BMW Z4 Tyres

I have purchased these tyres for my E85 BMW Z4 2.2 automatic. I took off the 225/45/R17 Birdgestone Potenza tyres and BMW wheels and fitted after market 16" wheels with 205/55/R16 91H. I am still keeping the 6 bags of sand and grvel over the rear axle and can only say that so far these tyres have been outstanding. Was amazed as it ground through thick choppy snow in the uncleared works car park. I live on a hill and have to negotiate two uphill bends from the main road to my house. No problem in 4 inches of snow. No discernable difference in handling from my summer tyres. Very little increase in noise. These tyres have not won any winter tyre tests, but reading other blogs BMW drivers seem to rate them highly and I suspect that they are one of the better choices in their RFT guise. The only thing that concerned me was the availability of replacements should I get a flat, so I bought six. If I.m luck enough to avoid punctures then I expect the rears fronts to outlast the rears, so six actually makes sense. ALthough these tyres are an outgoing model the tyres I bought in November 2010 from a large european online distributir were manufactured in week 43 of 2010.

Chosen as a runflat winter tyre for 4 months expecting 4 months of cold weather and a couple of days of snow. Turned out the snow lasted for 5 weeks so I got a good show of this tyres capabilitys. I am a big fan of this tyre, handling of car in damp or icy conditions was predictable and safe and always controllable. The weeks we had snow/slush meant I was on an inch of snow on motorways a few times and could cross between clear/snow laden lanes with no heart attacks. All in all a great looking tyre thats worth buying to give you 365 access to your favourite toy. As the weather has got warmer the last few weeks I would say the car is bogging down a bit with too much grip at the rear, definetly be worth changing them soon for Summer tyres.

These have replaced previous Goodyear F1 Asymetrics. Feel very similar in both wet and dry which means very good, however they seem to have improved in three key areas: 1) The treadwear index is now 300 against previous 240 which suggests that you should get 25% more miles out of them, 2) they are quieter 3) the biggest improvement ride comfort - the original F1s were good in this respect, these are fantastic!

Just changed the run flats on my Z4 to the Ultrac Sessanta after reading the reviews - best thing Ive ever done. The car feels so much better than it did. Only problem was tracking down a supplier in South Wales, but a bit of searching on the Net and I found one in Newport.. Just over £500 for a full set.

This tire is a huge improvement to OEM's Potenza 050A RF ....
the grip is excellent, cornering too...also the braking distance is improved... I recommend this tire to any BMW owner.....

The Wintrac Xtreme is the 'sporty' winter tyre from Dutch manufacturer Vredestein, meaning they are made to perform on dry and wet roads as well, not only on snow.

And yes, they do perform.

First of all, during the pretty extensive snowfall this winter here in The Netherlands they gave me effortless performance on snow. Where everyone was slipping and sliding away (probably summer tyres...), I had no troubles accellerating, breaking and steering. They make such a huge difference on snow compared to summer tyres. I was really really happy with my first set of dedicated winter tyres, especially on a RWD car.

On dry roads they grip, more than I expect from winter tyres. Seems Vredestein delivers on their promise here. Of course, road feedback and turn-in is different from dedicated summer tyres. Everything feels a bit softer. But the main thing is: even with winter tyres, my car is lots of fun to drive in normal conditions.

The good news continues on wet roads. Cornering is excellent, traction great. They outperform the stock Bridgestone RE050a runflat tyres in this area! Comfort is of course massively improved as well compared to the stock runflats. Tramlining is gone as well. Noise levels are very good.

To be short: I have had summer tires that perform far worse in dry/wet conditions than these winter tyres. Plus they deliver on snow performance when you need it. For my and my Z4, the ideal winter tyre. Highly recommended. Would definately buy again.

I replaced the Bridgestone RFTs with these Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas for a couple of reasons. First - they look amaziing, second they're reasonably priced.

The ride on the Z4 is much smoother now that I have no run flats. Less tramling too. Economy hasn't changed.
Road holding is great. The Bridgestones compound is a bit harder so the grip is reduced. Although the treadwear on the Vredestein is twice what the Bridgestones is so that should mean they last twice as long. The Bridgestones lasted me around 10k on the rear. I've done around 4k on a new tyres and they still look like new.

I'd definitely buy again and would recommend them too.

One final thing - the rears are 255x35x18 and the fronts are 225x40x18 and I'm referring to all 4 tyres on the car although the review only allows one size to be entered.

This review is for Continental Sport Contact 3 225\45\17 W (Run flat) Fitted to a 2003 Z4 2.5i SE

I decided to fit these tyres to replace the rear tyres on my Z4 which were OE Bridgestone RE-05 run flats. The Bridgestone's had worn out very quickly over a short period down to the indicators, and not very evenly. I would describe myself as an enthusiastic driver so anything above 12,000 miles from a pair of rear tyres on a car of this type with close to 200bhp is acceptable.

Dry Grip : Very good so far, good confident traction out of the bends and roundabouts

Wet Grip : Not tested much but initial impressions are favourable
Road Feedback : Initially a little squirmy during fast cornering but have now bedded in nicely. Noticeably Quieter than the RE-05's

Progressiveness : So far so good, not reached the limit yet.

Wear : Too early to say

Comfort : A BIG improvement on the Bridgestone RE-05's

Buy again : The choice of Run flat tyres for the Z4 appears to be a bit limited, but based upon impressions so far and the choice available I would say yes.


Summary:

Throughout their life on the car I found the OE Bridgestone RE-05 offered good grip and cornering stability in the dry but was much less impressive in the wet especially in tight corners, and the constant tram lining behaviour was a chore, especially on badly paved tarmac or when changing lanes over cat eyes in the road. The Bridgestone's in my opinion were\are so bad in this respect, I thought my rear suspension had become badly worn, but fitment of the Conti's has pretty much cured this characteristic. The other good news is that the Conti's have improved the spine jarring ride that the Bridgestone's provided on the Z4, the sidewalls look to be of a different shape and more generous on the Conti's so maybe this has something to do with it. Of course the Z4 is a sports car so is not intended to be a comfy cruiser but the RE-05's pushed this tolerance to the limit and on anything but a perfect road surface almost totally spoiled my enjoyment of driving the car. I was surprised to read the negative comments here regarding these tyres as in my experience on my rear drive Z4 the Conti's have restored the enjoyment to my car and the smile is back, so from me at least the CSC3's are recommended.

Came with my brand new Z4. In dry conditions the steering is superb (however, I do not know how much of it is the car and how much the tyres). No matter whether highway above 200 km/h or winding uphill roads playing hard on 2rd to 4rd. Roundabouts are lots of fun (when dry). Potholes an cateyes fill like right against your buttocks, but I like a good road reading. Otherwise I'd buy a French car with a bubbly suspension. Rains a lot in my place, but it only freezes a few weeks a year. On rain just slow down (some 80% normal speed will do) and stay safe. No complains there either, but I never look for the limit when wet. Rears lasted 20.000 km (less than 20k miles) down to the depth indicators (I love my physical integrity, never overstretch my tyres' life), front ones still looking good. Ordered a new par of Potenzas for my rear. Thanks BMW for a super handling and superb fun car!