Palmo

Hi folks,

Looking at changing my rear tyres in the early New Year and was interested to hear peoples opinions who have changed from the original Continental Sport Contact 2's.

For clarity my car is fitted with the optional 172m wheels with 275/30/19 rears. Do people generally rate these or recommend others?

I've found the Conti's fine but note the expensive price and wondered if there are any other comparable / better tyres out there?

nickolas_g

You will find that Bridgestone and Dunlop are also OEM for the 5. Most folks here are fans of the Michelin treads.

monacobmw

Those tires are not ranked very well by TireRack.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresult...lay.jsp?type=MP

nickolas_g

Good link!

My ride came with the Bridgestone Potenza RE 050A RFT. I would have ranked them higher. They have been good shoes for my 530.

russell hayward

I have just changed my rears (same size), bought from here http://www.falkentyres.co.uk/product.asp?n...r=&PT_ID=53

So far so good, quieter than the Conti's and grip seems as good if not better.

JSpira

Not correct. I am fairly certain that Conti is the only brand that BMW would have supplied here. I am quite happy with them as well by the way.

mogsyman

I also need two tyres and have been quoted ?430 for a pair of rear boots fitted balanced etc from Micheldever tyres.

I will probably stay with Conti's as if it's good enough for BMW, it's good enough for me.

That said I did move from Michelin to Pirelli when on my 996 as they seemed to suit better and last slightly longer.

How much have you been quoted for Conti's?

DrLev99

I am not happy with the road noise from my 19" NON run-flat Bridgestone RE050A Pole Positions, rated #1 in their group on TireRack. They are LOUD, especially when turning at low speeds...resonate and hum like nothing I've ever heard before. I have my OEM 17" Conti's on for the winter, and the sound is gone with them.

And, no, the RE050A tires are not rubbing on anything when I turn. Also, 2 of the fronts are out-of-round, diagnosed by BMW's Hunter balancer. They've also developed a rather pronounced "saw-tooth" pattern on all 4 outer edges, despite my 6 alignments since I purchased in May of '07.

Aside from the above, they are great summer tires in terms of performance, wet and dry. I barely notice any hydroplaning in deep water like I have with other all-season tires. But, due to the noise and egg-shaped issues, I will try something else next time.

0asis2007

Hi

I'm looking (desperately!) for a new tyre after my better half punctured a rear tyre at the weekend then drove 1/2 mile home on the flat - ruining the tyre in the process.......

Cruising on the space-saver right now - not a good look.....

I also have the 275/30/19s and have been quoted ?211 for a new ContiSport Contact 2 (ouch!)
As this is what 's on there currently, I'm inclined to go with it, but other brands e.g. Falken, Vredestein, Toyo, Kumho are in the region of ?130-150 for the same size.....
Is there a lot of difference between budget/premium brands, or should I bite the bullet and shell out for the Conti?

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks!

Dandle

For info here are a couple of 2007 tyre test results from Uk magazines, both test were very comprehensive.

This is EVOs results
Tyres tested:
1. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A
2. Continental Contisport Contact 3
3. Dunlop Sport Maxx
4. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric
5. Kumho Ecsta STP KU31
6. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2
7. Pirelli PZERO Nero
8. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA
9. Yokohama S.DRIVE

Wet Handling:

Lap Times:
1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 99.05%
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 98.38%

Lateral G:
1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 97.85%
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 97.34%

Subjective:

1. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 100%
2. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 96.15%
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 94.23%

Aqua-Planing:

Straight Line:

1. Dunlop Sport Maxx - 100%
2. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 98.85%
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 97.01%

Cornering:

1. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 100%
2. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 83.37%
3. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 80.09%

Braking:

Wet Braking

1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 98.19%
3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 97.44%

Dry Braking - Very little to choose between top and bottom [7% difference]

1. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 100%
2. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 99.08%
3. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 98.94%

Best at the Pumps:

Resistance (rolling):

1. Yokohama S.DRIVE - 100%
2. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 97.88%
3. Kumho Ecsta STP KU31 - 92.72%

Dry Handling:

Lap Times:

1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 99.79%
3. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 99.18%

Lateral G:

1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 97.19%
3. Bridgestone Potenza RE050-A - 96.18%

Subjective:

1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 100%
2. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 95.55%
3. Pirelli PZERO Nero - 93.33%

Road Route:

Subjective:

1. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 100%
2. Dunlop Sport Maxx - 92.50%
3. Michelin Pilot Sport 2 PS2 - 90.50%

OVERALL RESULTS:

1. Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric - 96.4

A decisive win for the new Goodyear, with more table-topping performances than any other tyre. Better still, those wins came in both the wet and the dry objective test, and subjectively it was voted best tyre on the dry handling course.

2. Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTA - 95.3

3. Continental Contisport Contact 3 - 93.5



Autocar did there test which can be seen here.

With result of
1st: Goodyear Eagle F1
2nd: Michelin Pilot Sport 2
3rd: Contintenal ContiSport Contact 3
4th: Bridgestone Potenza RE050A
5th: Pirelli PZero Nero and Rosso

Hope that helps.