XSeries-forum

Hi all, I have read a few scare stories on having non star marked tyres so as mine are at 4mm want to prep ahead and understand what tyres I would need to be looking for.

There is a recent message string on winter tyres but my question is more on summer tyres. I am running a set of 19inch which are 245/45/19 on the front and 275/40/19 on the rears.

I currently have a set of Kumho Estca x3 tyres at the moment. These came with the car as I have only owned it about 4 weeks or so.

Ideally I'm looking for a full list of star marked tyres compatible with my x3 but can't seem to locate one any where.

My X3 has the same tyre setup as yours. It came with Pirelli P Zero run flats. I found tyre noise quite intrusive on poor road surfaces. In 7 months I was unfortunate enough to have 3 punctures. With that level of inconvenience I decided to change over to normal tyres.
Opted for Pirelli Pzero Rosso non rft’s and they are brilliant. Road noise has reduced. Not had a single puncture (same roads and mileage) .I carry a tyre inflator, tyre gunk, patch kit just in case.
For the winter I stuck with run flat 17” setup as don’t fancy messing about in the cold.

Thanks pinewood, as my wife drivers the car more than I do would want to stick with rft tyres and also had a bad experience with gunk so swore I never again.

Do you know if there is any way to tell if a tyre is star marked online?

I can understand regarding rft’s , we are looking at an X1 in the new year and will keep them on that vehicle as wife uses the motorways regularly.
Places like blackcircles, will state they are "star rated” and there is also a [emoji93] logo on the sidewall.

Whilst I understand the BMW stance regarding tyres, I would have thought that any ‘branded’ tyres should be ok. Just remember you cannot only change one tyre on an axle, and really the whole set should be changed at the same time to ensure that all corners have the same rolling radius to prevent diff and transfer box wind up and consequent damage.

From members experiences on the Forum, only ‘*’ marked or ‘MO’ (Mercedes) marked have matched rolling radii - can’t remember the Audi marking.  Non marked can be >30mm different - as measured by one of our members on a new set of tyres a couple of years back.

We are getting an increasing number of members reporting destroyed transmissions with tyres the most likely culprit.  kkx5 on here fixes them and has been very clear in his warnings about tyres - with the E83 X3 seeming to be the most vulnerable.  Whether the issue is going away on later cars is not yet apparent, and BMW will walk away from warranty cover.

Right have done my research and I knew it wouldn't be cheap but can't find any deals on anywhere.
Fronts
https://m.asdatyres.co.uk/245-45-19?specialist=rft
Rears
https://m.asdatyres.co.uk/275-40-19?specialist=rft

I am split between Bridgestone potenza s001 or a Pirelli p zeros. Does anyone have experience as to which ones last longer?

Checked somewhere like tyreleader dot co dot uk?

Based in Germany but ship to UK quickly and often have good deals 

I have used opened.com before , they are not uk based but tyres are fairly cheap and quick delivery , they do star marked also as well as all the top brands .

[quote="sid10"]
I have used opened.com before , they are not uk based but tyres are fairly cheap and quick delivery , they do star marked also as well as all the top brands .
[/quote]

If you mean oponeo.com yes they are on my list of website that I am checking. Will see who has the best prices.

[quote="X3driver"]
Right have done my research and I knew it wouldn't be cheap but can't find any deals on anywhere.
Fronts
https://m.asdatyres.co.uk/245-45-19?specialist=rft
Rears
https://m.asdatyres.co.uk/275-40-19?specialist=rft

I am split between Bridgestone potenza s001 or a Pirelli p zeros. Does anyone have experience as to which ones last longer?
[/quote]

In my experience both are relatively soft. If you want tyres to last buy Michelin...

Right well i pulled the trigger on a set of Hankook Ventus Evo 2 * Run flats ordered from Oponeo which are being delivered directly to a local tyre fitter who is fitting them for me.

Just wanted to give my conclusive list of sites I used which people prob know but for those who don't:

Best Sites:
https://www.oponeo.co.uk
https://www.camskill.co.uk
https://www.tyreleader.co.uk

Other sites worth considering
https://www.asdatyres.co.uk
https://www.blackcircles.com
http://lovetyres.com

I did see the tyres cheaper on Tyres365 but the trust pilot reviews for that site were bit hit and miss so stuck with the tried and tested sites above.

Thanks, chaps.  This has been a very useful thread.  I've just bought a 16 plate F25 20d whose tyres are at about 5mm.  Since the tyres look big (245/50 R18) I have been researching replacements (RFT) and they look pretty pricey.  I wondered then about going with non-star-rated tyres, but I shall not bother now I've read this thread.

replaced p zero runflats with p zero rosso non run flat best thing ever less road noise smoother ride