Tyre fitment on 2012 Cooper D

[pah250]

All,

I've taken on responsibility for looking after my girlfriends 2012 Mini Cooper D. She needs two new front tyres and I've done a bit of reading on here regarding what people are fitting. Looking at Uniroyal Rainsport 3 which seem to have great feedback on here.

She doesn't have any run-flats on right now so going to stick with regular non-run flats. But she does have 3 different brands across the 4 wheels, including miss-matched fronts/driven wheels! I'm guessing this is probably why the car tram lines so much and generally doesn't handle like it should, torque steer being a real pain when pulling out of a roundabout.

The rears are currently Davanti (never heard of them) and have 5mm to 6mm left with quite even wear across their widths, so will leave them both as they are.

My questions are:

- Do I need to purchase BMW OEM fitment tyres, or can I go for the none-OEM BMW fitment?
- Do the tyres need to be star rated? With over 80k on the clock and no manufacturer’s warranty left, I'm thinking I probably don't need to worry about this.

Thanks in advance,
Paul.

[steve-5snwi]

There will be a limited choice of star rated tyres and Uniroyals won't be one of them so i really wouldn't worry about it.

[mh125]

In your case I’d change all 4. Rainsports all round should only be around £80 a corner probably will transform the driving experience.

[HorneyMX5]

Get the alignment done ASAP these cars handle really badly even if it's slightly out. I get mine done every six months.

[pah250]

Thanks for the replies. I'm certainly going to get the alignment done by a trusted mechanic straight after the tyres are fitted. The inside shoulder of the OSF is worn quite a bit more than it should be, so I suspected that the tracking isn't right either.

[watchnut]

I have a 2012 and use the Michelin energy savers they came with from the factory. I think they are great it can stop in about 1.5 car lengths from 30 mph, a little further on wet roads. I had 60k out of the original rears (when the fronts went the new tyres went on the rear) I find that even with the amount of lock to lock turning my car does they are a great tyre. Keep on top of the pressures...they last longer....don't let her "dry steer" it....best way to shag tyres early

Who ever had it last time obviously was a numpty having different tyres on each corner, may not have even been tyres to fit a BMW which must be checked before fitting. Sounds like the tracking was way out....may even drive straight now! hope she enjoys it!

[pah250]

Just a quick note to say that the Uniroyal Rainsports are looking good so far. However it's hard to say if the tyre or the corrected wheel alignment has made the biggest improvement to the drive of the car as both were done at the same time by a trusted independent.

The alignment was significantly off and the "adjuster bits" (what ever they are called) were seized up and looked like they have never been touched (over 80k on the clock). They needed to be heated-up to free them, then allowed to cool down again before the geometry could be properly corrected which took a bit longer than expected due to this.

The drive back was a marked improvement. No more tramlining and much better handling on the back roads.

[HorneyMX5]

That's good news, you'll now be able to experience that famed mini handling.