hi all,

i drove a 2001 E55 today that i'm very interested in. it was starmarked until six months ago and it's been well cared for. one item i noticed was that since the owner seldom drove the car, i think there may be dead spots on the new-ish tires. therefore, there's vibration at 45-50 miles/hr. this is a very different/subtle vibration, much different than front wheels being out of balanced. also, after the tires warm up, i think the vibration goes away.

my question is, will i need to get 4 new tires to get the car to drive properly or will this go away if the E55 become a daily driver? in other words, is the flat spot a permanent state on the tires in which case i will need to replace them...or can it be cured if the car gets driven regularly?
thx to all for responding.

if the flat spot is bad, can someone advise what cost would be for a new set of 4's...and is there value i can get out of current.

also, is it usually worse/more sensitive in the front and therefore could i get away w/ just replacing front tires and leaving the rear status quo?

thx.

Have a tire pro check them out and rebalance just in case. You may need to get new tires. I don't believe flat-spots can be reversed. Tires could also be cupped or the steel belts have separated. Get the fronts and see how the car drives.

the flat spot you describe will not go away on it's own but, since you stated "once they warm up it's gone" I wouldn't worry about it

i've had the E55 for a week now and have been enjoying it quite a bit.

the tires are yokohama avs DB's...and they're not bad. i was trying to find out about these tires, but tirerack doesn't seem to carry the 18" sizes anymore.

p.s. there's still a slight vibration early am (it's 36 deg F), but it's much better than when i test drove the car and he had it sitting for 6 weeks.

thx again luke.