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Car Forum / BMW Cars / February 2005330i wrong tyre choice
I have a 330I sport saloon which is 14 months old and done 10,500 miles (hard miles) I needed a pair of rear tyres and was told the original Bridgestone 255/35/18's were not available and on back order. I finished up buying continentals which were the same price so its not as if I tried to do this on the cheap. BIG MISTAKE ! it made the car lethal ! imagine driving with 15lb of pressure in the rear and that's what it felt like. I rang the tyre supplier who is a big wholesale supplier and they tried to make out it was the car. I took one of the tyre fitters out in it and he declared the car lethal and said it was the side walls of the continentals that were not up to the job. Somehow they managed to find 2 x Bridgestones same as the originals. They fitted them and the car drives drives like a 330 again. The side walls on the Bridgestones were far harder than the continentals you could not bend the side walls on the bridgestones even with both hands. The word of warning is don't play around with the makes of tyres, I can't understand that it would make so much difference to car especially when you think you are safe with a make supposedly as good as continental. The tyre company replaced the continentals which by then I had done 500 miles on with the Bridgestones free of charge. >I have a 330I sport saloon which is 14 months old and done 10,500 miles >(hard miles) I needed a pair of rear tyres and was told the original [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >The tyre company replaced the continentals which by then I had done 500 >miles on with the Bridgestones free of charge. I would've sworn *everyone* already knew well enough not to mix radial tires... >>I have a 330I sport saloon which is 14 months old and done 10,500 miles >>(hard miles) I needed a pair of rear tyres and was told the original [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > I would've sworn *everyone* already knew well enough not to mix radial > tires... Not everyone! But didn't we just cover this on the "Re: Steering on E46 325Ci Sport (18" wheels)" thread? Tom >>>I have a 330I sport saloon which is 14 months old and done 10,500 miles >>>(hard miles) I needed a pair of rear tyres and was told the original [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > Not everyone! But didn't we just cover this on the "Re: Steering on E46 > 325Ci Sport (18" wheels)" thread? Sorry not sure what you guys are getting at here. always knew not to mix radials with cross plys but can you still get cross ply tyres anyway?? I have also had bad experience with Continentals, I have a mondeo ST220 and the Continentals supplied on the front lasted 9000 miles and were replaced with Pirelli zero Rossos which so far have 15k and plenty of life left in them My wifes Clio had Contis which had to be replaced after 12k and she drives like a nun so as far as I am concerned continentals are german engineering on a car where i would like it least!!!! On 2/7/05 6:40 PM, in article 36qg38F53muinU1@individual.net, "Scott" <scott251170not @hotmail.com> wrote: > Sorry not sure what you guys are getting at here. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > like a nun so as far as I am concerned continentals are german engineering > on a car where i would like it least!!!! I think what they mean is that its possible that the problem is not with the Conti's per se, but with the fact that you put Conti's on the back and kept the Bridgestones on the front. Besides, there are many different types of tires (I'm American) within each manufacturer's product lineup. Many companies use Continental for OEM tires with good results. Maybe the model of tire wasn't well suited to your car. My 330i came with Conti Touring Contacts (non sport package), and they were fine. I don't think you can generalize about one tire brand over another. Its a very competitive business and there winners and losers within each manufacturer's product line. > On 2/7/05 6:40 PM, in article 36qg38F53muinU1@individual.net, "Scott" > <scott251170not @hotmail.com> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > business and there winners and losers within each manufacturer's product > line. John Good point, But my experience in two very different cars and also a third, which was rear wheel drive make me think that continentals are less than spectacular. My feeling haven driven them is they may be putting grip over longevitey too much I have conti sports on my M3 (the "M3" branded ones) and although I haven't tried any other tyres on this car I'd rather have my 325i back with the S03s on. Actually I'd rather have it with the S02s. I've always found that new tyres get a little getting used too even the same type. > On 2/7/05 6:40 PM, in article 36qg38F53muinU1@individual.net, "Scott" > <scott251170not @hotmail.com> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > kept > the Bridgestones on the front. And (I suspect) Daytripper was referring to the ancient days of bias ply tires when you could have front & rear tires of different brands and/or tread patterns without greatly disturbing the handling - such as it was on the American cars of the 50's & 60's. I also think that generalizations about any tire brand are useless, as all the major brands now include summer performance, all season and winter tires with sub-classifications as well. While I happen to like the Conti SportContacts, I certainly wouldn't expect the same ride, handling & wear characteristics from Conti Touring Contacts - they are very different tires and should never be mixed on the same vehicle. Tom >> On 2/7/05 6:40 PM, in article 36qg38F53muinU1@individual.net, "Scott" >> <scott251170not @hotmail.com> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >tread patterns without greatly disturbing the handling - such as it was on >the American cars of the 50's & 60's. No, I was referring to the quite contemporary norm of avoiding *at all cost* the mixing different radial tires on a vehicle. Mixing different radial tires is an act of utter ignorance... /daytripper >>And (I suspect) Daytripper was referring to the ancient days of bias ply >>tires when you could have front & rear tires of different brands and/or [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Mixing different radial tires is an act of utter ignorance... Sorry, I guess I didn't express it clearly. I meant that before radials came into widespread use (about 1975 in the U.S., IIRC), mixing different (bias ply) tires wasn't a big issue. But now that virtually all tires are radials, of course it "is an act of utter ignorance..." Tom "Scott" <scott251170not @hotmail.com> haute in die Tasten: > My wifes Clio had Contis which had to be replaced after 12k and she > drives like a nun so as far as I am concerned continentals are german > engineering on a car where i would like it least!!!! I really do not know what you two dow ith your cars. I used to have a Renault R19 convertible and had continental eco contact in summer and winter contact in summer. Both tires were smooth yet safe, and they lasted longer ast the rest of this POS. Being located in germany, I do not like the price of Continentals. Otherwise I'd highly recommend them. Continental tires frequently get good ratings from independent tests like the german car drivers club ADAC (like AAA in the US). Frank  Signatureplease replace spam-muelleimer with fk-newsgroups for e-mail contact Citroen - Made in Trance Frank Kemper <spam-muelleimer@gmx.de> haute in die Tasten: > I used to have a > Renault R19 convertible and had continental eco contact in summer and > winter contact in summer. BS. The Winter Contact were my winter tires, of course;-) Frank Signatureplease replace spam-muelleimer with fk-newsgroups for e-mail contact Citroen - Made in Trance > I would've sworn *everyone* already knew well enough not to mix radial > tires... Weirdly, no. Over the years I've bought three just-off-lease BMWs that each handled poorly when I got them, sometimes dangerously so. In each case I had one of those head-smacking days when I realized what it must be, and in each case it turned out that when the mechanics had prepped the car for sale they had simply chosen tires that looked to be in good nick, polished them up and mounted them. Once I started checking, I found the mechanics couldn't even guarantee that they hadn't cross-mounted the tires from one side of a car to the other. (Once I even got the response, from a trained BMW mechanic, "but they're all steel-belted radials...") And worse, this dealership is owned by a former racer and a huge car-enthusiast. Somehow, a level of critical knowledge and/or care didn't make it down to the prep-room mechanics. Or perhaps their average customer uses their car as a fancy grocery-getter, and can't tell the difference, so their standards fell to the level they could get away with. Now, at risk of insulting anybody, I talk to the mechanics and salesmen about tires and make sure they know what I want, and that I'm going to be picky about it. Most often I just spec the brand-new tires I want, even on a used car, so there won't be any mistakes. Alan Brooks |
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