Tire Condition; Tire Replacement - BMW Z4 ROADSTER 2.5I-2003 Owner's Manual

Tire condition

Tire tread – Tire damage
Inspect your tires frequently for tread wear,
signs of damage and for foreign objects
lodged in the tread. Check the tread depth.
Tread depth should not be allowed to go
1
below / in / 3 mm, even though in
8
Europe, for example, the legally specified
minimum tread depth is only
1.6 mm.
Tread wear indicators in the tread-groove
base – see arrow – are distributed around
the wheel circumference and are labeled
on the tire sidewall as TWI – Tread Wear
Indicator. At a tread depth of
1.6 mm, the indicators signal that the
legally permissible wear limit has been
reached.
Avoid overloading the vehicle so that
the permitted load on the tires is not
exceeded. Overloading can cause over-
heating and damage inside the tires.
The ultimate result can assume the form of
a sudden air loss.
Unusual vibrations encountered during
normal vehicle operation can indicate tire
failure or some other vehicle malfunction.
This type of problem can be caused by
contact with curbs, etc. This is also true for
irregularities in the vehicle's handling char-
acteristics, such as a pronounced ten-
dency to pull to the left or right. Should this
occur, respond by immediately reducing
your speed. Proceed carefully to the near-
est BMW center or professional tire center,
or have the vehicle towed there to have it
and its wheels or tires inspected.
Tire damage – up to and including sudden
Online Edition for Part-No. 01 41 0 156 897 - © 09/02 BMW AG
and complete air loss – can pose an
extreme hazard for both vehicle occupants
and other road

Tire replacement

To maintain good handling and vehicle
response, use tires of a single tread config-
uration from a single manufacturer.
driving safety. This is due to possible varia-
tions in casing structures and, in some
cases, to their extreme age, factors which
can lead to a decrease in their
Tire age
The date on which the tire was manufac-
tured is indicated by the code on the side-
1
/ in /
wall:
16
DOT ... 3602 indicates that the tire was
manufactured in week 36 of the year 2002.
BMW recommends the replacement of all
tires every 6 years at the latest, even if a tire
usage of 10 years is possible.
1
/ in /
16
Run Flat tires
not provided to replace a flat tire.
Run Flat tires are labeled on the sidewall
with a circular symbol containing the letters
RSC. Refer to page
DOT quality grades
Tread wear
Traction AA A B C
Temperature A B C
addition to these
Tread wear
The tread wear grade is a comparative rat-
ing based on the wear rate of the tire when
tested under controlled conditions on a
specified government test course.
For example, a tire graded 150 would wear
users.<
BMW advises against using retreaded
tires as this could negatively affect
When replacing tires, always use
Run Flat tires since a spare wheel is
75.<
All passenger car tires must conform
to Federal Safety Requirements in
grades.<
73
durability.<