Tires: Performance upgrade - BMW Forum

///M Power · 10-11-2005, 03:25 AM

Well I havent actually picked up my M3 yet but I already have a few things planned. One of the first things im going to do is change the tires. The current tires have tons of tread left, but th elast time thye were changed was 1998!!!! Fucking 7 years ago, shows how much it was driven.

Well two things hurt tires, miles, and time. And I dont plan on driving on 7 year old tires for long.

Hell, I dont even know what size tires. I have stock 10 spoke BMW Motorsport wheels with whatever tires.

What, honestly, do you recomend for performance. Im not looking for cheapo tires. But im not looking for pirelli $$$$$$$. I want a decent tire, lets keep it about 200 or less please. Personal experience will also be very appreciated.

Also, what size tire is usually standard on my car (235/40 R17 if I remember correctly), and how much larger do you guys think i can go with my stock wheels?

And finally what pisses me off the most is the rating scale. Whats this bullshit WYZ rating where Z means 150+ but W and Y are above 150. W is like 170 and Y is like 190.

WTF get rid of Z.

Thanks,

Eric

4evrwyntr · 10-11-2005, 11:46 AM

Z is kind of like the kill all end all... Indefinite. Well, at least from what I've seen.
W and Y are probably only tested to their respected listed limits - still ridiculously high though.

The kind of tires depends on what you want them for... are you running the stock standard tires? REALLY high performance summer, or REALLY high performance all season?
You can get the pzero nero m&S's for under $200, and they're (IMO) probably the best bang for the buck when it comes to a mixture of performance and all-season drivability.
If you're looking at summer performance tires, it's not going to be pirelli... I had a list somewhere, I'll look at it when I go home. But you better be prepared - those things suck at about 40 degrees F and below when it comes to grip. They literally freeze up. Alos, the stock Dunlops suck monkey butt. And you might as well drive furious in them because they'll go bald in like 7000 miles.
You're getting an ///m? I didn't know this! Congrats! e46 or e36? If you say e46, I'm only going to hate you a little bit.

EDIT: I reread your post and I'm a moron.
You're obviously getting an e36.

In that case, all the information I supplied is pertinent.
Unless you had your wheels changed from stock, you should be running 225/45's in front, and 245/40's in back. Yup. No tire rotation, so you're looking at changing more often. Oh well. Comes with the turf.

dutchbmw · 10-11-2005, 03:27 PM

Congratulations with your M3 Eric! You really deserve it

Here is a very useful link for some more information: http://www.bmwmregistry.com/faq.php

Get from my website the original brochure from the 97 or 98 model (yeah it's the euro version)

Good luck and show us some pictures!!

Pieter

///M Power · 10-11-2005, 04:22 PM

225 and 245 eh?

I think that setup is only pertinent to 96+ models no?

damnit gotta be ill finish post later

4evrwyntr · 10-11-2005, 04:25 PM

Is it? I thought all e36's were like that... maybe... maybe you've got 235's all around? That's a typical snow setup... Hmm...

///M Power · 10-11-2005, 06:07 PM

Yeah i think 95's had 235 all around

then 96-99 had 225 245 because of certain suspension addins and camber and whatnot added in 96.

You think I can go with a fatter tire? I want to maintain my ability to rotate so you think 245 at all corners will work?

I have similar rims to you. I have the BMW Motorsport ones while you have the ///M ones.

4evrwyntr · 10-11-2005, 07:06 PM

Ug. These rims SUCK for cleaning.
Anyway, normally I'd say it would be safe to go + or - 10 in the tire width... but you're looking at low profile tires... In my experience that leeway was only safe on something like 185 width or MAYBE 190 width. I'm not sure what the lee-way is on such a stiff and small sidewall as well. The prognosis doesn't look good.
PS - another tire that's gotten some rave reviews is actually the BF-Goodrich KDW's... The expensive ones with the interesting tread pattern. Of course, those are a bit pricey as summer tires, but I don't recall really what the pricing was.
Suffice it to say, pretty much whomever you go with (kumho, yokohama, pirelli, BF-goodrich or Michelin, in ascending order of preference), you will probably see an upgrade. I was looking at Kumho MX's to replace my rears eventually, but those tires are geting mixed reviews - but they're CHEAP.

BMWL2 · 10-13-2005, 01:25 AM

I had a set of Toyo T1-S's last summer on my M and I thought they were excellent tires. They did not wear all that long but they had multiple autocrosses on them. I think Toyo actually put out a new series of these tires, So I am giving my praise for Toyo.

///M Power · 10-13-2005, 01:56 AM

How much did they set you back?

BMWL2 · 10-13-2005, 02:29 AM

$650ish Not too bad of a price for what they are.

///M Power · 10-13-2005, 03:16 AM

$650? Sounds great! Ill need to read up on them some more.

4evrwyntr · 10-13-2005, 11:37 AM

Among those lines, the Pirelli PZero's M&S's are at $650... but they are a different breed than the toyo's. Necessity vs. excess. I'm going to look at some Toyo's.

Teh Prof · 10-15-2005, 10:55 PM

When I drove an E39 528i and bought 18" M5 wheels, I wrapped them in Sumitomo HTR+ rubber. I got those for just over $200 each, but I'd suggest they're worth the extra money because their wear and traction ratings are absolutely excellent. I found them to have great traction whether in dry and warm, cold and wet, or cold and ice. When I totalled my car, I had put over 20,000 miles on them, and the rears had about 40% of their tread left, never rotated. I tend to drive my car pretty hard, so that was impressive to me.

superdeadman · 10-17-2005, 08:32 PM

got pzero nero m&S on the 5-er and i love em!
they are quite and got excellent traction $135/tire

///M Power · 10-17-2005, 08:34 PM

I seemed to have been under the impression that pirelli's were far out of my price range....maybe it's just the name that scares me.