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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > Regional Forums > UK > Mixing RFT and normals



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      03-19-2018, 04:53 PM   #1
adam277
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Mixing RFT and normals

SUP!

So just got a E92 coupe 325i and its awesome the main annoying thing is it has normal tyres on the front and run flat on the rear.

Personally, I don't like run flats but they are basically new tyres.

So my main question is should I replace them? Long as I know its safe I'll just keep them on until I have a bit of money to burn.


Also tried to get tracking on rear tyres done but bolts are seized? Is this normal? Any idea how much this could cost if they can't free up the bolts?

I'm also gonna put it in for a service as I got it from a motor trader who claims he fully serviced it but has no proof... Car has done 70k miles anything in particular I should change?


All that being said it is a great would of loved the 335i but I guess I can always upgrade to it in the future! Oh! the seatbelt helper thing is stupid... half the time it misses the seatbelt!
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      03-19-2018, 05:24 PM   #2
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Shouldn't be problem with tyres, it's when you mix RF + Normal on the same axle that's the issue with handling etc etc...not ideal, but rather have these than bald tyres.

For seized bolts, take it to a proper alignment center (not Kwick Fit or anywhere like that) and get it going on a hunter 4 wheel alignment - look on here (alignmycar.co.uk) budget around £80/100 for this - be worth it!

Its most probably out anyway, mine was so far out it was mad, first thing I did was get my E91 booked in for alignment, and yes it's normal for them to be seized if car hasn't been aligned, amount of salt and crap on the roads, doesn't surprise me - they may need heating up.

Gearbox and diff oil change would be recommended at this mileage also 👍 I can hazard a guess it won't of been done, as BMW wont of done it.
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      03-19-2018, 05:46 PM   #3
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You will probably find your traction light comes on a fair bit with mixed front and rear tyres, especially when booting it out of a corner or on a roundabout if slightly greasy.

I have had mixed front and rears a few times and as soon as you get them matching you realise how twitchy it makes them when they are not.
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      03-20-2018, 02:10 AM   #4
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ibve got rf bridgestones on the rear and crappy landsail on the front,,car has never been bad but in wet conditions i take my time,,cannot wait till the rears are worn then i can get 4 uniroyals on,,wet performance is awesome with uniryal rs3..had them on my focus st mk2 and ive got them on my e46 330d.. my e90 car was bought like this with tyres mentioned,,i will sell the front tyres as they still have plenty tread on..
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      03-20-2018, 03:57 AM   #5
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4 budget tyres on a RWD BMW is better than mixed premium front and rear.


It is the different tread patterns that cause the issues.
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      03-20-2018, 06:27 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gIzzE View Post
4 budget tyres on a RWD BMW is better than mixed premium front and rear.


It is the different tread patterns that cause the issues.
how do you work that out...deffo wrong,,i had some rotalla once on a set of wheels i bout,,my car had 160 bhp and would spin the wheels in fifth,and omg when roundabouts approached i used to take crash positions,,ive had good tyres on front and rears(mixed )a nd the cars been fine..some really bad tyres out there,,accellers are also bad
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      03-20-2018, 07:55 AM   #7
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For normal everyday driving, mixing RF and normals front and rear is perfectly fine. Only issue is when running them on same axle - you won't feel any difference. Ideally replace all at same time but life gets in the way, aslong as there legal all is good.

I did it years ago on my 118d, put the RF on rear as they were just too hard, soon wore out after few 10k, then swapped all.
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      03-20-2018, 08:32 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LazyHound View Post
For normal everyday driving, mixing RF and normals front and rear is perfectly fine. Only issue is when running them on same axle - you won't feel any difference. Ideally replace all at same time but life gets in the way, aslong as there legal all is good.

I did it years ago on my 118d, put the RF on rear as they were just too hard, soon wore out after few 10k, then swapped all.

Sorry completely disagree.

Not saying you couldn't put a Michilen Pilot Sport run flat and a Michelin Pilot Sport non run flat on the car, the fact they are run flat and normal isn't the issue.

The issue is different tread patterns.

As you move up in power you will notice more of a difference, however, if you know what the signs are you will notice it with any BMW.

The way to test how much it can throw out a BMW is as you come off a roundabout that is damp give a little extra gas, not silly amounts, just a bit more and you will often feel the back end twitch out and the traction light come on. It shouldn't do this, in fact it is pretty hard to get it to do this with 4 matching tyres.

I am amazed at how many BMWs I see used have different tyres front and rear.

