Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[BurtMacklin]

Here's my comparison for you to take as you wish:

Car- 2007 328xi Touring with 193M wheels, staggered
Mods: 3IM, AA tune, 335i brakes f/r w/ECS SS lines (all 6)

Background: I bought the car with oem 156's which just didn't fill the wheel wells at all, drove like hell, and just made my car utterly mundane looking. I bought the 193m wheels and they came with RE050 RFT tires. I started with re050a's, went to dws06, and have recently run the re050s again temporarily. My "nutshell" review is that the RE050 is awesome in the dry, but really loud and the DSW06 is the better of the two for the following reasons stated and more. So here goes the good/bad of each. Both tires reviewed in the following sizes F/R- 225/40/18 & 255/35/18

Bridgestone RE050a RFT

Pros:

Incredible at steering input and feedback- the car just feels super tight/accurate in steering and the tires read the road and provide incredible feedback

Fantastic Dry weather performance. I drive a super twisty and high speed drive 5-6 days a week as my commute and these tires just feel like they have endless grip, right up to the point of unpredictable traction loss. Hard to explain here, but they grip great, right until they don't. There's no middle ground there.

When I first put these on (upgraded from the oem 156 16" wheels, uprgrade was on the original re505a's), it actually felt like I'd put coilovers on the car as everything tightened up and felt very "performance" like in comparison. I recently loaned my DWS06 wheels(193m) and borrowed my friends re050a's on the 195 wheel (~7lbs heavier per wheel). The swap reminded me once again of the tightness of the feel in steering input and overall control.

Cons:
I think I'm going to die every time I drive in the rain with these tires. Wet weather tracking is a best guess scenario and they love to hydroplane in even the slightest amount of standing water. White knuckle driving at it's most intense iteration.

Loud. Loud. Loud. Using a very generic soundmeter (and my ears!) on my smart phone and comparing in two places (directly from center console, and right next to my head) these tires, on varying roads range from 7-13 decibels louder than the DWS06, and were 5-9 db louder than the oem tires (forgot sizes, but 16" wheels...)

Tread life could be better, but I can't give specifics as I didn't bother to do proper depth readings prior to engaging in the prospect of a full comparison review. Sorry.

Tramlining is something I despise when driving, and these tires will follow everything on the road. spilled water on the road, they'll follow. Wind blows too hard, they let the car move. Ruts? better go 10 & 2, your passengers will love you for it. They tramline like a mofo on rough roads, and smooth roads.

Continental DWS-06

Pros:
Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! If you read above, you know the differences in volume. I commute a minimum of 74 miles a day, and put ~1200 miles per month on my car at highways speeds (75+ mph, and lots of twisty backroads at similar speeds). The tires made certain stretches of the drive far less "exhausting" as I no longer heard the drone of the tires.

Grippy as all get out. I feel like in terms of overall grip, they're at least on par with the re050a's, possibly more grippy in off-camber corners and definitely let you know when they're at the limit. Traction loss feels predictable and controllable, although I'll admit a slight con here- they push a bit at high speed corners, but not terribly.

Wet weather performance is far superior to the re050a's. I can cruise at highway speeds in pouring rain and still feel safe. I can also hit corners at higher speeds, get on the throttle and not lose control with them. Also, still more quiet in the rain! I live in Oregon, it rains a lot, so it matters a great deal to have wet weather performance.

Price is better. Full set, installed and warrantied was $650(ish).

Weight- they're lighter. 5 lbs per tire lighter actually, at least according to tirerack.com. Also, the ole' lift em up with muscles test reveals them to be noticeably lighter (truth moment- the 195 wheels are 2bs heavier than the 193 which reviewed here are currently on the DWS06)

They don't tramline nearly as bad as the re050a's. This isn't to say they don't tramline at all, just that its far superior in comparison.

Cons:

steering isn't as precise as the bridgestones. At times I felt like the steering was almost floaty in straight lines. This imprecision is partially why I think they don't tramline as much, kind of a win/lose/win scenario..

Overall, the handling on them isn't as sharp/accurate in terms of steer-in and trying to break the arse end out. The grip is there, so is control, but it takes more input from the wheels and brakes

not run flats, so carry a patch kit/inflator if you must feel safe.

