Why is it so hard to find tires?

I have a '95 325i with the 205/60R15's, and finding decent tires is seeming to be a bit difficult.

I can find all kids of odd-branded tires from companies I've never heard of before, but to get a good set of Pirellis or Brimstones is turning out to be a challenge.

Good year makes a 'V' rated tire that will fit my car that seems easy to get, I wonder if it's any good.

What kind of tires does other people put on their early E36's?

- Derrik

http://tinyurl.com/a9b44dw


Here you go.

I'd be a little concerned about "Brimstone" tires.....

Have you thought about getting some nicer wheels? There's a huge selection of tires in 17" for these cars.

Sent from my LG Revolution 4G using BimmerApp

what are your expectations from them?? track?? longevity?? or just that size in general??

speed rating does not necessarily = better tire/handling. especially since a great many tires on the road are underinflated, which reduces the effective rating of not only the speed but the load as well.

traction is a better indicator of how well a tire will grip, but also (usually) comes with shorter tire life.




df

205/60 x 15 is a very common size that almost every manufacturer offers. If you haven't bought tires since the were made of stone ("Brimstone" tires = "Flintstone" tires?) there are probably some names that have come on the scene that you may not be familiar with but they make some of the best performing tires available. Hopefully this article will help.

Note - I think one of the editors was trying to be Top Gearish and threw in the Ling Longs as a joke, but all the other brands are serious offerings.

I meant BRIDGSTONE ... damn spell checker got me! Uhhhggg...

Anyway, I have a few things to look at now.

THANKS!

BTW. This forum IS more useful than Google ... at least the signal to noise ratio is a hell of a lot better.

- Derrik

Yeah, you should have no problem finding great tires in that size. If you find something you are uncertain about, feel free to post a link and run it by us to get our thoughts.

For what it's worth, I bought the tires for my BMW and Subaru from Tire Rack. Very good experience with them.

The link I posted above in post #2 is Tire Racks entire selection of 205 60/15s.

^Not sure if that's directed at me, but if so, I was just confirming that TR is a good source.

Not at all Karl, just clarifying for the OP.

The problem is your car is getting older. 20 years ago, it was the cutting edge of mass market technology. Now 16-18" wheels are the standard even though too big is not better.

Tires, like the Yokohama AVS Intermediate 195/60VR15 and the Dunlop D60A2 195/60HR15 are no longer made.

The Goodyear Eagle GT 195/60R15 __V is available but it is not as good as the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2, which is only made in 17" and bigger. I heard the tire is decent but not nearly as good as the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2. Maybe the Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grid is ok.

I have had good luck with Hankook...Continental Tires are also under-recognized but very good. I agree with the Goodyear Eagles...I haven't had any, but my friend swears by Falken. I also had Dunlop on a Corvette years ago and the handle and wore well.
All of them have our full range of sizes.

Hey All, I have a related question.
I just picked up a '99 M3 vert (and hard top) and since it needed tires and it's winter here I just threw snows on all 4 corners... (went square on the tires even though they're on stock staggered rims) I found what seems to be a great ($1300CAD) deal on a set of ACS Type III 18 x 8.5 et43 (all 4) in mint condition. They have tires on it but they're staggered and the rears are wider than I really want (225/40 front and 255/35 rear. (will that even fit on my stock suspension without rubbing?))

I don't imagine it would be too tough to unload the Pirelli p7000s.
I was thinking that 235/35 square would almost certainly suit me better for summer, but it really doesn't seem to be a very common size... The only tires I can seem to find that fit my $1k budget are BFG GForce KDW NTs or Falken ZIEX ZE-912... I have zero experience with Falken and the reviews on the BFGs (they sure LOOK cool) seem to be a bit mixed... most say they're great until 10k then get really loud but others say the noise isn't that loud... since it's a convertible I'm a bit reluctant... anyone here have experience with these tires on an e36 for any significant number of miles? Are they overpoweringly loud with the top down?

Thanks in advance for any firsthand experience you can offer,
Jamie

With 255s you'd need to pull and roll your rear fenders.

For reasonably priced tires here I ordered my winters from http://www.tiredirect.ca with great results last month. Ordered them on a Monday, received then on the Wednesday. (No I don't work for them, but since I'm in Canada too and we don't have http:www.tirerack.com here I figure we need to share good info.

Ed

Thanks for the link!
Last time (few years back) I ordered from TireRack the price was good but UPS delivered 2 one day and 2 a couple days later... and dinged me for a brokerage fee for EACH delivery... turned me right off UPS orders from US. None of the other services ever seem to pull that one.