E39 Tyres/suspension?
Discussion
Having just got myself a new E39 M5 (see other thread) I think it might not have as much grip at the back as I was expecting, it is very sutble, and it might just be me being over sensitive with my new car.
It has 2 new Dunlop SP Sport tyres on the back, and half worn Bridgestone Potenza's on the front. At first I thought something was a little loose with the rear suspension, I think I have ruled this out now, but would like to hear if anyone knows any more about my possible (but unlikely) theory.
I now think it most likely the tyres, giving less grip on the back, am I right?
What are the best tyres fo this car?
A) for outright grip?
B) best combination of grip and long life?
Im not too worried about road noise.
It has 2 new Dunlop SP Sport tyres on the back, and half worn Bridgestone Potenza's on the front. At first I thought something was a little loose with the rear suspension, I think I have ruled this out now, but would like to hear if anyone knows any more about my possible (but unlikely) theory.
I now think it most likely the tyres, giving less grip on the back, am I right?
What are the best tyres fo this car?
A) for outright grip?
B) best combination of grip and long life?
Im not too worried about road noise.
Firstly congrats on the car 
On the rear grip. Have you checked the rear ARB? The fixings are a known point of failure. Cheap as chips to fix though. I'm sure the different compounds front and rear aren't helping though. I've tried a few different tyres over the last few years and have found the best all rounder to be the Conti Sports Contacts.
On the rear grip. Have you checked the rear ARB? The fixings are a known point of failure. Cheap as chips to fix though. I'm sure the different compounds front and rear aren't helping though. I've tried a few different tyres over the last few years and have found the best all rounder to be the Conti Sports Contacts.
I did have little look underneath with my very limited knowledge, everything seemed to be as it should, I did look at the Anti Roll Bar links, and they seemed to be fine (I could be wrong, Im not realy qaulified to know).
The fact that it has just been through an AUC check also makes me think it is unlikely to be this. When I was a used car manager for BMW I often used to sign off workshop invoices for used car prep, which often included roll bar links on E39, and X5's. So therefore if it was at fault Im pretty confident they would not have missed it.
The fact that it has just been through an AUC check also makes me think it is unlikely to be this. When I was a used car manager for BMW I often used to sign off workshop invoices for used car prep, which often included roll bar links on E39, and X5's. So therefore if it was at fault Im pretty confident they would not have missed it.
Edited by kentmotorcompany on Monday 19th March 23:03
As said already, the anti-roll bar brackets are quite flimsy and do break (though mine haven't yet), so some people upgrade to these ones: www.beastpower.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BMI&Product_Code=TC-BE39-RSBB
From the link you will also see how the ARB brackets look like (when broken)
From the link you will also see how the ARB brackets look like (when broken)
The original equipment tyre for the car was the Dunlop SP Sport 8080. I've heard reports of them feeling a bit wayward if they have different tread patterns front to rear, but I don't know how much truth there is in it.
Mine has 8080s on the back and SP Sport 9000s on the front, and it doesn't seem to affect it. Having said that I've never pushed it to anywhere near the limit, I'm not that sure I'd know what to do once I got there.
Mine has 8080s on the back and SP Sport 9000s on the front, and it doesn't seem to affect it. Having said that I've never pushed it to anywhere near the limit, I'm not that sure I'd know what to do once I got there.
Having different tyres on different axles is not recommeded, particularly with such a heavy performance car. 
Tyre pressures can also make a lot of difference re grip and ride, if you are running standard 18's its best to stick to BMW's recommedations, as found on the door pillar/drivers side. 
From my experience Michelin PS2's are probably the best allround tyre for the car, followed closely by Goodyear Eagle GSD3 F1's which were particularly good in the wet, as I ran these on my winter wheel setup.
HTH.
C.
Tyre pressures can also make a lot of difference re grip and ride, if you are running standard 18's its best to stick to BMW's recommedations, as found on the door pillar/drivers side. From my experience Michelin PS2's are probably the best allround tyre for the car, followed closely by Goodyear Eagle GSD3 F1's which were particularly good in the wet, as I ran these on my winter wheel setup.
