XSeries-forum

Hi,
I haven't been on for a while, was considering replacing the X5 as our husky can no longer jump into the back but having looked around there's not much to compare for similar money so going to get a dog ramp.
Anyway, I posted way back in January about replacement front tyre recommendations but as we've done so few miles this year they've lasted the Summer. At present I have Toyo ST all round on my staggered 20's & have been pleased with them, the rears have plenty of life left in them but they no longer make this pattern in 275/40/20 so I've been looking at the Toyo Proxes ST II, they don't seem as popular here in the UK but reviews in the States are mixed, some really rate them others hate them. Has anyone got these fitted & would you care to share your views. At the moment I can get a pair for about £ 280 which seems good if they are as good as the ST's. I can't even compare them with the new labelling system that rates tyres on fuel economy, grip in the wet & noise as they don't list them for this tyre.
The other ones I looked at were Dunlop Quadramaxx which rate really highly but are over £ 400 pair.
Regards, Phil.

Hi Phil , i have the same x as yourself , have it 6 months now it came with new tyres all round , but the dealer fitted the cheapest he could get , so i to will be interested to hear what others have to say about whats best to fit and why , good luck . Colin ...

Cheaper to buy a folding dog ramp for your ageing dog than a new car!  You can even have the one we used for elderly Border Collie to get into the X for a year or two before she died! 

But then again, any excuse for a new car eh! 

I've recently gone back to 20's and with Toyo tyres all round. As you say, they don't do ST's for the front size anymore so I went with T1 Sports to stay with Toyo all round. Different tread pattern but am pleased with them.

Hi, thanks for the replies. I emailed the supplier regarding the lack of labelling for the STII's & got a reply back to say they had no information so I emailed Toyo UK & they replied to say the STII was made for the USA market & that they do not comply with EU regulations ?
In the end & after a lot of looking around I've gone for Hankook Ventus, they seem to be generally well liked, only downside is they don't do these in 315/35/20 so when the rears need replacing I'll have to look around again. I'll let you know how they perform once I've got them fitted.
Phil.

Afaik and as your research supports ST2 not a available in uk..... Shame as they seem favoured as an all season tyre stateside. Personally I would aim to replace with a pair I can also source same rubber for on other axle

Make sure you source with correct Load index and rating

just a caution, ive been lead to believe that you want the back and front tyres to be fairly closely matched in wear,

apparently the transfer case cannot tolerate to much difference in rolling circumference.

That's true of any 4x4, however, it's more specifically important that either side of the axle is matched. It's actually not too much of a worry though. It's quite hard to wind up the system.

Hi, Thanks for the heads up, I know that on some 4x4's it is crucial that different size tyres or even new & worn tyres between the front & rear axles can cause problems ( Kia Sorento's where well known for this ) But as has been said it's more important that different tyres are not fitted to the same axle, either size, make or tread amount. My mate had this with his X5, he had two different manufactures tyres fitted to the same axle, the tyres were the same size ( according to the label ) but when measured where a lot different in circumferance & this caused all sorts of problems. My 315/35/20 rears & 275/40/20 fronts are slightly different rolloing radius anyway & I would hope BMW will have allowed for the fact that the tyres will wear at different rates, as it is my rears do have plently of life left in them so hopefully all should be ok, I'm certainly not replacing the rears when they will probably have another 10k miles left in them.
So far I'm pleased with the Hankooks but time will tell.
Phil.