[KTE]

Any differences? Having a look at Costco online and only the rear tyres are showing as BMW GROUP.

£35 difference per tyre too... apart from warranty claims related to drivetrain is there anything else I should be aware of?

Car is a 435i.

[Lorcan]

Are you looking at 19s? We can get 225/40/19 and 255/35/19 PS4S XL, both star marked. Not sure what the differences are between star and non-star but I can ask my contact at Michelin.

[Lorcan]

From my contact at Michelin:

"It’s hard to define exactly what the construction differences are between standard and BMW tyres, as this is never disclosed. What we can say is that you only have to look at R117 labelling to see there are differences to these tyres, they’re certainly not the same. The * marked tyre will be tuned to meet the specific vehicle handling characteristics from BMW to offer best performance for a certain model. There will be differences in weight of each tyre, different attributes in terms of wet/dry/Rolling Resistance performance which could also include a slight change to tread pattern and tread depth & compound."

So while a non-star tyre might well be compatible in terms of rolling circumference I think it would be worthwhile getting the star marked version when there is one available. Shop around and the price difference shouldn't be too great.

[BMWILUVU]

* are BMW's tuned versions of Michelin tires based on the suspension of the target vehicle, not across the lineup. For example, the Cup 2 * are tuned for the M4 GTS and M2 CS.

[KTE]

Originally Posted by Lorcan

From my contact at Michelin:

"It’s hard to define exactly what the construction differences are between standard and BMW tyres, as this is never disclosed. What we can say is that you only have to look at R117 labelling to see there are differences to these tyres, they’re certainly not the same. The * marked tyre will be tuned to meet the specific vehicle handling characteristics from BMW to offer best performance for a certain model. There will be differences in weight of each tyre, different attributes in terms of wet/dry/Rolling Resistance performance which could also include a slight change to tread pattern and tread depth & compound."

So while a non-star tyre might well be compatible in terms of rolling circumference I think it would be worthwhile getting the star marked version when there is one available. Shop around and the price difference shouldn't be too great.

Thanks for the info! Definitely useful. Will delve deeper after work for better pricing.

Yes, 255/35/19 and 225/40/19.

[Lorcan]

Our price is currently £713.54 inc vat fitted. I don't know how that compares, possibly some tyre specialists would be cheaper.

[KTE]

Costco membership finally proved useful to me (even though it’s not mine &#128517.

There was a £100 off promo which is running until the end of the month, they do stock the * variants but have to be ordered in. So getting the new rubber on next working day locally to work. Price is already relatively good to start with, and includes fitting new valves and disposal if needed!

[seenthelight!]

'starred' marked tyres (*) are made to manufacturer particular specification. They may sometimes differ in appearance/tread pattern/compound, but are always made to much tighter sizing and weighting tolerances. I would always buy star marked tyres, not just for AWD benefits, but for axle side to side balance. A friend at work put a new set of non starred tyres on his Audi Quattro and had an annoying vibration and pulling over to the left from the front at over 50mph. I swapped the wheels over, and the vibration stayed, but the pulling over swapped over to the right, implying a tyre problem. I had him get the tyres taken off and I measured and weighed them at work - 4mm (diameter), 1.5mm (width) and 225 grams difference! Ordered a new set of starred tyres, measured and weighed them - 0.6mm on diameter, 0.2mm on width and 25 gram difference. Fitted them and vibration and pulling gone ! Take from this what you will, but I know what I would buy ....

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by seenthelight!

'starred' marked tyres (*) are made to manufacturer particular specification. They may sometimes differ in appearance/tread pattern/compound, but are always made to much tighter sizing and weighting tolerances. I would always buy star marked tyres, not just for AWD benefits, but for axle side to side balance. A friend at work put a new set of non starred tyres on his Audi Quattro and had an annoying vibration and pulling over to the left from the front at over 50mph. I swapped the wheels over, and the vibration stayed, but the pulling over swapped over to the right, implying a tyre problem. I had him get the tyres taken off and I measured and weighed them at work - 4mm (diameter), 1.5mm (width) and 225 grams difference! Ordered a new set of starred tyres, measured and weighed them - 0.6mm on diameter, 0.2mm on width and 25 gram difference. Fitted them and vibration and pulling gone ! Take from this what you will, but I know what I would buy ....

Are you sure the vibration was not just crap balancing on the wheel(s)? No idea about the pulling though.

So he put star rated tyres on an Audi. You know star rated tyres are BMW specific?

