Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[Freiheit]

After months of waffling I bought my Michelin PS4S, and I used Costco to do it, before the CCA and Hagerty discounts expired last month. It totaled $300 off and brought it very close to what I would have paid for the Indy 500 tires that I originally wanted. Fantastic deal.

I have my tire install scheduled a few days from now. Do these guys have the proper pucks or spacers to lift the car without destroying the jacking points? If not, then I'm going to rush order a set from one of the sponsors.

Any special instructions I should give them? Besides be careful with my irreplaceable car? Pay attention to the mounting direction of the tires? Watch the torque on the lug nuts and don't you dare use an air gun to tighten them?

Is there a special instruction for balancing? I don't know much about balancing so I just go by what is the latest info I read on our forums. Years ago in my E36 days everyone on Roadfly was told to match mount the tires. When I moved to the E46 I was told ask for road force balancing. When my wife got her M a few years ago I was told "get both". The tire tech actually got pissed when I said that and told me "pick one! Do you want road force? Or do you want match mounting?" I don't remember how that worked out.

In summary: I'm going to Costco, teach me how to handle that so it's as painless as possible for me and my car comes out unscathed. Non-scathed. A complete lack of scathed.

Thanks.

[PYE46M3]

whats the CCA and hagerty discount? PS4 to Indy 500 price difference is like 400-500 so thats impressive. I wanted to get PS4S from costco but the two stores I went to seemed like they just didn't want to bother with my brand new set of ZCP wheels. Basically told me to go to discount tire if I want to walk away with no scratches on my wheels... and so I did ! If you care about your wheels then you better bring this up to them.

[Freiheit]

Originally Posted by PYE46M3

whats the CCA and hagerty discount? PS4 to Indy 500 price difference is like 400-500 so thats impressive. I wanted to get PS4S from costco but the two stores I went to seemed like they just didn't want to bother with my brand new set of ZCP wheels. Basically told me to go to discount tire if I want to walk away with no scratches on my wheels... and so I did ! If you care about your wheels then you better bring this up to them.

The CCA rebate was $200 on a purchase over $800 or $900. That ended on 12/31/23. The Hagerty discount was $100 for Drivers Club members, and I believe that is ongoing. Both together plus the Costco price made it too good to pass up. I was very happy with the Indy 500 tires on my wife's M but ... PS4S.

I know what you're talking about with the wheels. Years ago a BMW dealer wrecked the Double Spoke II wheels on my E36 M3, and a friend who worked at Sam's Club told me what happened. He said that particular dealer didn't mount their own tires, they pulled the wheels and sent them out. The contract shop didn't use the right adapter on their tire machine and it gouged up the bead on all four wheels. The machines use either a steel tool or a steel tool with a teflon or nylon cover to break the bead on tires and seat the new bead. The bare tool is used for steel wheels like you'd find on a truck. The covered adaptor is used for mag and aluminum wheels.

So I'm going to be sure the shop owner understands what tool to use, and I'm either going to get his assurance the wheels won't be maimed, or I'll get the R&R portion of the money I paid back in my pocket and I'll go to a tire shop that knows how to handle this stuff. Sadly, neither of the two dealers who take care of my cars now allow customers to have tires shipped in from TireRack, or I would have done that.

What about the jack point pucks. Should I bring those? Or do these guys have something that will work?

[MineralWhiteF80]

It sounds like you are wanting the absolute best service possible, and that will NOT be at a COSTCO! You need to find the specialty tire shop that does all the exotic cars in your area, but you're going to pay for it! This is what I do for my expensive discontinued wheel sets. It costs me 360 dollars to mount and balance four tires, but there is zero damage. I hate it, but that's life.

I have some friends at Bridgestone that give me deals on tires as long as I buy them from a Firestone Complete center. I asked the Firestone center about what tire machines they use and the employee said, if you dont want your wheels scratched, dont let us do it. Enough said, brother!

With all that said, I've added some comments to your comments/questions in red text below:

Do these guys have the proper pucks or spacers to lift the car without destroying the jacking points? If not, then I'm going to rush order a set from one of the sponsors.

