[dinanm4]

Hello guys,
To start off this frustrating morning, I'd like to inform fellow g15 owners that this 100k plus vehicle comes with the most unreliable shocks in existence. With 13,500 miles on my vehicle, my front tires were showing wire. Weird considering my driving habits are very calm. Of course I purchase new tires to replace right away.
Now the juicy detail:
Upon installing tires, the shop I came to found ALL four of my shocks are leaking. WTF? I have no clue how this is even possible. Funny thing is the car just went in for service and the dealer completely missed this detail.

Be aware 8 owners.

[BMW Lunatic]

Originally Posted by dinanm4

Hello guys,
To start off this frustrating morning, I'd like to inform fellow g15 owners that this 100k plus vehicle comes with the most unreliable shocks in existence. With 13,500 miles on my vehicle, my front tires were showing wire. Weird considering my driving habits are very calm. Of course I purchase new tires to replace right away.
Now the juicy detail:
Upon installing tires, the shop I came to found ALL four of my shocks are leaking. WTF? I have no clue how this is even possible. Funny thing is the car just went in for service and the dealer completely missed this detail.

Be aware 8 owners.

That's crazy !
So what is the next step for you ?
Will bmw take it back and pay off your lease loan ?

[JDS]

There have been a few reports of “excessive” tyre wear on here for the 8s. I don’t believe anyone has previously pointed to the shocks as a potential source of the problem. I will definitely take a look at mine.

[mpizutti]

Leaking shocks does not make the car a lemon..BMW should replace them under warranty

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by JDS

There have been a few reports of “excessive” tyre wear on here for the 8s. I don’t believe anyone has previously pointed to the shocks as a potential source of the problem. I will definitely take a look at mine.

Yes, they started with a few of our 8-series brethren in the UK posting about similar issues with their 840d's (e.g. https://f92.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1766975). The OP on that thread was told this is what happens when an 8-series is driven "enthusiastically".

Hello BMW as I patiently waited for my M850i to pass the 1200 mile break-in and have DILYSI for the last 4K miles. COVID-19 has turned the M850i into a garage queen but I take it out 2 to 3 times a week purely on a performance run in which on the desert back road part of the loop I'm hitting 105 MPH plus on the straights and pushing hard at 85 MPH easy on the winding curves.

Needless to say I've checked my tires since the original postings and they are flawless from inner to outer wear. Hence, you may have unfortunately discovered the hidden issue, i.e., leaking shocks. This may help the others out there whom discover a similar tread wear issue. Tomorrow I have a 2 hour block on my business calendar to take the car out on it's performance run for more enthusiastic driving.

[Wing Co]

Had my 8 serviced yesterday and I asked them to check the tyres at 10,000 miles. 3.6 to 3.7mm and they also said did I drive enthusiastically! Give the cars handling and cornering abilities the answer is I get no way near its capabilities. Anyway €1250 for all 4 including 21% Dutch tax if I change.

[Rogerha]

So I am still battling with BMW UK on my 840d tyres, now had 6 in 13,000 miles. BMW are holding the the line about ‘characteristic of the car’ but accepted my request to escalate the problem. Not satisfied, I have reported the car having a serious defect to the government agency in the UK that looks after vehicle safety. The have accepted my report and are now talking to BMW about next steps, at this point BMW have started to be even less co-operative with me, so I will see how it progresses.

I spoke to an ex-employee of BMW last week, it seems uneven excessive wear is actually quite common in xdrive cars !

I am not backing down on this, no car in the world should wear the inside shoulder of the tyre down to the wire leaving 5mm across the rest of the tyre surface. And if it does, it should not be considered normal, especially in 3000 miles.

[Belugs]

I wonder if this issue is specific to the tire or tire agnostic? If you are having this issue report here what tires you have fitted to your car.

BMW prolly already has this data but won't act and instead leave the burden on the customer to keep replacing tires at extremely alarming frequency

[Wing Co]

For me on Dutch cobbled roads and any very tight turn you feel this crabbing effect as the tyres slip on the surface. Mine is 4 wheel drive, steer and has the diff. It is impossible, unless on a track to really flog this car it just sticks to the road when dry. I drive up to 150mph in Germany so it would appear that with 3.6-3.7 mm left that all together about 12-13k is pretty good. 4 new tyres at €1250 Michelin Pilot Sport is pretty good. I paid that in 2005 for a M-B CLK.

[Baron G15]

Originally Posted by Rogerha

So I am still battling with BMW UK on my 840d tyres, now had 6 in 13,000 miles. BMW are holding the the line about ‘characteristic of the car’ but accepted my request to escalate the problem. Not satisfied, I have reported the car having a serious defect to the government agency in the UK that looks after vehicle safety. The have accepted my report and are now talking to BMW about next steps, at this point BMW have started to be even less co-operative with me, so I will see how it progresses.

