Tire Recommendations

[fosto]

I've got a 99 328i with 205/55r16 Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus tires that are just about worn out. I'd like to replace them with something that will give a little better performance without sacrificing too much on treadwear, noise and wet traction.

Any advice or recommendations on moving to the larger 225/50r16 size? I've been looking at the Michelin Pilot Sport AS and XGT H4 tires. They are a bit pricy though compared to the Pirelli PZero Nero M&S and the ContiExtremeContact. Any suggestions on what rocks vs. what sucks?

[peterkulesza]

mxv4 is utter garbage.

pilot sport and bridgestone pole position are excellent both, however wear will be quick, about 25k.

something midway : maybe bfgoodrich kdwa? i had them, they were decent.

[fosto]

Thanks for the suggestions. I had pretty much ruled out the pole positions because of comments about how performance drops off as they wear.

I hadn't looked at the bfgoodrich kdw models. Which one did you have? g-Force T/A KDW, g-Force T/A KDW 2, or g-Force T/A KDWS? The KDW 2 has a real different/interesting look to it (pic attached).

The other option I stumbled on is the Bridgestone Potenza RE950. I just noticed that a neighbor has them on his E36.

[peterkulesza]

i had the kdws. nice tire (certainly better than mxv4), reasonably cheap, wore well for 20k (i sold the car). good on water too.

the high perf tires will always wear quickly, but boy are they worth it....

i have the potenza re050 on ym car (came stock), i think they are also decent, but certainly nowhere near pilot 2, or pole position. if cheap they would be a good choice.