Okay after alot of research and being pissed that I need new tires already on my 2011 325i I have decided to go with the Bridgestone RE960AS RFT. My 325i has the sport/M pkg so currently the tires are staggered. When I get the new tires can I get them all the same size and not staggered? I want to get the most wear out of them and having them staggered will cause them to wear faster and you can't rotate them. Need to order tires tomorrow so I need help with this question soon. Thanks Bev
Staggered tires
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1) there is no 2011 325i. M package was not available on the 325i. do you mean 335i?
2) msport rims are wider in the rear. you can do 225 or 235 width tires on all 4 corners, but rotating front to back might be an issue since its not just the tires that are staggered, but the rims as well.
3) the summer tires that came on the m sport package will wear out in less than 20K miles. the all seasons you are looking at will wear much much longer even without rotation. if you dont want to go and get another set of front width rims so you can have both the tires and the rims matching for rotation, i would suggest getting stock sizes (staggered) and not rotating. you will get much more mileage just switching from summer tires to all seasons.
All seasons RFTs will lack in the performance department, a trade off especially for your 335i with M Sport. If cost is a concern, you might want to consider a good set of performance go-flats. There are several very good and economical brands. Your car is meant to be driven with performance tires.
There is no 2011 325i for the U.S. market.
never mind
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Congrats, the BS RE960AS RFT PP is the 'GEN3' runflat tire promising a much more comfortable ride, higher tread life (written 5 year/40,000 mile warranty), with all-season performance. Even though you can't rotate the staggered fitment, Bridgestone's warranty does acknowledge this: "some vehicles may have different size tires/wheels on front and rear wheels which restrict rotation." In addition, Bridgestone's warranty states that tire rotation should be conducted according to the "vehicle manufacturer's recommendations." In BMW's case, this means no rotation. This is a better deal than the Michelin PSS which IIRC penalizes your mileage warranty for staggered fitments.
In other words, the Bridgestone warranty will not penalize you for no rotation.
The downside of the B'Stone warranty is that they consider "worn out" for mileage consideration to be 2/32nd" vs. BMW's recommended 3mm.
There's another "catch." With no rotation, if your front tires wear out before your rear tires, NOBODY is going to recommend replacing the front two tires alone (and Bridgestone emphasizes that in their warranty; it's a safety issue). This happened to me, but after some "negotiations" with Bridgestone Consumer Relations Dept., a satisfactory solution was found.
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IIRC, the tread "wear bars" are all set at 2/32", so Bridgestone is really just adhering to an industry standard. Personally, I usually begin shopping for tires at 4/32" and always replace by 3/32". (For the metrically challenged, 3mm = approx. 3.5/32".
Tom
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Quite true, Tom, but I believe that a manufacturer's mileage warranty that requires the tires to be worn down to 2/32nds in order to receive any benefits of the warranty ignores the dangers of hydroplaning at such a low tread depth. Certainly there must be some reasonable wiggle room for tire removal tread depth...especially for a staggered fitment, where the tire manufacturer won't reject the mileage claim. Both the Tire Rack and BMW promote a higher (tread depth) removal for safety reasons.
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The OP's location is shown as "Northern Calif", which last time I looked, is in the USA.
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Yes, but many of them up there want to secede from So. California; I don't blame them.
as stated above your rims by themsleves are staggered so trying to get tires that are all the same will cause issues... if you cant keep up with miantance maybe you should consider another type of vehicle.. or buy rims with same size's all round so you can rotate them
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How so?
If many of you are in those central and south valleys' counties with 30% unemployment, then you are lucky they would let you recede
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Agreed. I would love to see a federal law mandating two sets of wear bars - one at either 3mm or 4/32" in addition to the existing 2/32" ones. And then the states should make driving with less than 2/32" tread a ticketable offense. (Perhaps including a tread wear gauge in the standard "tool kit" might encourage folk to actually inspect their tires!)
Tom
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Originally Posted by luvmy328xi:
"having them staggered will cause them to wear faster"
Tom
"having them staggered will cause them to wear faster"
It must be true as I read it on the internet:thumbup:.
Tom
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Tom,
It is already a ticketable offense to drive on tires that are at, or less than 2/32nd" in most states. Although the 'feds' require a 2/32nds wear bar in all tires, I believe it is long overdue to upgrade this regulation to a 4/32nd" standard to reduce the danger of (wet) hydroplaning and protect consumers who are trying to "squeeze" remaining treadlife in order to meet tire manufacturer's mileage warranties.
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