OE Tyre Availability
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Thanks for the reply . As I work in the industry , BMW would not have spec'd that tyre if it was rubbish particularly considering the model its used on. The amount of dynamic testing that would have been done before releasing the tyre for that car is significant . Many driving conditions , syles and circumstance to take into account .
What specifically would you criticise about the tyre?
What specifically would you criticise about the tyre?
Quite simply the lack of grip in all conditions afforded by it. When I changed to PS2's the difference for the better was immense. The Conti M3 was used on the E46 M3 from 2001 and came in for a lot of criticism from M3 owners. I don't really buy into the notion that BMW tested all available tyres for the Z4M and decided that a tyre which had long been superseded was the optimum for this car. My own experience tells me otherwise and the cynical side in me believes that the Conti M3 represented a bargain buy for BMW at the time. Why else use relatively old tyre technology? Even M cars are built to a budget and the parts used are not always the best available.
But on the other hand why would BMW fit an 'old tech' tyre car to a bit of a special M car that itself was a bit of an after hours project at BMW M division? And would of course be performance tested and track tested by the motoring press, so if it made the car handle like crap or had less grip it could result in lower sales. I really don't think BMW would have fitted a tyre that compromised the z4 M's abilities to save a few quid......
I think the Conti's M's deserve more credit
However, when I replcae my tyres next Spring I will probablyfit something different just to try, maybe the newer Conti's will be available in the correct sizes by then.
I think the Conti's M's deserve more credit
However, when I replcae my tyres next Spring I will probablyfit something different just to try, maybe the newer Conti's will be available in the correct sizes by then.I think you give BMW more credit than they deserve on this front. They constantly change the tyres supplied on new models, E46 M3's, E90/92 M3's etc have all been supplied on a wide variation of tyres. Why do you think that is? I believe they take the best deal available from one of the major tyre manufacturer at the time. The fact that all (as far as I know) Z4M's came with Conti's fitted is easily explained by their limited production run at Spartanburg.
The motoring press in general were pretty lukewarm to the Z4M at it's release, not helped by the Conti M3's IMO. Evo magazine, in fact upped their rating of the Z4MC when it was driven again with PS2's.
When the BM3W forum was at it's peak, there was a general consensus that the Conti M3's were a poor tyre choice for the M3. My M3 came with PS2's fitted as standard and it was a late 2003 car, suggesting to me that BMW had realised the folly of persisting with the Conti's which had been fitted at launch (although not exclusively) in 2001.
The newer Conti's, by comparison, have an excellent reputation and would be a good choice when you change Darren.
The motoring press in general were pretty lukewarm to the Z4M at it's release, not helped by the Conti M3's IMO. Evo magazine, in fact upped their rating of the Z4MC when it was driven again with PS2's.
When the BM3W forum was at it's peak, there was a general consensus that the Conti M3's were a poor tyre choice for the M3. My M3 came with PS2's fitted as standard and it was a late 2003 car, suggesting to me that BMW had realised the folly of persisting with the Conti's which had been fitted at launch (although not exclusively) in 2001.
The newer Conti's, by comparison, have an excellent reputation and would be a good choice when you change Darren.
Cheburator
Member
dgm said:
Agree a 100%. In fact, BMW themselves changed the tyres to Michelin Pilot Sport 2 on the Z4MCs that they used for driver training at the Nurburgring in 2007/2008.