Best Tires for the BMW 318is

First of all I'd like to clarify that I bought the car in late february 2023 with these tires (DOT 0119) fitted on by the previous owner sometime during 2019. Between the tires being fitted and me buying the car, it was not used very much. In fact it was sitting for most of that time with occasional use to keep the battery "healthy". I've driven about 4000km on them and I think it's fair to say I am not very impressed.

The first problem I encountered was the fact that while they aren't dry rotted, microcracks have started forming inside the grooves in the tread and on the sidewall to a lesser extent, but since they had still plenty of tread left I thought to give them a go for a while before changing.

On average-high quality dry pavement the grip is not phenomenal but I wouldn't consider them dangerous to drive on. They can spin for a few meters when launching in first gear and momentarily when changing to second quickly near the redline. Totally expected for an old rwd car with about 140 horsepower more or less. When starting uphill on poorer quality pavement the wheelspin is unavoidable no matter how smoothly I try to take off. In the wet on the other hand it takes almost zero effort to spin at low speeds and it's not hard at all to induce oversteer when cornering at a slow pace.

I haven't found the limit of grip to be progressive, as when inducing oversteer on purpose and the "drifting angle" becomes a bit higher there is a tendency to fishtail.

When driving on a twisty road, the front tires are slow responding, meaning there's lag between turning the wheel and the car changing direction. I know the 65 series profile is big but I'm not too keen on that behavior.

The worst part is braking, as I've had to "panic" brake on two seperate occasions (average pavement, dry weather, tires were not cold) from moderate speed in order to avoid obstacles and the tires didn't brake efficiently enough. The front wheels locked up much more quickly than anticipated (car has no ABS), meaning the brakes outpowered the tires by a lot. I'd expect better performance and having to pump the brake pedal less to keep control of the situation. Thankfully none of the afformentioned situations resulted in an accident.

To summarize I wouln't buy these tires again and I wouldn't reccomend buying them to anyone since they somewhat disappointed me. Sure, I didn't buy them new and they weren't stored in the best conditions when I got my car and started driving it but I surely expected better braking and handling to some extent.

23 December on N12 outside Delmas Rsa. A vehicle on the opposite side oncoming had a Tire blow out the vehicle started to barrel roll out of control heading directly towards my vehicle. I took very serious evasive action on my Achilles atr 17 by literly turning my car from left to right at at that time approximately 120kph. The Tire gripped 100% saving my families lives. Yes I am going to purchase a new set come 2021.

First impression was great. Grip, feedback, traction and especially braking were great... at least until summer kicked in. I have driven with this tires fitted from -5°C to +35°C and they are amazing up to around 25°C. When temperatures rise over 30°C and surface temperature increases (basically during summer) they start acting like winter tires in the summer, a lot of understeer(in a rwd car) feedback is a disastrous and if you push them it only gets worst. They can still stop the car with minimal ABS intervention but I was expecting a lot more from Continental.

The dry grip works extremely well, cornering was much better than i expected. Tackling aquaplaning got no issue but during rainy days, i did not drive aggressively and no big deal with it. Got this tire at a relatively low sales price and definitely value for money.

Continental Premium Contact 5 tires are fitted to my elderly 1998 BMW E36 . I really have no complaints about these tires, the car previously being fitted with the earlier Contact 2 type. They have excellent handling and most
important exceptional wet grip. On my car they seem to last between twenty to twenty-five thousand miles which is acceptable. Would recommend.

Awful tire , even driven normally without going crazy you get definetly crazy with its wear did not even last 7,000 km (4300 miles ) on the rear (bmw e36) , good price for a set but absolutely not worth it , cant afford change tires every other month , other than that it has pretty good grip in wet and dry .

These tires replace Toyo Proxes T1's on a BMW E36 coupe. Haven't yet tried these tires in wet conditions, but they are simply fantastic.
The entire driving attitude has changed, the car sticks to the road like glue, feedback is good, they are silent in comparison to the Toyo's, and pretty much most other tires I have had in the past. They are comfortable despite the low profile, something which is very new to me, as the Toyo's were rock hard.

Really good tire in the dry but unpredictable in the wet. Good wear & comfortable for a low profile tire!

For the budget range of tires I personally think that the Accelera Alpa tires are at the top end of the budget selection. They are excellent in the dry and grip very well onto the tarmac. Driving in and around London and on long motorway journeys are not a problem. They are both comfortable and do not make much noise at high speeds. In the wet they are however not as good as they are in the dry but then that's with most tires. They grip fairly well and are acceptable when driving in wet conditions. They have a great thread design which allows it to grip excellent in dry conditions and as for wet conditions I would put a percentage of 60%.

Great tire selection for the price and providing you drive sensibly you will most definitely get your moneys worth and more. They will last many miles and provide you with a acceptable driving experience. I have these tires on both cars being the BMW E46 325I and the classic BMW E30. They work well on both cars. I strongly recommend them to those of you on a budget to get these tires. I think in due time they will become a Mid Range tire if they continue to with this level of quality.

Mr Singh.

Had the tires fitted on a BMW 318i E46. Steering wheel shakes uncontrollably at 80 KM / Hrs and gets better as you pass the 100 mark. Though it was something to do with the wheel balancing, wheel alignment, control arms and shocks, only to discover the tire surface is not so smooth, with so many bumps if you spin the wheel with your hand on top of it. Had to change to standard BMW tires and the car was back to normal operation. The noise they make is so unbearable especially when you want to drive with windows open. Wonder how Triangle managed to get approval to sell such a dangerous product and what kind of tests they are taken through.