HTH.
C.
Mine was running Dunlop SP8080s all round when I purchased the car and I've continued with them. Suggest the best option would be replacing the fronts to match the rears. Fronts wear out quickly on the cars as well due to wearing on the outer edge, so the chances are you'll then have the option to switching to one of cableguy's suggested tyresoptions when replacements are needed.
Hi all,
This is my 1st post on here, we have had similar discussions on BM3W. I have Dunlop Sport SP9000's all round on mine and although I have nothing to compare them to they are crap. The rear end always feels very loose and the traction control is always cutting in. Having spoke to Dunlop the SP9000's are not rated for the M5, and they do know upsets the TC by fooling it into thinking the wheels are spinning when they aren't. The SP8080's were AUC fittied and are the only ones reccomended from Dunlop.
I have recently taken delivery of some new PS2's of which I have heard good reports. It will be another few miles till I put them on, but will keep you posted.
This is my 1st post on here, we have had similar discussions on BM3W. I have Dunlop Sport SP9000's all round on mine and although I have nothing to compare them to they are crap. The rear end always feels very loose and the traction control is always cutting in. Having spoke to Dunlop the SP9000's are not rated for the M5, and they do know upsets the TC by fooling it into thinking the wheels are spinning when they aren't. The SP8080's were AUC fittied and are the only ones reccomended from Dunlop.
I have recently taken delivery of some new PS2's of which I have heard good reports. It will be another few miles till I put them on, but will keep you posted.
Stevem5 said:
Hi all,
This is my 1st post on here, we have had similar discussions on BM3W. I have Dunlop Sport SP9000's all round on mine and although I have nothing to compare them to they are crap. The rear end always feels very loose and the traction control is always cutting in. Having spoke to Dunlop the SP9000's are not rated for the M5, and they do know upsets the TC by fooling it into thinking the wheels are spinning when they aren't. The SP8080's were AUC fittied and are the only ones reccomended from Dunlop.
I have recently taken delivery of some new PS2's of which I have heard good reports. It will be another few miles till I put them on, but will keep you posted.
This is my 1st post on here, we have had similar discussions on BM3W. I have Dunlop Sport SP9000's all round on mine and although I have nothing to compare them to they are crap. The rear end always feels very loose and the traction control is always cutting in. Having spoke to Dunlop the SP9000's are not rated for the M5, and they do know upsets the TC by fooling it into thinking the wheels are spinning when they aren't. The SP8080's were AUC fittied and are the only ones reccomended from Dunlop.
I have recently taken delivery of some new PS2's of which I have heard good reports. It will be another few miles till I put them on, but will keep you posted.
Thanks, What you have described with the back end feeling loose, and the traction control always cuttinng in when you know it shouldnt, is exactly what I am getting with mine.
I really do want to get some new tyres, but the big problem is with tyres is, you have to spend your money first, then see what difference (if any it makes) and because I actually need new tyres for a long time, I dont want to waste my money buying something that might not make any difference.
Let me know asap, what impression you get from them.
Thanks again.
I have an old school mate who does comparison testing for a tyre company. He says the PS2 is by far the best all round tyre for fast road use wet+dry.
I won't be fitting mine for another couple of month, well tell a lie, I will fit the fronts next month, and then have some extra fun with the rear end (DSC off)SP9000's drifting. Then once the rears are dead and hopefully just in time for Le-Mans have the rears fitted. So I will let you know but you may be waiting. Have a look on BM3W this topic has been posted to death!
I won't be fitting mine for another couple of month, well tell a lie, I will fit the fronts next month, and then have some extra fun with the rear end (DSC off)SP9000's drifting. Then once the rears are dead and hopefully just in time for Le-Mans have the rears fitted. So I will let you know but you may be waiting. Have a look on BM3W this topic has been posted to death!
