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It's time for summer tires. While I would love Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's, I can't justify spending $1600 CDN for the set. Running Michelin Pilot Alpine's that came with car last December. Good winter tire, will set aside until November.

Been doing searches and reading reviews. Possible choices narrowed down, in no particular order:

1. Toyo T1R
2. Nitto NT 555
3. Goodyear F1 All Season (prefer summer tire, but priced well)
4. Dunlop Sport SP 9000 (OEM & nice tread, but not hearing great news)
5. Falken 452

All of my previous BMW's and MB's have only ever had Michelin tires. I don't know much about either Nitto's or Falkens, friends in the BMW and Mustang worlds suggesting these brands. I'd be interested in your reactions and feedback if anyone is running these tires or
any other tires I have not included in my list that I should consider.

Best regards,

Rob

Hi Rob, I had Michelin Pilots when I first bought the car but for $ A 950 a piece I thought there has to be another solution. So I bought TOYO Proxes 1TR for the rear and later for the front, the tyres performed well, not much noise but the rear only lasted 20K .Yesterday I got talked into a rear set of Uniroyals Rainsport 1 for $ A 260 a unit and they seem fine but of course I do not know how long they last, (longer than Toyos) according to the (mailnly) Toyo dealer.

 

[rainerg]

OK I'm in the market for new tires as well. I have been running Toyo T1R for 1.5 years and will not buy them again due to wear and product coming apart in half-life. When I first ran them great tires for handling and ride with very low sound in car. The E55 eats these tires up in the rear (like it does most soft tires) but what happened this month makes me think about going with another brand. First my RR tire wore very odd on one side maybe it was the rear alignment off until I found the same thing on my front FR tire which looks like a belt inside the tire came apart at high speed. The rears have been changed once, and I was able to keep the fronts due to tread life on them. The front tires still have maybe 5,000 to 7,000 miles left except for the problem tire, which just happened.

I was thinking of Nitto NT555 but in Miami you need good rain tires in the summer so they are out, but now I may try the INVO I have talked to a few Viper guys that are running them and they love them. But I think the same company owns Toyo and Nitto? I think Toyo has a problem with high heat like Pirelli did back in the 90’s. I see a lot of high-end tuners putting Nitto’s on their cars so maybe these are better then the Toyo brand or Nitto is giving great deals to these shops (Renntech, Steeda, etc)? I have not liked the Goodyear F1 tires, but the Corvette guys seem to dig them. I have not used them on my Mercedes. I did run the Falkens on my S class but the car was to heavy and they burned up fast.

So which tire? The Nitto INVO looks to be a good choice for me due to being low sound, great in wet and dry, but are rated at 260 very soft tire. These may not last on our E55’s. Does anyone have these tires on their E55? What about the Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta I only seen the ads for these and I not met anyone using them yet. Feedback anyone? Thanks

Hi Dawson,
Interesting your comments re Toyo Proxes 1TR. When I repalced my rears yesterday after only 20K kms the passenger side had the same problem, the side was chewed out. I had the tyre dealer do a wheel alignment and he reckons it was out a fair bit but I think they always say that. I am wary of Falken and other exotic stuff thats why I tought the Uniroyals Rainsport1( made in Germany by Continental) might be the go and at that price it is not so important. They are no noisier than the Toyos. Maybe this helps.
Rainer