[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by Armaan

Agree about the budget tyres - absolutely the most frustrating thing when you see a premium brand, not necessarily BMW, on budget tyres…just a recipe to end badly and as you say, the only thing in contact with the road.

However, I'd not write off mid range or what I'd consider mid range plus…the likes of Avon, Yokohama and Hankook are very good and capable tyres.

I tend to go with a wet rating of A as an absolute minimum, there are obviously many factors, but for me it's a standard test.

Armaan

Champagne motoring for lemonade money though isn't it? Everyone wants a premium brand car until they have to start paying premium prices for parts and servicing etc. You used to see it on the special edition Mondeos and Insignias that had ridiculously big wheels on an otherwise poverty spec car and got sold at daft per month deals. Within a year or so and you'd see the original decent tyres on the back and some utter ditch finder gash on the front because they couldn't afford the tyres to wrap their 'bling innit' big wheels in.

If you buy a 4wd car you have to expect that you will need to be careful with tyres. With the exception of industrial 4wd systems on old school pickups etc that can tow a tank it's always been that way, through Volvos, Subarus, Audis etc etc. Therefore it can hardly come as a surprise when the BMW X-drive system requires the same level of care.

[DougMcL]

Hankook have been up with the premium brands for at least five years now. I would buy a Hankook S1 Evo over a Bridgestone Potenza any day of the week!

[ArthurKing]

Father in law has just bought his first BMW (F30 320D XDrive)

In two years time it will have 4 budget tyres and the cheapest pads he can find at ECP and will then be complaining it has no traction and there is a grinding noise from the front .

I’ve told him he needs star marked tyres and as it’s 4WD he needs to be careful about tread front to back as well as getting the exact right size fitted but I know he won’t bother.

[TouringPleb]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

Champagne motoring for lemonade money though isn't it? Everyone wants a premium brand car until they have to start paying premium prices for parts and servicing etc. You used to see it on the special edition Mondeos and Insignias that had ridiculously big wheels on an otherwise poverty spec car and got sold at daft per month deals. Within a year or so and you'd see the original decent tyres on the back and some utter ditch finder gash on the front because they couldn't afford the tyres to wrap their 'bling innit' big wheels in.

If you buy a 4wd car you have to expect that you will need to be careful with tyres. With the exception of industrial 4wd systems on old school pickups etc that can tow a tank it's always been that way, through Volvos, Subarus, Audis etc etc. Therefore it can hardly come as a surprise when the BMW X-drive system requires the same level of care.

In the early 2000s I worked at Victoria BMW as it was called then in MK.

We had a customer in an E39 M5 on BMW Finance. All he would ever do for service was the bare minimum to get the stamp. Tyres, brakes, and all other consumables were replaced by the cheapest he could find elsewhere. He'd also run the rear tyres right down to 1.6mm before replacing them.

It got to the point where the techs would refused to drive his car as they felt it was dangerous.

[NanasBack]

Originally Posted by TouringPleb

In the early 2000s I worked at Victoria BMW as it was called then in MK.

We had a customer in an E39 M5 on BMW Finance. All he would ever do for service was the bare minimum to get the stamp. Tyres, brakes, and all other consumables were replaced by the cheapest he could find elsewhere. He'd also run the rear tyres right down to 1.6mm before replacing them.

It got to the point where the techs would refused to drive his car as they felt it was dangerous.

I bought my first new motor in 2003 from Victoria.
E46. BMW 320dse Black Sapphire.

Lovely motor.
Always put Eagle F1's on that.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by NanasBack

I bought my first new motor in 2003 from Victoria.
E46. BMW 320dse Black Sapphire.

Lovely motor.
Always put Eagle F1's on that.

I had an E46 MSport Touring 320d in 2003 from Sycamore Peterborough, it had on whatever the lease company told me....

65000 miles in 20 months. Those were the days. Mystic Blue with grey leather....

[Scoobyd]

In the 15 years I've had mine it's never run on anything other than Michelin Pilot Sports. Your tyres are your first point of contact to the road, if there's one thing not to skimp on it's them.

