You might recall that our 135i needed some new tires. Sounds premature at just over 16,000 miles, but we're not easy on tires to begin with and those miles included two days of lapping at Big Willow which finished them off quite completely.
So with rubber flapping in the wind, we headed to Stokes Tire Pros to get some new Bridgestones. Since our 135i is still within its first 12 months, we opted for another set of the stock Potenza RE050A RFTs. They measure 225/40R18 up front and 255/35R108 in back, and they are not cheap. Our total bill for four new tires all mounted and balanced was $1,431.
Moral of the story? No matter how cheap that local track day might look, it's always going to cost a little more than you think.
Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line @ 16,651 miles
santiagofdz says:
03:27 PM, 01/23/09
16,000 Miles sounds about right for these (summer)tires, irrespective of track days, or at least that's about right according to some info I read previously on these tires (the non RFTs)
bimmerjay says:
03:42 PM, 01/23/09
What a bargain!
I'm at 9k on the same tires on my 6MT 335i Coupe. So far so good - mine should last to at least 20k.
fst1 says:
04:03 PM, 01/23/09
Sorry, correction made. One of the track days was not at Spring Mountain, it was a second day at Willow Springs.
EH
compliance says:
04:18 PM, 01/23/09
I know you do it to stay OEM for review purposes, but no owner is going to put those tires back on his car anyway. Should have gone for some non run flat tires.
jederino says:
06:09 PM, 01/23/09
That is disgusting expensive. And I understand the bimmers really use up tires and brakes quickly. Those cars need it to squeeze out performance. Not that I'm getting anywhere near 135i power and performance, but I run Dunlop summer max performance on my 97 maxima, I track with them at Portland International raceway, and they we be lasting over 20,000 miles, and cost $130 a piece, installed. Power to the po' people!
estreka says:
07:33 PM, 01/23/09
I wish my tires lasted 16K miles. I'm very lucky to get 10K.
equ says:
10:09 AM, 01/24/09
1. Sounds like you widened to 3-series sizes from 215/245 to 225/255.
2. If I were the owner/lessor of the 135i (edmunds may have other constraints), I'd take the oem wheels/tires off when they got to about 50%. Then I'd put on some lighter wheels and non-runflat tires to enjoy. The stock set would stay on the side for lease return or possible sale.
CycloneRcr says:
01:06 PM, 01/24/09
"Sounds like you widened to 3-series sizes from 215/245 to 225/255."
Yeah, that's right. I wonder how much wider you can go on the same wheels. I guess there is a +- 10mm tolerance.
majin_ssj_eric says:
02:39 PM, 01/24/09
I have this same OEM tire on my G37S (non runflat though) and they are about done at 24k miles....
estreka says:
05:58 PM, 01/24/09
You'd be surprised at the range of tires you can fit to a rim. When I first got my 17s, I had 225s on the rear, now I've got 275s, albeit the lip actually extends beyond the rim face.
adood84 says:
03:07 AM, 01/25/09
So you guys wanted to keep it OEM for the first 12 months, but then you go and fit different size front tires , can you guys explain? because I think you guys should of went with non runflats and a mobility kit, cause from 1er boards I read thats what most of owners are doing
m_thrizzle says:
12:00 PM, 01/25/09
get an extra set of wheels and slap on some Falken RT-615's for the track. They are cheap and will save your expensive RFT's for the road.
CycloneRcr says:
09:01 PM, 01/25/09
"When I first got my 17s, I had 225s on the rear, now I've got 275s, albeit the lip actually extends beyond the rim face."
225 to 275?? That's hard to believe.. What about sidewalls, they should be suffering hard..
johnnyr3 says:
03:26 AM, 01/26/09
"Moral of the story?"
Buy Kumhos.
ivannachoo says:
11:04 AM, 01/26/09
OMG!!! Might be a cheaper proposition for some of you guys thinking about tracking your daily driver. I'm sure you can pick up a cheap E30 325i.
I just picked up an 89 16V gti track car, w/all the works, for what you paid for 4 tires and installation!!!
joefrompa says:
11:10 AM, 01/26/09
Everytime you buy a set of run-flats, a puppy bites a child.
$1400? Seriously edmunds, donate $500 of that to the save-the-environmentalists fund or something.
Joe