Tyre recommendation

[msq123]

Hi,

I have recently bought BMW M5 F10 2014 and this is my first post here to get some opinion the tyres on my car.

My car came with the following:

265/40 R19 98V Contiwinter Contact (Front)
285/35 ZR19 99Y Bridgestone potenza (Rear)

All 4 tyres have good tread 5mm+ but my concern is about mixing the tyres (winters in the front and al weather at the back). Furthermore, the rear tyres have a width of 285mm which is slightly less than the recommended 295mm.

I am still getting the feel of the car which I have had for just over a week and don't want to push too hard and do anything silly but I feel that the rear tyres lack grip and skid somewhat when accelerating a little spiritedly from standstill or lower speed. I understand it is quite a powerful car and very easy to kick in traction but it is not that I am accelerating very hard compared to my previous 325i E90.

Could someone please advise if this lack of grip to do with the Potenza tyres in general or lack of width compared to recommended specification could be causing this? Also, is it an issue having winter tyres at the front and all weather at the rear.

Should I look to change al my tyres now or could wait until mid 2018 to do it. I am looking at Michelin Pilot Super Sport or Michelin Pilot 4S whenever I decide to take the plunge.

Any help or guidance I could get will be really appreciated. Thanks

[VoytekM5]

can't go wrong with either michelin

[AWF10M5]

I had the same wheels and it came with 295/35 MPSS and even those are okay.

I just bought some 20s with 305/30/20s and am they will provide more grip and traction

if i were u i would change the 285 as those r incorrect size and switch to 295 or 305

[msq123]

Originally Posted by E63amg

I had the same wheels and it came with 295/35 MPSS and even those are okay.

I just bought some 20s with 305/30/20s and am they will provide more grip and traction

if i were u i would change the 285 as those r incorrect size and switch to 295 or 305

Thanks for replying. That's what I thought but if I replace rear 285s by 295s Michelin's I will still have winters in the front. You reckon that will be ok? I have never had winter tyres in my previous cars so not entirely sure how they behave in warmer weather and also how they behave mixed will all weathers.

Winters in London aren't very severe, will be up in teens (Celsius) in no time and summer peak at 30-35 degrees (about 85-95 Fahrenheit).

Will also check 305s in 19" as you suggested. I will have to check if I can fit 305s on stock alloys which I presume are 10 inches wide. Not sure what's the minimum width requirement for 305s. Yours are 20" so works easily for you.

[Maverick997]

Michelin Pilot Sport 4S

[M5 TT]

I have P Zero on front. noisy but pretty good drip.

MPSS on rear 295 and are pretty rubbish in this weather, sideways everywhere, not much grip at all.

Thinking on changing but like you not sure what to change to. My car is booked in to reduce the rear camber next week. I am going for -1 degree. I believe standard is around -2 degrees, see if that helps, from what I have read it makes a noticeable difference. My car wont see a track so reduced camber wont worry me

my son has Potenza tyres on is evo 8 and the grip is crazy good. Its just our cars with huge torque and rear wheel drive.

[carrera2RSL]

If you are running 10” rears stick to 295, you will need 10.5” plus for 305

[msq123]

Originally Posted by M5 TT

I have P Zero on front. noisy but pretty good drip.

MPSS on rear 295 and are pretty rubbish in this weather, sideways everywhere, not much grip at all.

Thinking on changing but like you not sure what to change to. My car is booked in to reduce the rear camber next week. I am going for -1 degree. I believe standard is around -2 degrees, see if that helps, from what I have read it makes a noticeable difference. My car wont see a track so reduced camber wont worry me

my son has Potenza tyres on is evo 8 and the grip is crazy good. Its just our cars with huge torque and rear wheel drive.

Interesting point on rear camber adjustment. Please do tell how the car feels after the adjustment.

You are spot on about the nature of rear wheel driven cars with so much power. I see that you are in Scotland and it is much harder for you to keep tyres on the road with more extreme weather than I face in London. I used to live in Edinburgh and drive up on the west coast for hill walking so all too aware of how treacherous the conditions can get in a normal road car let alone a 560bhp behemoth.

