36 00... Recommendation for heating tires before removing or fitting

WARNING: This page does not describe the selected car, but rather 21 other vehicles, including the 2013 BMW 328xi, 2013 BMW 328i, 2012 BMW 328xi, 2012 BMW 328i, and 2011 BMW 328xi. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

Recommendation for heating cold tires to minimum fitting temperature +15 °C:

To ensure injury-free tire fitting, in particular the upper sidewall and the upper bead must have a temperature of at least 15 °C on the inside.

To ensure easier tire fitting, a temperature of 20° to 25° C is recommended.

This internal temperature is called the core temperature.

Rubber is a poor conductor of heat; for this reason, a cold tire must rest for a sufficient length of time in a warmed-up environment until the inner rubber layers have warmed up to min. 15 °C.

The surface temperature of the tire during the warm-up phase is not a measure of the internal temperature!

The room temperature is normally measured and read off at eye level. At 19 °C at eye level the temperature on the floor is approx. 16 °C. In other words, do not lay tires directly on a cold floor to warm up; instead, lay them at least on an insulating surface, such as a pallet, or even higher.

To ensure that cold tires absorb the heat from the ambient air as quickly as possible, they should not be stacked but rather stored individually so that they are thoroughly "immersed" in the warm ambient air.

Do not under any circumstances place tires in front of a radiant heater or a hot air blower as harmful surface temperatures are very quickly reached in this situation. Apart from heating with warm water or with warm recirculated air (max. 50 °C, no hotter), there is no other way of heating a tire without damaging the tire!

If a cold tire (under 0 °C) is introduced into a warm environment (over 0 °C), a layer of frost will form immediately on the tire surface. This frost layer shows that the tire is absorbing heat intensively from its surroundings through condensation of the moisture in the air. When the frost layer has melted and condensation water forms, dry off this water with a cloth so that the subsequent warming-up process is not slowed down by latent heat.

Summary:

Starting from a min. room temperature of 19°C:

Tires at initial temperature of 0 °C and higher: store for min. 2 hrs
Tires at initial temperature below 0 °C: store for min. 2.5 hrs

Recommendations for heating:

Store on an insulating surface a pallet or similar - at as high a level as possible with "Upper" bead facing upwards
Position tires individually so that they can be thoroughly "immersed" in warm air
Wipe off condensation water
Do not point heaters at tires