Michelin SuperSports on E60 M5

[dowzer]

The time has come to bite the bullet and put 4 new pieces of rubber on my M5 and am looking around at options.

Currently I have the Conti 2's and they are RUBBISH! I had narrowed it down to either the PS2's or the Goodyear F1 Asym 2 based on reviews and so on.

But I have now seen that Michelin have launched a SuperSport BUT not in the stock OEM sizes for an E60 M5 - I can get them in 265/40/19 and 295/35/19 which is about 10mm wider than the stock sizes.

I realise it may throw the speedo out a little but more rubber between right foot and road has got to be better plus it will look a little meaner too assuming it doesn't rub.

Has anyone tried this on an E60 M5? Any comments? Anything I need to watch out for other than the speedo?

Thanks
Jase

[E30M3SE]

Are the michelin ss's the correct load rating?

[BAKS42]

I was about to post the same thing so keeping an eye out on this as i need to replace all 4 as i don't get on with the conti 2's. I had the supersports on my old z4m coupe which were slightly bigger than oem. It knocked the speedo out very slightly but the tyres were fantastic.

[dowzer]

They are 104 on the rear and 102 on the front - they have been designed in conjunction with BMW M but just not the right width in 19" for the E60 M5.

The tyres are:

295/35/ZR19 104Y XL
265/40/ZR19 102Y XL

Edited by dowzer on Monday 22 October 11:30

[V6 inside]

I'm also contemplating the same thing for the rear of my M6.

After speaking to Michelin UK, they have said they have no immediate plans to make the supersports in 285/35/19.

So we can either fit 295/30/19 which is a Porsche standard fit size or 295/35/19 which still is a bigger width than ideal.

There is pictures of an M6 with the 295/30s on M5Board.com and it looks wrong, the tyre profile is too short.

I think I will try the 295/35/19, fingers crossed they fit!

Would be good to hear from anyone who has fitted the 295/35s

[130R]

Personally I think the PS2's are great, I'd stick with them and wait until they made the Super Sport in the correct size ..

[dowzer]

130R said:

Personally I think the PS2's are great, I'd stick with them and wait until they made the Super Sport in the correct size ..

I had heard they weren't great in the wet and considering we are likely to see a lot of water in the coming months was erring away from them? The Contis I have at the moment are awful in the wet but the Goodyear F1's are VERY highly rated in the wet which is what got me looking at them originally

[StuH]

dowzer said:

130R said:

Personally I think the PS2's are great, I'd stick with them and wait until they made the Super Sport in the correct size ..

I had heard they weren't great in the wet and considering we are likely to see a lot of water in the coming months was erring away from them? The Contis I have at the moment are awful in the wet but the Goodyear F1's are VERY highly rated in the wet which is what got me looking at them originally

I replaced my tyres with PS2's a few months back - the car had fairly new conti's on when I bought it which lasted me about 9 months - the car was a bit twitchy in the wet and needed a bit of concentration when you get those nasty damp mornings and the surface is greasy. As my previous M's had always been a bit tail-happy in these conditions I didn't think much of it - at the end of the day 500hp and RWD is never gonna be ideal in the wet! However, when I switched to the PS2's I just couldn't believe how much more grip I was getting in the wet - in fact it's taken me a few months to gradually build my confidence in them, after years of accepting that I was always going to have to back right off in the wet.

[130R]

StuH said:

I replaced my tyres with PS2's a few months back - the car had fairly new conti's on when I bought it which lasted me about 9 months - the car was a bit twitchy in the wet and needed a bit of concentration when you get those nasty damp mornings and the surface is greasy. As my previous M's had always been a bit tail-happy in these conditions I didn't think much of it - at the end of the day 500hp and RWD is never gonna be ideal in the wet! However, when I switched to the PS2's I just couldn't believe how much more grip I was getting in the wet - in fact it's taken me a few months to gradually build my confidence in them, after years of accepting that I was always going to have to back right off in the wet.

Completely agree, the PS2's are excellent in the wet. The conti's aquaplane really badly in my experience, PS2's on the other hand give loads of confidence even with standing water around.

[tiler]

Just fitted michelins on my new 20" rims and they are loads better than the contis.

Edited by tiler on Monday 22 October 20:30

[BAKS42]

I have decided to order some ps2's for mine tomorrow

[omniflow]

Not sure if I made a mistake, but I just put 2 Pilot Super Sports on the rear tyres of my E61 M5 - I know it's a different size tyre from the E60, but now I'm worried I won't be able to get matching fronts when it comes to time to replace them.

[jon-]

TBh, there isn't a MASSIVE amount of difference between a PS2 and PSS so I wouldn't worry about mixing them.

[ChrisBuer]

I don't own an E60 M5, but a quick look on the web seems to suggest that you'll be OK to get a front set of Super Sports in the stock sizes, but the rears are just the problem. Is that right?

