When do I need new tires?
 

We've already got almost 30k km on our M3 already. we bought it last year when it first came out and drive it a lot. Anyway its got the stock all season tires. When do we need new ones?

Du...uh... Examine the treads. How are you doing. I noticed the stock Goodyears on my
#3 hatch had a treadwear rating of something like 240 - which ain't terribly long.

The general rule of thumb, even with today's exotic rubber compounds is that high performance "sticky/grippy tires" wear out a lot faster than lesser performing tires.

I used to worry on that - but I've come around to accepting that tires are an item that you just have to replace - just like the gas in your tank!

well i have no experience in looking at treads or what not, its not even my car its the family car. i'm still a poor student =(

Its hard to determine how long tire will last as there are alot of major factors...driving style, tire pressure, road conditions, tire compounds, and about a thousand other things. Best thing is to measure how much tread you have left...if you dont have a tread guage, take it to any local tire store and im sure they will be more than happy to do it for free or very cheap.

http://home.att.net/~drdipstik/tire.htm
http://www.csaa.com/global/articlede...7C2037,00.html


Check that out. There are also "wear inidicators" on all tires. They are a slightly raised portion inside the tire tread. If that is flush with the top of the tread it is time to replace the tire.

The minimum by law is 1/16th of an inch (2/32nds), and I always replace them before that. Usually at 3 or 4/32nds for my street tires. You will find that at 2/32nds you will have trouble driving safely on rain and snow/ice covered roads.