Tire/Tyre advice for an E46 please?

Although it's in the US, you might check the

site as there is a great deal of user feedback (which, of course, needs to be filtered according to your needs).

Personally, I'm satisfied with the ContiSportContact 2 (E46) and Goodyear F1 GS-D3 tires (Z4).

Tom K.

Personally, I was quite happy with CSC2 on my A4. It was a great balance of performance and comfort, and they were very quiet. I had Bridgestone S03 before that, and while they were slightly better performers with quicker steering response due to extremely hard sidewalls, that also amounted to a very uncomfortable ride with lots of tramlining. Now, if the roads where you drive are good and very even, that may not matter all that much. I'm running Dunlop SP Maxx right now, and they're OK as far as comfort and grip, but flatspot like crazy. Next time I'll probably go back to Conti and get the CSC3.

Pete

What causes them to "flatspot"?

-- Larry

We're about 10,000 miles into the life of a set of Avon Tech M550 A/S XL on my wife's 2002 325 w/ sport pkg. They're comfortable, quiet, and outstanding in the wet. I'd buy another set in a heartbeat.

-- Larry

"pltrgyst" wrote

I wish I knew for sure. Normally, if the tire has a lot of nylon in its construction, then the nylon has sort of a memory effect. When the tires cool while the car is sitting, the nylon deforms, and then it takes about 5 miles of driving for it to become round again. But honestly, I think it's a manufacturing defect because I have not found a single other user that would come across this same issue. I mean, I would understand if flatspotting occured after the car sat in the same spot for days, but not after 5 hours.

Unfortunately, Dunlop/Goodear doesn't believe me, so I would have to have the tires inspected at one of their authorized dealers. Unfortunately, by the time I drive up to the closest dealer, the tires become round again, so there is nothing to inpect. So, I would have to leave the car there overnight which is not exactly convenient and I haven't yet found the time to do it...

Pete

I love Toyo, but they flatspot for a few miles after 24 hours of sitting, worth the hassle, very quiet and predictable. T1-S, 245 rear 235 front on my 540 and 225 front on my 330.

Love them

You got 27,000 miles out of one set of tires and you're unhappy with them? Driving a BMW? At what -- 20 mph?

I've never gotten over 20K miles out of a set of tires in my life (44 years of driving). 8;)

-- Larry

I have a set of Dunlop SP9000s in 225/40ZR18 and 225/35ZR18 on my

330ci, I am happy with them, but have not had any other make on the car. They dont pull on white lines or overbanding (if they are at the correct pressure - and are certainly better than an M3CS I tried the other day which I think had Continentals and reacted to every imperfection in the road on it's 19 inch wheels), they are quiet and they grip well enough in the wet.

I can't comment on life, but they have lasted nearly 20k miles with plenty of life left in them.

"Pashlipops" wrote

That's an odd combination.

Pete

You had me laughing, I meant 225/40ZR18 and 255/35ZR18....

You mentioned the M3 and interestingly it has bigger tyres - 225 *45*

18 and 255 *40* 18. I've always found that odd.

This was an M3CS with 19 inch wheels.

inch wheels.- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -

I guess that is why you can get 19 inch wheels on an M3.

I've just had CSC3 tyres fitted and so far they seem OK; I will reserve judgment until I have drive a few more miles.

As this is a leased car I didn't have much choice of tyres, though I'm glad nobody had any negative comments on the Continentals. Thanks

-- John Perry