Best Tires for the BMW BMW E36 325i

Well after a set of Uniroyal rain sport 2's for a year,which replaced the original Michelins on the rear, I had my concerns about these tires even though I had read lots of reviews.But needing two new tires just before xmas money was a deciding factor.

I picked these up for just under ?100.00 a corner and have to say I am really please with these.
I went careful for the first 150.00 miles or so after reading the comments but can say that I found no problems
with grip when new.After that I started to push them a bit and I have to say I really have not noticed any difference in grip between these and the uniroyal which supprise me.
In the dry these are as good as any tire I have had before giving good feedback, they also feel comfortable and I have not really noticed any difference in noise.

In the wet I am impressed with the grip and do forget that I am still not on my old uniroyals these have not given me any cause for concern even in very heavy rain at motorway speeds.If you really punch the throttle in the wet yes these will spin but give good feed back so you know what they are doing.

I cannot give any comments on wear yet but the uni's and miches only lasted a year so would not expect any more than that for these, don't be fooled by tire centers telling you these are budget tires, these are deffinatly mid range but perform better and as good as some more expensive premium brands.If I get a year out of these 8-10,000 then I will be happy enough to replace like for like.For the money you could do a lot worse than these,and if you only drive round town with occational motorway driving, you will be wondering why you spent all that extra cash on more expensive brands, give these a go and put the saving in the fuel tank !!

Done 8000 on the rear of my beemer now and looking to replace as they have just about had it, only 2-3mm left,a good tire as I have reviewed these before when new.Was hoping to really get more miles out of these but the car has lots of rear end power which only has one way to get to the road.Dont get me wrong these have been great and really grippy you might have a job getting hold of these now as there are only a handful of tire dealers that now import these-shame.
Looking to try something else maybe Falken 452's or my dealer just recomended the new Coopers 2xs which is the new name for Avon by the way !
Let you know what I get decide on later.

I have owned 2 325's for combination of 3 years now and have had a several set of tires on this model and I can honestly tell you that the Toyo T1-R is the best model of tire that I have used yet. I have used Pirelli P6000's, Federal Super Steel 595's, Falken FK451's, Falken ZE512's, Michelin PS2's and Continetal Contact Sport 2's.

The absolute worst thing you can do if you drive spirtedly is put cheap tires on your car,especially if you have a RWD BMW that is reknown to be tail happy. I know where you are coming from trying to save money on cheaper tires as I thought the same thing. I had a set pair of 225 45 17 Federal SS595's on the rear and had used them for about 2 weeks (500 + miles) I was going round a large roundabout ( approx 20 seconds to drive round it) and the sidewall gave as i was turning . resulting in a blowout which sent my car absolutly flying. I had two choices, hit the traffic in the lanes next to me or aim for a place to ditch it. Picture the scene, its 12am at night, its raining and im running a 2.5 liter engine on one 225 45 17 and an alloy wheel with a tire flailing around it.

I went across 2 lanes avoided all traffic, mounted the outer curb, took out a sign, an illumiated bollard and hit the massive steel reinforcements. Car was a Cat B write off.

Lesson Learned.

The tire's I have used I would rate in the following order from the best to the worst.

Toyo T1-R's (now 245 40 17) Falken ZE512's, Michelin PS2, Continental Sport 2's, Falken FK451's, Pirelli P6000's, Federal SS595's. ( Do NOT buy this tire ) it could cost you your car, your life or someone elses.

People have mentioned that the Toyo's have soft sidewalls, Toyo has addressed this, please choose a tire with a Reinforeced Side wall, they ARE the tires im reviewing here.

Pirelli P6000's are useless in the wet (205 60 15)

If I couldn't find any Toyo's I would get the ZE512's until I could get a set.

www.camskill.com offer good deals on any makes of tires.