<E28> 15" tire recommendations please...

["Aaron Bohnen" <bohnen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone,

I'm putting a set of 15" E32 wheels on my E28 533i and need to buy some 
tires to fit. I have done some research but it would be great to hear from 
digest members about these final options. One thing to remember - I have a 
dedicated set of snow tires/wheels already so all-season's are not strictly
required. Nevertheless, with the typically unpredictable B.C. weather in 
the shoulder seasons there is a distinct possibility that I could be caught 
in some snow/slush before or after having put on or removed the winter set 
in the spring or fall. For this reason I'm considering not only high-perf, 
summer-only tires but also high-perf, "all-season" tires as well. Although 
such a name is pretty obviously a misnomer the "all-season" tires I'm 
considering in my list of candidates barely qualify for any snow usage 
anyway...

The first question is size - the original tires on the car are the dreaded 
metric 200/60VR TRX 390's. The new rims have 4 fewer millimetres of offset 
so that the tires will already be 4 mm farther out from the car than stock 
by virtue of the wheel offset.

The potential sizes and available tires for consideration are:

- - 205/60/15 - quite close to the stock fitment. This is very slightly 
shorter than the stock TRX wheel/tire combo, and slightly wider.

Summer only, high-perf tires in 205/60/15:
 Bridgestone RE71 
 Yokohama AVS intermediate 
 Continental SC CV90 

(of these I am tending towards the AVS inter. for it's good reputation)

"All-season", high-perf tires in 205/60/15:
 BFG Comp T/A VR4
 Dunlop SP4000 A/S 
 Yokohama AVS S4 

(of these I am tending towards the SP4000 A/S for it's obviously good 
science, Z-speed rating and good reviews, low price, etc. The Yoko AVS S4 
also looks good.)

- - 205/55/15 - same width but a little shorter than the stock fitment.

Summer only, high-perf tires in 205/55/15:
 Bridgestone RE71 ZR
 BFG Comp T/A ZR

(of these I am tending towards the T/A for it's low price and good 
treadwear, although the RE71 is also very attractively priced.)

- - 215/50/15 - a little wider and somewhat shorter than the stock fitment.

Summer only, high-perf tires in 215/50/15:
 Yoko AVS Intermediate

"All-season", high-perf tires in 215/50/15:
 SP4000 A/S ZR

(of these two choices I prefer the SP4000 A/S because of its' long life, 
although I would probably really appreciate the AVS intermediates as well.)

- - 225/50/15 - an inch wider and somewhat shorter than the stock fitment. 
This is the widest size I will put on the car - this alleviates having to 
fuss with rubbing/interference/clearance/etc.

Summer only, high-perf tires in 225/50/15:
 BFG Comp T/A ZR
 Bridgestone RE71 ZR
 Dunlop SP8000 ZR

(I know these will likely be the most fun tires for the car - low, wide and 
sticky. Unfortunately they tend to wear out really fast. I guess I'd look 
at any of these, likely with the RE71 and T/A's at the top of the list)

So, does anyone have any relevant thoughts on all of this?  

Specific thoughts on sizes?

Specific thoughts on tires?

Specific thoughts on specific tires in specific sizes?

One last thing - Please no one suggest Tire Rack and their admittedly 
fantastic special prices on some of these tires - I'm not going to be 
shipping from them to me here in B.C., it's just much too expensive. :<

Thanks in advance for any insight into this...

Aaron
___________________________________________________________
Aaron Bohnen                     email: bohnen@domain.elided
- -Ph.D. Student, Civil Engineering Department, U.B.C.
- -Technicraft Engineering Services

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