I never knew about it until I had my M3 CSL.
It was a twitchy mess, BMW replaced dampers, springs, then all the control arms and bushes and it was still not right. Problem was no one there really knew if the CSL was just like that.
I then got a call one day to say a tech from another main dealer was covering at Norwich for the week, he raced CSLs and they said to come over and he would take mine out.
We took it down the slip road onto the dual and then took the first exit off, as soon as we hit that roundabout he said "You have different tyres front and rear!"
I was adamant I had Pilot Sports all round.
We pulled over got out and sure enough PS on the front and PS2s on the rear.
We went back, put PS2s on the front and the car was transformed.

Now, going back down to something like a 320d you don't notice it in the same way, but when I did it for a few days you could tell it was doing what the M3 was doing just less aggressively.

I guess the point is, we tend to buy BMWs as we like to push on a bit, we enjoy driving, mixing tyres takes away a lot of the balance that a BMW gives you.


Now, having said all that, you can get lucky, I bought some 18" wheels for track and I had ordered some Pilot Sport 2s for them, when they arrived they had Kumho's on them. The tyre shop put on the PS2 rears and then realised the fronts were the wrong size. I ran round with them on for the best part of a week, and to be honest they were fine.
But looking at the tyres the tread was almost identical, which I think makes a the biggest difference.



When I say budget, I mean Kumho etc. not sime rock hard Chinese ditch finder.
I would prefer 4 Kumho or Vredesteins over a symmetrical tyre front and asymmetrical rear even from the same brand.

This has been discussed ad nauseam on BMW forums over the years.
Deniers deny until they experience the it, or rather they notice more how much more grippy the car is on 4 matching tyres.

Last edited by gIzzE; 03-20-2018 at 08:45 AM..
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      03-20-2018, 12:37 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gIzzE View Post
Sorry completely disagree.

Not saying you couldn't put a Michilen Pilot Sport run flat and a Michelin Pilot Sport non run flat on the car, the fact they are run flat and normal isn't the issue.

The issue is different tread patterns.

As you move up in power you will notice more of a difference, however, if you know what the signs are you will notice it with any BMW.

The way to test how much it can throw out a BMW is as you come off a roundabout that is damp give a little extra gas, not silly amounts, just a bit more and you will often feel the back end twitch out and the traction light come on. It shouldn't do this, in fact it is pretty hard to get it to do this with 4 matching tyres.

I am amazed at how many BMWs I see used have different tyres front and rear.

I never knew about it until I had my M3 CSL.
It was a twitchy mess, BMW replaced dampers, springs, then all the control arms and bushes and it was still not right. Problem was no one there really knew if the CSL was just like that.
I then got a call one day to say a tech from another main dealer was covering at Norwich for the week, he raced CSLs and they said to come over and he would take mine out.
We took it down the slip road onto the dual and then took the first exit off, as soon as we hit that roundabout he said "You have different tyres front and rear!"
I was adamant I had Pilot Sports all round.
We pulled over got out and sure enough PS on the front and PS2s on the rear.
We went back, put PS2s on the front and the car was transformed.

Now, going back down to something like a 320d you don't notice it in the same way, but when I did it for a few days you could tell it was doing what the M3 was doing just less aggressively.

I guess the point is, we tend to buy BMWs as we like to push on a bit, we enjoy driving, mixing tyres takes away a lot of the balance that a BMW gives you.


Now, having said all that, you can get lucky, I bought some 18" wheels for track and I had ordered some Pilot Sport 2s for them, when they arrived they had Kumho's on them. The tyre shop put on the PS2 rears and then realised the fronts were the wrong size. I ran round with them on for the best part of a week, and to be honest they were fine.
But looking at the tyres the tread was almost identical, which I think makes a the biggest difference.



When I say budget, I mean Kumho etc. not sime rock hard Chinese ditch finder.
I would prefer 4 Kumho or Vredesteins over a symmetrical tyre front and asymmetrical rear even from the same brand.

This has been discussed ad nauseam on BMW forums over the years.
Deniers deny until they experience the it, or rather they notice more how much more grippy the car is on 4 matching tyres.
I ran pilot sports front with Goodyear F1s on the rear of my 335i for four years with no issues, in fact it handled better in the wet/cold conditions than it now does with pilot sports all round.
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      03-20-2018, 01:22 PM   #10
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A perfect example of two two tyres that seem to work OK together, many owners on the M forums have said they have used this combo with no detrimental effects to handling.

But when you look at the tread pattern it is easy to see why....









This was the PS1 I had on my M3 on there front, and it was lethal.....

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