Your M3 jacking points and pucks are no different than all of the BMWs in the world over the last 40+ years. Costco is using the same lifts and jack pads that 99+% of all other tire shops (including BMW) use. So I wouldn't worry about this. I would like to see the Costco technicians face when you tell them how to do their job and what tools and adapters you want used for your car Im joking around here, but you know what I mean.

Any special instructions I should give them? Besides be careful with my irreplaceable car? Pay attention to the mounting direction of the tires? Watch the torque on the lug nuts and don't you dare use an air gun to tighten them?

Costco doesn't care about special instructions. They have their process and they do what they do. I will say, I drove by my local Costco wheel/tire bays not long ago and I saw a technician with a torque wrench in his hand actually torquing lug nuts on some NPC's boring car. I was surprised.

Is there a special instruction for balancing? I don't know much about balancing so I just go by what is the latest info I read on our forums. Years ago in my E36 days everyone on Roadfly was told to match mount the tires. When I moved to the E46 I was told ask for road force balancing. When my wife got her M a few years ago I was told "get both". The tire tech actually got pissed when I said that and told me "pick one! Do you want road force? Or do you want match mounting?" I don't remember how that worked out.

The correct way to balance a tire the best is to have the tire road force balanced. This method offsets the 'heaviest' points of the wheel and tire that helps to counter balance them, which allows you to use fewer lead wheel weights to get the balance correct.

In summary: I'm going to Costco, teach me how to handle that so it's as painless as possible for me and my car comes out unscathed. Non-scathed. A complete lack of scathed.

Don't go to Costco. Spend several hundred extra dollars and go to the tire shop that your local exotic car dealerships use.

[Freiheit]

Originally Posted by MineralWhiteF80

It sounds like you are wanting the absolute best service possible, and that will NOT be at a COSTCO! You need to find the specialty tire shop that does all the exotic cars in your area, but you're going to pay for it! This is what I do for my expensive discontinued wheel sets. It costs me 360 dollars to mount and balance four tires, but there is zero damage. I hate it, but that's life. Don't go to Costco. Spend several hundred extra dollars and go to the tire shop that your local exotic car dealerships use.

I wish I could do that, but...

There are very few exotic dealers here. All the front line dealers have their own tire shops now. The second tier dealers that don't have a tire shop hire a mobile service to come out to their site. Those guys go to one location for an entire day and handle 50-60 swaps - they're not going to head out to the country for one set of tires.

Also, the lone shop that I would have trusted with this work - and I've used them countless times before - is in another town about 40 miles from Costco. If Costco allowed shipping to outside shops I would have sent the order their way and that would have been then end of it. But I was only allowed to pick the Costco location where I wanted to go. If I cancel the tire service and pick the tires up, I'd either have to load them in my X, drive them to the tire shop, then come back with the M... or else take two trips driving the M back and forth. I don't have the energy or the time for that these days.

Originally Posted by MineralWhiteF80

The correct way to balance a tire the best is to have the tire road force balanced. This method offsets the 'heaviest' points of the wheel and tire that helps to counter balance them, which allows you to use fewer lead wheel weights to get the balance correct.

I don't know anything about road force balancing other than it's supposed to be the hot ticket for high speed without vibration. On the other hand, your description of it sounds like it's just a different way to get to the same result. In the case of match-mounting, the tire is marked so that it can be aligned with the valve stem so that the lightest part of the wheel is matched with the heaviest part of the tire. Or maybe I have that backwards. Whichever way its done, it's supposed to use the least amount of balancing weight out of all other possible ways of indexing the tire.

[M3SQRD]

Do Costco purchased tires have to mounted by Costco? If not, find a high-end indy shop that specializes in installing low-profile tires on 19-20” wheels. You’ll pay more for the install but you’ll have a much lower stress/anxiety level experience.

[Freiheit]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

Do Costco purchased tires have to mounted by Costco? If not, find a high-end indy shop that specializes in installing low-profile tires on 19-20” wheels. You’ll pay more for the install but you’ll have a much lower stress/anxiety level experience.

