Best Tires for the BMW 130i M

This is actually a review for Michelin Pilot Sport 4 Zero Pressure. They don't come up as an option anywhere that I can find on this site, so Super Sports are probably the nearest equivalent.

Also, my car has staggered sizes, so this is also a review for the fronts which are 205/50 17. BTW, my car is a Japanese import, hence the 17" size (standard 130i M Sport issue. It was bling obsessive UK market that had 18s as standard on 130i).

Having owned a UK 130i some years ago, and ditching the runflats on those only to regret it, I decided to do it differently this time and retain the use of runflats. Why? Because, when I ditched them last time, it introduced additional body movement that's not supposed to be there, In other words, BMW tuned the suspension to work with runflats. (They actually designed the 130i M Sport to handle as intended with 17" runflats, not the 18s that UK cars have as standard). So, if you ditch the runflats, the car will have less body control than intended. Is running the 130i on runflats ideal? No. Nobody really 'likes' the feel of runflats. They're just not as good. But as I found out last time, the alternative, for me, was a car that moves around too much, and that was even more undesirable. So, I'm living with it.

What are the tires like? The Pilot Sport 4 ZP is a third generation runflat, and a premium sports one at that. All first generation runflats were awful. Then the second generation was brought out some time ago, and that was a bit of an improvement but not by much (I experienced some on my old 130i before ditching them). Then, more recently the third generation runflat was introduced. From what I can tell from reviews, this third generation, across the board by all premium manufacturers, was a bigger step forward and has improved much more this time. Enough to match a 'normal' tire? No, not even close. But they're not as totally evil as they used to be. The feel is quite a bit different and you have to get used to that. But, once you do, they're actually alright. They don't have as much grip as a 'normal' tire of equivalent size, and what strange feel they do have comes to you a little more slowly through the seat of the pants, via the chassis, rather than more immediately through the steering. You just have to get used to this and learn to read the signals. Wet weather braking is just as good as any 'normal' premium tires I've ever had on any of my other vehicles.

I bought these because they were best in reviews I could find that fits both my front and rear sizes. I will therefore probably buy them again.

I'm running these CC2s in staggered sizes on my 130i (225/40 and 235/40 18s) and have found them to be superb so far. I live semi-rural in Lancashire, surrounded by country lanes that are untreated/unloved and have lots of standing water... The CC2s have been excellent in the very recent poor weather we've had; very grippy in the wet & dry, but also very smooth and comfy as well, the car is on fairly firm suspension. Quiet too... They've made a marked difference over the previous PS5s which I didn't rate at all unfortunately

I haven't had chance to test them in the very cold temps yet; but that'll happen soon enough when we head up to family property in The Highlands sometime early Dec

I have tried various Run Flats and Normal tires over the years, and i am very satisfied with these RF P Zero's. Feels great and has totally transformed the way the car feels. I feel the tire technology has come on so much over the years. I'm very happy with the level of grip, and feel just as good as when I ran the normal P Zeros.

The most impressive feature of these tires was that they lasted 40,000kms (25,000miles). During this 40,000kms I abused them at the race track. And crossed a twisty mountain range hard and fast at least once a week. This was all on NZ roads too. Which are far more harsh than British roads and mostly cheap chip seal, off camber and poorly maintained. While the tires don't give much feedback I think they are perfect for a commuter or tourer. I went to replace them with the same tires and unfortunately they didn't have my size at the time. Went to some Laufenn Z LK03 (don't exist on this site). While these were far better in feel they were no better grip in the wet or dry. However these only lasted 25,000kms on the same roads. I have just replaced the rears back to the Roadstones.

Went from Bridgestones to these, was literally day and night. Dry grip far superior, wet grip definitely noticeably better. Handling amazing and significantly less road noise. I decided on these based on the reviews and the fact that nexen are involved with the production of this brand. Have around 10,000kms on them so far and not half worn om the front, about half worn on the back (only the inside edge due to camber mostly). so wear seems good

Annoying on-center precision, too many steering corrections to keep it straight. This happened in my 130i and Megane rs175, I couldn't wait to change them just because of this. I fitted it in two cars because I couldn't believe how bad it was in the BMW and thought the car had a problem with the steering. And I wanted to like the tire. But no, the Megane became crap with them too. Grip in the dry is and stability are quite good, but the balance is towards too much understeer and isn't fun to drive at all, especially on the BMW because you can't steer the car with the throttle. Not progressive enough in the wet, showing a decent grip limit, but too agressive breakaway and too long recovery time; I didn't trust this tire in the wet, especially in the BMW. Wear is average if you drive gently. Comfort is borderline acceptable for me, as there's too many vibrations after the initial touch with impacts. This effectively reduces the peak force, but doesn't provide enough roundness or quality feel. I can't recommend this tire as it doesn't suit my driving style nor my comfort preferences.

I had a set on BMW 130i, 205/50 R17 front, 225/45 R17 rear. Those were N3 Porsche specification. I was very happy with them, perfectly balanced tires for a weekend car and spirited drives. During a trackday it will degrade quite rapidly with high temperatures, but this is a road tire - and there it is working perfectly. Later I changed them for Pilot Sport 4 - PS2s have harder sidewall in comparison, so you can keep lower tire pressures, with PS4s you need to add a little bit - otherwise you loose a lot of steering feel. Very very good tire.

This will be my 4th winter on the Ultragrip Performance Gen 1.
Ran them on a BMW 130i and now an M135i, initially 225/40/18 all round, last year I changed the rears to 235/40/18.
Overall very happy with the tires, excellent in the cold & damp/wet UK winter and very good in the limited use they've had in snow. Perfectly acceptable when dry although like all winter tires they do feel a little vague compared to a decent summer tire. Not often mentioned in reviews but they are also very good on the muddy rural roads around here.
Approx 12k miles from the rears which were changed at 4mm tread depth, the fronts will see me through this winter for a total of approx. 16k miles.
Would buy again but most likely opt for the newer Goodyear Ultragrip Performance + when the fronts need changing for next winter.

Fitted these 225/40 R18 all round, replacing the runflats (Goodyear nct5) shortly after buying the car. Anything was an improvement on those, which were harsh! The runflats were also surprisingly (on many an occasion..) low on grip, very eager to break traction at the rear which was kinda fun but sadly also the front, understeering like crazy at times, which was disappointing on a RWD car..
The Michelins offered a HUGE increase in grip - in the dry but most notably in the wet when there really was an astonishing level of grip. Very confidence inspiring, enabling controlled high speed cornering and hard braking in dry and wet conditions. Which brings me to the only negative.
I don't often drive slow, but the wear rate has been simply appalling. The 12000 miles I have covered applies to the fronts which are finished, but the rears were gone after 5000! I then changed the rears for 235/40 R18 and they have fared slightly better and were noticeably grippier again on this car - they did 7000miles but now need changing again.
I should just slow down I guess but I expected more from Michelin, who are supposedly known to be more durable if you believe their advertising. But driving style has no doubt been a big factor, so YMMV.
I haven't had any other (non-rft) on this car so perhaps it just eats tires? The runflats weren't on long enough to appraise the wear rate, as I got rid as soon as possible (the rears were near dead when I got it so I took the opportunity to put 4 real tires on. Plus, my fitter would not fit non-runflat to one axle with runflats still on the other, probably for the best as the handling , I had to agree, would be interesting.
Even with the wear issue I may still buy another set as they really were excellent otherwise, but right now I'm changing these for Pirelli PZero PZ4.