Best Tires for the BMW E36

Had these mounted early 2025 and after having done lots of daily driving in various conditions, including a 6000 km roadtrip in central Europe with top speed runs on the autobahn, I am very impressed. Handling is balanced and progressive at the limit, both in the wet and dry. So far the wear is barely noticable. Only complaint is that turn in feels a little dull for the size and sidewall height, but it also translates in to less tramlining.

These are my "off season" (winter) choice for my supercharged e36 m3.
3 seasons it wears 235-35-18 PS 4S and in late fall I pop on these 17" AS.
The car doesn't get driven much but here is what I notice most (especially late fall and early spring).
They still feel sporty, they grip on cold pavement much better than the 4S... They have a considerably harsher ride and they art way more "crashy" and loud. On the good side they actually function if there's a bit of snow or slush and unlike the 4S they stay pliable and grind frozen pavement.
I can't comment on wear because they don't get much use. They do however keep my summer car functional for the months when it's not the daily.

When wet road i manage to gain traction, if standing water deep, will easy to predict car behavior...

I went from a 340 treadwear year-round performance tire to the RE71-RS on my E36 and they blew my mind right from the first trackday. The level of grip is just so much higher. I did run the pressures a little low at the first trackday and they got a bit hot after 4 hotlaps, but I bumped the pressures up slightly and they felt even better. In the damp and patches of standing water they are so good, no noticeable aquaplaning. I managed to better my PB around our local circuit by 1.0sec in the damp vs my previous PB which was in the dry. Super happy with them!

I use the N'Fera SU1 to replace my Dayton DT30 and the N'Fera SU1 is much better in every aspect. When i drive it for spirited drives and highway runs it does a very good job on keeping the noise down. Once the tires are warm it grips in corners very well, better than Dayton DT30. In the rain it disperse water quickly compared to DT30...how is that..well from dry to suddenly entering a rain curtain that is just pouring, it didn't change the way the tires react to those rainfall compared from Dayton DT30 that would fight on the tires to disperse water at 120kmh. Not kidding.

Mounted as fronts on E36 which is driven as track / daily car, no ABS or ASC, car is set with -3,5 camber up front. Contis lasted around 9000km, half of which was track style driving, drifting. Tires tread depth from new 7mm went down to about 2,5-3mm. Tire is rated 280AAA, fairly soft and grippy, tho its not semi slick. Gave good overall balance to car, as rears usually were not so grippy :) On dry a lot of feedback, you can really throw car around with confidence. A lot of information what is going on with front wheels grip. No understeering with proper pressure, usually lower from typical 2,2 to 2,0-1,9bar. When cold, around 4-7deg C, lack of temperature is showing, you need few laps to get heat into tire, as understeering is obvious. Wet grip was very good for the first 4000km, turn in felt really secure. On the limit very progressive, easy to control. Car would follow easily where I intended to turn, mostly sideways. After 4000km on entry of the corner or braking: understeering, sudden slip or locking one of front wheels occured, that meant these tires are done. I can't comment on noise, tracking tire with no abs means flat spots. Overall good tire, giving a lot of information to driver, just keep in mind wet grip deteriorates FAST.

Mounted as fronts on E36 which is driven as track / daily car, no ABS or ASC, car is set with -3,5 camber up front. Contis lasted around 9000km, half of which was track style driving, drifting. Tires tread depth from new 7mm went down to about 2,5-3mm. Tire is rated 280AAA, fairly soft and grippy, tho its not semi slick. Gave good overall balance to car, as rears usually were not so grippy :) On dry a lot of feedback, you can really throw car around with confidence. A lot of information what is going on with front wheels grip. No understeering with proper pressure, usually lower from typical 2,2 to 2,0-1,9bar. When cold, around 4-7deg C, lack of temperature is showing, you need few laps to get heat into tire, as understeering is obvious. Wet grip was very good for the first 4000km, turn in felt really secure. On the limit very progressive, easy to control. Car would follow easily where I intended to turn, mostly sideways. After 4000km on entry of the corner or braking: understeering, sudden slip or locking one of front wheels occured, that meant these tires are done. I can't comment on noise, tracking tire with no abs means flat spots. Overall good tire, giving a lot of information to driver, just keep in mind wet grip deteriorates FAST.

great tire for the price! safe and pleasant at all times. I have to bmw 323i e46 and especially on my e36 m3 of 321ch !

i have fitted square set-up on my e36 m3 3.2 track car, specifically built for nurburgring. i ran (on recommendation to me from race drivers of same car), 4x 235/40/17, square setup - and was advised best to use the 180 street compound, rather than the 120 track. this apprently is the better tire as grip is equal to the 120, but they handle the heat better.

the tires, for the money, were fantastic. this was the first time i have used the car on track, since its been stripped etc, so i dont have much to compare to... but generally.... the grip was very good, maybe not quite as good as a r888, but certainly in line with federal 595-rs if not slightly better, but im comparing that to on another car so its not a fair comparison.

the tires look great, and are quite wide tread pattern. they have a small rim protector too. they gripped well both in dry and wet. the broke away safely and progressivly, and didnt get overheated etc. i did around 40 fast laps of the ring (8.12 BTG is my best time on these tires). i ran them quite hard pressures, again on recommedation. 32 cold, aiming for 40 hot. this seems high, but works.

best of all was the tire wear. i did 1000 miles to the track and back on motorway, and 40x laps at a good pace... and they are hardly worn at all. infact they still look virtually new. i would expect less than 1mm had been worn away, and they come with 7mm from new i think anyway.

overall a very good tire for the money, and certainly worth trying. they are half the cost of r888 and i think they are likely 90-95% as grippy... but thats just my expectation. would be interesting to compare them to other tires in the future, but for the budget minded trackday, they are great

Overall it's an alright tire considering the price I paid (got a free alignment too!) Have never really had issues with grip in the dry or wet, but I don't push the car when its wet as the roads are terrible here. In terms of feedback, you can feel the tires take a second to catch up after going over some bumps, apart from it not a lot. They've still got a bit of tread on them at the moment, will see how long they last. But worst thing overall is the noise. I had crappier tires on the car before, and somehow these are worse for noise than the other tires put together.