Brun

My rear tyres (255/35 18) are about done.
Currently on Bridgestone RE050a RFT.
I'm thinking of moving to non RFT. I'm not bothered about the firm ride, i just feel that the car skips over the road surface on uneven roads which i put down to the RFTs.
I've searched the BMW forums but the info provided feels sketchy.
As it stands, the front tyres have plenty of meat left on them. Will it be ok to fit non RFT on the rear while keeping the front RFTs?
Any recommendations on what tyre to use? The Bridgestones are ok but i feel that they wear a little too quickly and not too convinced on their abilities in standing water on the Mway.

Brun

May have answered part of my own question. Vredstain Ultrac Sessanta seem to rate a lot better than the RE050a.
Now will it be ok to fit these while keeping the RFT on the front of the car?

As an aside - when i fitted the current rears, i paid £250 each fitted having search all the usual suspects (Blackcircles, Tyre shopper etc), now the same tyres are £200 each. Have tyres come down in price?

urban

iTrader: (1)

Don't know, but a wee thing I will say.
I've already rated the sessanta's - on the STI's i've owned in the past.
I took total change of ownership a year or so ago to an amg Merc.
Tried the sessanta's on the back of it, basically 5.5K later they're done!
Ok, I might well be to blame for that, but still......

Brun

How long did they last on the STi?
I've had around 18k miles out of the RE050s but I do spend 70% of all my driving on the M'ways.
Judging by the tyre review sites, they are regarded as not particularly hard wearing - 66% v 79% for the Vredstein so I'm hopefull.

ScoobyJawa

A lot of people do the rears first then the fronts, should be fine.

I binned the RFT's on my E92 330d 18's and it was much better. On my F31 with 19" RFT Eagle Assy 2's the ride is remarkable compared to the old E series so would be happy to keep them as RFT's.

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

On a German whip with wide tyres like yours I'd recommend Dunlop sp sportmaxx gt. Good wear, noise and life and don't tramline like some.
With excellent grip wet or dry.
With wide tyres you need to be careful as tramline gets worse.

Matteeboy

I HATED the Bridgestone RFTs on my 335d and quickly got rid of them. Used Conti Sport Contacts (non RFT) and never looked back; they are particularly good in the wet.

My M135i has Michelin Super Sports which are great but they come with only 7mm of tread and the dual compound edges do wear quickly. I think the CSCs have the edge in the wet but the dry grip of the MPSSs is astonishing.

Brun

Not a big fan of Continentals - always found them to wear very quickly!
Those Supersports seem to rate very highly but wear is a concern.
If the tyre review sites are to be trusted and indeed many on Scoobynet, the Vredstains are worth a punt - deffo for the price.
Matte - did you just rely on a tin of mousse when you swapped from RFT's?

Matteeboy

I got reasonable wear out of the Contis but the 335d was hard on rears.
Yep - I got a Ring tyre compressor and a can of Tyre Weld; luckily I never had to use them.
The M135i has a much more "professional" looking kit but it still essentially the same thing.
The Mk4 R32 Golf was the same too - no issues.

ScoobyJawa

I used FK453's on the E92, and they were excellent especially considering their cost.

AudiMan

Brun,
I will be getting the Sessanta's for my wifes 320d (coupe) in about 3 weeks, they are a cracking tyre

I have them on my STI, far better than the Toyos.

**Note** some tyre places are reluctant to change just one pair to NRF, they recommend you do both - Front and back (which is what I will be doing)- they also say this on the BMW forums, because the difference in side wall stiffness upsets the handling (NRF flex much more), also worth getting a wheel alignment after, because the RF are so hard they transmit shock through to the suspension and you will find they are all over the place - and therefore you will get uneven tyre wear - NOT what you need !

Ian..

Brun

I've taken a punt on the Vredstein for £250 delivered.
Went to all the usual suspects (blackcircles etc) but no one could get anywhere near these guys. Camskill was cheaper but only 1 in stock.

SPEN555

Are you able to fit non RFT on the OEM rims?

I had read somewhere the rims are specially designed to take RFTs? But might also be able to take non RFTs.

I would imagine they are as so many seem to swop and I can't see so many swopping wheels as well.

Do the rims protrude outside of the tyre on non RFTs?

Brun

My rims don't protrude the tyres, I would guess it's very much down to the tyre size as the deciding factor of that.

Anyway, can't recommend Lovetyres enough. Good prices, cheap shipping and delivery inside of 24hrs

Matteeboy

Non RFTs go fine on RFT rims - but not the other way around. RFT tyres edges/walls are vert stiff and won't go on a normal rim.

Honestly, RFTs are the work of the Devil - they have improved a bit (the M135i we tested has them - they are a no cost option) but they are still essentially ignoring the basic "physics" of a tyre.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

I adked this a bit back as I'm currently on 17" 225/45/17 Continue runflats all round. I've picked up some 18" staggered MV3 wheels with said Bridgestone runflats above. Rears are on 3mm maybe, fronts near new.

Can get non runflat Conti's for about £120 and £100 per corner. For a pair of rear Bridgestone runflats it's £350...

