Tire Tread Wear
 

Our MINI has less than 6K miles on it and I have noticed the front tires are showing considerable wear (about half the tread depth as the rear tires). The wear is even on all tires front and rear, just that the fronts have much less tread left.
I was intending to let the dealership rotate them at their first scheduled maintenance but now going to rotate myself.
Is it normal for the front tires to wear twice as fast as the rear?
Also is it normal for them to wear this fast?
I've never owned a car that has worn the tires anywhere near this fast under normal driving conditions.

Alot spends on the tire itself and the compound. Also your driving habits. I have two Minis and on both the front wear fast compare to the back. Remember that in a Mini about 75% of the weight is over the front wheels. Small car and its harder to distribute the weight evenly. They will take more of a beating.

Mini OEM rubber tends to pretty soft high performance tires.....most only get 25,000-30,000 max life, often less out of a set...rotate, but be very careful in rain/snow...much debate, but reality is with shallower tread on the back car will spin rather than understeer (plow) if you hit a slick spot in a turn. Since you caught them early, should not be a MAJOR concern, but still something to consider.
Remember, chirping the tires is rubber lost, so is hard acceleration, and tight turns....so yes, most mini's wear the fronts down, even with 50/50 Weight distribution (yes, they are balanced very closely to give great handling, unless something has radically changed).

In 1982 my Mini Cooper S was "able" to burn Cinturato Pirellis in 165*1O in 1200 Km= 750 miles.Just accelerate a lot on mountain roads and you will be served.The torque of the turbo engines now can even do worse.

Yes, I've owned Corvettes that were outfitted with softer compound performance tires that wore at a faster rate but these are not performance tires, just the stock run flats that came with the car.
When I change to non run flat Michelin's do you think the tire wear will improve much?
These tires are wearing so fast I'm starting to wonder what the tread life warranty is on them and whether they will last that long.

Getting anybody to give you $$ on an OEM installed tire for a treadlife warrenty is basicly impossible.....
All comes down to tire choice and driving style....runflats tend to wear bad, ride hard, and be over $$$.....most junk them LONG before they are worn out cause they tend to get very loud as they wear....
About 90% of the folks on these boards ditch the runflats...regular tires work on the same rims....

Yep, I think run flats suck...

So true - we got less than 20k on the original Conti run-flats.

What you describe is normal for both base cooper and Cooper S with normal street use. A little less so if you do long commutes due to less turning.

Tire wear has a lot to do with how you drive, your roads, how much you brake, accelerate hard, and turn fast.

Since the MINI is a "fun car" to drive it's hard to be gentle and tires will wear out.

Fortunately it sounds like your treadwear is fine so yes, rotate both fronts to rears on same side of car and forget about waiting. You can do tire rotations every 4000-6000 miles depending on wear.

For those that do not rotate tires, they often will have to replace the worn out fronts with a new set just for the front wheels. When you do that, ask to have the rears rotated to the fronts and put the new tires on the rear axle. This reduces the risk of hydroplaning in the wet on older tires. You want the tires with the most tread to resist hydroplaning which when used on the rear wheels helps maintain control. If you drive in a very dry area or you slow down in the wet, you'll have less trouble.

Not surprising, I have 10k on my all season bridgestones. The fronts are just about spent and the rears look brand new, of course I drive it spirited.