I spoke to an ex-employee of BMW last week, it seems uneven excessive wear is actually quite common in xdrive cars !

I am not backing down on this, no car in the world should wear the inside shoulder of the tyre down to the wire leaving 5mm across the rest of the tyre surface. And if it does, it should not be considered normal, especially in 3000 miles.

Same model as yours (launch edition) and I’m in the UK....10k on the clock and pretty much all my driving is Cotswolds country roads...Had a service yesterday and I had read your post so got the dealer to look at the tires.....Pirelli Run Flats....
I’ve posted the report for your reference

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Rogerha

So I am still battling with BMW UK on my 840d tyres, now had 6 in 13,000 miles. BMW are holding the the line about ‘characteristic of the car’ but accepted my request to escalate the problem. Not satisfied, I have reported the car having a serious defect to the government agency in the UK that looks after vehicle safety. The have accepted my report and are now talking to BMW about next steps, at this point BMW have started to be even less co-operative with me, so I will see how it progresses.

I spoke to an ex-employee of BMW last week, it seems uneven excessive wear is actually quite common in xdrive cars !

I am not backing down on this, no car in the world should wear the inside shoulder of the tyre down to the wire leaving 5mm across the rest of the tyre surface. And if it does, it should not be considered normal, especially in 3000 miles.

Agreed and as johnwing12 posted he has ~12K miles on the original set of tires with no uneven wear. On my outgoing Lexus Sports Sedan (equal to a 550i) I got about 25K out of the tires as I DILYSI all the time. Given, XDrive along with the ridiculous increase in HP and torque on my 2020 M850i I expect about 15K at best. However, 6 tire replacements within 13K miles or a single tire showing inside tread wear issues at 3K miles with the center and outer being normal makes no sense whatsoever.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Baron G15

Same model as yours (launch edition) and I’m in the UK....10k on the clock and pretty much all my driving is Cotswolds country roads...Had a service yesterday and I had read your post so got the dealer to look at the tires.....Pirelli Run Flats....
I’ve posted the report for your reference

Thanks for sharing and about what I would expect and further confirms that Rogerha is facing an inexplicable situation with his 840d that BMW is chalking up to "enthusiastic driving" which is absolutely illogical.

[msm2000uk]

For the UK owners, have you tried having your geometry checked by an independent? I have someone I can recommend if interested.

M

[Rogerha]

Originally Posted by Belugs

I wonder if this issue is specific to the tire or tire agnostic? If you are having this issue report here what tires you have fitted to your car.

BMW prolly already has this data but won't act and instead leave the burden on the customer to keep replacing tires at extremely alarming frequency

I think you might have a point Belugs. I have done a bit of research on the Bridgestone 007’s and they are basically fitted to some 8ers, Aston Martins and Ferraris, they are very well known for having very rigid tyre walls. I am beginning to think that the problem may have been with the tyre itself, I had the alignment checked by an independent place, and it was absolutely fine (allegedly).

So you start to wonder about the tyre itself, and suitable inflation guidance for a hard walled tyre. Either way, it’s an OEM fit, so as far as I am concerned, it’s Beemers problem. I should have mentioned that a car magazine here in the UK experienced the same thing, although slightly less severe: https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-re...e-2018-review/

Wingco That crabbing you report is the Ackermann effect, which is a deliberate choice of geometry on these cars. Doesn’t matter that is damned annoying of course.

Baron G15 I live just south of you in Wiltshire, interesting you are on Pirelli’s, reinforces my thinking about the Bridgestones

To be honest, I (like most people here) have owned plenty of motors, many of them tyre burners. If I was wearing them evenly across the tyre - I would be a little more understanding of BMW’s position. I had an M4 before this, and I was getting 10k out of a set of rears, which I thought was good going. But this wear isn’t/wasn’t right - shame - I love the car otherwise.

[Baron G15]

Originally Posted by Rogerha

I think you might have a point Belugs. I have done a bit of research on the Bridgestone 007’s and they are basically fitted to some 8ers, Aston Martins and Ferraris, they are very well known for having very rigid tyre walls. I am beginning to think that the problem may have been with the tyre itself, I had the alignment checked by an independent place, and it was absolutely fine (allegedly).

So you start to wonder about the tyre itself, and suitable inflation guidance for a hard walled tyre. Either way, it’s an OEM fit, so as far as I am concerned, it’s Beemers problem. I should have mentioned that a car magazine here in the UK experienced the same thing, although slightly less severe: https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-re...e-2018-review/

Wingco That crabbing you report is the Ackermann effect, which is a deliberate choice of geometry on these cars. Doesn’t matter that is damned annoying of course.