Wondering whether to buy a spare and plum for the softer non runflat ride and do all 4 tyres.

57 plate 330D too.

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

I got rid of the runflats and got Goodyear Asmetric 2's mainly due to the fact they have an "A" rating for wet grip. I was right as the handling and grip is far better in todays conditions

Brun

Right, tyres fitted and 160 miles in and i have further questions / concerns!!

The garage put 30psi in which according to the door plaque is too low for non BMW recommended (ie:RFTs) and the non RFTs should be ran at 42psi. I inflated them to this but it tramlines like a bitch even since i've dropped them to 40psi. Now the new tyres are XL which leads me to the question of what pressure i should be running.
I've been all over the BMW forums and you get some people saying that XLs should be ran at higher pressures and others that say that they should be lower.

I fully accept that new tyres need to be "worn in" but again i can't seem to find a comprehensive answer on how many miles this may take.
Over the years i've had many, many new tyres but i've never had a car like the 330 which is so sensitive (it seems) to tyres and their pressures.

It also feels to me like the front tyres have a severe lack of grip. Would a lack of grip on new rears effect the feel of a turn in going into a corner?
I have been speed matching various cars in front of me and it feels like i'm right on the edge of grip.
I appreciate that the roads are damp and cold but the car just feels soooo nervous.

Any thoughts?

pacenote

Not too sure what pressure you should be running but 40 psi sounds rather high. I will see if I can get some more info from my tyre man.

As you now have non RFT these should be much softer in the tyre wall ( and maybe in the tread blocks ) and I would say that the car now feels "nervous" because the tyre is moving around more. The grip will be there just feels like it isn't !

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

What did you run your RFT's on, Brun?

The 225/45/17 on mine go 37 back, 34 front.

Fitting some 18's tomorrow with RFT's too do will check the sticker inside the drivers door.

Brun

The RFTs were 33 front and 36 rear. which is correct according to the sticker.

According to the sticker, non RFTs should be 39 front and 42 rear.

When i put my non runflat winter tyres on last year i was unaware that you should run the non RFTs higher and i ran around for a couple of weeks at RFT pressures and it felt shocking (wallowy / squashy). When i discovered my error i applied the above pressures and all felt well again.

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

Don't forget, new tyres will need scrubbing in before you have decent grip.
New moden motors I've found are as you say brun, very sensitive to tyres (with all these new cars with ultra low profile tyres and suspension to match with no arch gap, and yet they ride so well).
1 tyre that has good reviews may not be good on another car, it's the tyre and tread design that causes tread lining imo.
The pressure dosent seem wierd to me for a German barge, my b8 is something like 36f 42r on 19s.
I've found on other b8s that continental tyres tread line quite a lot but on other cars they are ok and get good reviews etc. so I stuck with Dunlop sp maxx gt as they are a good all rounder tyre for it, inc noise, tread lining, wear and grip.
If yours are 18s I'd say around 34-38f and 36-40r should be fine.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

In fairness Corky, the RFT's on mine are Conti's and defo tramline as you say. I'm gonna see what these Bridgestone RE050A's are like as the rears are only 3mm, so May plum for non RFT all round after as per my thread.

Brun, keep me informed how you get on pal, as I'm open to suggestions on what tyres to go for when I need to swap too.

Brun

I've just got rid of RE050a. Poor wet grip and very expensive which is the sole reason I've gone in a new direction

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Ah, I'll be wary then

Well till I ruin them and replace them.

£175 each on the rear - eep. That's from Camskill too.

dj219957

2009 320d here. ditched the run flats and went for hankook, never looked back. better ride, even tyre wear, grips well.
would not recommend mixture of the two, I sold my nearly new front run flats for a half what I paid. was happy with that.

Matteeboy

Ouch!
I can get Pilot Super Sports for mine (18" 245/35) for less than that!

I found tyres both frustrating but critical on my 335d; I ran small wheels on a square set up which made a big difference but the pressures needed to be spot on or it just felt wrong.
They need to be high though at the back; I think I was on 40ish.

Get it laser aligned regularly to; that severe camber on the rears needs to just right or you'll chew through tyres in no time.

When everything is just right, they're great. Keeping it that way isn't easy.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

I've just got in actually from fitting the wheels. Think it's 2.6 and 2.7 bar for these 225/40 and 255/35 18 fitment. Quote high I thought but will see how she drives.

Brun

CoB - are your 18's RFT's? If so they should be 2.3 and 2.5 according to my sticker!

Anyways, I've now swapped my fronts to 33psi with 38psi on the new rears. I'm a lot happier with the car today although I think it's more to do with the new tyres having another 80 miles on them rather than the pressure adjustment!
I'm going to reserve final judgement until I've got 500 miles under my belt although fitting my winters won't be too far down the road!

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Really? I was looking at the bit where you see 2 people and it has 225/40/18 W front then 255/35/18 W rear. Sure it said 2.6 and 2.7 respectively.


*Edit*
Top off my head, this is what my sticker shows: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...r/P1040187.jpg

Is this yours?: http://www.e90post.com/forums/attach...1&d=1184614890

Works out at 37/39, quite high?