YET another tire question thread E36 M3 specific

[MMNJTWA]

ok guys... we should get this one stickied so the searching can be easier and we wil have less threads floating around somewhere like this...

what tire setups are you guys running (brand, size)?

what wheels are do you have (brand, size, offset)?

what suspension do you have (stock, springs/shocks, or coilovers - if so what is the ride height)?

does your wheels/tires rub?

how is the traction (wet, dry, grip in the corners, grip for launching)?

how much were they/from where?

and last... are you satisfied with them?

[Zoso]

Tires = Toyo T1S, 245/35/18 all around
Rims = 18"x8.5" BBS RCs, 38mm ofsset (?)
Suspension = Bone Stock

Absolutely no rubbing

Traction = awesome. Lots of grip and very neutral. Good in wet and dry. A tad bit noisier than pilots and it tramlines more with the wider front tires.

Price = forgot - got them 2 years ago.

Very satisfied. They look awesome and the BBS RCs are some strong rims because I've hit some monster Massachusetts potholes with my rims and tiny sidewalled tires and they're still fine.

[MMNJTWA]

i guess i should have answered this myself

Tires = Falken Ziex512, 235/40/18 all around
Rims = 18"x8" Ro_Ja Formula 5, 40mm offset
Suspension = FK Konigsport coilovers w/ 10mm FK spacers up front ("slammed" - rear fender is tucking almost all of the 40 series tire)

rubs only when i am moving fairly quickly over some dips in the road

Traction = good. decent grip. Good in wet and dry. pretty quiet tires.

Price = ~$140 ea.

Very satisfied. They look good, but i am looking for a different set of tires to try this time....

are Michelin Pilot Sport A/S any good?

[slcook54]

Tires: Michelin Pilot SX (not sports)

Wheels: Stock 95 10-spokes, 235/40

Suspension: Stock suspension (soon to be H&R coilovers)

Rubbing: No rubbing

Traction: Wet traction has been scary at times, dry traction is adequate, however the tires do NOT build confidence, grip for lauching is okay, and I have been doing it quite often (once a week) to wear the tires out.

Price: The cheapo previous owner had them on. I am not satisfied, planning on trying PS2's, S03's, Pirelli P Zero Neros, Falken Azenzis, or Kumho MXs.

[Mantic]

TIRES:
Bridgestone SO3s
225/40/18 front
235/40/18 rear

WHEELS:
Racing Dynamic RGRs
18x8.5 38ET all around

SUSPENSION:
KW Variant II coilovers.
H&R 10mm spacers up front.
Not sure of ride hight (sorry).

RUBBING?
No rubbing in the rear at ALL!
I do rub in the front due to the 10mm spacers i have to run to clear the coilovers. The rubbing is on the fender lips.

TRACTION:
Wet - Great
Dry - Great

Happy?
I was happy with everything but the quick tire wear but this was to be expected. A very grippy tire.

Price:
Around $800 uninstalled.

I would buy these again if my car was a weekend car and not my daily driver. I'm replacing them now with Toyo T1S 245/35/18 rear and 225/40/18s front. I'll let you know how those are when i get them mounted and have had a chance to "get to know them".

[GotBHP?]

Tires
- Bridegstone SO2's, 245/40/17's on all 4 corners, will go wider once all of my sets of tires have worn out.

Wheels
- 17x9" IFG's, 44mm offset, 12 mm spacers in front, 5mm spacers in the rear

Suspension
- GC Coilovers, 500lb front springs, 550 rears, Koni Double adjustables, ~24 inches from the ground to the center of the fender


Rubbing
- Yes, on big compression of the suspension

Traction
- They definetly offer way more grip and feel than the ES100's, definetly better in the rain than the S03's I used to have.

Cost
- Dont remember, probably a lot

Satisfaction
- They are great tires. They offer way more grip that I should be using on the street, but on the track they have tended to overheat a bit and fall off. I see no need to buy these or a similar tires. Ill be useing R-comps for the track, and for the street I dont drive hard enough to justify the big cost of these.

[dngo]

Tires:
Bridgestone S-O3 Pole Positions, 245/40-17 all around.

Wheels:
OEM 17x8.5" double spoke wheels, 41mm offset, no spacers.

Suspension:
Koni SAs, Eibach Pro-Kit springs, Eibach sway bars, TCKline camber plates, extra 7.5mm spring pads in the rear, X brace, JTD front strut bar. Rolled rear fenders. -3.2deg of camber in front, -2.0 in the rear.

Rubbing:
If the car is heavily loaded and I hit a dip in the road or accelerate rapidly, the tires sometimes rub in the rear where the fender starts to flare out. Tires can rub a bit at full lock in the front on the inside of the wheel well.

Traction:
I have been extremely happy with the grip of the S-O3s in all weather conditions. They also have proven to be excellent in the wear department, with 6 track days and over 20k miles before needing to be replaced.

Cost:
~$220 each after shipping (from Tire Rack), mounting, and balancing.

