BMW 318d M Sport Touring (E91) Tyres

My last review of these tyres was in February 2011, when i put a pair of new tyres on my car. That pair are now needing replaced so another review!

Between February and November I have driven 23000 miles from the Outer Hebridees to South Wales and everywhere inbetween in scortching sun shine and in rain of Biblical proportions. The Bridgestones have offered good grip and a decent amount of feedback on unclassified, B roads, A roads and Motorway / dual cariageways. They dont generate too much noise and ride quality is not too bad. They are a decent all round tyre.

However i have driven a 3 series BMW fitted with 19" runflats and the ride quality was shockingly poor. Could it be that 40/45 profile is the ideal profile for runflat tyres?? Draw you own conclusions!

BUT. . . . They are very sensitive what pressure they are inflated to. 0.1 bar either side of their optimum pressure makes the difference between nice even tyre ware and the shoulders being worn to the canvas whilst the rest of the tyre still has 5mm of tread.

Unfortunatly they are expensive currently £225 each, but there are still too few alternative manufacturers making tyres in the 255/40/17 size so prices are going to remain high!

Summary: A decent all round tyre which doesn't excell in one particular area but crucially its not bad in one particular area either.(225/45/17 & 255/40/17), but has to be inflated to suit your individual circumstances. Buy a good pressure gauge and tread depth gauge, check and adjust your tyre pressures once a week and you'll be fine

The bridgestone runflats fitted to the back of my car (255/40/17) have lasted just over 20000 miles, which isn't too bad considering most of my driving is on twisty A roads and my right foot can be quite heavy.

I found the bridgestones to be generally pretty good in all weathers, they do however lack ultimate grip on wet roads compaired to Uniroyal Rainsport 2 and Goodyear Excellence. They performed better than expected in the snow we had in Central Scotland before Christmas.

Unfortunatly there isn't a great deal of choice in the 255/40/17 size so replacements are very expensive.