louveres

I have a 2008 535xi and need to get new tires. I have decided on Continental extreme contact DWS, and the tire size recommended for my car is 225/50/17. I can only find the tire in 235/45/17 from the shop I'm used to getting tires from, and the question I have is: how much of an impact will the different size have on my car? Would you guys say it's ok to go for the 235/45/17?

luigi524td

Looks like TireRack should have them this week - it's a very popular tire! If you shop thru the link in my signature you'll earn additional rebates and sometimes grab additional discounts.

Good choice on the tires ... trust you'll get your car set up before more bad weather hits Chicago! I've had TireRack ship tires directly to my installer's shop - they have really good tracking and customer service!

Tex735

Not to hijack the thread, but I just got home from the tire shop with a brand new set of Conti DWS tires and I have a question... I switched out the run flats that came on the car (mine is a 2004 e60 that still came with the spare and jack kit) and I'm wondering if the recommended inflation psi are still good. The reason I ask is that the run flats have VERY stiff sidewalls and the Conti's don't. For those who have ditched the rough riding RFT's for something a little more "plush," what inflation tables are you using? I have the sport package with the 18" wheels and the book calls for 29 up front and 35 out back. I read that some folks feel that the tires seem to handle a bit better with about 2 psi over on both ends, but how has that affected tire wear and such?

Thanks!

luigi524td

I run conventional all season tires (245/40x18) General Exclaim UHP All Season Tires during the "winter". I inflate to the PSI (+2/3 psi) indicated on the driver-side door pillar and have not observed any unusual tire tread wear. If I'm not mistaken that is 35PSI Front / 38PSI Rear for my '07 530xi. I think 29PSI in front is too soft. But, I'm not going outside to check that tonight - sorry it's a bit chilly!

Brent P

29 front and 35 rear are the recommended pressures for my car too. That's what I run them at and I have no complaints.

louveres

Thanks for the input. I guess I should stick to the recommended size, and just order it from Tire Rack.

luigi524td

30F / 38R PSI ... the little yellow sticker lists PSI for higher speed driving lists 38F/45R PSI (sorry - Droid camera and photographer are both blurry this AM)

Tex735

I don't have that yellow sticker in my '04. Must be something new... Anyway, if anyone wants my opinion on the Conti DWS tires after a day of driving, here it is:

I could swear that I don't have enough air in the tires! With the Bridgestone RFT's, I used to avoid running over those little reflectors that are glued to the stripes on the highways because it felt like I was going to break my car! Now, I can barely feel the little suckers. These are much softer riding than the RFT's. They are extremely quiet as well. It's like I got a new car. I once got a 7 series loaner while my car was being worked on and these tires really do make my little 5 ride just like that 7. They are very, very grippy on both dry and wet roads. There is a little bit of sidewall roll, but these are not super stiff RFT's so that is to be expected. They are predictable and confidence inspiring, once you get used to the sidewall roll that you have to take up before they grab like a gorilla in the curves! I have the active suspension on my car. With the very sharp RFT's, I could feel the active sway bars tilting the car in the curves and that was pretty cool. These tires seem to soften that sensation up a bit. I can still feel it, but it seems more progressive and smooth instead of feeling like someone put a jack under one side of the car like it used to feel. If they stay this quiet and grippy, I'll never go back to RFT's again. It was nice to be able to drive to a tire shop for a repair with the RFT's, but the soft, quiet and much grippier performance I'm getting from these tires far outweighs that little benefit. I definitely recommend these to anyone who is tired of having fillings replaced due to the RFT's!!

On another note... I pulled the spare doughnut out to check the air and condition for the first time in about 4 years... How long will those things last sitting in the trunk? It was 40 lbs low so I aired it up and threw it back in there. I hope I can trust it...

itb76

My 545 came with DWS tires, they're great. Comfy, quite, yet grippy in the dry and very good in the rain. Took them off when the snow started falling however.

Tex, should probably check the air in the spare every 6 months or so. Otherwise they will last for years.

earossi

I will second all the positive comments on both Tire Rack and the Continental tires. Have had a set on my 545 for 15k miles and they are still quiet and are wearing very slowly. Significant improvement over the RFT's that were fitted to the car previously. The RFT's handled better, but were significantly harder riding, wore fairly quickly, were extremely noisy, and are prohibitively expensive to replace. Since my 545 has a standard sized spare, there was no incentive to buy another set of the Dunlap RFT's. My memory says that I have only had one flat tire in the last 100k miles, so running RFT's is very expensive insurance.

Currently, the Continentals are extremely highly rated by Tire Rack surveys. And, are significantly less expensive to the #1 rated tire. A good trade off for me. I focused on the four season ratings and noise, which were both very highly rated in the surveys. Living in Chicago where we typically deal with snow falls of about 2 to 4 inches, I find the Continentals to be the best handling 4-season tire I have ever owned. In fact, they appear to handle as well as a set of winter tires I ran on a Mercedes several years ago.

I also typically over inflate all tires I fit to my cars (from the factory specs). Usually by +2 PSI. You sacrifice a very small amount of ride comfort (honestly can't tell you that I can perceive the loss), but gain in fuel mileage and handling usually improves. That has been the case with the Continentals.

If you use Tire Rack, have the tires shipped directly to one of their recommended installers and the installer will honor the installation costs listed on the Tire Rack website; so, using the site allows you to shop pricing on installation with no surprises. I've purchased about 15 sets of tires from Tire Rack over the years for everything from SUV's to BMW's, Mercedes, to my Porsches.......all from Tire Rack. Never a negative buying experience.


Good luck.