Scotty, love your channel and advice. I took my 2002 BMW Z3 to the dealer. They said I needed new tires even though the tread was fine. It's just because the tires were about 10 years old. Is that true? Also, they wanted to do a wheel alignment. Is a wheel alignment required with new tires? Thanks!
Did the BMW dealer mention the wallet-vacuuming they wanted to perform?
Yes, tires deteriorate due to age, so if the sidewalls are showing small cracks you should consider replacing them. As far as an alignment, unless the tires show uneven wear on the tread, or you have had a recent run-in with a curb or such, no alignment should be required. I think you would get a better deal for you $ going to a tire shop than a BMW dealer.
Thank you!
Replace the tires, particularly if you do a decent amount of driving. I just replaced 9-year-old tires on my Frontier as it's my daily driver and I put 50 miles a day on them M-F, at minimum. The tread was good, but the walls showed some signs of dry rot. Alignment, as mentioned above, is not needed just for a new tire install. And yes, better off with a tire retailer. I went with Discount Tire locally because they literally ONLY do tires and wheels. Any shop that offers additional services is likely to try and upsell you. Discount Tire actually happened to have a 2019 tire with great tread in my size that had just been swapped off another truck and they gave it to me for my spare (10 years old) free of charge. Mounted, balanced, and retracted back under the truck. YMMV.
