The usual amount of drool was dripping onto my "I <3 M3" T-shirt when I scored the keys to our 2002 long-termer the other night. That is, until I noticed the screw embedded in the driver-side rear tire. Zoinks! A visit to our friends at Stokes Tire Pros was clearly in order.
The puncture was perilously close to the sidewall, they informed us, but a replacement tire was going to run us in the neighborhood of (gulp!) $460 installed. We told 'em to give patching it a shot. They ended up being pleased with the patch job -- "Should be good for awhile," said the patch doctor -- so we're rolling with it for the time being.
Josh Sadlier, Associate Editor, Edmunds.com @ 63,890 miles
dragonflight says:
12:16 PM, 11/14/08
Edmunds being economical for once? heaven forbid!
Regardless, that is one hella expensive tire replacement..you could probably get a wheel+tire on most cars for that kind of money.
joefrompa says:
12:38 PM, 11/14/08
Gawd men. Stokes certainly is a friends of yours.....otherwise you probably wouldn't let them pull on the rubber glove like that.
Bear in mind that the tire is no longer speed rated; I wouldn't want to be doing any 120-130 mph runs in that car now.
Joe
subytrojan says:
01:04 PM, 11/14/08
A rear tire is "only" $307 from the Tire Rack, which is where I believe the shoes were purchased from in the first place.
Previous tire replacement blog entry:
http://blogs.edmunds.com/roadtests/2008/02/2002-bmw-m3-our-sticky-new-tires-are-in.html
Tire sizes and pricing:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes.jsp?make=Yokohama&model=ADVAN+Neova+AD07&vehicleSearch=true&index=0&frontTire=245WR8AD07&rearTire=54WR8AD07
vvk says:
01:22 PM, 11/14/08
There goes the tire's speed rating :(
No more high speed fun for you...
lvranger says:
01:32 PM, 11/14/08
I doubt the rear tires last very long on this car anyways.
blueguydotcom says:
01:38 PM, 11/14/08
I wouldn't patch a rear tire on a performance car...
Yeah the tire may only last 10-15k miles but I wouldn't chance it.
banhugh says:
03:45 PM, 11/14/08
sub prime crisis is affecting Insideline? Next thing you know there will be a long term road test of third hand cars in the fleet :p
fadetoblackii says:
03:48 PM, 11/14/08
I can replace all 4 tires on my buddy's Nissan Pathfinder for that amount of money. Wow.
desmolicious says:
04:08 PM, 11/14/08
And I can get 4 Burger King Whoppers for one Father's Office burger...
the_big_al says:
05:20 PM, 11/14/08
they must like you and obviously know who you are. Technically, patching that tire is not safe, nor recommended by the RMA (rubber manufactures association.) Of course, the tire is probably about worn out any way, the RMA guidelines are indeed "guidelines" that are probably designed to keep tire stores from being sued and the patch in all actuality will probably hold. But I wouldn't be doing any high speed, extended track work with that tire though.
bimmerjay says:
07:15 PM, 11/14/08
"I can replace all 4 tires on my buddy's Nissan Pathfinder for that amount of money. Wow."
Can your buddy's Pathfinder hit 155 mph, do 0-60 in 5 seconds, pull .89g on the skidpad, and run the slalom at 71 mph on his tires too?
"Technically, patching that tire is not safe, nor recommended by the RMA (rubber manufactures association.)"
LOL probably because they don't get to manufacture another $430 tire when you patch it!
cwc1 says:
07:16 PM, 11/14/08
At that price, I would have patched it too. Regarding speed rating, it seems to me that's overrated for cars that are daily drivers. Where can one go 120 MPH anyway, in a region as densely populated as SoCal? And nowhere legally (unfortunately), except on a track.
Before the days of speed ratings in the mid '80s, didn't high performance cars get along just fine on their non-speed rated high performance tires??
roadburner says:
07:51 PM, 11/14/08
"Where can one go 120 MPH anyway, in a region as densely populated as SoCal? And nowhere legally (unfortunately), except on a track."