There it is. I much prefer the DWS06 to the RE050a. Once driven, the cons of the DWS06 disappear into the muscle memory and I can still go nuts on my crazy fun drive through the canyons and farm roads I commute on. Again, all three sets of tires where on OEM BMW wheels. Rears were spaced out 15mm, fronts with no spacers. Enjoy, hope this helps anyone on the fence about what to get next.

Rear wheel weights (individual)- 195 w/re050a 56.7 lbs, 193m w/dws06 49.3 lbs. Not including air. Numbers taken from bmwfans.info and tirerack.com

TL;DR
Buy Continental DWS06- quiet, grippy, safer in inclement weather.

WINTER/SNOW UPDATE

guys and gals, I just had to update this thread to share that these tires are incredible in the snow. Over the past month, I've been driving on snow and ice covered roads with these tires and have barely had to modify my driving style. Compared to the OEM 16" wheels with Michelin Ice-X tires, these feel just as planted in straight line and stopping, but do tend be a bit squirrely on pure ice/compact snow when going through a hard (90 degree, small roundabouts) turn. Important to note, I commute 37 miles each way to work, and these inspire confidence at highway speeds. Careful throttle application and steering input make me feel like I'm almost getting wet road performance. Hope the updates helps some folk!

[Volasko]

Good review and thanks for sharing. It is worth noting that this comparison is a high performance run-flat vs. an high performance all season non-rft. Alot of the differences can be attributed to the rft vs non-rft argument. Either way good to know that the DWS06 can come close to matching the dry traction of the other tire while winning almost all other areas.

[thakid22]

I'd like to add...
The DWS06 really does have a nice and quiet ride quality.
They are top notch here. That being said, if you value sharp steering response, STAY AWAY from the DWS and DWS06.
These tires simply require MORE input to negotiate turns. The difference is dramatic and only increases as speeds/cornering loads increase. The difference is noticeable even when just steering around the block inside your neighborhood.
The DWS(06) will erode the sharp handling qualities of your vehicle. If you don't mind that, they will repay you with above average dry grip, stellar wet grip, capable snow handling, and creamy ride quality. Like OP noted, breakaway at the limit is smooth, predictable and controlled.

Let me suggest an alternative though (if you don't need snow/cold weather ability)...
The Michelin PS2 RFT enjoys much the same sharpness and vigor as the RE050aRFT.
The steering feels accurate, true, direct, feel some, and meaty on the PS2 runflats.
Additionally, the PS2 RFT rides like a normal summer performance tire. It is firm, but not harsh. Road noise is only nominally different than the (quiet for the segment) PSS tires everyone raves about. Grip is phenomenal in the dry. Better than good I. The wet, too. The PS2 runflats are quite civilized, though your wallet will pay dearly for this talent.

[BurtMacklin]

I hear ya thakid22! I need winter/wet weather performance due to the weather around where I live and work. I just put another 200 miles on the re050's today in the rain and I even felt them tramline/lose traction across the stripes in the road. Scary stuff!

[Dazza335iC]

As the friend of Burt who stole his nice new DWS06 tires for a week, I can echo everything he's said haha.

I've been blown away by how much grip there is with these tires vs the OEM Bridgestones. When you've got >500 ft-lbs of torque on tap, grip becomes really important if you want to put any of the power down, and the DWS06 absolutely excel in both dry and wet conditions. Where I used to get wheelspin even at 50-60mph in wet conditions as the revs rose, the DWS06 just stick like glue, no drama whatsoever. The difference is staggering; if someone had told me they retrofitted xdrive on to my car, I would have believed them. They're also far less "crashy" over sharp bumps or road imperfections. While the Bridgestones would smash in to the imperfection and send a huge thud through the chassis with a loud bang, the DWS06 do a much better job of smoothing out and reducing the shocks. I'm sure that's the difference in RFT vs non-RFT.

That being said, I do recognize that the turn-in is not as sharp. But for me it's a small tradeoff for the massive gains in traction, comfort, quietness, and treadwear.

[Searcher]

I have a 2011 335d with a stage 1 BPC tune, 193 wheels and I am ordering the Conti's DWS 06 in 235/40/18 and 265/35/18. I know I will lose responsiveness but it will be worth not spazzing out at highway speeds in an Oregon down pour while on my Dunlop Direzza Star Spec II's....Thos Dunlops have sketched me out a time or two....

[BurtMacklin]

Bump for winter/snow update in original post.