Conclusion:
I'm extremely happy with the S-O3s and would likely have bought them again if I hadn't lucked out with the $85 Pilot Sport deal. They had almost as much grip in the dry as BFG KDs, but were much more comfortable. I also found that they were better all around than the S-O2PPs as well.

Dave

[jumpman]

I like this topic..here goes.

Tires:
Bridgestone S-O3 Pole Positions, Front 235/40-17 rear 245/40-17.

Wheels:
BBS LM 17x8" no spacers.

Suspension:
H&R Coilovers, Racing Dynamic sway bars, GC RSM, Xbrace, M strut and ACS rear strut.

Rubbing:
If the car is fully loaded with 5 people, I will rub on large deviations but otherwise ok. All my fenders are rolled. When I went from S02 to S03, I found that the S03s had a squarer profile so I needed to roll the fenders to prevent rubbing.

Traction:
The SO3s are a very good all round tire. Not the grippiest in the dry compared to the latest offerings from Michelin and Advan but for street use, very capable. The tires will tell you when you're reaching the limits before giving way (they scream). Wet traction is excellent.

Cost:
~$210 each, mounting, and balancing. (in HK)

Conclusion:
The SO3s have been very good but I still find them a tad noisy. The current generation of tires are getting better and I will most likely migrate to either the Michelin PS2s or the Advan Neova AD07 which provide better dry grip. (I dont push hard in the wet)

[Buch]

Tires:
Goodyear F1 GS-D3s 245/35-18 on all four corners

Wheels:
AC Schnitzer 18 X 8.5s at 43mm offset with 7mm spacers on all four corners

Suspension:
H&R OE Sports with Koni SAs

Rubbing:
Close but no rubbing with this setup

Traction:
The Goodyears are unbelievable in the rain (probably better than the S-03s before them), and the tracking is straight and comfortable compared to the tramlining of the S-03s on highway ruts (may have something to do with the non-staggered setup. Cornering is much more neutral than staggered, and I will be getting substantially more total mileage out of a set by rotating (plus the Goodyears have a Traction rating of 280). However, I must say I can feel that the Goodyears are a bit soft in the shoulders, and require an adjustment to anticipate a bit of roll over in hard cornering - manageable though.

Cost:
Wheels - $1,800 US new on ebay Tires $1,300 Cdn from my local dealer plus installation

Regards, Doug

[icemann633]

Rims: 18x8.5 BBS RCs +38
Tires: Nitto 555 225/40/18
Suspension: H&R Coilovers

No rubbing but i have SMALL tires...i need to desperately get atleast 245s. I like this thread so lets see what i need to run them...

[Calcartman]

Wheels: OEM 17" Contours
Tires: Front - Bridgestone Potenza RE730's, 225/45/17
Rear - Kuhmo Ecsta MX, 245/40/17
Suspension is stock, no rubbing.

The Bridgestones I had in back were far less grippy than the kuhmos are, but they were completely silent. I could have the car sliding sideways (and i did) with no sound whatsoever. This is good for road noise commuting, bad for high speed handling with no telling where the limits are. I only got about 15K miles out of them too
The kuhmos have awesome amounts of grip, make minimal road noise, but when driving hard they howl as you get close to losing traction.

[MMNJTWA]

i currently have 235/40/18 falken ziex ze-512 all around on my car and it is fine

i want to know if i could run 235/40 up front and 245/35 in the rear

what is the possibility of it not working? has anyone ever run a similar setup? or should i just stick with 235/40 all around again?

[clumpymold]

i currently have 235/40/18 falken ziex ze-512 all around on my car and it is fine

i want to know if i could run 235/40 up front and 245/35 in the rear

what is the possibility of it not working? has anyone ever run a similar setup? or should i just stick with 235/40 all around again?

I think you can actually run 255/35/18s in back with 235/40/18 in front. That's what I'll be doing soon (well, 235/35/18 or 225/40/18 in front). But I think it also depends on the offset and width of your wheels. I've got ACS Type IIIs and the recommended staggered setup from ACS, from what I've read, is 225/40/18 in front and 255/35/18 in rear (otherwise 225/40/18 all around). Oh, I've got 18x8.5" wheels.

[CrayzeeM3]

Gotta REPRESENT!!! with my chepo tires.

Tires: Visa 225/40/18 x 4

Wheels: Manaray VR5 Quest

Suspension: Ground Control Track Kit

Rubbing: No rubbing

Traction: Grip is terrible, you get what you pay for, these tires are made for lightwieght underpowered cars. Slam on the brakes and your tires will skid. Treadwear 360!!!! Nevertheless, these are great drift tires they never run out!

Price: $320 for 4

[CrayzeeM3]

My Track Set.

Tires: Bridgestone S0-3 225/45/17 F 245/40/17 R

Wheels: M-Kontour

Suspension: Ground Control Track Kit

Rubbing: No rubbing

Traction: Grip is awesome!! Good Wet traction. S-03 should have came stock from the factory. These are the best street tires you can get.

