[F31-340i]

Looking back it seems quite a while since I changed to 225 19" alloys, which I originally ran on the OEM Bridgestone RFTs. After the rears exhibited very severe inner tread wear I switched to Falken 452s all around, in slightly wider 265/30/19 sizes at the rear.

This was when I first tried them (car had less than 68,000 miles then)...

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ghlight=falken

This (post #13) was at around 76,000 miles...

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ghlight=falken

Now the car has just tipped over 100,000 miles, and the Falkens are still going strong - I reckon I've done probably 7,000 of those miles on my winter tyres, but that still means they've lasted 25,000 miles which is not bad.

The rears are now down to 2mm, and will be changed soon, but the wear is still even across the whole tread (unlike it was with the RFTs) and I've had no issues with cracking in that time despite having travelled over some pretty patchy roads. Hardly a scientific basis for a conclusion, but I reckon it was really the RFTs that were killing these alloys.

For new rears, I might go for Falken 453s - anyone tried them? Best price? Camskill appear to be around £140 each at the slightly smaller correct 255/30/19 size.

[A_P]

Wow hats excellent news, not had any experience with the falkens mate, but using your figures of 25k then you should be able to eek out another 4-6k from those.

Keep up the good work.

[pretendporsche]

Just changed the wheels on mine and went with 452's, was thinking about 453's but i read that they werent as good as the 452's.

I always used to run 452's on my vw's and i have even got them on my porsche, not quite as good in the wet, but as good as any other in the dry, and a fair bit cheaper

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by ///ajd

but that still means they've lasted 25,000 miles which is not bad.

Not bad!

That's incredible,never saw more than 12k on my rear Falkens,fronts always lasted considerably longer though.

[Kerr]

My previous Bridgestone RFT wore badly on the inner edge. The replacement Pirreli tyres didn't.

Tyre wear is very good for me too.

Just shows how much my previous FWD cars had to work the fronts too much having to do everything.

[335DEE]

I've done 22k miles on my 452's . and they are just now at the limit ( although slight wear on inside edge)
Great tyre in both wet and dry , quiet too , getting a little slippy now that they are on the wear markers but great value especially when you see anything equivalent is nearly £75 more per tyre.

Suffice to say that i've ordered 2 more 452's 265x30x19 from black circles

[Robin330i]

How do you rate the Falken 439 winters? I have the same fitted to mine right now staggered 17 Sport wheels and find them ok in the dry and good in water logged roads - not had a chance to try them out in snow yet.

[F31-340i]

interesting you've heard the 453s are not as good - most reviews suggest they are even better than the 452.

price wise there is nothing near either 452/453, unless you go fod nankangs etc. but these seem to get rubbish reviews and i'm inclined to think the compound is probably not the best so they deserve to be avoided.

what are people paying for 452/453s?

the winter 439s are ok, struggled a bit last winter (i live near pyrenees) on the steep slope in our village - i had to get chains. that said i'm pretty sure no winter tyre on our rwd 330 would have coped. if you don't have chains i'd get some - mine were cheap (39eur) and are a bit tricky to fit, but i do now have full confidence i will never get stuck which is good to know.

[MLAM]

Have you considered Kumho KU39's?

I personally rate them better than Falken in past experience, not to say the Falken is a bad tyre but I think the FK452 was slipping behind as clearly seen with the FK453 coming out.

[F31-340i]

Originally Posted by MLAM

Have you considered Kumho KU39's?

I personally rate them better than Falken in past experience, not to say the Falken is a bad tyre but I think the FK452 was slipping behind as clearly seen with the FK453 coming out.

i've not really considered kumhos, always assumed they were inferior - but for no particular reason other than my general ignorance of the brand.

i've ordered a couple of rear 453s in 255/30 size for friday, but note that the kumhos are the same price (in 19 sizes)

[F31-340i]

just changed the tyres.

the rears were worse than I originally thought and did have some significant inner wall wear that was not easily visible clearly until the tyre was removed. It is worth checking for this carefully as it is really difficult to see on the car unless its on a ramp etc.

whilst there was still some tread on the fronts, there was some outer shoulder wear on one tyre so in the end I changed all 4 for 453s.

[parapaul]

I'm amazed - I reckon I got about 10k from the 452s on the rear of mine, doing nothing but motorway miles. The KU39s I replaced them with look to be heading the same way - fitted in July, and they're down to about 3mm now after 8/9k.

[philmots]

I'd go for Hankook Evo S2. Quality tyre and about the same price as the 453's. No brainer to me.