Need good input on tires

The Continental tires on my 323 still have good tread but I'm sick of the crummy things. Wheels need balancing, but I'm not gonna bother, just get new tires. Continental tires apparently behave extremely poorly on wet roads while going around curves. Mine have been so bad that I almost wonder how they could be legally sold in America. A tire guy told me right after I bought them that they were terrible in the rain...he spoke the gospel!

What should I get? I'm not a hell driver in the beamer, but not an old lady either....average middle-aged driver I guess. I'm thinking of buying at Big 10 Tires. They sold me a great set of cheap tires for my old car, and they still don't need balancing after several years. I know you can't go wrong with Michelin, but pricey. How about Bridgestone? I've been to the Big 10 site and that seems to be their major brands for "regular" tires.

Reply to
Rudy
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Keep it under 60 and tire quality doesn't mean a thing. Just buy the cheapest.

Reply to
Speeders & Drunk Drivers are M

Stupid response! If the guy was in Euroland (inc UK) it would be illegal apart from being totally reckless and stupid.

Oh! I forgot you are in the US so please carry on and kill yourself along with several innocent bystanders or other drivers when you decide that you are late one day and start driving at 100 mph and the tires disintegrate.

Buy tires that match the max speed of the car or buy a car that matches your wallet.

Reply to
Oscar

Perhaps so, but I have it impossible to keep my BMW going that slow.

My car came with Pirelli, but they were not satisfactory. I replace the original tires with Michelin.

Jim

Reply to
Jim

I have no input on Big 10... I share your opinion of Continentals, I had a set stock on my GTI 1.8T and I don't understand what posessed VW to put rolling bricks like those on a supposedly "sporty" car. I often inadvertantly chirped the tires backing out of parking spaces, they were that pathetic. wet, dry, it didn't matter, they sucked. I replaced them with Michelin Pilots and couldn't be happier.

If you don't want to spend the $$$ for Michelins, I've heard that Kelly-Springfield makes a decent "bargain" tire. Can't be any worse than Contis, anyway, and they're a lot cheaper. I have had good luck with Kumhos as well.

nate

Reply to
N8N

Fuck off troll, or at least confine your trolling to threads where there's no risk of anyone actually following your advice.

nate

Reply to
N8N

I'd recommend checking out the Tire Rack web site. They have comparative road tests on most of the tires (and they often use the 3 series for the comparisons). Also user reviews/ratings.

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I put Pirelli P-zero Neros on my 5er. Reasonable price, the promise of good durability, and some good past experiences with their product. Good (not great) grip and excellent in the rain.

Bridgestone makes an excellent tire. Also the Goodyear F-1 D3 has gotten great reviews.

R / John

Reply to
John Carrier

I replaced the overpriced Michelin Pilot Sports with the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's. The performance was marginally better (the Pilots are already great!) and the wear was reduced significantly. Wet traction also seemed better but it's difficult to compare new tires to the old ones at that point. No snow here so that wasn't a factor for me. These were on my '02 330i w/sport package and 19" wheels. I saved $100 per tire but still dropped $1000 with installation, etc.

Dan

Reply to
Dan

You don't say which Continental tires you have on your 323. Are they performance or so-called "all-season" or touring tires? It can make a big difference.

The Conti SportContact2 performance tires on my E46 are wonderful in the rain as were the OEM Conti SportContacts, but if you want to switch brands, try the Goodyear F1 GS-D3. Of course all of these are unsuitable for snow & ice if that's an issue where you live.

Tom K.

Reply to
Tom K.

Seconded. I have Conti Sport Contacts all round on my 528i E39. IMO they are excellent tyres in the wet or dry. They'll be replaced by the same when the time comes. Mike.

Reply to
Mike G

Have you ever driven a car? Do you even know what a car is?

Reply to
Speeders & Drunk Drivers are M

HAHAHA. Did a ruin your day again?? HAHA

Reply to
Speeders & Drunk Drivers are M

No, but following your advice could certainly ruin someone's day.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

The best feeling tires I've tried so far are Falkens. Its like the difference between walking around in a stiff leather dress shoe and jumping around in sneakers. I mean they just grip the road and don't slip at all. Not bad in price either.

GK

Reply to
GK

Rudy:

First off, ignore anything that someone who calls themself "Speeders & Drunk Drivers Are MURDERERS," says. That screen name should tell you all you need to know about it.

As for the tires, I'm not familiar with Continental, but in my experiences, I have found Kelly-Springfield, Cooper and BF Goodrich to be decent tires that are reasonablly priced. Michelin and Goodyear are also good, but pricier.

IMNSHO, stay away from Firestone. My first two Tauruses had "Firestone Supremes," as OEM and they were a royal pain; they would last about

25000 miles or so before they would start to seperate. Switched the cars to other brands (the Kelly-Springfield for one and Cooper for the other) and never had to buy a tire for either of those two again.
Reply to
necromancer

First off you need to get rid of the attitude.

Graham

Reply to
Eeyore

Which model.

In what way ?

Most ppl would see that as a serious step backwards.

Graham

Reply to
Eeyore

You can't generalize like that between manufacturers. Tire quality is very model

-- and sometimes even size -- specific.

And while I have always loved high-performance Pirellis for their wet weather performance and currently have them on two of my three cars, I would say that "most people" favor Michelin over Pirelli. Pirelli is very little known among the general public.

-- Larry

Reply to
pltrgyst

The all season type (don't remember the exact model).

Excessive noise that sounded like bad spots on one or more tires. One tire delaminated at 20000 miles. It had tread separation. The replacement Michelin are noise free.

Not if their Pirellis delaminated during a long trip where the car sometimes reached 80 mph. It certainly is hard to keep the car at the speed limit. I am not interested in risking tire problems at such speeds. Neither of these sets of tires are performance models; I would expect to performance tires to need replacement at about that mileage. Jim

Reply to
Jim

Brain into gear Spammer

Reply to
Oscar

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