tire recommendation needed for my e36 M3 please

[warnz]

temperature reached 45 in Chicago today. Took my e36 M3 for a spin today for the first time in a month. Learned a hard lesson by not keeping better tabs on my tire pressures. After taking a soft turn at 40 MPH, I ripped the side wall to shreads on one of my rear Michelin Pilot Sports.

What type of tire(s) would you recommend for a replacement? I have Pilot sports all around. I don't know how many miles are on them because I bought the car just 6,000 miles ago. With 38K on it, this must be the 2nd set of tires.

At a minimum I would guess I should buy two new rears?

Thanks for your feedback!

Warnz
Chicago

[G95M3]

I just had the exact same thing happen to me. Except mine happened when my mom parked my car in the street she parked it half on some ice to get it out of the road and bam shredded the front tire sidewall. I too just bought my car only about 1,000 miles ago and my car has 39k on it. I had Contisport Contacts the original one. I was quite happy with how comfortable they were. So I looked at all the tires on Tirerack that came in the staggered sizes for my 97. Pretty much all the hipo tires were there. My dad works for BMW and recommended to replace them with Pilot Sports. But I decided on Contisport Contact 2's because I was impressed with the way the original ones rode. Tirerack also did a test on them saying they were the best on the street as far as max performance tires go. Others like a Pilot Sport or S03 would see advantages on a race track. The continentals were also about $250 cheaper for all four compared to the Pilot Sports. I hope that for all around street driving that they are great. I get them installed on Wednesday. If you are interested I will let you know how they are. As of now I am running on three Contisports, an MXX3, with an 8080E spare on a severly bent and scratched 330ci sport wheel. I am assuimg that you are enduring the same sort of pain. Good luck.

[OldM3]

I highly recommend the S-03s if you are willing to spend the money.

I have had pilot sports and they dont come close to S-03. The S-03s handle wet weather very well. Treadwear has been good for me considering my style.

The numbers on tirerack have them better then the continentals or the pilots.

[JSN]

dry - pilot sports

anything else - S03

[///MacDaddy]

I just went to RE750's (Bridgestone), 235/40/17's all around. They're about 50 bucks a piece less than S-03's, will last longer and have great grip (wet and dry). In my opinion a perfect street tire. Check out the ratings on tirerack.com.

[DocWyte]

I've heard very good things about the Kumho MX. I'm probably going to either get those or the Toyo T1-S in a month or so.

[vjlax18]

Sumitomo HTR + if you don't care too much about Ultimate Street Performance. $88 each at TR, and have AWESOME tread life, M/S rated, as well as being Z-Rated.

[BlackM3Sedan]

I second the motion for the Kuhmo MX.

Great tire. Great Price.

[warnz]

thanks everyone for your posts! The added variable is Chicago weather. I don't drive in snow, but do go for a spin in winter when there isn't an abundance of salt around. Car doesn't see much rain in summer either.

I'll keep an eye out for future posts and would appreciate feedback from those of you trying out new brands !

[auto_pilot]

Yokohama AVS Sports...Great all around tire, and some claim they last 20K+ miles...I have them now on my ride...Great tire, but a little noisy toward the end of their life.

[bdub]

I am not impressed with the Kumho MX's. Their dry grip does not seem to be on par with Pilot Sports. You would be ill-advised to try them in the snow. They do seem to be wearing well, though (go figure).

Next time I'm trying the SO-3's.

[quik96M3]

Originally posted by auto_pilot
Yokohama AVS Sports...Great all around tire, and some claim they last 20K+ miles...I have them now on my ride...Great tire, but a little noisy toward the end of their life.

I found AVS Sports to be pretty poor for dry grip. I actually like the Yokohama AVS ES100 better for all around street use, and they're a good bit cheaper. Buyer beware - there seems to be a lot of mixed opinions about the ES100's - your results may vary.

[auto_pilot]

Originally posted by quik96M3
I found AVS Sports to be pretty poor for dry grip. I actually like the Yokohama AVS ES100 better for all around street use, and they're a good bit cheaper. Buyer beware - there seems to be a lot of mixed opinions about the ES100's - your results may vary.

I was thinking that same thing...I've heard mixed results about the ES100's and the AVS Sports...Are you running the Z-Rated version? And how's your wear? I'm gonna need new shoes by the Fall, and I'm on the fence about what tire to get. Unlike Warnz, I don't have to worry about driving it in the snow.

Thanks in advance.

[quik96M3]

Originally posted by auto_pilot
Are you running the Z-Rated version? And how's your wear?

My ES100's are Z rated (actually they're W rated, which is 168 mph version of Z rating).

Tire wear was fine, but I don't have a lot to compare them to. I bought my M3 w/AVS Sports and don't know how much mileage was on them. As mentioned, I was unimpressed w/the dry grip of the Sports, so when they wore out I switched to a new set of ES100's. The ES100's lasted about 10,000 miles (mostly daily driving, but I ran a couple autocrosses on them and one day on track in the very wet with near full tread, where they did surprisingly well). When they wore to 2/32", I retired them from street use and have only used them one more time on track - they were horrible in the wet (on Saturday) and great in the dry (on Sunday). I plan to retire them completely after this coming weekend on track, assuming we get at least one dry day.

