Best tyres for M3 SMG 52

[Debs 1980]

Sorry me again, just wondering what tyres you guys recommend, presently need two new fronts.

Sizes on there at the mo are:
fronts 225 40 19
rears 265 30 19

Have been advised by guy at tyre shop that it should be 35's all round, but after googling a bit I have noticed there should be a difference between fronts and rear.

Advice much appreciated on sizing and make of tyres please, it has continentals on at the moment, but would like to know what make is best.

Cheers

Debs

[sjj84]

The standard size tyres should be 225/40/19 and 255/35/19

[Debs 1980]

Cheers, any idea on best ones??

[gizlaroc]

You have to be really careful mixing brands on front and back.

I have had different tyres on 3 occasions now and on two you would have thought they were all bald and the the suspension was shot as well. The back end came round overtaking on the motorway at 70mph in the damp it was that bad.

That was PS1s on the rear and PS2s on the back, put PS2s on the front and the car was awesome.



I wouldn't consider anything but the PS2s, tried contis, falkens, goodyear eagles, PS1s all round, and Kumho KU31s and the PS2s transform the M3.

I would however have Kumhos again, was really impressed with them.

[Debs 1980]

The trouble I have is the previous owner has put two new contis on back but they seem to be wrong size 265 30 19, the fronts need replacing so I was going to keep Contis on the front. I really can't warrant replacing the backs to the correct size. Will this be okay, or would you suggest replacing all and getting the sizes BMW recommend?

[Paul_M3]

You can run whatever tyre widths you want really, it's not that much of an issue. (within reason of course)

Your current rear size was standard on the M3 CSL, but that had 235/35/19 front tyres to balance it out.

I've personally just increased the front tyres on mine to 245, and left the rears at 255. This has helped balance up the car which is designed to have understeer built in.

Edited by Paul_M3 on Monday 1st June 23:31

[AngryApples]

Hi,

I run Falken 452's 245/35 on the front and 275/30 on the rear and find the handling great

These tyres are half the price of the Michelin/Conti's and I find them excellent (if you look on the MTorque forum plenty of people run these)

I've done 4k+ miles so far and seen nothing in the way of degradation

I truly believe with Mich/Conti's you are just paying for the name

[f13ldy]

Vredstein Ultrec Sessantas here.

After looking at various reviews, I wasn't going back to the Contis as I hated them and didn't inspire any confidence.

I contemplated PS2, but wasn't sure whether the cost would have been worth it over the Vredsteins.

Glad I did, now, cost was around £650 for 4. Not covered many miles on them maybe around 1k, but dry handling and road noise are way better than the contis.

I don't normally drive the car in the rain but the one time I did get caught they felt very surefooted.

Definitely would buy them again.

[mat205125]

AngryApples said:

Hi,

I run Falken 452's 245/35 on the front and 275/30 on the rear and find the handling great

These tyres are half the price of the Michelin/Conti's and I find them excellent (if you look on the MTorque forum plenty of people run these)

I've done 4k+ miles so far and seen nothing in the way of degradation

I truly believe with Mich/Conti's you are just paying for the name

I've used Falkens on previous cars, including my E36 M3, and never had any issues. They are a really good tyre at any price, and therefore a bargain given how cheap they are.

On my "little" 18" E46 rims, I can get a set of 4 delivered for me to fit myself for less that £100 more that it would cost for a single rear PS2 fitted!! That's the kind of maths I like

[gizlaroc]

Debs 1980 said:

The trouble I have is the previous owner has put two new contis on back but they seem to be wrong size 265 30 19, the fronts need replacing so I was going to keep Contis on the front. I really can't warrant replacing the backs to the correct size. Will this be okay, or would you suggest replacing all and getting the sizes BMW recommend?

265/30/19 are fine, and what 90% of owners put on the rear, and as said above the CSL used this size as standard.

I would consider selling the contis on ebay for £200, and then put on 4 x Kumho KU31s, they are far superior to the contis if they are sport contact 2s as they are awful tyres imho, very skitty and not that progressive either.

You will probably pay around £500 fitted for the Kumhos, take off the £200 you get for the contis and you have a decent set of matched tyres for £300.

You want
225/40/19 and 255/35/19 or...
235/40/19 and 265/30/19 or 265/35/19 if you want a little more sidewall, or......
245/40/19 and 275/30/19.


So some choices.