Percy_991

Hi All,

At the end of July 2010, I needed to wrap my 172 19" Spiders in some new rubber. They were at the time running on the Continental ContiSportContact 2 tyres; 245/35/19 front and 275/30/19 rears.

After looking online I realized that the ContiSportContact 2's had been replaced by the 3's. However, there were also a few sites reviewing the newer ContiSportContact 5P's which had replaced the 3's; or so I was led to believe. After speaking / negotiating to a few vendors, (many were certain that 5P's did not even exist, even BMW), I managed to get KwikFit in Leeds to change all 4 tyres for £800. In fact, this was cheaper than the 2's. I drove circa 300 miles, (round trip), to Leeds to get the 5P's as I could not get vendors closer to me to replace 4 tyres for less that £1,000 and in fact many vendors were telling me the tyres did not exist! I then went to my Indy to get a full KDS wheel alignment.

The 5P's were amazing to begin with; lots of grip and low road noise. However, 8,000 miles later, I have just had to replace all 4 tyres again; the rears were on the limit and the fronts just below 3mm. I am aware that the 5's have also been released but I could not get them in my tyre size. I went back to the 2's. Anyone else had any experience with the 5P's.

Before going back to the 2's I spoke with a very helpful chap from the technical department at Continental. He informed me that the "P" in 5P stood for performance and the rubber compound was very soft compared to the 2's. He recommended I switch to the 2's or 3's as at the time the 5's were not available for my tyre size. I also asked him what happened to the "4's". Interestingly, I was told that Continental did not release a '4' as it is associated with bad luck for a production run. Some interesting trivia right there.

Another funny thing I expeirneced just weeks before the change is that I was at one of the Synter stealerships having a new exhaust manifold and inlet manifold fitted, I was told that my tyres were on the limit. I then spoke to the 'tyre specialist' and told him I was running the 5P's. To that he told me that Continental did not make a 5P. Infact, he was very adamant of this and told me he was very 'in the know' about tyres. So I told him to go check my car tyres as my car was at the time in the workshop. He returned a few minutes later with his tail inbetween his legs. He then approached me and tried to be as discrete as possible. I also had the Continental website up and showed him. It was hilarious as another chap who was waiting who had heard the entire episode was amazed that some of these 'specialists' at the stealerships really do not have a clue. And don't get me started about a Service chap at another stealership not knowing what an LCI was, or as he put it to a technician "a LMI"!!

Apologies for the rambling on what was meant to be a simple question; has anyone else run the 5P's on the 172;'s?

A picture of the depleted 5P's.

andrewsweetnam

Damm £800 = 8000 miles i would'ent bother go sport contact 2 my fronts 24000 miles 3mm left rears changed at 17000 miles still got 6/7 mm left at 24000.

Percy_991

Indeed, I've gone back with the 2's and the car still feels good and well balanced; I guess BMW tested these pretty extensivly for the E60 when they launched. Although when you are pushing hard the 5P's are excellent. But I didn't want to be in the same situation in another 8,000 miles so back with the 2's. Kept the 5P's when my tyres were changed and saved a few £ disposal, and damn the rears are beasts. I just about managed to get 2 of the rears in the empty boot and the other 2 tyres in the back seats with lots of plastic film kindly provided by the garage. Also, had the tyres inflated with nitrogen. Hopefully that will help preserve the 2's although I need to keep them topped up with nitrogen.

Percy