Tire Recommendations '95 530i

[tim]

Last winter we had a pretty big ice/snow storm here in Dallas. I'm from upstate NY originally, and I happen to have a set of chains. I had to be the only guy on the road that day. Unless you're in a place where snow is on the road all winter long, chains are a pretty good solution to the occasional snow, without having to compromise too much tire performance during normal conditions.

[Robert K]

I have the Michelin Pilot XGT's, and I like 'em well enough on my stock 15" basketweaves. (You can stop laughing now!). Although they're rated for 40k mi, I'd be surprised if they last 20k. That said, they give a good OEM style ride and are pretty quiet for their grip. We don't see much snow here in Dallas but I have to assume that they would suck for snowy driving.

As far as snow- most who have experience recommend a dedicated set on dedicated rims. The issue is width, and there's no tread design that's going to make a 225mm width tire act like a 185. But the thinner the tire and the deeper the tread, the better it's going to be on snow.

[Robert K]

Up to a few months ago, I was running Michelin XGTV4's on my T-Bird and XGTZ4's on my '91 535i. I loved them. They were a great combination of many things. They handled and stopped great, were above average in the rain, offered some traction in the snow, and were fairly quiet too. I've run Michelins for about the past 15-20 years now and have never had a problem with them going out of round, developing tread bubbles, or going out of balance. Michelin builds quality tires if you ask me.

I recently put BF Goodrich Traction V's on my T-Bird. It was just my beater car for when I didn't want the 535i in the rain or snow. The Tractions are supposed to get about 60,000 miles, which is about double what you can expect out of XGT's. They were also quite a bit cheaper and have turned out being pretty decent tires. So far, I'm pleased with them.

When the XGTZ4's are done on the 535i, I may be looking at the Bridgestone G009's or RE950's. I'm also considering the Pirelli P-Zero Nero M&S, which has been getting rave reviews on the Tirerack site. The main reason I'm going away from Michelins is simply price. For 235/45-17's, they are around $200 per tire. The Bridgestones and Pirellis are just too much cheaper to ignore. Also,we have Bridgestone Turanza LS-H's on my wife's V-6 Camry. If those weren't so much for the 235/45-17's, I'd put them on my 535i in a second. They are GREAT all season, grand touring tires. We love them!

Well, there's more info for you to think about. Hope this helps some. I'd also suggest reading the reader reviews of tires on Tirerack's site. Lots of great info there.

Grace and peace,

Robert K
1991 535i

[Mr. BILL]

I'll second the Falkens.

I put them on my E39 and what an improvement! Smooth, quiet and good, (not great) handling.

[Mobius]

My tire history...

Sumitomo HTRZII: Excellent grip on the dry and in the wet - but they suffered from a lot of road noise.
BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KDW (not the 'flame tread' ones): Similar to the Sumitomos, but with slightly worse treadwear and less road noise.
Yokohama AVS-ES100: Disappointment. Louder than the Sumitomos, and when they were on the front of the car, I learned that even though I had set up my Dinan sway bars to pretty much eliminate understeer when I had the Sumitomos, I was now back in understeer mode. They're hard to break free - but they sure like to scrub the road a lot when pushed.

I can't really give reviews on ride quality, because I'm running 235/40-18 and 265/35-18.

The Sumitomo and the BFGs I'd buy again without hesitation. The Yokohamas... Well, maybe if they were cheaper...


As far as the alignment thing goes, I'm under the impression that unless you have an M5, the ONLY adjustment you can make to your alignment is front toe. I know this is true for my '93 535, at least. Most shops are going to charge you 4-wheel alignment rates anyhow, which kinda feels like a ripoff, but most of the work is in getting the car on the rack and mounting the alignment pods - which you would have to do regardless..

[Bimmer Nut Ed]

I got an opinion, and I'm gonna share it; AKA, The Bimmer Nut Ed Philosophy on Tires:

This applies to our RWD BMW cars only. I have no opinion on FWD or AWD as "they suck". No Flames, everyone has their opinion, I just don't like steering torque of FWD, or the extra complexities/weight of AWD. And I really like the perfect balance on 50/50 weight ratio RWD Bimmers.

Anyway: Buy winter tires for the winter, and high performance summer tires for the summer. Buy good winter tires (most named brands work great and will last you 3-5 seasons easy), but the high performance summer tires can be any reasonable (inexpensive) brand, Sumitomo's, Kuhmo's....

I say, use your tires. I don't want tires to last long. I have an aversion (right or wrong) to Michelins. I used to run 60,000 Michelins on my Volvo's and they did go 60,000. But they also turned to plastic over time, and sucked in the rain and snow. Heck with that, I want soft rubber, something with grip, something I can run the rubber off in a couple 2-3 years max.

Now if you have to compromise and only run one set of tires I really like the Bridgestone RE950's. They've got the dual rubber tread compound, which, as the tire wears, exposes softer rubber so you tires still feel new. Old rubber turns hard, these tires prevent that, which is especially good after your had the tires on a while and the tread depth is reduced. I looked at the G009's and they do not have this feature, so I would not recommend them.

Also, whenever I go to the Bridgestone Firestone dealer near me, I bring in the Tire Rack Price, and they sell the Bridgestone’s for only $5 per tire more. Which is a great deal since if you bring in your own tires from tire rack for them to mount, they would charge you that much more for balancing and mounting anyway.