4drive and new tyres

[beddin90]

The front tyres on my 300 4drive have worn badly on the inside. I want to replace them and get the alignment done.
Is it ok to just replace the fronts on the 4drive system? I can't see anything in the manual which relates to changing tyres on the 4drive.
Surely if they are the exact same tyres as already on the car there shouldn't be a problem?

 

[andylong]

Yes. It's ok to replace the tyres by axle, esp if its the same tyre.

 

[Alzak]

Only on permanent 4wd you should replace all 4 tyres at the same time to avoid rolling difference between wheels...

Next time round just swap front with back to keep even wear on all 4 tyres.

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[rafletcher]

Only on permanent 4wd you should replace all 4 tyres at the same time to avoid rolling difference between wheels...

Next time round just swap front with back to keep even wear on all 4 tyres.

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All that does is delay the inevitable.

 

[Alzak]

Not really as without changing front to back you end up with back tyres that may not be worn but aged...

Ideally you do not want tyres that are more than 4-5 years old on performance car

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[CupraGeezer]

I always put new tyres on the back then switch them to the front when the fronts need replacing.

 

[black_sheep]

@beddin90 there are two different issues at play here. Rotation of tyres vs 4 wheel alignment. To get the most accurate 4 wheel laser alignment, this should be completed with 4 x brand new tyres.

The tyre rotation is fine, albeit on the 4drive Cupra I tend to find that if the fronts are more worn than the rears, when pushing the car on damp/wet/cold roads the car under steers and as traction is broken, the rear driven wheels kick in which amplifies the under steer further until traction is regained.

 

[KXL]

All that does is delay the inevitable.

Haha, i was about to say this...although I would advise once the fronts get down to about 4.5 - 5mm, the rears may still have 6mm at this point (or maybe after 6k miles?), you can swap them around. Wouldn't really recommend swapping fronts that have only too low mm left to go to the rear, as well if you lose control at the rear end, would be more disastrous then losing some grip at the front end. Perhaps if you do the above, you may end up with both axels equally down to 3mm together, then you can start looking for good deals on Michellin PS tyre tyres of GY's equivalents.

 

[martin j.]

I would take advice on this, BMW do not advise to to fit tyres to one axle if the tread depth difference exceeds a certain value front to rear as it upset the diffs/centre diff.

 

[Mr Pig]

I always have the best tyres on the back.

Years ago I found out that the police always put new tyres on the back and move the worn ones to the front. Seemed counter-intuitive but when I looked into it, makes sense.

Basically, if you start to lose grip on of the front there is a very good chance you'll catch it. Even most average drivers are so used to under-steer that they deal with it intuitively. But if the rear starts to go your chances of catching it are slim.

I've actually tested this on a skid pan. When the front started to wash out I caught it, every single time. When the back end went I couldn't catch it, not once.

 

[beddin90]

Thanks for the replies!
I can't find anything to suggest all four need to be replaced at the same time so i will probably put the new ones on the back and move the current rears to the front. They still have plenty of tread at the moment.
The fronts only need replacing because of the wear on the inner edge. My last set had slight wear on the inside and my dads 290 also went the same! Not sure if it's just big wheels and the state of our roads knocking the alignment out all the time but it's very annoying!

 

[Mr Pig]

Our last Leon wore the insides of the front tyres. I had the tracking checked and it was fine.