I run with Dunlop SP9000s all round but have the pressure at 35-36lbs front and 37/38 rear. Anything higher, unless really heavily loaded, the car hops around a lot.
The last set ran 34k miles before being replaced, this current set are coming up to 30k with a good amount of tread still left.
Play around with the pressures as I found the recommended ones were too high for my liking/driving style.
The last set ran 34k miles before being replaced, this current set are coming up to 30k with a good amount of tread still left.
Play around with the pressures as I found the recommended ones were too high for my liking/driving style.
I run PS2's and can vouch for them being superb.
They give loads of grip and feel very progressive when you push it hard round roundabouts!
Its very easy to feel where the limits of grip are, with no nasty surprises. A decent ride too.
Ive had them on M3's in the past and I've always loved em. (expensive tho!!!)
They give loads of grip and feel very progressive when you push it hard round roundabouts!
Its very easy to feel where the limits of grip are, with no nasty surprises. A decent ride too.
Ive had them on M3's in the past and I've always loved em. (expensive tho!!!)
I've just switched to PS2's last Friday (best price was a BMW dealer once I haggled him down!!) and have worn them in well over the weekend: Dash for The Coast (see Events section) was 250 miles of 'swift' progress...
They are superb and much much much better than the standard fit Conti's from BMW. Hardly had any TC intervention which would have been a minute by minute frustration had I still had the Conti's for the run.
Having changed a lot of tyres my personal views from my own experience:
Bridgstone Potenza RE050A PP's - awesome, BUT wear out very fast, i.e. 8-9k miles of swift road use.
Goodyear F1's - excellent in the wet and sticky in the dry and generally manage 12-13k of swift driving. Very good recovery if grip lost.
Michelin Pilot Sport 2's - just got and seem superb on first 'hard' drive: in fact probably better than Goodyer F1's. Very good recovery if grip lost.
Yokohama AVS's - very good if dry and not so good if wet. Expect 8-9k miles if driven properly OK recovery but not the best.
Continental - long life but not very grippy. Control of aquaplaning becomes second nature with these as they are crap in the wet! Challenging to recover but not as bad as some.
Pirelli PZero's - Superb grip until you lose it then it's practically impossible to recover and trees do a lot of damage apparently! Luckily only ever lost it on track... (touch wood!)
See here too: www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=MP
Basically it all depends on how/what you drive, i.e. if 4WD such as Impreza or Evo then Goodyear F1's cannot be beaten.
If you push on at all opportunities then go for the best and spend some money because one day that ease of recovery combined with extra grip will keep you out of the trees!
They are superb and much much much better than the standard fit Conti's from BMW. Hardly had any TC intervention which would have been a minute by minute frustration had I still had the Conti's for the run.
Having changed a lot of tyres my personal views from my own experience:
Bridgstone Potenza RE050A PP's - awesome, BUT wear out very fast, i.e. 8-9k miles of swift road use.
Goodyear F1's - excellent in the wet and sticky in the dry and generally manage 12-13k of swift driving. Very good recovery if grip lost.
Michelin Pilot Sport 2's - just got and seem superb on first 'hard' drive: in fact probably better than Goodyer F1's. Very good recovery if grip lost.
Yokohama AVS's - very good if dry and not so good if wet. Expect 8-9k miles if driven properly
OK recovery but not the best. Continental - long life but not very grippy. Control of aquaplaning becomes second nature with these as they are crap in the wet! Challenging to recover but not as bad as some.
Pirelli PZero's - Superb grip until you lose it then it's practically impossible to recover and trees do a lot of damage apparently! Luckily only ever lost it on track... (touch wood!)
See here too: www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=MP
Basically it all depends on how/what you drive, i.e. if 4WD such as Impreza or Evo then Goodyear F1's cannot be beaten.
If you push on at all opportunities then go for the best and spend some money because one day that ease of recovery combined with extra grip will keep you out of the trees!
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