subarashi

So I know this varies based on drive style, setup, tyres..but assuming OEM Contis, non-staggered setup and a regular mix of highway and street driving - at what mileage do you think tyres should be changed out?? My SA says at 20K miles but this surely seems too little.....

sleeper50

assuming you don't have the sports package and are running with 17"...... have you looked here OEM Continentals

20k may be reasonably accurate if you push your car at all.

e6t.lab.rat

this all depends on tire condition, tread depth and miles (what is treadwear rating on tire?). IMHO i would use a tire tread guage or the "lincoln head" check (on penny) to see if you have optimum tread depth.

one like this or similar:
[attachment=103058SC00547.JPG]

subarashi

So the tread was not terrible using the Lincoln penny test - my SA seemed to think it was more of a time dependent change than mileage. I could tell instantly the new tyres felt different, softer and the ride was smoother.... But surely this was due to the new rubber rather than the new tyre.....

Sagar

My car has a staggered setup on the M172's + Sports package

ContiSportContact 2's on from new & I ended up changing them at 25k miles

Spyglass

Since you have the non-staggered set-up and can rotate tires, then 20K is reasonable. But as the other posters have mentioned it depends on many other factors - engine torque, driving style, treadwear rating, alignment, etc.

As a reference point I go just under 12k out of my rear Conti SportContact2's on my 550i. I'm used to running high performance tires on my previous cars and have generally got 15k to 17k out of the rears. Do I like only getting 12K? No, but the reality is that the 550i is a relatively heavy car with fairly high torque off the line, so as they say "you have to pay to play"