O/T odd tyre wear on a 3-series BM

[MartinWoodham]

My wife's car - E46 BM 3 series tourer (that's the shape before the current one - 54 plate) has just suffered a blowout on a rear tyre, luckily at low speed.

 

I haven't seen the rears (swapped before I got back to the UK last night) but the fronts are apparently showing the same wear - pretty much consistent wear right across the tread, well short of the wear bars with perhaps 3-4mm, but the inside shoulder worn right down to nearly nothingness.

 

The rear has visible negative camber but not what I'd call excessive - I've not measured it but visually it's less than the 3 deg or so on the front of my caterham. The front doesn't appear to have any neg camber at all.

I've not checked the toe.

 

This is a road car that does reasonable mileage, mostly on dual carriageways, and I can't understand why all 4 tyres would have such an extreme wear pattern. The previous set just wore normally across the tread, and the tyres are so low-profile that any un-owned-up-to indiscretions by my wife would be visible on the rims.

 

Any ideas?

 

Martin

supersported ex-Roadsports B

[CageyH]

Would normally be excessive camber as you state.

Worth checking the wheel alignment. If the bushes are shot, you could have excessive toe out, but that would normally give you a feathered edge to the tread pattern.

 

My E46 tourer does not show any unusual signs of wear (fitted with 205/50R17's).

I have heard the bushes can be a bit dodgy though.

 

Only dead fish go with the flow....!

[millsn]

all kinds of issues with these on suspension. Bushes at the front

can be shot, balljoints too. Either could cause your problem. Car needs retracking if you replace either. NB: Rr trailing arm bushes may also need replacing.