Anyone else had to replace a single tire on their AWD Kizashi?

[bmw&kizzyownr]

No problem, take care & have fun!

[SamirD]

Even in 2wd drive mode, the rear tires are still moving as stated earlier in the thread.

The spare on the awd sls sport is smaller than the rest of the tires--and this is the stance from the factory. I don't think such a small difference in tread will have a large impact. But if you think it's going to be an issue, just get one more new tire and keep the 'worn' one as a spare. This way, you have a better spare and the treads are balanced on each axle.

[ochy38]

This conversation has me curious. Sort of related: how would the system react to two sets of different tires? Say... 2- 6/32nds on the back and 2-9/32nds on the front? Would that be a no-no? I know of someone who had a diff go in his truck because of this, but then again it was traditional 4wd.

[bmw&kizzyownr]

No disrespect to previous posters since all of them brought up thoughtful and relevant points. However, I don't believe the mismatch of tire thread depths (as indicated--6/32nds vs 9/32nds) would have any effect on the Kizzy differential and it would result in 0, repeat "0" problems. However, mixing tires (ie. patterns) like Goodyear Eagle tires in the front and Michelins Sport A/S 3s in the back could result in all type of handling/stability/ride problems. And mixing directional and non-directional tires would be a real no-no IMHO and result in a multitude of problems.

[SamirD]

Like he said, I think the system should be able to handle that. I think a problem would be with having two smaller sizes (like spares) on the front/back vs full size on the other axle. I also think that side to side differences would be more easily tolerated than front to back since there is a differential that is always working on each axle to correct any traction differences between sides.

But these are just guesses from what I've read in the service manual.

[KansasKid]

Been driving with the three old/one new configuration for a couple months now. At the start the new tire seemed to play with the alignment a bit at highway speed. But it was slight enough that it could have just been wind buffeting the car. Haven't had any issues so far, even on the handful of occasions that we flipped the AWD on (when it snowed a good amount here a couple weeks ago, and my wife turns it on when she drives while the roads are fairly damp. It's been raining a lot lately). I try to keep it in 2WD mode as often as possible though.

[SamirD]

Been driving with the three old/one new configuration for a couple months now. At the start the new tire seemed to play with the alignment a bit at highway speed. But it was slight enough that it could have just been wind buffeting the car. Haven't had any issues so far, even on the handful of occasions that we flipped the AWD on (when it snowed a good amount here a couple weeks ago, and my wife turns it on when she drives while the roads are fairly damp. It's been raining a lot lately). I try to keep it in 2WD mode as often as possible though.

The car is so finacky with alignment that I could see a slight height difference making itself felt. But to a certain extent, that could be said for any car.

2wd mode on the awd is still putting power to the rear wheels, just minimally. I actually tested this once when I got stuck and wanted the rear wheels to stop digging a bigger hole underneath them. Switching to 2wd only made them active later, but they still had power.

[n8dogg]

After a whole month of waiting, I finally got my wheel repaired from a run in I had with a pot hole. I'll update my post "Pot holes suck" about that ordeal. Anyways, I was going to follow my advise about having the new tire on the front. When I spoke to the shop tech about it, he said he'll only ever put an unmatched tire on the rear. Not because of differential issues, but because the difference in tire height, no matter how slight, could cause some pulling in the steering and he'd rather prevent customer complaints of that effect. I dunno, sounded good. I'm still concerned that it wont ever catch up with the other tires as long as it stays on the back. I suppose when the other 3 wear out before this newer 4th tire, I'd likely be ready to replace all 4 anyway.

[SamirD]

After a whole month of waiting, I finally got my wheel repaired from a run in I had with a pot hole. I'll update my post "Pot holes suck" about that ordeal. Anyways, I was going to follow my advise about having the new tire on the front. When I spoke to the shop tech about it, he said he'll only ever put an unmatched tire on the rear. Not because of differential issues, but because the difference in tire height, no matter how slight, could cause some pulling in the steering and he'd rather prevent customer complaints of that effect. I dunno, sounded good. I'm still concerned that it wont ever catch up with the other tires as long as it stays on the back. I suppose when the other 3 wear out before this newer 4th tire, I'd likely be ready to replace all 4 anyway.

I think the tech has been taught to do that because most tires on the front wear out faster and a new tire there will keep a car from coming back to shop longer.

I always put new tires up front on my fwd cars. Rears usually can go through two sets of new ones up front.