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[GreenPlease]

Hey guys! I've been running these for a little over a week now and I thought I'd share my thoughts/impressions/criticisms/praises with you guys. The tires/sepcs are Continental ExtremeContact DWS 235/35-19F, 245/35-19R.

Note: My last set of tires on these wheels were Falken Fk-452s. Prior to that I was running the OEM runflats on the OEM rims. Other cars/tires at my disposal (and therefore serve for comparison) are my E65 7 series with Pirelli Pzero Nero All Season and my dad's Mercedes CLS63 with Michelin PS2s.

Goals: This car is a daily driver that gets a lot of miles. I wanted something that would be quiet, last a while, and hold up well in the frequent torrential downpours we experience here in central florida. This last point was of particular importance as it seems I find myself driving on a soaked road literally every other day of the year. Turn in response, dry traction, and ride comfort were second tier considerations for me.

Results:
-<500 miles. So far... GREAT! These things are QUIET. Seriously quiet, as in the quietest tire I've ever driven on by a long shot. We'll see how that holds up over time. Ride quality is also notably smoother than with the Falkens (they started to trammel a lot) and is on par with the Pirellis on my 7 (they have huge side walls btw) and on par with the PS2s on my dad's CLS63. I haven't had a chance to test their boundaries yet so I cannot comment on traction. Turn in is definitely slower than with my Falkens but it's really not that much worse and it certainly doesn't bother me. The only way I've been able to notice this is if I really throw my car into a turn and even then its not terribly noticeable. The side wall on the rear is slightly thicker than my Falkens (which were 265/30-19) and I'm actually very satisfied with the fender gap in the rear. The fender gap in the front still leaves something to be desired which I may address later on down the line with coilovers. It should be noted that these tires turned out to be very "round" (see my installation experience below).
-~1000 miles Still great! I've actually got about 2000 miles on them at this point and I'm absolutely loving them. Essentially no visible wear at this point, though the tires definitely "stick" more now than when I first reviewed them. Weird but a nice surprise. No noise creep, still silent as a nuclear submarine. I did get them the rears to break traction the other day but, given the circumstance, I'll blame it on my open differential before I blame it on the tires. I'll note that it was a very progressive brake-away (not sudden) and that I was easily able to get the car back under control. My only regret thus far: turn in response is softer than I'd like. But considering the improvement in ride quality and noise it's a small price to pay for a great daily driver tire.
-~5000 miles I'm right at the 5k mark with these tires. Noise has just recently started to creep in but it is very tolerable. Noise levels are now on par with my OEM RFTs when they were brand new. I still don't see much along the lines of tread wear so it looks like these will last a long long long time Overall, a great tire for daily driving

Installation experience: I had these tires installed at Goodyear Auto Service on West Colonial and John Young Parkway. Worked with a guy by the name of Bill who did a phenomenal job (with the help of another guy... Mike maybe... also a great guy). They mounted the tires and balanced them on a Hunter Road Force balancer (GSP9700 I believe). Whole process took 2 hours, on the long side for sure, but the Falkens gave them absolute hell when it came to removing the old tires. They said that my wheels exhibited 14lbs, 11lbs, 4lbs, and 4lbs (Left rear, right rear, fronts, respectively) of road force. Also said that they had never seen anything below 10lbs and that these were, in their words, "awesomely round tires." Overall, I give them and would recommend them to anyone on the board in the CFL area.

[KWY91]

Nice Review! It's also rains alot here, maybe this could be my future set of tyres!

Cheers!

[UncleWede]

At least on TireRack, the DWS is cheaper, has better wear than the DW, AND they're $10 cheaper (in stock 325 sizes). This is SO difficult because I just don't know whether to go non-RFT for a DD for the wife. They save me $50 over RFT . . .

[GreenPlease]

The ride quality is soooo much better

[Perfectus]

Thx for the review! I was actually looking at these on tirerack today but no one has reviewed them.

[Gary@TireRack]

Thanks for posting this!

[gemini330zhp]

I just mounted these tires on my car recently and they performed as advertised. I live in the North East drive my car daily. I wanted a tire with all season performance and yet not change tires for winter and summer gets to be a PITA. I had the Continental Extreme Contact on my E46 M3 and they did not fail me even in snow. I figured Continental stepped up their game with the new DWS tire. So far 500+ miles on them and alot of rain up here. The DWS is a Excellent Rain Tire at hight speeds!!!! They are quiet and smooth and handles nicely also I did a plus one size so they are wider than stock. So far I am not disappointed with its overall performance. Can't wait till it snows to see how it performs !!!!

[GreenPlease]

Thanks for posting this!

No problem Gary! I really do love these tires and it was great doing business with you guys. I've bought two sets of tires from you guys in the last two months and couldn't have been happier with the process. Keep it up

[jayhudson]

TireRack rocks, yes!!!!!!

Jay

[jopa489]

Nice review! I'll be looking for new tires after this winter too (RE050A's don't have much left left at this point). My E90 is the DD and sees a ton of miles too - over 20k/yr on it alone. So I'll be looking for something quiet and comfortable also, even to sacrifice a bit of performance. I'm not impressed with the ride quality of the RE050A's and unless the third-generation RFTs are significantly improved, I won't be buying another set.

[RevC]

very nice review!

[BMW's Only]

for everyone here who is getting non runflats, are you guys not concerned in case of a flat/hole? im looking into switching to these as well from my turanza rfts. any thoughts/opinions would be much appreciated.

thanks!

