Who's running non BMW star rated tyres

[XK8]

Hi, I'm due all four tyres very soon on my 3.0sd X3. I've read that it's best to buy the Pirelli star rated tyres as are fitted now, or face transfer box noises and faults! A full set for my 19" rims is circa £700  from tyre leader. I can get the same size, mid range for half the price. So, options are invited from y'all.

Cheers

[X5Sport]

Just read through here and you will see.  You don’t have to fit Pirelli but ‘*’ marked is advised.  The money you save might be blown by a wrecked transmission.  There are no hard and fast rules about what will or won’t happen on a car fitted with non ‘*’ tyres, just that the risk increases - especially on staggered fitments wheels.  Less of an issue on ‘square’ setup wheelsets.

My X6 is still under warranty but I have chosen to put ‘*’ marked on for both Winter and Summer - and they are RFT too which increases the pain  :cry1:  I paid £880 a set for 20”fitted & balanced so tyres must have gone up a bit recently.

[graemeX5]

Hi

I have the standard 20" wheels on with Bridgestone runflats fitted as per factory probably on its second or third set due to the car mileage.

Graeme 

[Horizon]

[quote="XK8"]
Hi, I'm due all four tyres very soon on my 3.0sd X3. I've read that it's best to buy the Pirelli star rated tyres as are fitted now, or face transfer box noises and faults! A full set for my 19" rims is circa £700  from tyre leader. I can get the same size, mid range for half the price. So, options are invited from y'all.

Cheers
[/quote]
I have an X3 running 19" tyres, I opted for all the same size tyres and makes all round, even though I have the staggered setup.
The rims were 8.5"j and 9.0"j so only 1/2" difference in wheel widths.
According to tyre / wheel width calculators on the internet 255/40/19 was suitable for both width rims, so I went for them all round. All my transmission wind up problems went away.
Also you can have any make you choose. Without needing to worry about * rated tyres.
And at half the price.
http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/t ... 982.0.html

[kkx5]

Uniroyal rainsport 3, the only ones i can recommend for staggered x3 set up.

[gs223]

There's another dimension to this question, which is tyre pressures, and I'm sure the choices here do make a difference. In the driver's front door panel, there is a sticker which shows quite a wide variation in possible values and the relative range between front and rear according to the expected load. And clearly your choice of pressure affects the ride quality as well.

When I had my new set of tyres fitted, the (allegedly specialist) fitter pumped them up way above the recommended level, who knows why.

[XK8]

Thanks for the opinions, this gives my food for thought.

[quote="kkx5"]
Uniroyal rainsport 3, the only ones i can recommend for staggered x3 set up.
[/quote]
I like the look of the Uniroyal option but cannot see any Uniroyal Front tyres listed anywhere. My current size is Front 235/45 R19, Rear 255/40 R19. What size do you run kkx5??

I'm also going to look at a non staggered setup too, with 255/40/19 all round. My winter wheels are non staggered I think, they are in storage so will look sometime soon.

[X5Sport]

Non staggered use different rims - in case you hadn’t spotted that bit.

[kkx5]

[quote="XK8"]
Thanks for the opinions, this gives my food for thought.

[quote="kkx5"]
Uniroyal rainsport 3, the only ones i can recommend for staggered x3 set up.
[/quote]
I like the look of the Uniroyal option but cannot see any Uniroyal Front tyres listed anywhere. My current size is Front 235/45 R19, Rear 255/40 R19. What size do you run kkx5??

I'm also going to look at a non staggered setup too, with 255/40/19 all round. My winter wheels are non staggered I think, they are in storage so will look sometime soon.
[/quote]
I dont own an x3, i own a garage, repairing transfer boxes and from my experience uniroyal or "*" marked tyres only. All the other brands are hit or miss. Yes, you right, uniroyals only up to 18"...

[XK8]

[quote="X5Sport"]
Non staggered use different rims - in case you hadn’t spotted that bit.
[/quote]
Mmmmmmm, Horizons opinion and thread reference appear to differ.

[Horizon]

[quote="XK8"]
[quote="X5Sport"]
Non staggered use different rims - in case you hadn’t spotted that bit.
[/quote]
Mmmmmmm, Horizons opinion and thread reference appear to differ.
[/quote]
The Msport does use different rims, staggered rims are 1/2 wider on the rear than on the front, also the offset is different than the SE, which has identical widths and offset on all 4 corners.
I was concentrating on identical rolling curcumferances and 255/40 /19 are suitable for either 8.5 or 9" rims.
Go on real OEM and type your Vin in to see what width your rims are.