19 inch Ellipsoid wheels - Tire pressure

Hello all,

Wondering if you could help please.

I'm looking for the recommended tyre pressures (psi) for the front and back tires on my 19 inch Ellipsoid wheels. I do general everyday driving and don't drive my car hard at all. As I'm based in the UK, the temperate is around 5 degrees celcius.

I appreciate your help guys

Hassan

You may have been looking for personal recommendations, but I can only offer what is given on the driver's door jamb: 32 psi front, 38 psi rear with 2 people. I am running the original run flat tires.

On my door jam, it lists 32 psi up front and 33 psi on rear.

Well that's interesting. As you can see I re-checked mine. Can anyone explain the difference please?

My 2006 lists 32 front/38 rear

Originally Posted by colink

Well that's interesting. As you can see I re-checked mine. Can anyone explain the difference please?

I've owned several BMW's and never seen a door jamb sticker like IL_BMW_650's. It looks like it was added by a dealer or body shop as opposed to the OEM sticker from the factory. I can see a more normal looking sticker with some pressure info on the left side of that picture showing 32/33psi, what info is printed on that other sticker IL_BMW_650?

All my door jamb stickers look like yours colink. My current '06 650i sticker is the same as yours - 32/38psi, which is what I run for my summers.

Originally Posted by Yorgi

I've owned several BMW's and never seen a door jamb sticker like IL_BMW_650's. It looks like it was added by a dealer or body shop as opposed to the OEM sticker from the factory. I can see a more normal looking sticker with some pressure info on the left side of that picture showing 32/33psi, what info is printed on that other sticker IL_BMW_650?

All my door jamb stickers look like yours colink. My current '06 650i sticker is the same as yours - 32/38psi, which is what I run for my summers.

It is a factory/OE sticker. They have been using that style for several years now. The secondary, yellow sticker gives inflation pressures for 100+ mph travel speeds on the factory-installed wheel and tire package.

^+1 it's a factory sticker.

Hmmm..interesting, that new tire pressure sticker still looks very "un-German" to me. The old sticker matches the other very Teutonic-looking stickers found in the engine bay etc.... the new tire sticker looks like it came off a GM. (rounded corners on graphic boxes, picture of tire way off center, too many fonts and colors going on - looks like a kid designed it)

I took a look at the 2006 and 2007 6er owner's manuals. The difference is Coupe vs Convertible.

• 2006 Coupe recommended pressures up to 100mph: 30psi front / 33psi rear
• 2007 Coupe recommended pressures up to 100mph: 32psi front / 33psi rear
• 2006/7 Convertible recommended pressures up to 100mph: 32psi front / 38psi rear

These are all for the 19" wheels.

Originally Posted by IL_BMW_650

On my door jam, it lists 32 psi up front and 33 psi on rear.

+ 1 this is not a genuine BMW sticker and the pressures are wrong in any case!!!!

I could not find an equivalent page on the UK site, but US owners manuals can be found here:

http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/owner/dgh.aspx

For something like tire (tyre) pressures. There should be no difference. Lighting and such may have differences.

Yorgi already solved the mystery in his last post...

The Coupe and the Convertible have different pressure requirements. That is the reason for the difference.

His door jam placard is the same as mine only my car is convertible so it reads different amounts, it is genuine!

I find it interesting that BMW changed the recommended coupe tire pressures from 2006 to 2007. Normally an increase in pressure increases grip (up to a certain point where it will eventually start causing a loss in grip).

My guess is the 2007 coupe pressure change is a North American exclusive thing and this required BMWNA to come up with their own stickers to place over the factory ones. This would explain why the 2007 stickers look like a marketing kid designed them vs a German engineer.

Originally Posted by Yorgi

I find it interesting that BMW changed the recommended coupe tire pressures from 2006 to 2007. Normally an increase in pressure increases grip (up to a certain point where it will eventually start causing a loss in grip).

My guess is the 2007 coupe pressure change is a North American exclusive thing and this required BMWNA to come up with their own stickers to place over the factory ones. This would explain why the 2007 stickers look like a marketing kid designed them vs a German engineer.

FYI, I have a friend with a M6 also '07 like my 650i. Both are verts and both have the "factory" 32/36PSI tag and the additional 100MPH yellow sticker.

Originally Posted by Yorgi

My guess is ... BMWNA [devised] their own stickers to place over the factory ones. This would explain why the 2007 stickers look like a marketing kid designed them vs a German engineer.

Bad guess. BMW AG changed the placards, across the line. They are not plastered over the old-style labels, they are not installed at the port, they are not some one-off independent action by BMW NA. They simply changed the placards installed at the factory. Go look at any late-model BMW and you'll see.

The old-style stickers listed all the factory wheel/tire options and gave pressures for all of them at nominal and max load. Let's be honest: They were crowded, somewhat difficult to read and a bit confusing/intimidating to the average (non-gearhead) car owner, who just wants the recommended pressure for the factory-installed tires on his or her car. The new stickers provide only that, referring you to the owner's manual for everything else. For the vast majority of owners, who never install a tire size different from the factory-equipped set, this is entirely appropriate. The rest of us can still find the additional data very easily, in the manual--and in a much clearer presentation than a semi-cryptic sticker, to boot.

[Addendum: It is entirely possible this style of placard is used only on NA-bound cars (where, if you trace far enough to determine the origin of any large-type, colorful, safety-related label on any product, you will usually find a lawsuit and/or government regulation ). I have not compared the labels on late-model cars in other markets. However, there is no doubt that for the US at least, this is the official BMW AG factory sticker and replaces the old style.]

LOL @ BMWNA = [devised]

I've wondered about this with my car. Having the non-stock 20's. I run them at 32 / 33 like the sticker says, but the sticker is for 18"'s & 19"'s. Anyone have better guidance for 245/35/20's & 275/30/20's?

Originally Posted by Mulchman

I've wondered about this with my car. Having the non-stock 20's. I run them at 32 / 33 like the sticker says, but the sticker is for 18"'s & 19"'s. Anyone have better guidance for 245/35/20's & 275/30/20's?

The owner's manual has recommended pressures:

For the coupe 17" winters up to 20" summers are all 32/33psi.

For the convertible it's 32/38psi for 17" to 19" then 32/39psi for the 20" wheels.

Originally Posted by Yorgi

The owner's manual has recommended pressures:

For the coupe 17" winters up to 20" summers are all 32/33psi.

For the convertible it's 32/38psi for 17" to 19" then 32/39psi for the 20" wheels.

Guess I could've looked that one up myself , but thanks Yorgi

Thank you all for your valuable input, it is very much appreciated! Seeing as mine is a convertible, I inflated my tires to 32 front and 38 rear. The reason I asked is because my factory sticker in the door jam states 'Bar' pressures rather than PSI. I thought I'd ask here rather than convert the figures to make sure