[The_Tok'Ra]

Originally Posted by HeebieJeebies

Came as standard in the UK for the first few years, THE worse tyre I've ever had! Few parts per gazillion of moisture in the air, whooft!!, into a hedge/barrier/wall.

Changed them as soon as I was sure it was nothing to do with tyre mould releasant causing the death wish everytime I went out in it in an ambient temp below 20deg C.

Sorry

Michelin for the win on most metrics for me....

Was it PZ4's you had on your car?

[HeebieJeebies]

Originally Posted by The_Tok'Ra

Was it PZ4's you had on your car?

I've still got a new set of original alloys with the PZeros (few hundred miles on them) in my garage from my Mustang, I'll get a pic of the tyre for the exact model/type, honestly they were the shitiest tyres I've ever had on a car in 45years of driving!

[HeebieJeebies]

As promised, see pic of the offending tyre, this is the front, rear is 275/40/19

[The_Tok'Ra]

Originally Posted by HeebieJeebies

As promised, see pic of the offending tyre, this is the front, rear is 275/40/19

I don't think those are PZ4 P Zeros though? And to add further confusion, I don't think the star * marked BMW PZ4's are the same as the regular P Zero PZ4's either.

[bmnut]

Originally Posted by The_Tok'Ra

I don't think those are PZ4 P Zeros though? And to add further confusion, I don't think the star * marked BMW PZ4's are the same as the regular P Zero PZ4's either.

My PZ4s actually have that embossed on the tyre sidewall if that helps!

[The_Tok'Ra]

Originally Posted by bmnut

My PZ4s actually have that embossed on the tyre sidewall if that helps!

Thanks bmnut,That is a bit of a help. AFAIK, or can tell, BMW star marked PZ4's are BMW's own version of the PZ4's, but with their own specific tyre "wants" over the the standard PZ4's and this of course impacts the tyres performance in varous aspects, i.e. wear, wet grip, dry grip, road noise etc.

While the Star marked Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetric 3's are still BMW's OEM tyre for the 3 series, as I' noted a few posts ago, my personal expeience of these particular tyres, is that they are frankly unsafe in certain wet conditions, but I have to note that those conditions are wet with low temps, and by that I mean around 0 to 1 degres C. So maybe I need to give them a bit of a break at those temps.

But, with that said, I've never had any tyre lose front end grip under what I would describe as very mild acceleration, as I have the Asymetric 3's. In those same Temperatures and conditions.

Maybe I'm expecting too much from the tyre, They are slightly bigger rims than any of my previous cars, and the B58 lump up front is heavier than any other engine I've owned in the past.

But still, The Asy 3's get a C rating for wet braking, but I have no idea what temperature that is measured at, and a C rating is prety poor in my book, for a "UHP" tyre, And in the cold and wet, they are down right dangerous, frankly.

By comparison, The Asy 6's are a A rated tyre for wer grip (at what temp??) at the cost of a bit of road noise. That.. I can deal with, if I felt the tyre still works at low temps.

I've never had the want or need to have a seperate set of summer and winter wheels and tyres for any other car in the past, but maybe this is actually something I should consider for the 340i? Not sure.

[bmnut]

At the risk of somewhat hijacking the post (sorry OP! You may feel some of this is relevant to you however).

My F32 435i had Eagle F1s (probably version 3 as it was 11 years ago!) and the sidewalls were like cream cheese and I 'lost' a couple of tyres with only a couple of thousand miles worth of wear on them due to sidewall bulging from potholes which weren't as bad as some I've hit subsequently over the years so it kind of put me off. Shame really because they were super comfortable, quiet and I felt more than grippy enough for what I needed.
Next F32 (LCI) 440i had Potenzas on which were harder riding, noisier but again grippy enough and didn't seem to want to wear out at all so I was quite happy to put up with them.
Next car was my first G22 M440i which had Turanzas on and they were absolutely bloody awful! As it happened I sold the car after 15months with less than 15k miles on it and didn't miss the tyres at all!
Current car my G22 M440i came from the factory with P Zeros on thankfully and so far after almost 22k miles they have been really pretty good. Not as cushioned a ride as the Eagle F1s of past but grippy enough if a little noisier but a revelation over the Turanzas.
Puts me in a bit of a dilemma actually because I'm not sure what to replace them with when the time comes (could still be a while because they are all wearing very evenly and still have over 4mm on them all round) and don't know whether I'd stay with the P Zeros or go to Eagle F1s

In an effort to get back on topic all I would say for the Op's benefit is that runflats have come a long way over the past 10 to 15 years and depending on what your personal preferences and requirements are for tyres they may still be worth considering for the 'get you home safely runflat properties' (provided the circumstances are favourable) as opposed to non runflats and a can of gunk!
Personally I'll be sticking with runflats having experienced first hand their benefit on two occasions in the past!

[The_Tok'Ra]

I was originally thinking I'd get PS4S's when my tyres needed replacing, but as bmnut says, run flats do seem to have improved a great deal in recent years, so I'll probably end up with sticking with run flats, just not the Asymetric 3's I have.

[bmnut]

Originally Posted by The_Tok'Ra

I was originally thinking I'd get PS4S's when my tyres needed replacing, but as bmnut says, run flats do seem to have improved a great deal in recent years, so I'll probably end up with sticking with run flats, just not the Asymetric 3's I have.

Maybe give PZ4s a try? If you were anywhere near the NE of England you could try my car!

[The_Tok'Ra]

Originally Posted by bmnut

Maybe give PZ4s a try? If you were anywhere near the NE of England you could try my car!

Thanks bmnut, I will be looking at PZ4's as well as the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asy6's.

