Some owners are shallow, and mainly care about looks. Others are more concrete who deeply care about performance handling. Absolutely none are expecting reliability nor quality of components.
Both types exist; neither of which buys the vehicle for reliability, so, your point doesn't even make sense because it shows you are using "your" mentality on a vehicle which you would never buy.
Think about being in someone else's shoes, and you'll be edified.
For reliability, both BMW & non-BMW owners agree:
- Buy a Honda or Toyota.
All this is OT since the topic is proper tire mounting.
For example, they make the DISA flap valve out of plastic. Do you know what happens what that plastic wears, and the metal pin falls out, and gets ingested by the intake manifold?
Another example is that they make the headlight adjusters out of PBT plastic. Do you realize what happens to every plastic headlight adjuster after just a few years of that plastic baking in the $1,000 Hella headlamp housing?
Another example are the o-rings inside the VANOS assembly. Do you know what happens to every buna-N rubber o-ring exposed to hot oil day in and day out?
Another example is the CCV valve. And the Bosch 5.7 ABS control module. And the recycled plastic of the windshield cover molding. And the Kuster window regulators. And the lack of adhesive on the door vapor barriers. And the rubber-filled thrust arm bushings.
The worst quality issue of all are the Behr/Nissens/Hella expansion tanks and radiators. I don't know how Toyota can build a plastic radiator that lasts for years, while the Germans can't build one to last two years - but the proof is simply that there probably isn't a single BMW E38, E39, or E46 that hasn't had the entire cooling system replaced at least once, and most are twice.
If you still think the Germans care about quality, you'll have to convince me you understand what I wrote above - and then you'll have to explain how those (all extremely well known issues that happen to almost all BMW E39s, E38s, and E46's) aren't quality issues.
Point is, the Germans care about performance; not about quality.
I'm going to have to put you in the killfile simply because you argue like a fifteen year old.
And, you know the rule. Don't argue with a ... because they will bring you to ... and in the end ... they'll win ... due to their experience.
Point is, I have read the articles. You clearly have not. Some clearly say how to match mount; others are less clear; and others conclude it only matters for OEM.
All say that if you want to match mount, you mount the red dot to the match-mounting mark on steel wheels and to the valve stem on aluminum wheels.
The part you fail to understand is that the tire shops are the ones who don't install the tires correctly. They're the ones who need to read this literature. Not us. (I've already read all the articles that are known to this newsgroup and posted on this thread.)
You do realize that was posted in the original list of references that were sent to me via email by Ken Tener of Tire Rack (and posted here as one of the 7 Internet references on how to perform proper tire wheel match mounting).
I told you already, you need to tell us where you live.
Chain shops are just as hit and miss as everyone else, the sign over the door is no guarantee that the guy *at that location* is in any way competent. You need someone with local knowledge to tell you where the good guy works. Getting tapped in to your local (presumably in your case BMW) car club/group is probably the best way, or ask on some enthusiast forums if nobody here is in your area.
Are you sure that Michelin doesn't believe in the dot-mark method?
Why does the Michelin aviation tire training specifically discuss the red dot in their level II tire professional certification program?
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Specifically, this professional-training PDF:
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VERBATIM: TIRE/WHEEL ALIGNMENT FOR BALANCE The ?red? balance mark on the lower sidewall indicates the light point of the tire?s balance. Align this mark with the heavy point of the wheel. In the absence of a balance mark, align the tire?s Serial Number with the heavy point of the wheel (main landing gear position tires only). Many wheel manufacturers today identify either the light spot or heavy spot of the wheel with markings in the flange area. Follow their instructions on assembly and balance. Be sure to align the tire?s light spot 180° from the wheel?s light spot or directly in line with the wheel?s heavy spot. In the absence of specific wheel markings, align the tire?s red balance mark with the wheel inflation valve.
I totally agree with the theory on that, but in recent experience, in a small town, that customer will leave the premises, and proceed to tell everyone he meets that day that the shop "tried to rip him off"...when of course the shop just wanted him to leave.
You have to define "match mounting." There are multiple definitions. You'll get what you're willing to pay for. For my cars simply getting each wheel individually balanced so there is no vibration at any speed I drive at, is all my car deserves. So I disagree with your second point above.
Vic Smith wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
bluebmw's posts are simply the noise of a snob. The only way that he can to justify to himself the enormous amount of money he spent on a car that by his own admission suffers from serious quality problems is to make every possible effort to perpetuate the fantasy of its imagined superior performance -- like that makes any difference at all when he's stuck in traffic on his daily commute to work.
Q: What's the difference between a porcupine and a BMW?
This is my fault. You seem to be think reasonably. It was my fault for not promptly re-iterating the seven references cited. Here are the seven original references, all of which I've read:
Motor magazine article on match mounting for aluminum wheels:
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Bridgestone pamphlet on match mounting:
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Bridgestone magazine article on match mounting:
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Yokohama article explaining the "Uniformity" and "Weight" methods of match mounting:
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Yokohama TSB on match mounting:
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Rubber Manufacturers Association tire booklet (See Chapter 2, page 33 "Match Mounting"):
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Tire Rack article on match mounting:
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An eighth reference "might" be this Michelin (airplane) tire installation reference, which is only included here because JB intimated that Michelin doesn't even use the red dots - which - a quick google showed to be false (at least for Michelin, the company, and their training on proper mounting of aircraft tires).
Michelin recommendations for proper airplane tire mounting:
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Specifically the level-II certification document, page 12, section titled: "TIRE/WHEEL ALIGNMENT FOR BALANCE".
Out of the last four times I've had tires put on this car, 0% of the recommended Tire Rack installers (twice Goodyear, and twice Midas) had the proper tool.
I thought you guys knew how to properly install tires, especially since some of you *must* have, at one point, mounted your own tires, or, at least have *thought* about the proper way to mount tires.
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