I just feel that the grip I have is worse than I expected, probably has to do with 285 rears, I will upgrade to 295s and that should make some difference.

I look forward to hear about the handling of your car post camber adjustment and if it has significant implication might consider going that route.

[mwlmd]

If you need winter tires buy 4 properly sized winter tires. If you don't need winter tires buy either MPSS or the new MP 4 in the OEM sizes. They are great tires as long as there is no snow or ice.

[M5 TT]

Originally Posted by msq123

Interesting point on rear camber adjustment. Please do tell how the car feels after the adjustment.

You are spot on about the nature of rear wheel driven cars with so much power. I see that you are in Scotland and it is much harder for you to keep tyres on the road with more extreme weather than I face in London. I used to live in Edinburgh and drive up on the west coast for hill walking so all too aware of how treacherous the conditions can get in a normal road car let alone a 560bhp behemoth.

I just feel that the grip I have is worse than I expected, probably has to do with 285 rears, I will upgrade to 295s and that should make some difference.

I look forward to hear about the handling of your car post camber adjustment and if it has significant implication might consider going that route.

Yes will update when I get the camber done on Monday. I am prob going to increase size to 305 and stick on some Pirelli P Zero Trofeo, Nitto NT05 or MPS4s not sure yet. Being doing loads of reading but I guess only testing will tell.

[msq123]

Just a quick update. I have decided to switch all fours to make a clean start.

I was looking to go with Michelin's PS4S but was told by the dealer that they are marked for Mercedes. I called Michelin UK helpline and they said the same thing that these tyres are designed for Mercedes and will perform at their best in a Mercedes.

This is weird because when Michelin launched these tyres last year in Palm Springs (if I recall correctly) and they had reviewers drive various cars BMW 340i being one of them. Why would they do this if they know the tyres won't be at their best in a BMW. I think it is a licensing issue and once they have BMW on board they will update the markings.

But it could be a potential problem for me in the UK where the insurance company could deny the claim if I have the "wrong" tyres on the car which is the last thing I want. So I will have to go a step below and pick up PSS which is a shame. It is apparently still second best but I should have been able to get the tyres I wanted.

Hopefully when the time comes for next change this has been resolved and I could for for PS4S.

Thanks everyone for their valuable suggestion and guidance.

[M5 TT]

so 4 wheel alignment done today, rear wheels sitting at -1 camber now, they were -1.8. There is a definite improvement. I can get it to hook in 3rd at 60mph (just) its 2.5 deg C and roads are wet. If I apply throttle in a controlled manner the TC light only flashes momentarily, sometimes flickering again when going over 4500rpm. compared to last night where I just spun the minute I even considered hitting the throttle. I can still light up the rears with ease. Its hard to quantify how much more grip I have but its just better. definitely money well spent. Not sure how it will affect dry summer handling but given I live way up north I wont see much of that anyway lol

its not night and day better but noticeable.

[Craze]

I just got mp4s tires, quite a good improvement over the mpss tires!

[msq123]

Originally Posted by M5 TT

so 4 wheel alignment done today, rear wheels sitting at -1 camber now, they were -1.8. There is a definite improvement. I can get it to hook in 3rd at 60mph (just) its 2.5 deg C and roads are wet. If I apply throttle in a controlled manner the TC light only flashes momentarily, sometimes flickering again when going over 4500rpm. compared to last night where I just spun the minute I even considered hitting the throttle. I can still light up the rears with ease. Its hard to quantify how much more grip I have but its just better. definitely money well spent. Not sure how it will affect dry summer handling but given I live way up north I wont see much of that anyway lol

its not night and day better but noticeable.

Interesting, I will keep this in mind for future.

Right now, I am looking forward to see the difference once I change all 4 corners. Hopefully, that will keep me happy. This is a monster of a car so no matter what you do it is always easy to spin the rears.