Decent factory tire

[Maybe Magpie]

Jesus shit, do NOT buy the Eclipse. It killed the E36 hatch- fuckers have NO, I mean really NO wet grip whatsofucking ever.

I have sworn of Schwab for selling me such an incredible piece- of- shit tire. I mean, worse than 10 year old bias- ply
1974 truck tires.

The 318ti has an E30 suspension design, so yep, it's apples- to- rotten- apples comparison.

t
your psa for the day

Thank you, that's good to know if a little alarming. I wasn't aware they were considered that bad in comparison. I've only really had the chance to do moderate-at-best driving thus far, so that probably is the cause of my perception. Do you know any summer-temperature street tires that are okay with rain in 14" baskets or 15" euroweave compatible sizes? I've been having trouble finding anything decent that matches that description. I'm wide open to suggestions, but I do plan to get some properly treaded tires (and possibly a set of bottlecaps if I can't scrounge up the cash for euroweaves) before winter shows up, when it rains way more often here. I'll do some more poking around but last I checked there were slim pickings for anything like those locally and online. I'm pretty new to all this, I appreciate the knowledge.

E: I did some poking around and by messing with the aspect ratio and size as per recommendation of an acquaintance and I turned up Hankook Kinergy ST and Yokohama Y356 for 14"s if you run 195/75/14s. Any opinions on those?

[McGyver]

Thank you, that's good to know if a little alarming. I wasn't aware they were considered that bad in comparison. I've only really had the chance to do moderate-at-best driving thus far, so that probably is the cause of my perception. Do you know any summer-temperature street tires that are okay with rain in 14" baskets or 15" euroweave compatible sizes? I've been having trouble finding anything decent that matches that description. I'm wide open to suggestions, but I do plan to get some properly treaded tires (and possibly a set of bottlecaps if I can't scrounge up the cash for euroweaves) before winter shows up, when it rains way more often here. I'll do some more poking around but last I checked there were slim pickings for anything like those locally and online. I'm pretty new to all this, I appreciate the knowledge.

E: I did some poking around and by messing with the aspect ratio and size as per recommendation of an acquaintance and I turned up Hankook Kinergy ST and Yokohama Y356 for 14"s if you run 195/75/14s. Any opinions on those?

Just get the General Altimax rt43 that I posted earlier. They're a Grand-Touring All-Season tire, so don't expect the extreme grip of a UHP Summer Tire in the warm dry and don't expect the grip of a winter tire in the snow. They're not for pushing your car to the limit on a track or canyons, but as TobyB said, they grip well in the dry, they grip well in the wet, and it's obvious and predictable when they start to let go at speed around a corner. They're decently priced and a great tire for a commuter car. I have them on my daily and they do the job fine.

For more performance on a second set of wheels, I just got a set of Continental Extreme Contact Sport in 205/50-15. They're being mounted right now, so I haven't Driven on them yet, but they feel grippy and nice to the touch.

My fun car had a set of General G-Max RS in 225/50-16. Aside from needing a 45-side wall to fit my car, these have been amazing. Outstanding grip in the dry, good performance in the wet, and also a great price.

[Maybe Magpie]

Just get the General Altimax rt43 that I posted earlier. They're a Grand-Touring All-Season tire, so don't expect the extreme grip of a UHP Summer Tire in the warm dry and don't expect the grip of a winter tire in the snow. They're not for pushing your car to the limit on a track or canyons, but as TobyB said, they grip well in the dry, they grip well in the wet, and it's obvious and predictable when they start to let go at speed around a corner. They're decently priced and a great tire for a commuter car. I have them on my daily and they do the job fine.

For more performance on a second set of wheels, I just got a set of Continental Extreme Contact Sport in 205/50-15. They're being mounted right now, so I haven't Driven on them yet, but they feel grippy and nice to the touch.

My fun car had a set of General G-Max RS in 225/50-16. Aside from needing a 45-side wall to fit my car, these have been amazing. Outstanding grip in the dry, good performance in the wet, and also a great price.

Awesome, thank you! This is helpful and I'll look into these. Appreciated.

[McGyver]

No worries, let us know what you get and how you like it.

[McGyver]

I forgot to mention, this website is a great resource for visualizing the difference in wheel size/offset and tire sizes:

https://www.willtheyfit.com/

[Maybe Magpie]

No worries, let us know what you get and how you like it.

Will do. It'll probably be a ways off due to financial limitations but I'll be making note to keep the Altimaxes very high on my list of stuff to snag and I'll relegate the Toyos to spare tire duty as soon as I can do so. I'm already aware of willtheyfit but it's a really nifty resource and is very helpful for visualizing wheel differences. Thanks again.

[peterr991]

I got new Vredestein Sportrac 14" tires from my local BMW dealer. They were $69 each plus installation.

very nice color! i agree, Vredestein tires are not bad as for such a price

[lukeADE335i]

Another cheaper option that works well for our Australian members with 14 inch wheels are Hankook Optimo K415s. If you can get them in the US, they're a summer tyre not an all season.

Very similar in grip and noise to the 14 inch Michelins that I had on the car previously.

I was looking for a cheaper option so that I could run my 14 inch wheels - for my Alpina reps, the only tyre left down here that meets the minimum 88 load rating of the S2 e30 with a 205/50 16 size are Michelin PS4s.

[Zaffer]

Reviving an old thread…

I ended up getting Ohtsu tires as I HATE Hancooks. They were on my e46 Wagon when I bought it and the wet traction was HORRIBLE! I’ve heard similar issues from other Euro car drivers (Porsches and Mercedes).

I was a little apprehensive about the Ohtsu’s, but it looks like they’re one of Michelin’s basic brands. Haven’t put a ton of miles on them, but they do pretty well for all-seasons. Wet traction is pretty good as well, so far.

[lukeADE335i]

How long ago did you have the Hankooks on the e46 / how old were the tyres? I was skeptical too, but the K415s are fine, not noisy and plenty of grip wet and dry. My wife's new Hyundai had them stock, and we switched her car to Michelins when they wore out and I noticed that the Michelins made barely any difference at all to the grip, noise or handling of her car. On her previous Kia a swap from the original Kumhos to Michelins was a night and day difference, so I thought the K415s were worth a shot on the e30 given I'd always run Michelins on my 14s.

They don't grip like the Bridgestone S001s on my e92, but then they are high performance tyres nearly 4 times the price!