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[dchen2]

Hi guys,

i just signed the papers for my M3 coupe which will be delivered in a couple weeks. I will be moving to phoenix, AZ later this month and just transferred my 335xi coupe's lease to another person since I won't need the AWD anymore in AZ. (on my 335xi I took off the oem runflat PS2s and ran 18" General UHPs and wintersport D3s)

My new M3 has the 18" wheels which I am not a huge fan of. After some scoping around I am pretty sure I am going to buy a set of 19" VMR 710s in gunmetal.

However, my struggle now is deciding what tires to put on there. I don't drive too aggressively on the street... phoenix lacks that many sporting public roads plus traffic is normally pretty packed. I plan on taking my M3 to the track a couple times a year and might either use my stock 18s with PS2 for track days or just burn through my 19" street tires.

On my previous car I was fine with a less sporting tire that had better treadwear/low cost/low noise since the all wheel drive and mushy xi suspension isn't really set up to take advantage of max performance tires. However, with the M3 this will be a different story. 375hp AWD on xi suspension =/ 414hp RWD on M3 suspension.

My choices are:

PS2s in oem 19" size
$1,550 - I heard great things about them and am sure if I get them I'll be happy with their performance. However, the high price and their reputation for wearing out in 10-15k miles does scare my wallet.

Continental Sport contact 3s in oem 19" size
$1,150 - they seem to get good reviews on tirerack but I am not too familiar with them.

Continental Sport contact 2s in 245/35R19 and 275/35R19
$780 - buying some 300mi used take offs here on the forums. Very good price and they sell for the same price as the sport contact 3s on tirerack. however, the reviews for the sport contact 2s seem to be not as good.

Or I can cheap out and get some $600-650 sets of 245/35R19 and 275/30R19 Kumho or General tires. Then I'll keep my stock 18s with PS2s and use them for any high performance driving events I attend.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!

[KKSigs]

Personally I would get the PS2's. They will be perfect in AZ.

[JH M3]

Never heard anything bad about the PS2's. I've got a set of SportContact 3's on my S4 and am very happy with them. They are much better than the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx's that came with the car. To be honest, if you are not going to drive aggressively on them, you probably wouldn't notice a difference between the PS2's and Conti's. I would save yourself a few bucks and go with the SportContact 3's. They are still very good tires.

[dchen2]

Originally Posted by jhsu

Never heard anything bad about the PS2's. I've got a set of SportContact 3's on my S4 and am very happy with them. They are much better than the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx's that came with the car. To be honest, if you are not going to drive aggressively on them, you probably wouldn't notice a difference between the PS2's and Conti's. I would save yourself a few bucks and go with the SportContact 3's. They are still very good tires.

I am leaning towards the SC3s. A little cheaper and a little longer lasting for 90-95% of the PS2's performance. I definitely consider myself a novice performance driver. My "performance" car experience is comprised of driving/owning a Lexus GS430 for two years and then afterwards my current 335xi for the last year.

I never tracked before so for the first set of tires I almost certainly won't be able to take advantage of that slightly better margin of grip the PS2 offers. I definitely plan on taking advantage of the M3's capability by enrolling in a perfomance driving school and then doing some track days though.

For these 19" tires though, I want a more liveable ride/low noise since this will be my DD and I plan on taking some long road trips. The more I think about it, the more a seperate set of 18" track tires make sense to me.

Do you think the SportContact 3s on 19s will be trackable tires or should I specialize and stick with the oem 18s as my dedicated track tires? What about the SportContact 2s? I can save about $370 getting those (abet with the rears being 10mm wider and slightly taller) but if they are significantly noiser/more prone to hydroplanning vs the SC3s the savings is not worth the penalty.

[JH M3]

I don't have any experience with the SportContact 2's, but I've read mixed reviews about them. I bought my SportContact 3's just as they came out. To be honest, I would have bought the PS2's over the SportContact 2's if that was all there was. I also don't track my car, so I couldn't tell you how the SportContact 3's would perform. Your reasons for leaning towards the 3's were mine as well: comparable performance for every day street use, better wear, and a little cheaper.

[Kev]

I noticed a major difference between the CSC2 and the PS2 when I had them on my E55. The PS2 provided more grip and traction, plus a little more confidence in corners than the CSC2. I heard that CSC3 is a major improvement over the CSC2 so I might give them a try.

[Radiation Joe]

I had the original Conti SCs on my e46 M3. They were excellent. Good ride, quiet, stayed balanced and wore well. I can only imagine that the SC3s are even better. I replaced the Contis with PS2s and noticed very little difference other than the PS2 could take two days of RoadAmerica abuse and show little wear. Contis and Michelins are the only tires I would put on a BMW.

I would definitely consider the SC3s.

[FrankieP]

PS2 hands down. It's the best tire for 400+ hp cars. If you drive a 300 hp car or less, this is a non-issue. Wet/dry traction is improved with the PS2 as apposed to the SC3. It is not a coincidence that the PS2 is used on more supercars than any other brand. It has also been proven to give a competitive advantage to other brands at the track. For a couple hundred bucks, PS2 is the way to go.

[SF-M3]

When i was at the 2 day m school the M3 were running CSC3. They handled great.

I have not run my own m3 shod with PS2 as hard as I did the schools cars but like them equally well. The small difference in price is not a huge deal but if the contis wear better it could make the difference over 50K of tire changes equate to possibly a free set.

[AlpWtE92]

Just got the CSC3's and so far they ride great. They're supposed to be a bit louder, but I haven't noticed. I don't track my car, so I probably wouldn't be able to tell any difference from the PS2's in performance. Given that the CSC3's have a higher treadwear rating, and are $400-$500 cheper, I thought I'd give them a try.

[dchen2]

Thanks for all your guy's feedback. I took the surefire route and ended up going with PS2s....

[artur777!]

Pirelli Pero the Hero are the best choice without any doubt
Just look at any test results

[lucid]

Not sure dropping $1500 on street tires is worth it. How far can one really push the car on the street to begin with? However, PS2s have superior wet traction...Regardless, I'd say get cheaper rubber for the street, and spend the money you save on a track setup.

[mach330]

SC3 is definitely my next set of tires as they are much cheaper than my oem ps2's that came with my 19's. it's around 25% less cost for 5-10% less performance. it's worth a shot.