[kitster]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a new set of winter tyres, and the Hankook i*cept-evo²-(W320B), appear to get reasonable reviews. Anyway I've noticed these are RFT but do not carry the BMW Star (*) mark.

Does it really mean anything? Or it just means Hancock have not paid their "Apple Tax", to BMW?

Thanks.

[teaston]

The star mark doesn’t matter at all.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by teaston

The star mark doesn’t matter at all.

It can matter if your car is under warranty and you have any issue that can conceivably be blamed on the tyres. The tyres probably won't be the cause, but they will allow the dealer to shrug his shoulders and not investigate.

My summer set are non star-marked MPS4S and MPSS, so I have kept a star-marked winter set of Sottozeros for this reason. My winters are now due for replacement and while I don't think much of the Sottozeros, I might have to buy another set.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by teaston

The star mark doesn’t matter at all.

Well that's not strictly true, as an example the star rated MPSS for the M3/4 are a different width to the non star rated MPSS (despite both having the same nominal width on the label) star rated tyres are built to a BMW spec and often do differ from the non star tyre.

I fitted PS4S (non star) to my M3 and it changed the handling completely the front end lost its previous bite and the rear grip increased so the overall balance was lost. (others prefer the increased rear grip so it is horses for courses)

That might well be neither here nor there to an individual but to say the star rating doesn't matter isn't correct.

[Sasquartch]

Star marked tyres are strongly recommended for X-Drive as the rolling circumference is more tightly controlled (so I'm led to believe)

Probably doesn't matter too much for S-Drive

[teaston]

Originally Posted by JD6

It can matter if your car is under warranty and you have any issue that can conceivably be blamed on the tyres. The tyres probably won't be the cause, but they will allow the dealer to shrug his shoulders and not investigate.

My summer set are non star-marked MPS4S and MPSS, so I have kept a star-marked winter set of Sottozeros for this reason. My winters are now due for replacement and while I don't think much of the Sottozeros, I might have to buy another set.

I highly doubt it.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Wills2

Well that's not strictly true, as an example the star rated MPSS for the M3/4 are a different width to the non star rated MPSS (despite both having the same nominal width on the label) star rated tyres are built to a BMW spec and often do differ from the non star tyre.

I fitted PS4S (non star) to my M3 and it changed the handling completely the front end lost its previous bite and the rear grip increased so the overall balance was lost. (others prefer the increased rear grip so it is horses for courses)

That might well be neither here nor there to an individual but to say the star rating doesn't matter isn't correct.

That could just be down to the different compound of the PS4S, the MPSS were a very dry condition biased tyre, whereas the PS4S are much more all weather tyres.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by Sasquartch

Star marked tyres are strongly recommended for X-Drive as the rolling circumference is more tightly controlled (so I'm led to believe)

Probably doesn't matter too much for S-Drive

I would be surprised if control of the rolling circumference would be a reason for having star-marked tyres, given that any sent of 4 appropriate size tyres will start with the same circumference.

I would have thought that the differing wear rate between front and rear would make a much greater difference to relative rolling circumference, and surely it's the relative circumference that matters?

[Sasquartch]

Just looked on the BMW site and it says this :

Star Marked Tyres & Run-flat Tyres.
Designed in collaboration with leading tyre manufacturers, BMW Star Marked tyres provide a smooth drive, optimum grip and safety specifically for your BMW model.

With BMW approved Star Marked run-flat tyres you can keep driving even when you have a puncture. The Tyre Pressure Monitoring device that is installed on your BMW lets you know if your car tyres are punctured, and instead of stopping allows you to drive for up to 50 miles at 50mph. Never miss an appointment, don’t worry about a spare wheel and reduce the risk of an accident with sudden loss of tyre pressure.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by teaston

That could just be down to the different compound of the PS4S, the MPSS were a very dry condition biased tyre, whereas the PS4S are much more all weather tyres.

I'll refer you to the parts of my post you chose not to respond to as that's the important stuff.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Wills2

I'll refer you to the parts of my post you chose not to respond to as that's the important stuff.

I have read all of your post, the views in my post still stand.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by Sasquartch

Just looked on the BMW site and it says this :

Star Marked Tyres & Run-flat Tyres.
Designed in collaboration with leading tyre manufacturers, BMW Star Marked tyres provide a smooth drive, optimum grip and safety specifically for your BMW model.

With BMW approved Star Marked run-flat tyres you can keep driving even when you have a puncture. The Tyre Pressure Monitoring device that is installed on your BMW lets you know if your car tyres are punctured, and instead of stopping allows you to drive for up to 50 miles at 50mph. Never miss an appointment, don’t worry about a spare wheel and reduce the risk of an accident with sudden loss of tyre pressure.

But we all know that, despite the improvements in run-flats in recent years, they still offer generally inferior performance to a conventional tyre (there's a reason M-cars don't use them!). So what you've quoted off the website is really just PR spin.....

[Sasquartch]

Originally Posted by JNW1

But we all know that, despite the improvements in run-flats in recent years, they still offer generally inferior performance to a conventional tyre (there's a reason M-cars don't use them!). So what you've quoted off the website is really just PR spin.....

I'm not arguing - if I could fit a spare wheel in the boot I would have done so and ditched my run flats ages ago.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Sasquartch

I'm not arguing - if I could fit a spare wheel in the boot I would have done so and ditched my run flats ages ago.

You don't need a spare wheel, just some tyre gunk and the free roadside assistance is plenty considering how infrequently punctures happen these days.

[Mikesmith2939]

When I was looking for new tyres to go on the front of my Xdrive I went to the Bridgestone website to see what * tyres they had.

Their site recommended the new drive guard rft after entering my vehicle details, these don't have the * rating and were also recommended by my local tyre fitters.

So far not had any problems. The reason for doing the fronts only was because the rears have 6mm tread and the fronts only had 3mm. It seems the previous owner changed the rears not long ago.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Mikesmith2939

When I was looking for new tyres to go on the front of my Xdrive I went to the Bridgestone website to see what * tyres they had.

Their site recommended the new drive guard rft after entering my vehicle details, these don't have the * rating and were also recommended by my local tyre fitters.

So far not had any problems. The reason for doing the fronts only was because the rears have 6mm tread and the fronts only had 3mm. It seems the previous owner changed the rears not long ago.

The reviews of the Driveguards seem to say they have an extremely poor wear rate!

[Mikesmith2939]

I'll see how they go, I don't do mega miles so they will probably last until I change the car.

[The Lum]

Originally Posted by kitster

Hi all,

Does it really mean anything? Or it just means Hancock have not paid their "Apple Tax", to BMW?

Thanks.

To answer the question posted by the OP the answer would be that the tyres have not been developed in conjunction with BMW or to the standards set by BMW.