Honestly though, I find the ASy3's on the front of my car awful. the slightest bit of damp, at even 5°c and the front end breaks away just going around a roundabout at slower than I would call a normal speed to go around said roundabout. Had that this moring on my way to work, again. I have to be super careful to go slowly into any reasonably tight turn, or the front end just washes out.

Despite having loads of tread on them, I'm at the point where I do not feel safe to keep using them.

I keep wondering if it's just me, if I'm expecting too much of the front tyres, given that all the other cars I've had in the past had nothing larger or heavier than a 2 ltr diesel lump under the bonnet, other than of course my 2.5 6 cylinder 325Ti, Compact Sport, which is of course rear drive only, so maybe the weight of the 6 cylinder, 3ltr B58 is just too much, or has too much inertia the the front tyres to overcome the changes in direction.

But I've never had any car wash out so easily as my 340i does with these tyres on the front.

Perhaps the xdrive drivetrain has something to do with the tendency for the front end breaking away so easily, I'm not at all sure, but having to gently tease you car around a roundabout, rather than drive it, rather takes the fun out of driving the bloody thing!

Asy3's 255's on the rear are very grippy, the front 225's are down right dangerous IMHO.

[HeebieJeebies]

The_Tok'Ra This is exactly how my P Zeros went and how I felt in my Stang, except it was the rears that would break under the slightest of peddle pressure. The low ambient temps didn't help though!

How do they react on a dry surface but low ambient temps?

I recall coming home from work one night, quite dry motorway, low temp, probs under 8deg, pulled out to overtake an artic dropped to 4th, gave it some medium throttle and it wheelspun and nearly sent me into the central reservation, got rid of those tyres the next day! for MPS4S.

I understand though that the 340i is a different prospect with xdrive and all. Interesting that my G81 came shod with MPS4S from the factory, whole different suspension and track etc but are very good. Had a bit of a 'spirited' drive coming back from a pub lunch down Biggar yesterday, so very twisty and pretty poor surfaces in part, ambient @ 3-4deg but the tyres certainly behaved themselves.

[The_Tok'Ra]

Originally Posted by HeebieJeebies

The_Tok'Ra This is exactly how my P Zeros went and how I felt in my Stang, except it was the rears that would break under the slightest of peddle pressure. The low ambient temps didn't help though!

How do they react on a dry surface but low ambient temps?

I recall coming home from work one night, quite dry motorway, low temp, probs under 8deg, pulled out to overtake an artic dropped to 4th, gave it some medium throttle and it wheelspun and nearly sent me into the central reservation, got rid of those tyres the next day! for MPS4S.

I understand though that the 340i is a different prospect with xdrive and all. Interesting that my G81 came shod with MPS4S from the factory, whole different suspension and track etc but are very good. Had a bit of a 'spirited' drive coming back from a pub lunch down Biggar yesterday, so very twisty and pretty poor surfaces in part, ambient @ 3-4deg but the tyres certainly behaved themselves.

Even in the dry the fronts are not great, lower temps don't help, as one would expect, but frankly, they are not that much better when it is dry and not that cold either.

Good road that Biggar one, shame the surface is not great. The last time I was down that road on a bike, it was pretty good, but that was 7 or 8 years ago.

[HeebieJeebies]

Originally Posted by The_Tok'Ra

Good road that Biggar one, shame the surface is not great. The last time I was down that road on a bike, it was pretty good, but that was 7 or 8 years ago.

As soon as it's nice, dry and a bit warmer, I'm going to give the Peebles/Selkirk/Moffat triangle a good thrashing

[The_Tok'Ra]

Originally Posted by HeebieJeebies

As soon as it's nice, dry and a bit warmer, I'm going to give the Peebles/Selkirk/Moffat triangle a good thrashing

Probably not tomorrow then

[HeebieJeebies]

Originally Posted by The_Tok'Ra

Probably not tomorrow then

erm, no

[The_Tok'Ra]

Originally Posted by bmnut

Maybe give PZ4s a try? If you were anywhere near the NE of England you could try my car!

Been going over peoples personal reviews a lot. and I can see me going either PZ4 RTF's or the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6's, but they are not RTF's.

Does anybody know if NOT using BMW star marked tyres could affect my extended warranty policy?

I really am looking at going for the Goodyear F1 Asymmetric 6's at this point.

[MisterG]

Does anybody know if NOT using BMW star marked tyres could affect my extended warranty policy?

This is the million dollar question indeed.

As the extended warranty is basically an insurance policy, if your transfer box was to fail for example - theoretically they could use tyres as an excuse to wriggle out.. although I think as long as the new tyres are the same size/spec as OE you “may” be ok, as the policy states:

Care of the vehicle - you must keep your
vehicle in an efficient and road worthy
condition and regularly service it in
accordance with the manufacturer’s
recommendations and genuine parts, or
parts of equivalent specification must be used

[bmnut]

Originally Posted by The_Tok'Ra

Been going over peoples personal reviews a lot. and I can see me going either PZ4 RTF's or the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6's, but they are not RTF's.

Does anybody know if NOT using BMW star marked tyres could affect my extended warranty policy?

I really am looking at going for the Goodyear F1 Asymmetric 6's at this point.

Very interesting point from 'MisterG' above.
For what it's worth I've just done a return journey from NE England to the Cotswolds and back and all sorts of roads whilst we were down there and have to say the PZ4s have behaved themselves perfectly, gripped well in the pissing rain all the way down there, dealt with all qualities of road surface including some bloody potholes without any sidewall damage being caused and still have around 4mm on them after 22k miles.
That's been my personal experience with them!