[Bimmerboy87]

Very nice, maybe will give them a shot one day.

[RPM90]

I have an 09 135i that came with Bridgestone RFT's.
I replaced them last month with a size up DWS, 225/255 - 18's, stock was 215/245.

The sport suspended 135i rides a bit harsher than the 3 series, and the RFT's are a big reason for that. The DWS really improved my ride in every way, especially in rain/wet roads. These tires accel in the rain, great grip.

Like the OP experienced, turn in a bit "slower", but overall nothing dramatic like the improvement over bumps and ride quality.
I have played a bit with PSI and they do improve a bit with slightly higher pressure.
I like to run my tires 2psi higher than the standard setting, more like the sustained highway pressure, 38F/40R.

With the RFT's on big bumps my rear end would literally JUMP off the pavement, and when getting onto a highway and trying to accelerate, a big bump would result in loss of traction and acceleration with the traction light going off. Doesn't happen with the DWS tires, just nice bump absorbtion the way a BMW should drive.

They are very quiet, especially on ashphalt. On concrete they are about the same as the RFT's, maybe a bit quieter.

Wear is not perceptible at this point, but it's been less than 2000 miles.
They do have an excellent wear rating though, I think it's over 500.

Negatives:
A bit sharper steering response would be nice.
I notice something a bit odd, but I can't tell for sure if it's any worse than with the RFT's. Sometimes it feels as if I have to correct my steering while traveling straight on a road at high speed. It's not a feeling of unstableness. I think it's just the softer sidewalls that might have more road bump deflection. But, I only notice this if I'm concentrating on it, so that probably makes it more obvious.

So far I have no regrets getting these tires, and would recommend them to anyone wanting a year round great performing tire.
From the TireRacks tests, the Mich PS all season+ are very comparable to the DWS, along with having a bit quicker steering response. But, they rate a bit less in quiet, on wet, and compared to the previous Mich to Conti all season, the DWS should be better in snow as well. Overall, the DWS outshined the new Pirelli and Mich PS+ in wet performance.
I don't think one would go wrong with the Mich tires either, they cost a good deal more though.
OH, and the Conti's come with a road hazard warranty for the 1st year included from Continental, and have the best warranty rating too, good deal.

One more thing, the DWS are the lightest tires compared to the Pirelli, Mich, and RFT's. In comparison to the RFT's I shaved at least 10lbs al around of unsprung weight.
That has been noticed by the average 1-1.5mpg increase in fuel economy, driving the same roads in the same manner. I've actually gotten up to 2.5mpg better on certain drives.

[GreenPlease]

+1 on the mpg increase. I'm seeing about a 1mpg increase.

[HapaVibe]

Originally Posted by BMW's Only

for everyone here who is getting non runflats, are you guys not concerned in case of a flat/hole? im looking into switching to these as well from my turanza rfts. any thoughts/opinions would be much appreciated.

thanks!

Lots of threads on this. But I think the choices come down to this:

1. Buy the spare kit on sale at Tischer BMW (includes the jack)
2. Buy the BMW Mobility kit (don't think it'll work for a catastrophic flat)
3. Use a winter/summer tire as a spare (and don't forget to buy the jack)
4. Buy a single wheel and put an old tire on it as a spare (ditto on the jack)
5. But a can of fix-a-flat (same warning as #2)
6. Buy roadside repair service, e.g., Geico or AAA
7. Do nothing and call your significant other when it happens

I think I covered all the options I recall.

[///AV_330i]

These tires are great!! Ordered them from Tirerack about 3 weeks ago and had them installed last week, amazing tires! I had Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Pluses before (which i payed a fortune for, $1,400!!!) so I was incredibly surprised when these $750 tires were even BETTER. Definitely would recommend then, handle better than the Michelins and are more conformable, the tread of the Michelins almost made the car seem TOO grippy, not light on its feet. interested to see how they do in the snow, Michelins were slightly better in the wet. Either way, these are great, buy them if you need All Season.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by ///AV_330i

These tires are great!! Ordered them from Tirerack about 3 weeks ago and had them installed last week, amazing tires! I had Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Pluses before (which i payed a fortune for, $1,400!!!) so I was incredibly surprised when these $750 tires were even BETTER. Definitely would recommend then, handle better than the Michelins and are more conformable, the tread of the Michelins almost made the car seem TOO grippy, not light on its feet. interested to see how they do in the snow, Michelins were slightly better in the wet. Either way, these are great, buy them if you need All Season.

Really?
The Mich Plus were better in the wet than the DWS?
TireRack review seemed to indicate that the DWS was the best in the rain.

Do you think your experience was because the DWS were too new?
After a few hundred miles I find my DWS are grippier.

It's good to know that I didn't miss much not going with the higher priced Mich tires.

[GreenPlease]

^+1 regarding the "newness" factor. The moulding compound on the DWS seems to be pretty resilient. It took me a couple hundred miles to wear it off.

[bavarian19]

Nice, but that aspect ratio on the rear is different than what 19's should have on non-M E9x's.


If they made it in a 265/30/19, I would be all over them.

[GreenPlease]

^
I was also looking 265/30/19 when I purchased my tires. I was told that 7 additional 19" sizes would be available "soon" and I'd imagine that 265/30/19 would be one of them.

[GreenPlease]

^
I was also looking 265/30/19 when I purchased my tires. I was told that 7 additional 19" sizes would be available "soon" and I'd imagine that 265/30/19 would be one of them.