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Year Old - Tyre rotation / brakes

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UrbanSplash

Active Member
Nov 10, 2019
1,192
869
UK
Hi all

My M3 is a year old so I’ve booked it in with a local garage to have the brakes checked and cleaned.

It is suggested the tyres are rotated, front to back for a LR. Is this something worth doing? Seems popular in the USA. Also, are there issues with the tyre pressure sensors not liking this? Can’t be doing with messing around re-setting them etc.

I have 4 jacking pads from Abstract Ocean.

Any other tips appreciated. Many thanks.
 
Tyre rotation is one of those things that some people say is a waste of time and others will say isn't. Musk himself says it's 'optional'. The concept does seem to have recently arrived in the UK and Europe from the States where there is a long history of regular maintenance in dedicated shops for vehicles which, some would say, mainly offers the opportunity to upsell. I've looked at my tyres at 10k miles on my LR and I can't say I can see any difference between them. Brakes checked and cleaned after a year? Can't hurt but unless I could feel something wrong or there was a warning, with regen I'd be hoping for three years before thinking about them.
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Ah ok thanks. I thought brakes needed to be checked, but yes, they are hardly used.

I might take it as an opportunity to have a proper look under the car and see if the undertray has disintegrated like others are reporting.
 
Some say it's the lack of usage that makes brake maintenance more important on EV's and the risk of corrosion in wet climates. I've had the brakes on my S serviced annually even though here in rolling welsh country they do get used more than you flat-landers might.
Brakes are still the most important part of any vehicle.
I did have them done at Tesla with my instructions that they look the rest of the car over at same time for any possible ucming issues... but I have no faith that they actually did that and their prices are stupid compared to a local garage.
 
I’ve done the tyre rotation thing in the last 20 years so the four need replacing at the same time and I can have them all the same. Personal choice and I appreciate the less frequent but higher expense of this strategy is not for everyone. Obviously it doesn’t really change the total cost of tyres on a car provided you can swap them yourself.
 
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With wheel rotation, I think it's a personal thing.
I like all my tyres to wear out together. (some people don't like buying a full set in 1 go)
On a front wheel drive car or back wheel drive, I will move them cos the drive wheels always wear faster.
Then hopefully they reach wore out stage together and I get a full new set.

But on an AWD car, I'd check the wear, if there seems little difference between front and back. I personally wouldn't bother.
 
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Is brakes being "checked and cleaned" an actual service they do? Dumb question probably. I barely use my brakes, and to be honest the only times I do tend to be to try and take the top surface of corrosion off, from lack of use.
 
I suspect that doing this every two years is just another moneymaking opportunity for the garage. If you don’t take the top off the reservoir, and there are no leaks, where is the damp air going to get in?
I think Teslas recommendation is to test the brake fluid every two years (not replace), I think you can get strips or pens that will tell you how much water is the brake fluid, but since you use the brakes a lot less than a ICE i would assume it probably doesn't need to be replaced as much either.
 
Is brakes being "checked and cleaned" an actual service they do? Dumb question probably. I barely use my brakes, and to be honest the only times I do tend to be to try and take the top surface of corrosion off, from lack of use.

Yes they do service brakes, check fluids, clean etc - and charge handsomely for the privillege - as in £200 and if you make the mistake of asking them to give the rest of the car a lookover while they've got it in they'll charge the same again for an alignment and might even top up your washer fluid...
 
Worth getting one of those tyre tread measures and seeing if there is any difference in tread wear.

I have the SR+ which is rear wheel drive and i did do a tyre rotation. I noticed the rear treads being slightly lower the fronts. It was around the 12-13k mile mark (most my driving is on a dual carriageway/motorway).

I've not done a brake check/clean yet. May ask my garage to see if he can do it.

Also there is a company called Cleevely EV who i believe can now visit you to service the EV (not sure on how far they will travel from Cheltenham)
 
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