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Sedans BMW 3-Series BMW 3-Series Tires and Wheels
246 messages, Last post on Dec 04, 2009 at 5:03 AM
You are in the BMW 3-Series Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Need some help! I have 325i 2006 with 24000 miles on it.I have original Bridgestone 205 55 16 RFTs.These tires have deteriorated significantly in terms of comfort and ride.They were pretty quiet during the first 10,000 miles but after that they started making unbearable noise.At 65 miles/hour it sound like you are sitting in a helicopter. I am also struggling to get rid of these tires and replace them with regular 18 inches tires. At this time I don't care much about RFTs. Any suggestion: 1. What wheel and tires i should go for. RFTs VS Regular what options I have? 2 Do Contiprocontact SSR runflats,come in 18 inches. 3. Will there be any significant effect in handling if I go two numbers higher. (I mean from 16 inches to 18 inches). SIT
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Replying to: sit (Jul 21, 2006 7:38 pm)
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Replying to: mace242 (Jul 24, 2006 7:47 am) I have been reading posts for about 9 months and I believe that Shipo will have some kind of solution. I am pretty "low tech" and some times i have hard time figuring out his explanations. Since out cars have turned into helicopters my be we get his openion. I referred to his Msg # 5830. I got gist of it but couldn't figure out last part of it, where he talks about adhesion. I am coping and pasting his message as below. "Hmmm, I've been hearing more and more reports of tire and wheel damage to late model cars with 18" and larger wheels. Personally I don't find that at all surprising. When I got my 2002 530i SP it came with 235/45 R17 tires and any number of folks I knew informed me that I was being dumb/stupid/cheap/too conservative with my car because I didn't immediately run out and buy a set of 18s or even 19s for it. In fact, I went the other way and bought a set of 16s for its winter shoes. Speaking strictly for myself, if I was to opt for a new 330i SP, I would almost immediately shop around for a set of 17" wheels for it and mount the same size Gets Flat rubber that I had on the 530i. Consider the following overall wheel diameters, sidewall heights and tread width: Tire Spec ------ Dia. ---- Side --- Width --- Car/Axle 225/45 R17 -- 25.00" -- 3.99" -- 08.86" -- 2006 330i non-SP/Both 225/40 R18 -- 25.09" -- 3.54" -- 08.86" -- 2006 330i SP/Front 255/35 R18 -- 25.03" -- 3.51" -- 10.04" -- 2006 330i SP/Rear 235/45 R17 -- 25.33" -- 4.16" -- 09.25" -- 2002 530i SP/Both True, tires in the size from my old 5er would be 1.2% larger in diameter (meaning that you'd be going 1.2% faster at any given RPM) but that's still within the built in BMW Speedometer error. With this type of a change, the absolute limit of adhesion would of course suffer a tad on the rear end of the car and be enhance a tad on the front end, thus allowing the driver to hang the tail out easier (induced oversteer), which isn't a bad thing in my mind, especially considering said limits would still be WAY WAY beyond what can legally be done on the surface streets. A change like this would also greatly enhance tire life as you would have an extra six tenths of an inch of sidewall to absorb a hit, and you'd be able to rotate the tires front to back. Food for thought. Best Regards, Shipo " I guess if we go with opion # 4 we should be fine. My only concern is would it make difference 325 VS 330. SIT
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Replying to: sit (Jul 24, 2006 6:43 pm)  Thinking back on it, my 530i SP did in fact get to the point where the tires were generating the annoying helicopter sounds, and I did solve it. How? I simply rotated my tires. That however is not a luxury available to any E90 SP owner with stock rubber because the SP on that model uses wider tires in the rear than in the front. So, back to my old post, if one was to have actually followed my suggestion, not only would they have a very capable set of wheels and tires for sporty driving, they would also benefit from two other features of the 17" set; 1) an extra 6/10ths of an inch of sidewall height with which to absorb shock, and 2) the ability to rotate the tires when they start getting noisy. FWIW #1, the "Helicopter" sounds are from a very small amount of a particular type of wear called "Cupping", which is a wear pattern that exhibits repetitive "Cups" or slightly more worn areas at even intervals around the edge of a tire. Given that BMW uses an independent rear suspension, and given that it is tuned for performance, this type of wear pattern isn't at all unexpected. Given that tire wear is very different front versus rear, a simple rotation will effectively put fresh rubber in the areas of greatest wear. FWIW #2, my comments regarding "adhesion" were to acknowledge that if one was to track an E90 330 SP with its factory rubber, and then swap the 18" set out for a set of 235/45 R17 set at all four corners, the lateral grip at the front of the car will improve a little, while the lateral grip at the rear will suffer a little. Given the assumption that BMW has the tires staggered (on the SP cars) such that the car has fairly balanced front/rear adhesion, then by changing to my recommendation, the back end of the car will be able to be broken loose easier. Said another way, an experienced driver should have an easier time of inducing over steer wherever and whenever he/she desires. Best Regards, Shipo
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Replying to: shipo (Jul 24, 2006 8:00 pm) SIT |
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I'm currently on vacation (doing the Attatash, NH thing with the family) so I've been a little lax on keeping up with things. mook Some OWTs die hard don't they? Ask me how I know. :-/ Hmmm, one tank of mid-grade won't cause any issues once the mid-grade fuel is used up. If you are running on Premium and are still having an occasional unexplained power drop in a certain RPM range, you definitely need to have it looked at. Keep us posted. sit Do you prefer a specific brand of Tyres and Wheels that go together? I was thinking of Beyern Wheels, no too sure about tires. This may be sacrilege to admit, but no, I don't have any favorites.  As far as wheels are concerned, I would absolutely make sure that they match the same specifications (i.e. offset and brake clearance) as the stock 17" wheels on the non-SP 330i (or any version of the 330xi), and make sure that they are no heavier. Regarding the tires, that pretty much depends upon what you are going to be doing with the tires. If I was buying summer rubber for a BMW, I'd probably buy the following tires under the following conditions: Kuhmo ECSTA ASX: For an SP car that is driven lots of miles annually Michelin Pilot Sport PS2: For an SP car that is driven no more than 10,000-12,000 summer season miles per year and maybe even sees a little track time. Kumho ECSTA MX: For a car that is tracked regularly. Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position: For a car that is tracked regularly AND the owner is good enough to be near the top of the class. I'm sure that MANY folks have reasons to both agree with those recommendations and/or shoot them down. Why? Said recommendation is my opinion and what I would do for my own car. Said another way, my advice and $5.00 will get you a Double Latte at Starbucks. Best Regards, Shipo |
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Replying to: shipo (Jul 25, 2006 7:23 pm)
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Replying to: jb_shin (Jul 26, 2006 7:04 am) Could it be that Michelin has cut back the number of sizes that they make the tire in? Best Regards, Shipo
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Replying to: shipo (Jul 26, 2006 6:31 pm)  , Michelin only discontinued M5 rear tire size, 275/35-18 but strangely enough continues to provide the identical size in M0 designation designed specifically for Mercedes. However, the tire has slightly larger diameter and different thread pattern, and the larger diameter causes problem for those that are mounting the rear size on the front. Most people staying with stock sizes all around probably won't notice the difference, other than the thread pattern. Sorry about the incorrect info. |
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