Tyre life expectancy

[sapphireblack]

I thought there was a thread on this subject but couldnt find it?

Noticed my tyres, Continental SSRs where looking a bit worn so checked 'em. All are basically 5-5.50mm after 4500 miles. I checked my exact date of purchase with Camskill and was surprised to learn these start life at only 7.1mm not 8mm like most. Average life for these B grip rated tyres is apparently 10,000 or annual changes

Bridgestones which are C grip rated i find really hard but are around 50% or more better Maybe my desire has come at a price.

What do you guys get from which brand ? Perhaps those All Season Vredesteins are the way to go after all, and they're non runflats

[sid10]

Hi I have had most makes of tyres over the years on my now sold E53 X5 2004 30d Sport , I bought the car 16 months old with 16k on the clock changed the tyres to Michelin all round which lasted 16k , moved on to Continentals SSR runflats on X6 alloys 12k , another set of Continentals 12.5k , Bridgestone Dueler runflat 15k , Pirelli runflat 10k , Continentals 12.5k , Vredestein wintrac 4 extreme 3.5k down to 4mm on rears 6mm on fronts , Vredestein wintrac 4 extreme 4k down to 4mm rears , 6mm fronts . total 101.5 k sold with 4mm fronts 3mm rears .
The fronts always lasted better than the rears as we had a twin axle caravan done roughly 2k a year which scrubbed the inside of the rear tyres , hence why I went for runflats .

[StuBeeDoo]

.........and was surprised to learn these start life at only 7.1mm not 8mm like most.

I was/am under the impression that, in the case of staggered tyre sizes, part of the * marking criteria is equalising the circumference of the tyres. Would this account for the difference??

Also, over many years I've found the frequently quoted "8mm" to be an approximation. I doubt there are many people who actually check the tread depth of their brand new tyres. I don't make a habit of it but have done it a few times, with various makes of tyres, and have never had a single tyre that was bang-on 8mm. I don't recall specifics, but I have seen measurements ranging from over 8mm to less than 7mm. I remember a few years ago checking one or other of the tyre manufacturers website for specs of a certain tyre and the tread depth was listed as 7-point-something.

[sapphireblack]

Well its a lesson learned in my case. It will still take me a while to wear them out but I wasn't reckoning on a 10k life span

It's too long ago now but if iirc Diamaris on my E53 lasted a fair bit longer, but its probably not a good comparison with an E71.

I've been thinking since i noticed the wear, that as I'm abroad much of our summer now, i could probably just fit the expensive winter set up i created (still unused) and sell the two summer sets

[Waka]

Just found my order from last March
Bridgestone Dueler H/P Sport 315/35R20 110W * FR NZ RUNFLAT XL 2 237.73 £ 475.45 £
Bridgestone Dueler H/P Sport 275/40R20 106W XL RFT HZ * 2 175.73 £ 351.45 £

They've done about 6k since then and seem barely worn although I haven't looked that closely recently!

[Osprey2]

I have posted a thread on F25 X3 about the same issue as I am due to change. I've had (since new) Pirelli P7's RFT, but only on 18" all round and not a staggered set up. I was looking to see if an average of 16k miles per set was normal? My biggest gripe is there's still 3-5mm on them but the normal rumbling noise has started when these get low on tread.
I've ordered Michelin Primacy RFT as a change to see if there's any difference. Being an Xdrive in warranty I have to use the * marked tyres, but TBH, it has probably changed my mind on the car and we'll change next year. A full set a year is a difficult bill to have. (I'll be looking for a mint X5 Le Mans to replace the one we pxd for this)..... The best car we ever had maybe?