My car has 2-1/2 degrees negative camber, which wears the inside edges a lot more on street. So to get maximum life I had to rotate them front to back (same size wheels & tires all around) often and had them flipped on the wheels at about 6,000 miles.

[DocWyte]

No performance tire is going to do well in snow. Snow tires are needed for winter driving in snowy climates...

[auto_pilot]

Originally posted by quik96M3
My ES100's are Z rated (actually they're W rated, which is 168 mph version of Z rating).

Tire wear was fine, but I don't have a lot to compare them to. I bought my M3 w/AVS Sports and don't know how much mileage was on them. As mentioned, I was unimpressed w/the dry grip of the Sports, so when they wore out I switched to a new set of ES100's. The ES100's lasted about 10,000 miles (mostly daily driving, but I ran a couple autocrosses on them and one day on track in the very wet with near full tread, where they did surprisingly well). When they wore to 2/32", I retired them from street use and have only used them one more time on track - they were horrible in the wet (on Saturday) and great in the dry (on Sunday). I plan to retire them completely after this coming weekend on track, assuming we get at least one dry day.

My car has 2-1/2 degrees negative camber, which wears the inside edges a lot more on street. So to get maximum life I had to rotate them front to back (same size wheels & tires all around) often and had them flipped on the wheels at about 6,000 miles.

Thanks for your response...I don't track my car...Just lots of aggressive street driving :evil2 Don't wanna replace them every 10K...I might have to consider harder compound tire for longer wear...I guess I'll still keep looking!

[quik96M3]

Originally posted by auto_pilot
Thanks for your response...I don't track my car...Just lots of aggressive street driving :evil2 Don't wanna replace them every 10K...I might have to consider harder compound tire for longer wear...I guess I'll still keep looking!

I'd bet the ES100's wear at least as long as most Max Performance Summer tires, so you may have to look at a lower performance tire type to get much longer wear. I generally get a lot less mileage out of street tires than most people report, probably a combination of my driving style and camber settings, so 10,000 miles is probably not typical for most people.

[auto_pilot]

Originally posted by quik96M3
I'd bet the ES100's wear at least as long as most Max Performance Summer tires, so you may have to look at a lower performance tire type to get much longer wear. I generally get a lot less mileage out of street tires than most people report, probably a combination of my driving style and camber settings, so 10,000 miles is probably not typical for most people.

True...I considered your setup, and auto-x's speed up your wear...My setup is stock and I don't plan to track the car...I'm thinking you probably could eek out 20K in mileage, which is about the same as AVS Sports.

I've come to the conclusion that you can't have it all...Ultra Performance and Long Tread Wear...But I haven't ruled out the ES 100's completely...Just still on the fence. I hate being on the fence!

BTW, are you saying that Yok's W rating is as sticky as their Z rating...I had another buddy tell me the same thing. I understand that letter ratings are mainly for speed...but I also though Z rated tires were more grippy than say a Y or W rated tire.

[quik96M3]

Originally posted by auto_pilot
BTW, are you saying that Yok's W rating is as sticky as their Z rating...I had another buddy tell me the same thing. I understand that letter ratings are mainly for speed...but I also though Z rated tires were more grippy than say a Y or W rated tire.

See http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/general/speed.htm

"When Z-speed rated tires were first introduced, they were thought to reflect the highest tire speed rating that would ever be required, in excess of 240 km/h or 149 mph. While Z-speed rated tires are capable of speeds in excess of 149 mph, how far above 149 mph was not identified. That ultimately caused the automotive industry to add W- and Y-speed ratings to identify the tires that meet the needs of new vehicles that have extremely high top-speed capabilities.

"While a Z-speed rating still often appears in the tire size designation of these tires, such as 225/50ZR16 91W, the Z in the size signifies a maximum speed capability in excess of 149 mph, 240 km/h; the W in the service description indicates the tire's 168 mph, 270 km/h maximum speed."

[auto_pilot]

Originally posted by quik96M3
See http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/general/speed.htm

"When Z-speed rated tires were first introduced, they were thought to reflect the highest tire speed rating that would ever be required, in excess of 240 km/h or 149 mph. While Z-speed rated tires are capable of speeds in excess of 149 mph, how far above 149 mph was not identified. That ultimately caused the automotive industry to add W- and Y-speed ratings to identify the tires that meet the needs of new vehicles that have extremely high top-speed capabilities.

"While a Z-speed rating still often appears in the tire size designation of these tires, such as 225/50ZR16 91W, the Z in the size signifies a maximum speed capability in excess of 149 mph, 240 km/h; the W in the service description indicates the tire's 168 mph, 270 km/h maximum speed."

Thanks for the info :clap:

My company blocks Tire Rack...so the quotes clear everything up.