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[msnyder944]

Here is my dilemma, the tires this car came with need to be replaced. Car currently has:

225/45/R17 Continental ProContact (not sure if they are RFT, but I think they are)

Since I have bought this car, I absolutely love the handling. It handles like it's on rails compared to my previous cars (2012 Volvo S60 T5). It is pretty harsh over bumps which leads me to believe it has RFTs. Anyways, I digress, I'm looking at a few different tires for this car. However, I need to get some A/S tires since this is my daily driver and we do get some light snow in the winter but not enough to warrant a dedicated winter setup. I'm looking at going to 235/45/R17 tires to get a little more grip when accelerating due to the torque this thing has. Here are the tires I am looking at, any recommendations would be helpful:

Continental ExtremeContact DWS

General G-Max AS-03

Bridgestone Potenza RE970AS Pole Position

Nitto Motivos

Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season

I'm open to any other suggestions. The biggest thing for me is I don't want the car to handle worse after changing the tires. I want good dry and wet traction as well as decent light snow traction as needed. I would also like a tire that will at least do 30-40K Miles or more before needing replacing. Thanks for the help!

Matt

[Rickstir]

Highly recommend the Continental Extreme Contact DWS
I have them on my 2009 335i Xdrive and love them. They are much smoother ride compared to the run flats that BMW puts on the car.

[VMRWheels]

I recommend the Continental DWSes as well, however I will caution you that the way your steering feels will be different compared to what you're driving on now. These tires are not going to be as stiff as your RFTs, so you may notice the steering response is a bit slower.

[Gary@TireRack]

Originally Posted by VMRWheels

I recommend the Continental DWSes as well, however I will caution you that the way your steering feels will be different compared to what you're driving on now. These tires are not going to be as stiff as your RFTs, so you may notice the steering response is a bit slower.

+1

Even though the Conti Pro Contact SSR is one of the softer riding run flat tires, it is still relatively stiff which can translate into quicker steering response compared to non run flat all season tires.


If you're looking to minimize the reduction in steering response, you may want to lean towards the Bridgestone RE970 A/S Pole Position. The Continental DWS does have better snow traction, but the Bridgestone RE970 A/S should more than exceed your snow traction requirement of "decent light snow traction when needed".

Tires http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AH8&...ires/index.jsp

[msnyder944]

Well, I went ahead and got the Continentals. So far I like them, they are much smoother over the bumps. Steering response is different, but not enough to complain about, it still takes the corners very well, and I'm sure they will get better with more miles. I went with 235/45/R17, the slightly larger size gives me more traction. I have noticed the rear tires don't break loose as easily. Thanks for the input.

Matt

[DreiD]

I may be looking to go to 19" DWS's from 17 Conti Runflats on our 335d. I've heard that the runflats are so harsh I can expect a smoother ride even going up to 19's.

Thoughts?