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[ATLIEN]

I'm in the tire selection process and have been a Michelin fan forever. I've run PSS and AS3+'s on my 335 and loved them. I am actually a huge fan of the AS3+ for their durability and handling in the mountains of East TN that I would drive twice a week. Nobody could ever keep up with me with that setup.

I'm leaning heavily towards the Indy 500's for the M3 as the current car has Toyo Proxes T1 sports that are worn down a good bit from the previous owner. They handle fine but seem a bit loud as they've worn down. I will say they look pretty cool with huge curb protection.

I would normally go P4S but have a smoking deal of $700 installed for the Indy 500s for which I hear glowing reviews. We shall see soon enough but was wondering how other converts have fared with this tire. Is it fools gold or a legit contender?

[EJT86]

Supposedly they are a little behind Super Sports, but for 1/2 the price that’s no big deal. They are rebranded Bridgestone RE001s for the USA. I was going to go with these before I got 2 new PSS and 2 new PS4s for $450

[Asianoak]

I asked the same question a few months back and the fan boys pretty much ate me for breakfast. If I had a dollar for every "just buy Michelins" I'd be able to pay for a set of them.

I have the Firehawks on my X3 and they are great tires... fairly quiet, handling, feedback, etc are all great. But they're not very good in the cold at all so I wanted something a bit more flexible for the M3 since mornings get down into the 20s here in Oregon. I wound up going with Conti ExtremeContact Sports and love them. Either way you won't be disappointed unless you're tracking the car.

[ATLIEN]

Originally Posted by Asianoak

I asked the same question a few months back and the fan boys pretty much ate me for breakfast. If I had a dollar for every "just buy Michelins" I'd be able to pay for a set of them.

I have the Firehawks on my X3 and they are great tires... fairly quiet, handling, feedback, etc are all great. But they're not very good in the cold at all so I wanted something a bit more flexible for the M3 since mornings get down into the 20s here in Oregon. I wound up going with Conti ExtremeContact Sports and love them. Either way you won't be disappointed unless you're tracking the car.

Thanks. I am a Michelin fanboy myself but am OK with value as well especially when my needs are far from the track. I'm just doing daily driving with some intermittent highway and canyons. Interesting point about the mornings. What I tend to like about my Michelin's is that they ride extremely well and never flat spot, etc. I had a set of Pireli PZERO NERO's that flat spotted when brand new and were downright scary in the rain. I replaced them with AS3+ and the difference was night and day.

[ATLIEN]

Originally Posted by EJT86

Supposedly they are a little behind Super Sports, but for 1/2 the price that’s no big deal. They are rebranded Bridgestone RE001s for the USA. I was going to go with these before I got 2 new PSS and 2 new PS4s for $450

Cool beans! Any challenges running different tires? I've got 2 PSS with fairly good tread for my 335 that I took off when switching to AS3s because the rears were down.

[EJT86]

Originally Posted by ATLIEN

Cool beans! Any challenges running different tires? I've got 2 PSS with fairly good tread for my 335 that I took off when switching to AS3s because the rears were down.

No. Both are summer tires and bonus PS4s are just next gen PSS so no probs. PS4s have softer sidewalls so might be a benefit having PSS up front

[velociti]

Great tires. Had them on my 1er and they're a flaming bargain. Quiet, grippy, comfortable, and great treadwear. Call it 85-90% of a PSS on those fronts. A no-brainer in my book and what I'll be putting on my E90 once the PS2s it came with wear out.

[ATLIEN]

So, I went to Firestone for my appointment for the Firehawks and they had the tires ready to install. The problem was that they had a BMW prior to mine with 17 inch tires that they could not get the tires off of. They ended up having to CUT the tires off the rim. After seeing that I politely advised them that if you're having problems with a 17 inch tire that a 19 inch is going to be murder. They said it would take at least 2hrs to install. Discount tire has mine done in like 30 minutes. My comfort level dropped at that point as I questioned the equipment required for the job. Discount tire here I come!

