Wheel balance
The wheels of a new vehicle are balanced. There are a wide range of influen-
ces when the car is being driven which may result in an imbalance. This may
become apparent by “vibration” in the steering. If this is the case, the wheels
have to be balanced at specialist garage.
Also have the wheels rebalanced after replacing or repairing the tyres.
Adjustment of the vehicle geometry
Incorrect wheel alignment at the front or rear leads to excess wear of the tyres
and negatively affects the driving safety. With a distinctive tyre wear, we rec-
ommend that you check the setting of the vehicle geometry in a specialist
workshop.WARNING■ An incorrect wheel alignment at the front or rear impairs handling.■Unusual vibrations or pulling of the vehicle to one side could be a sign of
tyre damage. If there is any doubt that a wheel is damaged, immediately re-
duce your speed and stop! If no external tyre damage is evident, drive slow-
ly and carefully to the nearest specialist garage to have the vehicle
checked.
Tyre wear indicator and wheels exchange
Fig. 153
Principle sketch: Replace tyre tread with wear indicators /
wheels
Read and observe
on page 161 first.
Wear indicators
The base of the tread of the tyres has 1.6 mm high wear indicators installed » Fig. 153 -
. In some countries, different tyre wear rates may apply.
Markings on the walls of the tyres through the letters “TWI”, triangular sym-
bols or other symbols identify the position of the wear indicators.
Exchanging the wheels
For uniform wear on all tyres, we recommend that you change the wheels ev-
ery 10 000 km according to the scheme » Fig. 153-
. You will then obtain ap-
proximately the same life for all the tyres.
After swapping the wheels, the tyre pressure should be adjusted.
In vehicles with tyre pressure monitoring tyre pressure values are to be stored
» page 127 .WARNING■
You must have your tyres replaced with new ones at the latest when the
wear indicators have been worn down.■
Worn tyres do not provide the necessary grip particularly at high speeds
on wet roads. “Aquaplaning” (uncontrolled movements of the vehicle –
“swimming” on a wet road surface) could be the result.
Tyre damage
Read and observe
on page 161 first.
We recommend checking your tyres and wheel rims for damage (punctures,
cuts, splits and bulges, etc.) on a regular basis. Remove foreign bodies (e.g.
small stones) from the tyre profile immediately.
Drive over kerbs and other such obstacles slowly and at right angles wherever
possible in order to avoid damage to tyres and wheel trims.
Immediately replace damaged wheel rims or tyres.
WARNINGNever drive with damaged tyres – there is the risk of an accident.
CAUTION
The tyres must be protected from contact with substances such as oil, grease
and fuel, which could damage them. If the tyres with these substances come
into contact, then we recommend that you check this in a specialist workshop.163Wheels