Audi are AO just like Merc are MO.

[seenthelight!]

Yeah, he couldn't get the exact tyre size he wanted that were Audi specific, other than star marked ones designed for BMW.
The pulling would be caused by a significant difference in rolling diameter, and the vibration caused by the significant difference in weight - balancing just rectifies unequal patches of weight distribution and not overall weight difference between wheel/tyre setups. Hope this clarifies ..
Edit, also make sure that sets of tyres are manufactured on the same date, this will narrow down any discrepancies in weight/size if non starred. Tyres manufactured on the same production run are far likelier to be of similar spec, ie production run 1 in February could all be at the bottom limit of spec, production run 2 in March could all be at the top limit of spec. Therefore if you get a mix of February and March tyres, you will possibly have a set of tyres that are at opposite ends of manufacturing spec ..
As an engineer I have a bit of an insight on how manufacturing works ...

[Londoner]

Originally Posted by BMWILUVU

* are BMW's tuned versions of Michelin tires based on the suspension of the target vehicle, not across the lineup. For example, the Cup 2 * are tuned for the M4 GTS and M2 CS.

Most humble apologies for pulling up an old thread, however I can't find anything after a sizable search. The MPS4s is obviously the go to F3X enthusiast tyre, however the BMW star marked are fairly tricky (but not impossible) to get, at least in the stock 19 inch staggered sizes.

Does anyone know what the target BMW vehicle is for the MPS4s star marked? It's not any of the M cars are far as I can tell, but that's where info seems to dry up. Penny for your thoughts?

[BMWILUVU]

Originally Posted by Londoner

Most humble apologies for pulling up an old thread, however I can't find anything after a sizable search. The MPS4s is obviously the go to F3X enthusiast tyre, however the BMW star marked are fairly tricky (but not impossible) to get, at least in the stock 19 inch staggered sizes.

Does anyone know what the target BMW vehicle is for the MPS4s star marked? It's not any of the M cars are far as I can tell, but that's where info seems to dry up. Penny for your thoughts?

M4GTS later used for the M2CS. It was in the ad writeup for M4GTS.

[Londoner]

Ahh I see. So does that make the star rating on the MPS4s less useful for us F3X guys?

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Londoner

Ahh I see. So does that make the star rating on the MPS4s less useful for us F3X guys?

Something that I did not see mentioned in this thread...
When you see the same model and size tire offered in several ways look carefully at it's measured specifications. The TireRack website has a Specs tab for each tire. Sometimes different models can be manufactured in different tire plants around the world and measure at a different diameter, a key consideration in an XDrive car with a staggered setup.

A rule of thumb for XDrive compatibility, since the stock diameter is about 26.0", is that a front to rear tire diameter difference of 0.2" or less is within the XDrive 1% specification. But 0.3" or more is risking an expensive XDrive Transfer Case ($4,000+)

Also when you see the same model and size of tire offered in different variations, look carefully at the tire tread width. I have seen some big differences. That can make a significant difference in handling depending on the wheel width that is being used.

A rule of thumb for best handling is that the tire tread width should be the same or within half an inch less than the wheel width.

So for instance I was helping a buddy to size a new set of wheels. He was looking at a wheel model with appropriate offsets that was available in 8.5", 9.0" and 9.5" sizes. He immediately assumed that it would be better to choose the widest wheels, which were 9.5". But we first narrowed down his tire choices. One tire had a variation with a 8.2" tread width and another with an 8.9" tread width. Big difference!

So the 9.5" wide wheel would not have given him the best handling with either tire. It came down to the measured tread widths of his top tire choices all falling within 8.5"-9.0" range so he chose the 9.0" wide wheel.

If say he already had 8.5" wheels and he was looking for new tires. If he had seen that a particular model and size of tire had a few variations available it would have been a mistake to choose based on price or even if it had a BMW star rating. If he looked at the measured specifications of the two on the TireRack website and saw that his tread width choices were 8.2" and 8.9" for that tire, then the 8.2" tread width would have been the obvious handling choice for his existing 8.5" wheels.

Hope this helps!

[SteveChester]

Originally Posted by Londoner

Ahh I see. So does that make the star rating on the MPS4s less useful for us F3X guys?

Even for the M cars they seem hard to get hold of - looking on Blackcircles and Kwikfit for my M4 the only star tyres are the Cup2/Pilot Sport.

I have fitted a set of non star rated 4s.

If you ask me it's just a money making scheme..............