Tire Suggestions?

I am guessing you had the TRX tires? How were you able to get them to mount 14" tires on that car? I used to have the same car; I couldn't find a shop willing to sell me non-speed-rated tires for a 535i. I did have a set of 14" wheels for it, that I sold with the car, as the TRXs were getting a bit thin at the time, but nobody was willing to replace them.

nate

It originally came with the TRX tires, all of which were bad when I got the car. So, I bought a set of 14" rims (I _think_ off a 325) from a local junkyard for $200, put them on in the driveway, and drove on the free tires that came along with them for a few months.

The local tire chain folks have not looked at me oddly at all, and have had no problem selling me non-speed-rated tires. Since I drive like a little old lady and live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, this may have affected things. The grey hair helps too, even if it's down to my shoulders.

Right now I really need to swap out the thrust arm (upper control arm?) bushings on the thing before I get new tires. I was going to do that yesterday afternoon but I got sidetracked.

--scott

"Scott Dorsey" wrote

Well, tirerack.com turns up many in that size. You might try Michelin Energy MXV4 (which we have used on our '91 525i very successfully). Two additional tires it shows are Michelin Hydroedge and the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred (different than the ComforTred).

FloydR

Well, I was maybe 22 years old at the time... guess they thought I looked like an eeeevil speeeeeeder punk :)

Funny thing is, if they were concerned about me driving on brand new, but S-rated, tires, why didn't the fact that I was driving on near-bald TRX's concern them? much confusion... (ended up buying some rock-hard used TRX's from a slim shady used tire dealer...)

nate

Best tire "for the money", get the Kumho ECSTA KH11. For my 90 E34 535i

5 speed, 104K miles, I got the VR rated ones in 225/60VR15 from Tire Rack for $51 EACH!!!

Great handling tire that performs well in wet (rainy) weather. Do it!

The newer Assurance tires. They're wonderful.

"bfd" wrote

You are (almost certainly) WRONG WRONG WRONG. Although that's a different tire than Car & Driver tested, the Kumho came in dead last in their December tire test, being mid-pack in the dry and was by far the worst in the wet.

FloydR

I've tried several sets of Kumho tires on different vehicles. In my opinion you are getting what you pay for. Yes they are cheap...

"Floyd Rogers" wrote

Man, I wouldn't want that tire for free, much less for the huge amount of money that Michelin charges for it. I guess we either had different experiences or different expectations or both. :) I enjoy somewhat spirited driving (which I'd assume most BMW owners do), and I just hated these tires on an Accord V6 I once had (205/65/15 size, V-rated). They squeeled like slaughtered pigs every time I tried to take a corner faster or even just during straight line acceleration, their wet traction was pretty bad compared to most other tires I've had, and snow handling was just a nightmare. I do realize they're not dedicated winter tires, but they were just aweful. I guess the only thing they have going for them is that they're quiet and last a long time (which can be a curse given the above since you can't wear them out fast enough). Anyway, they may be OK for "grandma" type driving, but even then, you can get similar characteristics from a Dunlop SP A2 for half the price. Bridgestone LSH might be another one to consider.

Agreed on the tirerack.com though - go read some reviews and comparison tests. It'll help you out a bit.

Pete

"Pete" wrote

Ever consider it might be the CAR and not the TIRES as the cause of the squealing? Nothing worse than an over-powered FWD car for that.

FloydR

I have been happy with the performance of Bridgestone's Potenza RE950. They did get noisy after about 20,000 miles, but the handling and performance is great, except supposedly for snow. Not a problem here in Southern California... If you are in the US, I would recommend the Tire Rack. In fact, you can get a good idea of tires and their performance from their web site regardless of where you live:

Scott Dorsey wrote:

"Floyd Rogers" wrote

Acceleration - sure, but cornering - no.

Pete

"Pete" wrote

Cornering, YES, in a FWD car.

FloydR

"Floyd Rogers" wrote

Well, I've driven many other FWD cars with different tires and they haven't exhibited that behavior. Well, maybe apart from my dad's Nissan Primera which coincidentally also had some long-wearing Michelins on.

Pete

You're being simplistic to blame his observation of tires squealing a lot once they start to wear on the design of the car. I've observed this in lots of different types of cars, and the progressive worsening of the tire squeal as the tires age should not be broad-brushed away because it's a FWD car.

-Russ.

"Pete" wrote

Actually, this is getting pretty silly. My original comments on Honda was more of a dig at FWD cars (which understeer more, hence howl more than any RWD car). I don't believe that the MXV4's howled more than the OEM Dunlops that they replaced (in either the 225/60 or

205/65 size). They wore very well. The MX4's that I put on our Chrysler minivan were excellent - no howling and were far superior to the OEM and other Goodyears that I had on it. They were excellent in the rain up here in Seattle.

The 525i currently has XGT-H4 in 225/65R16 size on it, which is slightly noisier, and about as good in rain.

FloydR

Pirelli P6000 are a good bet, a bit cheaper than Michelin Energy and just as good, no idea why previous posters have had squealing problems the Michelins. P6000's are/were factory fit on most Mercedes, Jaguar, Audi and BMW models (at least over the last 5-10 years). I used to get

40-50,000 miles on these tyres with mostly open road driving.

I sort of agree, tirerack.com *is* a great resource. You can check out models and prices and get a lot of anecdotal experience info, but do

*not* take the reviews and ratings as gospel, especially the positive ones. A large percentage of the reviews are done after very little mileage on the purchaser's new tires. Of course he thinks he made the smartest decision and just loves them. 10-20k miles later the story may be different. But you can pay attention to the negative responses as it may indicate issues with that particular tire model.

I have bought three different sets of tires from them based on positive (or rather a lack of negative) reviews that I later regretted. One set was some Kumhos that got incredibly noisey after only 12k miles. Another model of Kumhos that were Z rated but turned out to be very slick with poor traction. The third (and possibly worst) were some continental extreme contacts that were highly regarded at the time, but which turned out to have a horrible tendency to flat spot when left for even a short time. This led to them being misbalanced (while they were still cold). The only way that I was finally able to get them balanced was to go out and drive around on them for a half an hour and drive right into the tire shop and have them lift it right away. What a PITA...

anyway... caveat emptor.

Nonsense. All FWD cars corner horribly. The tires you are talking about are passenger touring tires made for comfort not performance. If you want performance tires you have to get the pilot sports.