I don't know what their policy is regarding that, but if I pick the tires up I have a choice between doing an 80 mile round trip with the X to move all four tires from Costco to the tire shop and then head back to my house to get the M and bring it back to the tire shop, or it'll be 80 miles round trip to move a pair of tires each time in the M3. Either way the day is taken up moving tires and I'll have to wait until next weekend to do the tire swap - assuming the tire shop will be able to get the service done. They don't do appointments.

So, as I mentioned earlier, moving the tires to a specialty shop isn't going to happen very easily.

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by Freiheit

I don't know what their policy is regarding that, but if I pick the tires up I have a choice between doing an 80 mile round trip with the X to move all four tires from Costco to the tire shop and then head back to my house to get the M and bring it back to the tire shop, or it'll be 80 miles round trip to move a pair of tires each time in the M3. Either way the day is taken up moving tires and I'll have to wait until next weekend to do the tire swap - assuming the tire shop will be able to get the service done. They don't do appointments.

So, as I mentioned earlier, moving the tires to a specialty shop isn't going to happen very easily.

FYI, four tires fit in the back seat of a M3 and M4. That would save you one trip. I’d definitely make the trip if it’s going to save my wheels from being damaged! I understand it’s not easy but damage-free wheels justifies the effort to get there, at least it does for me. Good luck with your decision and weighing thru the pros and cons.

[smokinjoe64]

Originally Posted by Freiheit

After months of waffling I bought my Michelin PS4S, and I used Costco to do it, before the CCA and Hagerty discounts expired last month. It totaled $300 off and brought it very close to what I would have paid for the Indy 500 tires that I originally wanted. Fantastic deal.

I have my tire install scheduled a few days from now. Do these guys have the proper pucks or spacers to lift the car without destroying the jacking points? If not, then I'm going to rush order a set from one of the sponsors.

Any special instructions I should give them? Besides be careful with my irreplaceable car? Pay attention to the mounting direction of the tires? Watch the torque on the lug nuts and don't you dare use an air gun to tighten them?

Is there a special instruction for balancing? I don't know much about balancing so I just go by what is the latest info I read on our forums. Years ago in my E36 days everyone on Roadfly was told to match mount the tires. When I moved to the E46 I was told ask for road force balancing. When my wife got her M a few years ago I was told "get both". The tire tech actually got pissed when I said that and told me "pick one! Do you want road force? Or do you want match mounting?" I don't remember how that worked out.

In summary: I'm going to Costco, teach me how to handle that so it's as painless as possible for me and my car comes out unscathed. Non-scathed. A complete lack of scathed.

Thanks.

Used Costco on several occasions since early 2000's.
> Serviced 3-Series, M3s, M5, X5...never a single problem!!!

[ARPHOTO]

I had Michelin Alpin 5s installed at my local Costco recently. Took BMW jack pad adapters with me and the shop lead was appreciative I brought them. They were careful to use a torque wrench when reinstalling my wheels. Something to bear in mind, they won't work on your car if you have wheel spacers generally. The lead made an exception for me because I have the Future Classic spacers that actually bolt to the hub, but otherwise you're out of luck.

[Freiheit]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

FYI, four tires fit in the back seat of a M3 and M4. That would save you one trip. I’d definitely make the trip if it’s going to save my wheels from being damaged! I understand it’s not easy but damage-free wheels justifies the effort to get there, at least it does for me. Good luck with your decision and weighing thru the pros and cons.

If you say they fit I believe you, but I just can't imagine cramming tires back there. My interior is 13 years old but the leather is pristine. FWIW I detailed the car over the weekend and found the clear coat inside the wheel barrels was coming off in palm-sized chunks. The faces are still perfect, thankfully, but it's evident I'll have to pull the wheels and re-clear them at some point. Therefore I'm not exactly worried about scuffs, just gouges. I'll take them to Costco and report back here.

Originally Posted by smokinjoe64

Used Costco on several occasions since early 2000's.
> Serviced 3-Series, M3s, M5, X5...never a single problem!!!

Good to know. I spoke to the tire shop manager yesterday and he seemed more concerned about the wheels on my car than me, even. He told me he planned on taking extra time and making sure the tech didn't rush.

