I have a 2003 BMW 530 (love it!). It needs new tires, and this is my first time to buy tires for it. For other cars I’ve gone to Firestone, Goodyear etc. and may go that route again, but I wanted some general advice on buying tires for this car - type to get, amount I should expect to spend, is a general store like Firestone okay, etc. Thanks!
Look at the tires you have now and record the size, manufacturer and model of tire. Then go to tirerack.com and input the tire size specification to see what is available; you can also search for OEM BMW-530i tires. Read the reviews and see how your tires stack up against all similar tires. This gives you some idea what to look for at the tire store.
BTW, the site says your tires should be 225/55HR16 for the base sedan and offers three OEM replacement suggestions.
If your car has 16" wheels expect to pay from $400-$700 installed dependent on your choice. 17" wheels the price jumps $500-$1000 installed.
First figure out your size and then use this to read a review on how tires perform here —> http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testSearch.jsp
With regards to purchase call more than a few places once you have a choice and asked for installed price of 4 tires locally.
I recently used a Firestone store and found there prices very good on tires however the recommendation of extra not necessary service unbelievable to the tune of $600 in addtion to tires. Get ready to say no. The one prudent thing to have done is have your alignment checked during a tire install.
Does it have low profile performance tires? If so, check out tirerack.com, and look at the Goodyear Eagle F1 all-season ultra-high performance tires. I noticed a lot of BMW owners really liked these tires on their cars, per the reviews. I’m going to buy some for my MazdaSpeed. They are only about $140 each, which is good for low pros.
not really I have a 1999 bmw 328i (you can see it on my profile) with the tire size 225/45/R17 and at tire kingdom I bought a pair of sonar tires for 84$ each.
another good choice:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Assurance+TripleTred&partnum=255HR6ATT&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=43&speed_rating=H&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=H
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE960AS+Pole+Position&partnum=255WR6RE960PP&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=2&speed_rating=H&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=H
expect about $150 for each tire
On the Re960’s listed I really like those tires on my Subaru WRX. I would highly recommend them to anyone seeking a very high performance all-season.