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General Forum : Tire Choices

- BMW E21 Community
   - General Forum
      - Tire Choices
MikLem1   Posted Tuesday, Jun 27th 3:00pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 20

PA/NJ
1980 323i Baur, 1979 Alpina B7
Trying to settle on a set of tires. It's getting tough to find something available in both 195/50 and 205/50 (staggered BBS rims here).

I think I'm down to:
Sumitomo HTR Z's
Dunlop Direzza DZ101's
Khumo Ecsta 711's.

The Khumo's are only H speed rated, vice V for the others. I always took that as some indication of quality or trueness (ie front end shimmy possibilities) but maybe I'm way off base about that, and anything H and up is fine.

Both the Khumo's and the Sumitomo's have some complaints about short tread life logged.

The Sumitomo's have some quality complaints logged.

If I go to 195/55's on the front, my options open up a bit, to include some Michelins, Avons, Conti's, and a few others of the all-season variety.

Open for comments.

Mike

jdench   Posted Tuesday, Jun 27th 3:53pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 70

Sussex, UK
1979 E21 323i, 1998 E36 323i touring
IMO the best 15" tyres are pirelli P6000, they are fairly soft, but
they have excellent grip and will last about 10,000 miles on the back.
Avon ZVR3's are very good as well, they give nearly the same amount of
grip, but last for about 13,000 miles. The speed ratings
(T,H,V,VR,Z,ZR) are an indictaion of the top maximum rated speed for
the tyre. Here in England, you have to have the rating that matches
the top speed of your car, even though the natioanl speed limit is
70mph. So I fit V rated tyres because I ahve to, the higher the
rating, the softer the compound tends to be, so a T rated tyre (max.
continious speed 85mph) will be harder and last longer than a V rated
tyre (max speed 130mph)
The Michelins are very good in the dry or the pouring rain, but I find
them very poor when it is damp. I had them fitted last time, but now I
have Pirelli p6000's and they are a lot better, but I don't know how
hard they are to buy in the US.

Hope this helps.

John

wilbryant   Posted Tuesday, Jun 27th 8:11pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 38

GA
82 Baur 323, 95 M540
Hey, have you looked at the yokohamas AVS ES 100, they have a tread life that's only 12k to 13k depending on how you drive. But they come in the sizes that let you do the staggered set up, I run 205/50/15 up front and 225/50/15 rear. They are great wet or dry.

redmist   Posted Tuesday, Jun 27th 9:08pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 861
   
NY USA
357i , 325i e30 turbo
I have wider HTR Z summi's on my son's 535 Turbo. He raves about them as far as roadholding is concerned. The Kuhmo 711s I had on the e21 sucked as far as wet traction was concerned.

jbob   Posted Tuesday, Jun 27th 9:09pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 363
   
AZ, USA
81 320i
Those Kumho 711's are, IMO, the best buy: cheap & last quite a while (grip levels are medicore).

Sumitomo's seem to be a hit or miss...I had a set of HTR200's & loved 'em: cheap, good grip (except in the rain), but they wear quicker in the heat (AZ summer + lots of freeway driving). And, I've heard other people have quality problems with some of their other tire models.

ES100's are okay. I like their stiff sidewall...I hate how noisy they are, and I wasn't impressed with how well it gripped (after you heat-cylce these tires the compound turns almost rock hard). Unless these were available for significantly cheaper, I wouldn't buy these again.

And last but not least, Toyo T1-S (T1-R's are their new replacements), are IMO an awesome tire. I have their 215/45/15's on all 4-corners....really good grip for a street-tire, great in the rain, and they've lasted me quite a while (16 months, and there's still about 1/3 tread left).


As a general rule of thumb for deciding on tires: price, grip, longivity...pick two.

myersport   Posted Wednesday, Jun 28th 2:03am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 184
   
east tennessee
'82 320iS. '91 327iC
To debunk a popular myth, the speed rating of a tire doesn't only signify the it's speed capabilities. The fact is that the extra reinforcements that go into a tire to help it remain intact under the stress and temps of a higher speed also cause it to be a more responsive and better handling tire. I had this demonstrated to me by Michelin when they let me drive on an autocross course two identical Lexus LS430's with identical (save for the speed rating) Michelin MXV4 all season tires, one H rated and the other V rated. The difference was astounding on the Lexus, imagine what the diff would be on a small performance sedan with a purpose built suspension! In the real world, buying a lower speed rated tire "just because I am not going to drive 143+ mph" actually negatively affects your accident avoidance and car control capabilities, not to mention your cornering stability! Don't waste the money you invest in your performance suspension by watering it down with H rated tires. Four 195 V or higher rated tires will outhandle any combination of H rated tires you install.
Just my zwei Pfennig.
--Dennis