Tell me about it; I live in the southeast and the best I could see today was 100 mph- before I had to back off due to traffic...
estreka says:
02:50 AM, 11/15/08
""I can replace all 4 tires on my buddy's Nissan Pathfinder for that amount of money. Wow."
Can your buddy's Pathfinder hit 155 mph, do 0-60 in 5 seconds, pull .89g on the skidpad, and run the slalom at 71 mph on his tires too?"
I can do most of those things better with a set of Falken Ziexes from Discount Tire ($486 for 225/45/17s & 255/40/17s) on my S2000.
fadetoblackii says:
10:20 AM, 11/15/08
estreka- thank you
the point wasn't that they were the same car, just remarking on the fact that they also didn't COST the same, and they also don't PERFORM the same. If you pay more for the car, and expect it to handle/accelerate/drive that much better, why would you be satisfied with a simple tire patch that weakens the integrity of the tire?
bimmerjay says:
01:07 PM, 11/15/08
"I can do most of those things better with a set of Falken Ziexes from Discount Tire ($486 for 225/45/17s & 255/40/17s) on my S2000."
The only Falken that fits the M3 is the Azenis RT-615 which has a lower traction rating, but it's considerably cheaper per tire than the Yokos. Would you want to run it normally on the street though? I know it's an SCCA street tire but still. The Yoko's true competitors (Pirelli PZero Rosso, Michelin Pilot PS2, ContiSport Contact 2, B-stone Potenza RE050A Pole Position, etc) all cost close to $300 each.
estreka says:
03:00 PM, 11/15/08
For street tires, I prefer treadwear over traction. You can compensate for a hard tread with bigger tires. I will literally smoke a set of Pirellis in less than six months. If I'm gonna go to the track, I'll slap on a set of sticky slicks.
adavis2493 says:
03:31 PM, 11/15/08
Good Thing you found it then. I found mine at 85mph in the fast lane in busy traffic in a GMC Envoy. It ended with a couple broken ribs, ruptured spleen, a broken wrist, and a couple scars.
cartester16 says:
04:24 PM, 11/15/08
Didn't you guys already replace the tires on this car? In the picture, that tire looks almost bald anyway. Try a set of Fuzion ZR-1 made by Bridgestone. Great tire, and I have a set on my E46. I think they are around $100-150 ea. and definitely good enough for this car. They are definitley better than the BS Pole Positions I had previous, which were north of 300 ea.
firstwagon says:
06:04 PM, 11/15/08
"Can your buddy's Pathfinder hit 155 mph, do 0-60 in 5 seconds, pull .89g on the skidpad, and run the slalom at 71 mph on his tires too?"
Can the M3's tires drive in the snow or dirt or last more then a year?
brian60 says:
02:56 PM, 11/16/08
"Previous tire replacement blog entry:"
Thanks for the link, subytrojan. Guess you guys opted not to downsize/upsize your wheels (former would have been hard given the BBK) nor upgrade your rubber.
And I'll second the comment that your tire is looking a bit worn down after almost 12,000 more miles. It seems to be right in the 10-15k range that most people get out of these max performance type (e.g. Michelin PS2) tires. The General UHPs at 45-50% the price and 200% treadlife are certainly tempting ...
estreka says:
04:48 PM, 11/16/08
"Try a set of Fuzion ZR-1 made by Bridgestone"
I'll second that. I was very impressed with those tires.
dougtheeng says:
06:20 AM, 11/17/08
How much did the patch cost?
m_thrizzle says:
05:01 PM, 11/17/08
I recommended the General UHP's for my friend's M3 based on all the positive reviews and his main criteria for having long-lasting and cheap tires. He bought them but doesn't like them. They feel like crap.
I bought Sumitomo HTR Z III tires for my M3 for just a little more money than the UHP's but they are a much better tire. They were around $900 for a set of 19's, whereas Bridgestones and Michelins were $1100+.