[Slacky]

Cars due back tomorrow. Been looking on black circles and asda tyres for a new set all round. Do I stick with whats on already and go for perilli p zeros or do I choose something different?

asda tyres have p zeros (not sure which knew because they've got a couple for slightly difference price and ratings) for around £800 graded A in the wet and C for fuel consumption. Black circles have got hankook evo s1 which again are graded A in wet and C for fuel for around £750.

Or do I go for something like Bridgestone that I used to have on my 3 series?

[Ennoch]

I suspect that the Pirellis and Hankooks will be pretty similar. Not high performance, not cheap crap, just good solid all round tyres. That said, I've never had a Pirelli summer tyre that I've liked in the wet, they've all felt rather glassy when the road is greasy.

It depends which Bridgestone's you're looking at for the size on your car and whether they're run flat. The S001's do last a long time but aren't very good performance tyres. But they do last a decent distance so if that's something you care about then they will outlast the Pirellis and Hankooks. As an example I changed the original S001's on the back of my car earlier this year at 38k miles. The replacement Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's I've put on I doubt will do more than 15k miles, but the performance is night and day.

[Slacky]

I can't remember the exact model of the bridgestones but I think they was potenza. I'm swaying towards the hankooks. I've read the reviews and they seem pretty good from x3 owners.

How can I check if they are star marked? Black circles say they are but just want to make sure.

I've got the car back now and took it out tonight. I was getting flashed alot. Looking at the headlight beams they seem pretty high. Is it possible that the headlights have been moved during the repair?

[JustChris]

Originally Posted by robbiep

Let's face it, 3mm tread depth on the existing rear tyres is virtually worn out - certainly in winter conditions or if you hit a flooded patch of road.

Buying part-worn tyres is a mugs game. You would be horrified at the crap that is repaired and sold on - that you then bet the safety of your family on.

If my tyres are at 3mm then I'm hunting around for prices and getting them changed within the next few weeks.

This

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by Slacky

I can't remember the exact model of the bridgestones but I think they was potenza. I'm swaying towards the hankooks. I've read the reviews and they seem pretty good from x3 owners.

How can I check if they are star marked? Black circles say they are but just want to make sure.

I've got the car back now and took it out tonight. I was getting flashed alot. Looking at the headlight beams they seem pretty high. Is it possible that the headlights have been moved during the repair?

I can't imagine that they would have been played with, unless they gave the car a full once over and put them up, but it wouldn't have been as a result of the repair they've done. It might also just be that with the lights being on earlier in the day and the spray on the road that any mis-alignment already there is more noticeable and thus you're getting flashed, especially given the roads are busier this year than they were 12 months ago. If you aim the car against a wall you can check that the beam pattern looks reasonable. If it does then you could just nudge each lamp down half a turn to see if that helps. If it doesn't then you could nudge it down another half turn.

As for tyres, they should have a * on the sidewall next to the size/model info. If they say they're starmarked then they will be. But get them done asap and avoid driving the car if at all possible while you've still got the wrong size of tyres on the front axle.

[xenon]

In order to change the differential bearing they will have dropped the suspension wishbones - I suspect they've broken or not reconnected the fragile plastic arm that links to the sensor that adjusts the headlamp aim on the OSF lower wishbone.

[Slacky]

I've turned the screw on both headlights and took them down so I think they are working OK but unsure what height they need to be at.

unfortunately the car is being used with the old tyres still on but its minimal use (dropping kids off at school, nipping shop etc) I want to get the tyres sorted ASAP but want to make sure I get the right ones on and not have this problem again. I rang bmw up earlier to get a quote on the hankooks but she said she couldn't find the rears but could find the fronts (i think it was that way round). Is there any reason why they couldn't find them on the system? she did confirm though the ones she fount are star rated and work with xdrive.

I've looked at the sticker on the inside of the door. Am I right in thinking the rear 275/40/19 needs to be xl?

