Greetings all

Being relatively new to a bmw, having owned one just over 12 months I have noticed that I need some new rear tyres after just 11k miles. I honestly do not drive hard and wondered if this was normal? 

The tyres are Dunlop SP8080 and were brand new 11k miles ago. The front tyres have hardly worn at all in comparison.

Also which tyres should I go for next, am divided between Falken FK451/452's or Goodyear F1's. Would hope to get more than £11k miles!

Thanks All

Hi thanks for the respose. Its a 320ci & there seems to be no abnormal wear. Was used to getting £25k+ miles from a performance tyre. Just wondered if £11k was normal for this car

Cheers

I'll be able to answer that question in about 11k.

Goodyear eagle F1's are very good, but won't last long. We have had the Falkens on our 528 and to be honest we did not like the handling balance, but got 28k out of them. They were very twitchy in the wet.

I would hope for more than 11k from the tyres. I gt more than that  from my six running on Toyo's. Do you know what tyre pressure you are running as this can have a massive effect on wear.

Pirrelli's are good allround tyres and last quite well. Continentals are worth considering and are very popular with BMW at present.

The most durable tyre is probable Michelin, but you pays a price for that.

James

Thanks for the response. Not sure what pressure Im running, any idea what it should be?

Decided to go for the new FK452's, cheapest by far & supposed to be considerably better than the FK451's in every way. see link:-

http://www.fk452.com/index.html - http://www.fk452.com/index.html

Stick (literally) with the F1's or T1-s (Toyo Proxes), or try out - Continental Extreme (very good prices at the mo').

If you pay a little more per corner - you'll get ooodles more driving pleasure.

Can i just add to the which tyres subject, I strongly recommend Vredestien Ultrac (and Sportrac) as these have fantastic grip in all conditions and they are especially grippy in the wet. I wont buy any other tyre for the back end as others tyres that have been on the car before have been very unpredictable, more so in the wet or on corners. But the Vredesteins are just fantastic in all conditions and i have to really give my car some stick to get the back end out, i most certainly recommend these tyres for the more torquey engines (like my 328 coup!!).

The only downside is that these are harder to find than other makes like dunlop, cont etc. and depending on your tyre size quite pricey - i have 225/40/18's on mine and they cost me approx £110 per tyre (they generally cost more than that but are a competetive price with other brands at similar quality)- which for me isnt that bad as they are well worth the money and they last well - this particular set have been on well over 12mths and i have done at least 12k with them and there's still 3mm left on the tread!!

Here's just a tip to get more out of your tyres, every six months or five thousand miles or so, i swop my front wheels for the rear, as the rear been the driving wheels they will wear out faster than the front.

On my E46 when I had it,I used Bridgestone RE030 and RE040  tyres.  The grip was fabulous, and they lasted about 16,000 on the back and about 22,000 on the front.  I also used Conti SportContact, which suited that car very well.

I detested Pirelli, the P6000 is a dreadful tyre

I totally agree with SFH3L on the Pirelli's - I had a pair on the front a while ago and they were so awful!!! Not to mention dangerous!!

Everytime I went on to white lines (and sometimes when i didn't) they would snatch violently!!!!!! It was just slightly scary!! But luckily I managed to somehow get a puncture (on the shoulder of the tyre - a good few thousand miles later - which couldnt come too soon) and so warranted the money spent on getting a new set of nicer handling tyres!

I don't think its really a BMW suspension setup issue. Unless the tracking is out or pressure is incorrect. The p6000's/p600's were originally designed for Jaguar XJ40's and around how they are set up etc, rather than a tyre for all makes/models. Tho i notice that some other makes also now have p6000's on from new (mainly prestige makes).

At the end of the day we all know that some tyres suit our cars and some tyres don't and its just a matter of asking around and pot luck.