E46 M3 tyre choice

[youdsy]

Hi all,

after taking off my 19" CSL alloys off the car to get them refurbished, i noticed that both of the fronts needed to be replaced due to excessive wear on the inner part of the tyre.

The front tyres in question were 225/40/19 pilot sports. on the rears i am currently running 256/30/19 continental sport 3.

question is which tyre should I get for the fronts? pilot sport 2's or the new pilot super sports? failing that should I opt for continental sport 3's to match the rears?

Also should I go for a 235/35/19 or 235/40/19 tyre? not too keen on the lower profile and would prefer to replace the rears with a 265/35/19 when the time comes. would like to go back to the standard setup for the M3 but a wider tyre to accomodate the wider CSL wheel.

any suggestions/advice would be appreciated.

thanks

[mmm-five]

I had the same wheels on my Z4MC, and ran 235/35r19 and 265/30r19 PS2s.

I've now gone to back to 18s as I prefer the slightly softer ride, but have put SuperSports on instead - and they're unfathomably better than the OEM Contis and a surprising step up from the PS2s too.

[The Restorer]

"Can I upsize stock tire widths to 245 & 275 on OEM wheels?
Yes, the correct upsize is 245/40/18 front and 275/35/18 rear for 18" wheels and 245/35/19 front and 275/30/19 rear for 19" wheels. Many have done this on both stock and lowered cars without any rubbing issues."

Taken from here - http://m3.madrussian.net/faq.shtml#1

Personally I would look to match all 4 tyres across the car so if your Conti's on the back are going to last a while then replace the front with the same.

I've always run Goodyear F1's on my cars (245/35/19 front and 275/30/19 rear on both 19" standard and CSL rims) with no issues

Edited by The Restorer on Monday 5th March 10:45

[youdsy]

well there is a good few miles left on the rears in the region on 5-7k miles id say. my thinking is to put pilot sports on the fronts and then replace the rears with the same tyre as i put on the fronts. I think for the style of driving that i do, fast spirited road driving with no track days, the conti's would be good enough? as surely you only see the real difference in using a pilot sport tyre is on the track where the car is on the limit?

[mrmr96]

youdsy said:

The front tyres in question were 225/40/19 pilot sports. on the rears i am currently running 256/30/19 continental sport 3.

I assume that's a typo on the current size of the rear, and you meant to say "265" not "256"?

[youdsy]

yeh sorry, 265/30/19 and not 256/30/19

[youdsy]

MICHELIN PILOT SUPERSPORT - 235/35R19 (91Y) XL TL

thinking about going for the above tyre for the fronts. the speed rating and XL TL are suitable for the M3 i take it.

then once the rears go ill replace them with the same spec tyre in order to have all four tyres matching.

[E30M3SE]

^^^

This is probably what I would do.

Depending on how much is left on the rear maybe tempted to change the rears also and stick the Conti's on ebay.