[KCH1984]

Originally Posted by Slacky

I've turned the screw on both headlights and took them down so I think they are working OK but unsure what height they need to be at.

unfortunately the car is being used with the old tyres still on but its minimal use (dropping kids off at school, nipping shop etc) I want to get the tyres sorted ASAP but want to make sure I get the right ones on and not have this problem again. I rang bmw up earlier to get a quote on the hankooks but she said she couldn't find the rears but could find the fronts (i think it was that way round). Is there any reason why they couldn't find them on the system? she did confirm though the ones she fount are star rated and work with xdrive.

I've looked at the sticker on the inside of the door. Am I right in thinking the rear 275/40/19 needs to be xl?

They maybe don't have them in stock on their system...I've found this before with tyres for the X5. They never carried any stock for the rear 21" wheel. It's these you're looking at presumably:

https://www.blackcircles.com/catalog...?tyre=34748571

If so that matches the door sticker, looks like XL is only specified for the winter (M+S) tyres.

[Slacky]

that is the one I'm looking at. Regarding the door sticker you've got top and bottom left and right. Do I need top and bottom from both the same side? At the minute the fronts are top right and rears are bottom left

[Chappers 71]

I find tyrereviews.com quite informative when shopping for tyres, link attached

https://www.google.com/url?q=https:/...Qsr_fpGlvG876q

[Slacky]

been out in the car today and its juddering quite bad at low speeds. Decided to pull the plug on p zeros. At national tyres I can get p zero pz4 for £777 or p zero at kwik fit for £737 (15% offer code). Now whats the difference between p zero and p zero pz4? Both have A rated wet grip and C rated fuel

[EvilDrPorkChop]

Originally Posted by Slacky

been out in the car today and its juddering quite bad at low speeds. Decided to pull the plug on p zeros. At national tyres I can get p zero pz4 for £777 or p zero at kwik fit for £737 (15% offer code). Now whats the difference between p zero and p zero pz4? Both have A rated wet grip and C rated fuel

I've got P Zeros on our car and they're c***

Got for Michelin Pilot Sport 4 non run flat. That's what I've put on my parents X3. They said it transformed it.

[KCH1984]

Originally Posted by Slacky

been out in the car today and its juddering quite bad at low speeds. Decided to pull the plug on p zeros. At national tyres I can get p zero pz4 for £777 or p zero at kwik fit for £737 (15% offer code). Now whats the difference between p zero and p zero pz4? Both have A rated wet grip and C rated fuel

I've got the Pirelli PZ4 on the X5 (non-RFT) and they're very good. They ranked well (3rd overall) in the Evo tyre test, especially in the wet tests, coming in behind the Michelin PS4 and Conti 6. I'd have no concerns fitting those, they're a big improvement over the previous generation P-Zero by most accounts.

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by EvilDrPorkChop

I've got P Zeros on our car and they're c***

Got for Michelin Pilot Sport 4 non run flat. That's what I've put on my parents X3. They said it transformed it.

The problem Pirelli have is that basically half their range is called P-Zero which really makes it difficult to work out which ones are good and which aren't. The latest PZ4 looks very similar to the outgoing one but is apparently night and day, although I believe still has quite high wear rates compared to the best.

I get the suggestion someone else made about the Michelin PS4. They're great tyres (at least in PS4S form) on my 335d, but are they really required on a 2 litre X3?

[CajunBMW]

Originally Posted by Ennoch

The problem Pirelli have is that basically half their range is called P-Zero which really makes it difficult to work out which ones are good and which aren't. The latest PZ4 looks very similar to the outgoing one but is apparently night and day, although I believe still has quite high wear rates compared to the best.

I get the suggestion someone else made about the Michelin PS4. They're great tyres (at least in PS4S form) on my 335d, but are they really required on a 2 litre X3?

There also some new Michelin Pilot sport run flats now that are really good tires. I have them on my 340 and they are night and day different from my other run flats. I have not compared them to non run flats, but am very happy with these new tires.