Baron G15 I live just south of you in Wiltshire, interesting you are on Pirelli’s, reinforces my thinking about the Bridgestones

To be honest, I (like most people here) have owned plenty of motors, many of them tyre burners. If I was wearing them evenly across the tyre - I would be a little more understanding of BMW’s position. I had an M4 before this, and I was getting 10k out of a set of rears, which I thought was good going. But this wear isn’t/wasn’t right - shame - I love the car otherwise.

Yep, the tire wear you’re getting is absurd. I’ve had a couple of tire burners before...Italian prancing horse and German antlers and neither of them experienced tire wear like that....and in those days my driving style most definitely would have been described as ‘spirited’.

If you want an alternative dealer to take a look at the car, try Cotswold BMW in Cheltenham...It’s a pretty incredible facility, and I’ve found their responsiveness to be a highlight of the BMW ownership experience, which has otherwise been pretty underwhelming in comparison to Audi & Porsche.

I also think that was absolutely the right move to report your vehicle to the safety authority. Frankly, the images of your tires was bloody terrifying. Instead of nickel and diming you over the cost of a set of tires, I’d have expected them to want to get to the bottom of what was going on.

I know everyone’s experience is anecdotal but, I used to live in the States and owned a Porsche 997. When the car was first launched it had an intermittent technical fault that was only present on the US version of the vehicle. Long story short, I was able to generate the fault every time I cleaned the car. The dealer reported it to Stuttgart, and instead of the company denying there was a problem, their response was to send four engineers from the factory to my home in LA to watch me clean the car whilst it was hooked up to their laptops. Once they’d identified the problem (it required a module redesign) they offered to replace the module (once it had been fabricated) or if I preferred, replace the vehicle.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Rogerha

So you start to wonder about the tyre itself, and suitable inflation guidance for a hard walled tyre. Either way, it’s an OEM fit, so as far as I am concerned, it’s Beemers problem. I should have mentioned that a car magazine here in the UK experienced the same thing, although slightly less severe: https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-re...e-2018-review/

Given the extra data points perhaps it is the Bridgestone's but something just doesn't sound right as well especially (if I understand correctly) you even had a single tire with the excessive inner wall treadwear issue at 3K miles.

I'm not sure how BMW picks what tires are used but it was interesting that the shared article was a M850i and it too was on Bridgestone's which the fronts needed replacing at 6K miles. My 2020 M850i came with Pirelli P-Zero runflats and I've driven the car hard since passing the 1200 mile break-in period. Due to COVID-19 I only have about 4K miles on it now but the treadwear is absolutely even on the fronts and plenty of rubber left to see my projected 10 to 15K mileage before they'll need replacement.

I love the last point of the article:

5. And what's it for?

Believe it or not, it's for driving. And whether you're cruising to work or hurrying to the other end of the country, the BMW will cover the distance at tremendous speed, with very little effort, and breed a very likeable sense of calm and complete control as it does so. It'll use a load of fuel, your rear-seat passengers will hate you, and you may ponder why you haven't sunk your pension into an M5 instead. But you may also be too content to care.

The irony being that it rings true for me (outside of the M5 as chose against it). For the last 9 months of my outgoing Lexus the fun to break the monotony of the daily commute was to try and get the best gas mileage out of it (the Lexus system tracked it from every fill up). However, during the first 3 months of commuting with the M850i prior to the COVID-19 lockdown I wasn't caring about gas mileage but just the pure fun of driving the car. So yes it uses a load of fuel but I'm too content to care.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by Baron G15

If you want an alternative dealer to take a look at the car, try Cotswold BMW in Cheltenham...It’s a pretty incredible facility, and I’ve found their responsiveness to be a highlight of the BMW ownership experience, which has otherwise been pretty underwhelming in comparison to Audi & Porsche.

This is solid advice and worth the effort if possible. It's been posted numerous times here on the forum that all BMW dealers are not created equal and some of them just don't get the customer satisfaction aspect that builds not only brand loyalty but their specific dealership loyalty as well.

I may have just gotten lucky that the dealer I purchased my wife's X5 turned out to be one that strives for total customer satisfaction. For the X5 purchase I negotiated with them as well as the alternative dealer in town. At the end of the day the deals were near par but the chosen dealer threw in $500 store credit to win.

However, the two plus years of experience with the dealer post purchase made them the only play for my M850i order. Sure I negotiated to get the best discount possible but I didn't even try with the alternative dealer as they gained my loyalty via absolute customer satisfaction. Case-in-point when I take the M850i in for its first service in December and ask for an iDrive update to 07/2020 (or later if there is a stable option) they will not even flinch at that request. Many other dealers won't do it as apparently BMW will not cover the labor hours under warranty unless there is a specific issue that can only be addressed with an upgrade.

[keithguido]

How is it possible ALL 4 shocks could be leaking? Time to buy lottery tickets!