JDBeyer   Posted Wednesday, Jun 28th 5:36am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 222
   
N. Humboldt county Ca.
82 323i on steroids
I have used a few different tires in those sizes also, on stagered Alpina's
The Fusion ZRi, by Bridgstone, are a less expensive tire with good all around wet/dry qualitys. Very much like the old Potenza RE730/750"s I did wear them out pretty fast.

BUT, I agree with Jason,
The Toyo T1R's I have been running on the new rims, 16", are awsome!
These tires are by far the best grip I have had on my 323.
I was amazed at the wet performance also.
Big thumbs up!

Jeff

imaradiostar   Posted Thursday, Jun 29th 5:44am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 791
   
Nashville, TN
81 323i, 82 525i, 85 524td, 90 535i
I wish I could get T1R's from tire rack! I originally wanted to go with the 195/50/15 front 215/45/15 rear combo but seeing as they're so pricy and I ended up with 15x7 wheels front and rear I'm going to try the Avon Tech M500's in 205/50/15 all around. They've been getting excellent reviews and supposedly are very predictable handlers; something I value highly on the E21.

jamie

JJG323   Posted Thursday, Jun 29th 6:15am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 1240
   
Reading MA USA
1979 BMW 323i
JDBeyer wrote:
I have used a few different tires in those sizes also, on stagered Alpina's
The Fusion ZRi, by Bridgstone, are a less expensive tire with good all around wet/dry qualitys. Very much like the old Potenza RE730/750"s I did wear them out pretty fast.

BUT, I agree with Jason,
The Toyo T1R's I have been running on the new rims, 16", are awsome!
These tires are by far the best grip I have had on my 323.
I was amazed at the wet performance also.
Big thumbs up!

Jeff

I was thinking about the Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position that the tire rack sells in 205 50 15s or the Kumos.

cnvkellogg   Posted Thursday, Jun 29th 11:39am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 23
   
Eugene, OR
78 320i
I have had the Kumo 711's and there a great tire for the price 205 50 15. I now have Falkin rt615 and they are by far the best tire so far205 40 16. Autocross and Track tire that you can drive every day. If your in the U.S.A. look at www.discounttiredirect.com for some great tire prices and free shipping.

BarryA   Posted Thursday, Jun 29th 10:36pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 160

Sacramento CA
81 320
I went with a kind of unusual combination when installed the 15x6/15x7 staggered wheel set last year - was looking for reasonable sidewall height for a decent ride and matching tires on both ends. Wound up with Yokohama AVID TRZ's - 185/60 front, 205/60 rear.

They're only "T" speed rated (since this is purely a street/commuter car, the speed rating isn't really an issue), but I've never driven on tires with better grip in the wet. Despite the size disparity, I've had no issues with understeer, either - the only downside I've found so far is some tendency to "tramline" on grooved pavement, and I don't mind the 60K tread-wear warrantee, either.

BarryA   Posted Thursday, Jun 29th 10:37pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 161

Sacramento CA
81 320
Oops - Did something wrong there - only the word "never" was supposed to be in italics.....

imaradiostar   Posted Friday, Jun 30th 12:53am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 792
   
Nashville, TN
81 323i, 82 525i, 85 524td, 90 535i
I'd like to see a picture- how do these tires look on the car?

jamie

jbob   Posted Friday, Jun 30th 4:17am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 365
   
AZ, USA
81 320i
ES100's (205/50/15 on 15x7):
http://e21.tricord.be/members/jbob/IMG_0125.jpg
http://e21.tricord.be/members/jbob/j3.jpg
'blocky' shoulders


T1-S's (215/45/15 on 15x7):
http://members.aol.com/jmusubi/myhomepage/jbob6.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a199/blitzed310/Bimmerfest%2006/bf606.jpg
closeup: http://members.aol.com/jmusubi/myhomepage/toyot1s.jpg
IMO, these tires fill out these wheels nicely.

El-74-   Posted Saturday, Jul 8th 12:07am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]
Member
Post nr. 9
   
Argentina
320/6
i have sumitomo 205-60-13 tires... there are excelent


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