even if they arent totally necessary. Dealers and shops are running all kinds of promotions to try and get people in the door. I took my car in for an oil change and was recommended a coolant flush at 45k miles on a 2015... they had no reason when i asked why, just that it was preventative maintenance. Just my 2c.

I am with you man... I'm sure they are trying to make some money in a downturn, which is regrettable, but I am not made of money. Your situation sounds even more egregious since the coolant is supposed to be lifetime and yours is nowhere near old enough.
Can't rotate the tires because I am staggered front to rear, but I will keep an eye out. Also, I remember when the old ones came off about a year ago. The fronts were fine, and the rears were just a little worn on one shoulder vs the other. Shouldn't those tires have been cupped at that point? They were worn enough when they were changed.