E30 Tire size

1991 318IS, the car has the 215/60 's that were on it when I bought it. It
is time to replace and was wondering what expieriences were with the
original size (195/65). I have been pleased wtih how the car handles with
these tires, but then I have never tried others. The 215's are available,
it would seem, in stiffer speed rating which may be why they were changed to
begin with. Anyone with thougts about a good handling tire would be
appreciated. it is my daily driver, so street drags are out of the
question, I suppose. Thanks

Matt

> 1991 318IS, the car has the 215/60 's that were on it when I bought it. It
> is time to replace and was wondering what expieriences were with the
> original size (195/65). I have been pleased wtih how the car handles with
> these tires, but then I have never tried others. The 215's are available,
> it would seem, in stiffer speed rating which may be why they were changed to
> begin with. Anyone with thougts about a good handling tire would be
> appreciated. it is my daily driver, so street drags are out of the
> question, I suppose.

I run 205/55/15s in summer with Bridgestone Potenzas, very happy with
them. My winter tyres are 195/65/14 Goodyear Ultragrips (fantastic
winter tyre).

I'd try to score a set of 15" wheels on ebay and fit 205s.

--
Who needs a life when you've got Unix? :-)
Email: , John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage!
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In article >,
Matt Warren > wrote:
>1991 318IS, the car has the 215/60 's that were on it when I bought it. It
>is time to replace and was wondering what expieriences were with the
>original size (195/65). I have been pleased wtih how the car handles with
>these tires, but then I have never tried others. The 215's are available,
>it would seem, in stiffer speed rating which may be why they were changed to
>begin with. Anyone with thougts about a good handling tire would be
>appreciated. it is my daily driver, so street drags are out of the
>question, I suppose. Thanks

195/65's are good if you're taking grandma to the airport and you
don't mins feeling like the car will tip over while turning corners.

Well ok it's not QUITE that bad, but, uh, ya know, I'd go bigger
not smaller and taller.

Tire size calculator link:

http://www.mbz.org/sys/tires

--
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Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net

In article >,
John Burns > wrote:
>> 1991 318IS, the car has the 215/60 's that were on it when I bought it. It
>> is time to replace and was wondering what expieriences were with the
>> original size (195/65). I have been pleased wtih how the car handles with
>> these tires, but then I have never tried others. The 215's are available,
>> it would seem, in stiffer speed rating which may be why they were changed to
>> begin with. Anyone with thougts about a good handling tire would be
>> appreciated. it is my daily driver, so street drags are out of the
>> question, I suppose.
>
>I run 205/55/15s in summer with Bridgestone Potenzas, very happy with
>them. My winter tyres are 195/65/14 Goodyear Ultragrips (fantastic
>winter tyre).
>
>I'd try to score a set of 15" wheels on ebay and fit 205s.

Oh John you big wuss.

If you really want an OMG DOES THAT EVER HANDLE thing, get 16's.
The difference between 15 and 16 is MUCH greater than the difference
between 14 and 15. I absolutely would not go bigger than that, but
all things being equal, 16" utterly rawks.

--
Need Mercedes parts? http://parts.mbz.org
Richard Sexton | Mercedes stuff: http://mbz.org
1970 280SE, 72 280SE | Home pages: http://rs79.vrx.net
633CSi 250SE/C 300SD | http://aquaria.net http://killi.net

On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 17:55:40 +0000 (UTC),
(Richard Sexton) wrote:
>>
>>I'd try to score a set of 15" wheels on ebay and fit 205s.
>
>Oh John you big wuss.
>
>If you really want an OMG DOES THAT EVER HANDLE thing, get 16's.
>The difference between 15 and 16 is MUCH greater than the difference
>between 14 and 15. I absolutely would not go bigger than that, but
>all things being equal, 16" utterly rawks.

Except for the weight of them. Do you know what more unsprung weight
does for a car's handling? It's time this rubber-band tire/sidewall
flex thing was put to rest. A 25lb wheel and taller tire will give
you much better handling than a 45lb bigger diameter wheel.
Especially with independent suspension.

Unsprung weight. It's more important than you think. Smaller plain
steel wheels could be better than those cool looking big allys. From
a pure performance perspective, that is. YMMV, as always.
--
Dan.

"Dean Dark" wrote
>
> Except for the weight of them. Do you know what more unsprung weight
> does for a car's handling? It's time this rubber-band tire/sidewall
> flex thing was put to rest. A 25lb wheel and taller tire will give
> you much better handling than a 45lb bigger diameter wheel.

Yeah, but 205/55/16 is hardly a "rubber-band tire". And the weight
difference betw. 15" and 16" wheel is certainly not 20 lbs.

If you know what you're doing and are willing to spend $$$, it is
possible to get 16" rims that are actually lighter than some OEM 15".

Cheers,

Pete

> Yeah, but 205/55/16 is hardly a "rubber-band tire". And the weight
> difference betw. 15" and 16" wheel is certainly not 20 lbs.

205/55/16 are a larger diameter than stock. It's be 50 or 45 profile
you'd want.

My suspension is so firm (Bilstein sprints) that 205/55/15 is more than
firm enough. Less sidewall + highland roads = my fillings falling out
;-)

--
Who needs a life when you've got Unix? :-)
Email: , John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage!
Need Sun or HP Unix kit? http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/unix.html
www.Strathspey.co.uk - Quality Binoculars at a Sensible price

"John Burns" wrote
> 205/55/16 are a larger diameter than stock. It's be 50 or 45 profile
> you'd want.

Oh... sorry. When Matt wrote that the original size was 195/65, I assumed
that was with 15" rims. I guess it wasn't.

Pete

"Pete" > wrote in message
...
>
> "John Burns" wrote
>> 205/55/16 are a larger diameter than stock. It's be 50 or 45 profile
>> you'd want.
>
> Oh... sorry. When Matt wrote that the original size was 195/65, I assumed
> that was with 15" rims. I guess it wasn't.
>

Sorry, they're 14's... did the E30 come with 15's? Thanks to all

> Sorry, they're 14's... did the E30 come with 15's? Thanks to all

Some E30s (such as the UK 325i Sport) had 15s as standard. On all other
non-//M3 models they were optional.

--
Who needs a life when you've got Unix? :-)
Email: , John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage!
Need Sun or HP Unix kit? http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/unix.html
www.Strathspey.co.uk - Quality Binoculars at a Sensible price