Originally Posted by ARPHOTO

I had Michelin Alpin 5s installed at my local Costco recently. Took BMW jack pad adapters with me and the shop lead was appreciative I brought them. They were careful to use a torque wrench when reinstalling my wheels. Something to bear in mind, they won't work on your car if you have wheel spacers generally. The lead made an exception for me because I have the Future Classic spacers that actually bolt to the hub, but otherwise you're out of luck.

Too bad I can't find a set of those adapters quickly. I checked FCP and they don't seem to exist. But I will make sure the tech knows the torque value. No spacers here, just stock 359s and stock size tires on a full Dinan suspension.

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by Freiheit

If you say they fit I believe you, but I just can't imagine cramming tires back there. My interior is 13 years old but the leather is pristine. FWIW I detailed the car over the weekend and found the clear coat inside the wheel barrels was coming off in palm-sized chunks. The faces are still perfect, thankfully, but it's evident I'll have to pull the wheels and re-clear them at some point. Therefore I'm not exactly worried about scuffs, just gouges. I'll take them to Costco and report back

BTW, I line my Ivory White leather with plastic before putting tires in the back. My interior is still pristine. If you don’t want to place all four in the backseat then place one in the trunk and one in the front passenger seat.

[Freiheit]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

BTW, I line my Ivory White leather with plastic before putting tires in the back. My interior is still pristine. If you don’t want to place all four in the backseat then place one in the trunk and one in the front passenger seat.

Cool. Can I borrow your E92 to move my tires? I'll buy you a beer.

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by Freiheit

Cool. Can I borrow your E92 to move my tires? I'll buy you a beer.

Sure…I have Fox Rec or Palladium Silver to choose from but that won’t solve your problem of multiple trips to the tire shop

[Freiheit]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

Sure…I have Fox Rec or Palladium Silver to choose from but that won’t solve your problem of multiple trips to the tire shop

Yeah but it helps you solve your problem of not enough beer, right?

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by Freiheit

Yeah but it helps you solve your problem of not enough beer, right?

If I actually drank beer

[Freiheit]

Same here!

Well great, how else am I going to get rid of all the beer that people gift me?

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by Freiheit

Same here!

Well great, how else am I going to get rid of all the beer that people gift me?

lol…regifting beer. Now I’ve heard it all

[Freiheit]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

lol…regifting beer. Now I’ve heard it all

What else do you do when someone gives you IPA weirdness? A friend says "You like gourmet food, right? I got you some 'Intense Super Lilac Extra Chocolate Coffee Grapefruit 240 Minute Quadruple Hopped IPA' and I know you'll like it".
So yeah, it gets regifted.

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by Freiheit

What else do you do when someone gives you IPA weirdness? A friend says "You like gourmet food, right? I got you some 'Intense Super Lilac Extra Chocolate Coffee Grapefruit 240 Minute Quadruple Hopped IPA' and I know you'll like it".
So yeah, it gets regifted.

Have you lost any friends as a result?

[Freiheit]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

Have you lost any friends as a result?

You're assuming I put my name on the gift. I usually just leave it on their doorstep, ring the bell, and run away.

[Freiheit]

Here's the update:

The tires are on the car. The staff at Costco turned out to be very good. Three different techs complimented me on the car, and they all seemed happy they had the chance to work on it. The youngster that pulled it out of the shop and parked it seemed almost starstruck and kept looking at it as he walked back to the shop. I do the same thing whenever I park it, so now I feel like less of a dork knowing that other people do that too.

The balance job is perfect. The car came back to me clean. No metal missing from the wheels.

I paid close to the same as what I would have paid if I'd gone with my first choice - the Indy 500 - and had it shipped to my usual tire shop for mounting. Now I have nitrogen fill and a 5 year road hazard warranty on some very costly tires. I usually see at least one flat every year on every car I own, so this is going to turn out to be very good for me, I think.


Overall I'm really happy with the decision to go to Costco, and I'm overjoyed with the PS4S. My car looks new inside and out, now it rides like new. Perfect grip, perfect ride, and these must be the quietest tires I've ever owned. I really like the Indy 500 on my wife's M, but they do not hold any benefit over the PS4S.