Price: $600 for 4

[auto_pilot]

Tires: Yokohama AVS Sports

Size: 225/45/17 Fronts
245/40/17 Rears

Wheels: M Contour Stock

Suspension: Bone Stock

Wear: 15K (approx)

Tires came with the car, and they looked fairly new. After 15K, my fronts look like they have a year or so left. My rears are down to the tread wear bars. I drive mainly commute traffic, and aggressive onramp/offramp turns (trying to learn how to late APEX)...I am very happy with my tires. Grip is awesome, and I definately feel the understeer when I'm get aggressive (not sure I'm at the cars limit). In pretty heavy down pour I'm usually fee safe to about 65-70 MPH...I don't try to go much faster. But I'm buying a whole new set of tires.

[auto_pilot]

New setup just ordered from Tirerack:

Tires: Pirellie P Zero Rosso Aysmetricos
Size: 235/40/17 (Front/Rear)
Wheels: M Contours
Suspension: Bone Stock
Rubbing: N/A
Pricing: $125 per tire (Tirerack has a special right now)

I am going with the widest size available w/out changing my rims, rolling fenders, or adding spacers. From what I here, this is the setup for the 95 M3's. I plan to rotate the tires for better wear; and to make the car have more neutral handling (instead of understeer). I will report more after I've had them on for 5K miles or more.

[auto_pilot]

ok guys... we should get this one stickied so the searching can be easier and we wil have less threads floating around somewhere like this...

Also we should include any comments on wear of the tire; and how many miles they lasted.

Let's keep posting our tire experiences...

[bdew]

I have SO-3s 245/40/17 all around
on SSR Integrals 17x9
with 10mm front spacers and an otherwise stock suspension

Handling is amazing, tires are sticky, and the non-staggered setup makes the car feel very planted.

['96 E36 M3]

Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport 2 : 225/45 (f) - 245/40 (r).
Wheels: Stock
Suspension: Stock (for now )
Traction: Great - Live in AZ where there is no rain!
Purchased From: Tirexchange in Scottsdale, AZ. $704 installed!

[///MD]

Tires: Yoko AVS sport 235/40-18 all around
Wheels: BBS RGR 18x8.5, (not sure on offset) from tire rack
No Rubbing, I did roll the rear fenders for my track tires previously. No spacers
Cost: Free tires, won them at O-Fest
Suspension: Eibach Prokit with Koni SAs, Eibach sways
Impression: Very smooth tire with great traction both wet and dry. A little noisy. Fast wear, soft compound. Great for the price (free), but might try something else like Toyos next time. Also might go wider...

[buckwilly]

Second set...first time shame on me.
Second time...shame on my mom for having me.

Tires: Kuhmo 712
Size: staggered OEM
Wheels: M Contours
Suspension: Koni adj./ stock springs
Rubbing: N/A
Pricing: $132 each installed
Current Mileage: Purchased 2/04 - 60% left.

My feeling on these things are you get what you pay for. They have good traction in the rain, average in the dry. Better than first version, but still are a street only tire. Once you are used to Khumos they are a great drifting or fooling around tire. I don't buy tires to go to the track. I also agree that these tires were made for Hondas and Nissans, not an M3. Put it this way, if I went to a track, I would rather have my worn out Mich. pilots with 10% tread over these things.

Next tires - Toyos or Bridgestone Potenzas.

[bmw m3 s50]

anyone running 255/35/18 all around on the e36 bmw m3?????? if so:

Is there any rubbing that goes on? I was told that if you run that wide of a tire up front it will rub. What other offsets can I use to fit a 255 tire all around on the car???? Can I use a 35 offset or do I need higher? Also will I need to use spacers? And last thing running 255/35/18 does that leave any room to lower the car? Is there an camber being done to allow the fitment of this tire????

[BigBear]

Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport 225/45 front; Michelin Pilot Sport 245/40 rear

Wheels: OEM M-Contours

Suspension: Koni SA's. Eibach Pro Kit Springs

Rubbing: No rubbing

Traction: Grip is good, but not great.

Price: Came with the car

[oversteerdawg]

Short of R-compound rubber, the stickest tires you can buy are BFG g-Force T/A KD's or Falken Azenis Sports. These are THE stickiest street tires in existence. The Azenis is not available in the "proper" size, but 225/45/17 all around will outgrip almost any 235 tire. Both of these tires are awesome in wet conditions, provided there is no standing water. Sticky rubber is sticky rubber, wet or dry. These tires have exceptional wet traction, but their hydroplane resistance leaves a bit to be desired. I've had 4 sets of Azenis in 3 years and rain has never been an issue for me (ymmv). The KD's are marginally better than the Azenis in hydroplane resistance. That being said, I'm all for sticky tires, but the best thing about the KD's and Azenis are their rock hard sidewalls. Sure it degrades the ride a bit, but the steering response/mid-corner stability/feedback is peerless. Nothing comes close to the stiffness of these tires in terms of construction. They grip great and they feel great. The pilot sports, t-1s', s-03's are all great tires, but the construction is way to squishy for my taste.