Expert: Don Berlan - 10/21/2009

Question
Don,

I have a 2006 325XI...at 40k miles tires were wearing unevenly in the front, both sides. I purchased new tires, and the tire tech mentioned the tie rods were bent, therefore not allowing him to fully align the tires. This seems to make sense, but my question is what other surprises might I expect as it's all wheel drive...is it really as simple as replacing the tie rods, and is that something I can take to a local repair shop, or do I need a certfied BMW tech to do the work? Thanks in advance for your guidance.

Answer
Well I really think there are a couple of issues here.The first is tire rotation which should be at I would say 5k intervals at the max.Any more than that tires will wear unevenly.Now about the bent tie rods......did you go off the road or hit something?Normal driving won't bend a tie rod end,actually they do have a bend in them.So if it is that far off than it has been off road.Tie rod ends aren't really that hard to remove and put back on.The trick is in the alinement.If you are inexperienced it could be way off and to align it would be difficult