[EJT86]

Originally Posted by ATLIEN

So, I went to Firestone for my appointment for the Firehawks and they had the tires ready to install. The problem was that they had a BMW prior to mine with 17 inch tires that they could not get the tires off of. They ended up having to CUT the tires off the rim. After seeing that I politely advised them that if you're having problems with a 17 inch tire that a 19 inch is going to be murder. They said it would take at least 2hrs to install. Discount tire has mine done in like 30 minutes. My comfort level dropped at that point as I questioned the equipment required for the job. Discount tire here I come!

Buy them on tire rack. Way cheaper than at Firestone

[Drifter2090]

I have P4S on my M3 but I was looking at the 500s for my daily 335d, will update if I end up getting them

[dparm]

A lot of people were saying that the Indy 500 was basically a continuation of the old RE-11 -- which was a pretty good tire in its day. It's definitely a budget performance tire, but for a daily driver, I'm not sure you'll really notice or care.

I believe Firestone has a 90 day return policy on their tires anyway. Worst case is you hate them, get a refund, and go buy PSS or whatever.

[aus]

How are these tires in the rain?
.

[nickauger]

i've track those tire today and i am impres how they are predictable and stable for a low budget tire. Very happy so far

[Jhanksm3]

Tires drive really good in the rain. have had these for over a year, great tire!

[rymerc]

Indy 500s are a great choice in the budget category. When they started getting popular here they were MUCH cheaper, and the prices have gone up considerably since then. 2ish years ago they were about $550 for a set of 275/35/18 on tire rack, now they're about a hundred dollars more even with the $60 or whatever rebate.

Another nice thing is if you run 18s you can get the indys in a 275/40/18 rear, which is not only $40ish? cheaper than the 275/35, but gives you a little more speed in gear if you need that for your track or highway driving.

They're softer sidewalls than the sumitomo z3, but grip about the same. and handle track and autox heat slightly better. They also don't seem to chunk like the z3, MPSS, ps91s all do on track.

[415cpa]

I have Indy 500s on my M3 and I love them. For daily drive they are perfect. Good grip and handling and very quiet. I'm running 255/35/19 and 285/35/19.

[z3papa]

For anyone interested, I just removed a set of 255/35-18 Fronts and 275/35-18 rears of these tires from a set of wheels I need for competition tires. I bought these in April and put about 2500 of easy daily driving miles on them. The look very fresh still. Bought for $750. Sell for $400 shipped. PM if interested.

[ATLIEN]

I am going forward with the Michelin P4S this go around. I want to experience them once on this platform before I go a different route. I think i'd have too much cognitive dissonance if I went a different direction. Once installed i'm heading to BMW for an alignment and we'll go from there.

[chocstraw]

+1 for Indy 500

People say they're a good budget tire but I'm more inclined to say they're a good value tire, because the performance is pretty great without being contingent on price. A setup I like is MPSS up front and 500s in the back. I think I usually get 12000-15000 miles out of MPSS on the rears, where this setup wears more evenly.

Hankook V12s / Contis / anything else in the class are terrible compared to the 500s too.

[ATLIEN]

So I took the plunge and bought the Michelin Pilot Sport 4s tires from Discount Tire and took the car to BMW for an alignment. My previous tires were Toyo Proxes T1 and they were probably half worn and pretty noisy and a little bumpy. The tires came on the car when I bought it this April and for what it was worth they were pretty decent and I liked the huge lip they had which was cool.

Now onto the P4S. I'm pretty impressed by them so far. Having driven PSS and AS3+ on my 335 I knew kind of what to expect. The interesting part of the process was how hard it was for Discount Tire to put them on the rims. It took 3 guys to get them on the rims which had me a little nervous. They broke the TPMS and replaced it but my light is still on and they said it would go off after a while.

As for the driving experience, it was exactly what I wanted. The ride is smooth with no steering wheel tremors and I can get up to highway speed+ and feel more confidence. As for noise, i'd say they are quieter than the Toyo by a good amount but no where near as quiet as the AS3+ on my 335i which for my driving style is my all around favorite tire (jack of all trades).

The overall look of the tire is a huge plus. They are meaty in all the right places and really fill up the wheel well which I really like. They make the car look good from the back and just finish the buttoned up look of the car.

[AC/DC]

I bought these for my E90 earlier this year- running 255/35/19 and 275/35/19 and I've been pretty impressed with them, especially for the price.

[SkiFly01]

I put these on and do like them, in the dry they are GREAT! The wet it can be easy to find the limits.