I run the PS2 on my car and they are fine in the wet and dry, although I will be swapping to the PSS once my rears need changing. If you look at the reviews online, the PSS do seem to be much more highly rated in the wet than the PS2 and it seems to be a consistent result wherever you look. I'm pretty sure that the PSS last a lot longer as well than the PS2 (again according to reports).

Obviously I can only comment on my personal experience with the PS2 (which are OK) and I've yet to drive a car on PSS. But if you can, I'd probably try to fit the PSS (even if you need to go to a slightly different size) as by all accounts, they are far superior.

[ChrisBuer]

dowzer said:

I had heard they weren't great in the wet and considering we are likely to see a lot of water in the coming months was erring away from them? The Contis I have at the moment are awful in the wet but the Goodyear F1's are VERY highly rated in the wet which is what got me looking at them originally

Check out this review (scroll through the numbered tabs at the bottom).

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/michelin-p...

They rank them:

1st - Michelin Pilot Super Sport
2nd - Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position
3rd - Yokohama Advan Neova AD08
4th - Hankook Ventus R-S3
5th - Continental ExtremeContact DW
6th - Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2
7th - Toyo Proxes R1R
8th - Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
9th - Pirelli P Zero

They say "The Michelin PSS finished with the second-quickest lap in both the wet and dry autocrosses, just 0.1 and 0.2 second behind the leaders, respectively.

The PSS has the best balance of wet and dry performance we’ve ever experienced in testing. The minute compromises in each discipline make “super” a worthy part of its name. It’s our winner."

Another test online summerises it quite nicely:

"Compared to other tyres present at the test—the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A, Goodyear Eagle F1, the Continental ContiSportContact and even Michelin’s own Pilot Sport 2, the Super Sport’s increased dry handling and stability under braking is appreciable. Even in the wet, the new Michelins seem to grip the road with more confidence.

Compared to the Pilot Sport 2, the Super Sport laps about 1.5 sec faster on a racetrack, can stop almost 5 feet shorter from 62 mph in the dry, and stop nearly 10 feet shorter from about 50 mph to 5 mph in the wet. On top of that, the new tyres have a 10-percent longer life."

Edited by ChrisBuer on Tuesday 23 October 10:10

[jon-]

Unfortunately you can't use USA tests as reference for the UK tyre market. The compounds can vary quite radically for the specific demands of the US market (mileage)

[StuH]

They may last 10% longer but looks as if they cost more than 10% more?

I'll be interested to hear reviews from owners. Having clients involved in the tyre industry and hearing about the inducements that go on to promote specific brands, particularly at launch time, I tend to regard tyre "reviews" very suspiciously.

[ChrisBuer]

StuH said:

They may last 10% longer but looks as if they cost more than 10% more?

I'll be interested to hear reviews from owners. Having clients involved in the tyre industry and hearing about the inducements that go on to promote specific brands, particularly at launch time, I tend to regard tyre "reviews" very suspiciously.

10% more expensive, are you sure? I admit I'm comparing my tyre sizes (which are smaller than the E60 M5) but on MyTyres.co.uk:

Front PS2 - £224.50
Front PSS - £218.20

Rear PS2 - £273.30
Rear PSS - £283.60

Therefore the fronts are 2.8% cheaper and the rears are around 3.7% more expensive. Hardly anything in it.

As to what others have said, all I can do is relay what fellow owners have told me, which is they have noticed a significant improvement with the PSS over the PS2 tyres.

I agree with you that you need to be careful with reviews, but everyone I've spoken to rate the PSS as the best "all round" tyres that they've used and that includes people who were using the PS2.

[jon-]

ChrisBuer said:

but everyone I've spoken to rate the PSS as the best "all round" tyres that they've used and that includes people who were using the PS2.

I disagree.

Best dry bias performance tyre, agreed. Best "commute on" and "do a few track days" tyre, without a doubt. Best all round tyre for UK public roads? I'd argue the fact they struggle with aquaplaning a little, and are beaten in the wet by tyres like the F1 A2 and aren't the most comfortable of things, there are better all round tyres for general road driving.

[mmm-five]

I've had them on my Z4MC for over a year, and they're definitely the 'best all round' tyre I've used - and that includes the PS2s, P-Zeros and Continentals I had on my e34 M5 and Z4MC previously.

Seem to warm up very quickly (so they work in cold conditions very well), and haven't found them to aquaplane any more than any other tyre I've tried.

Also quite impressed that the rears have lasted almost 20k miles (80% motorway, 10% hooning, 10% city driving, but also about 70 'Ring laps) - but will need replacing soon as they're down to 3mm. Fronts are still at about 5mm at a similar mileage.

Found them to be about 10% cheaper than the PS2 from Camskill, but that could simply be down to the change in the £:€ exchange rate since I last bought PS2s.