New Michelin Pilot S/S installed (225/255)

[Stewy_604]

Another satisfied Pilot Super Sport setup on the wife's 1'er. Definitely beats the RF Bridgestone's for ride, and of course grip. With some go-fast goodies coming, the extra grip will come in handy.

Upcoming Mods:
-JB4
-ER charge pipe
-Berk Race axle back (satin black)
-BMS intake

Have a good weekend everyone!

[The Wind Breezes]

Sweet. Your wife must drive fast or you must use her car a lot.

[Stewy_604]

+1 to both...we love our toys.

[PopsnBurbles]

no suspension plans?

[Stewy_604]

Originally Posted by PopsnBurbles

no suspension plans?

OE is fine for now. Down the road, probably over the winter I'll do coils, either KW or ST, and camber plates.

[Converted1]

How do you like the upsize tires so far?

[Stewy_604]

Originally Posted by Converted1

How do you like the upsize tires so far?

Love them, both in looks and performance. I had planned on some mild spacers to step the OE RFTs, but now seeing these and the stance...I don't think I'm going to bother. I put the car through its paces over the weekend, I was really impressed with the handling and the feel. The outgoing Potenza's were like hockey pucks.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by Stewy_604

Love them, both in looks and performance. I had planned on some mild spacers to step the OE RFTs, but now seeing these and the stance...I don't think I'm going to bother. I put the car through its paces over the weekend, I was really impressed with the handling and the feel. The outgoing Potenza's were like hockey pucks.

This myth about needing to "improve" the suspension of a 128i or a 135i simply because you put non-run-flat tires on the wheels in place of the old RFTs, is the sort of thing that gets propagated across the internet as though it were fact. It is NOT a fact.

The truth is that tons of people have swapped out their RFTs in favor of standard non-run flats, and haven't done a thing to the car other than the tire swap. Run Flat tires are much more expensive than non-RFTs, so when it comes time to change the tires lots of people who don't participate on internet forums go with the cheaper, non-RFTs, and you can bet that very very few of these people do anything else to their cars, especially if the motivation was largely to save money on the tires.

If you search through the forums you will find some vocal proponents of doing suspension changes if the run flats are changed out; others say they have found the new, non-run flat tires to result in an improvement in handling and ride quality, without doing any additional changes to the vehicle. I have also read posts here where it has been speculated that this is very much tire-size-dependent, in that cars with 16 or 17" wheels might benefit from suspension or insert changes, whereas cars with 18" wheels have no or less "need" for them.

I, myself, have swapped out the RFTs on both my 135i and my 135is convertible, for standard tires (PSS in the case of the 135i, AS/3 in the case of the 135is vert), both with 18" wheels, and done nothing else. The ride and handling to my taste are much improved in both cases over the old RFTs. Does either car drive like my 1M? No. Would either drive like my 1M short of suspension changes out of all proportion to the value of those cars? I doubt it.

[Stewy_604]

^^ Well said. Truth be told, I really have no problem suspension-wise on this 1'er. The option for coils was something we wanted for the stance, and to maybe firm things up slightly.

[Converted1]

Great to hear. Post up pics if you have a chance.

Originally Posted by Stewy_604

Love them, both in looks and performance. I had planned on some mild spacers to step the OE RFTs, but now seeing these and the stance...I don't think I'm going to bother. I put the car through its paces over the weekend, I was really impressed with the handling and the feel. The outgoing Potenza's were like hockey pucks.

[Drtsk]

Originally Posted by champignon

This myth about needing to "improve" the suspension of a 128i or a 135i simply because you put non-run-flat tires on the wheels in place of the old RFTs, is the sort of thing that gets propagated across the internet as though it were fact. It is NOT a fact.

The truth is that tons of people have swapped out their RFTs in favor of standard non-run flats, and haven't done a thing to the car other than the tire swap. Run Flat tires are much more expensive than non-RFTs, so when it comes time to change the tires lots of people who don't participate on internet forums go with the cheaper, non-RFTs, and you can bet that very very few of these people do anything else to their cars, especially if the motivation was largely to save money on the tires.

If you search through the forums you will find some vocal proponents of doing suspension changes if the run flats are changed out; others say they have found the new, non-run flat tires to result in an improvement in handling and ride quality, without doing any additional changes to the vehicle. I have also read posts here where it has been speculated that this is very much tire-size-dependent, in that cars with 16 or 17" wheels might benefit from suspension or insert changes, whereas cars with 18" wheels have no or less "need" for them.

I, myself, have swapped out the RFTs on both my 135i and my 135is convertible, for standard tires (PSS in the case of the 135i, AS/3 in the case of the 135is vert), both with 18" wheels, and done nothing else. The ride and handling to my taste are much improved in both cases over the old RFTs. Does either car drive like my 1M? No. Would either drive like my 1M short of suspension changes out of all proportion to the value of those cars? I doubt it.

Completely agree.
Just picked up 2009 135i and the first thing I did was change all four tires to Conti DWS. I decided against PSS because in my estimation DWS is a better DD tires. And the car feels great on stock suspension!
To me, RFT are flat out awful. Not to open up a can of worms, if BMW thinks so highly of RFT, why do all new M cars come with non RFT.

[Stewy_604]

^^ Good point indeed.

[ptack]

We ancient ones call them "Run Craps". I do recommend 1" wider wheels all around though with the PSS. Use the stock wheels for winter.

[Stewy_604]

^^ I've already got winter shoes for her, 17" steelies with 225/45/17 Michelin X-Ice snows. I actually think the OE 18"s wear the PSS quite well, nice block look...square to the face of the rim.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by Stewy_604

^^ I've already got winter shoes for her, 17" steelies with 225/45/17 Michelin X-Ice snows. I actually think the OE 18"s wear the PSS quite well, nice block look...square to the face of the rim.

I just went with stock sizes on the stock wheels (18") on my 135i and have not regretted it or wished for anything else. In the absence of some compelling reason to do otherwise, I would suggest doing the same. It is not like the MFR had no fucking clue when they designed the car, after all.

[Stewy_604]

^^ To each their own. But following that logic, there would be no aftermarket or performance parts industry and vehicles would be the best they can be right off the showroom floor.

[PA135i]

There is some logic to what champignon is saying. This is my third BMW and never knew about "plus sizing" tires when I had the first one. When I asked a salesman from tirerack.com about my plans he said that BMW tunes the suspension to match the size/brand tires on the car. If you alter that by plus sizing you will lose something. At the time I had a 2002 BMW 325Ci and it came with high performance dunlops.

ie. switching out the run-flats and you will lose the quick turn in the OE Bridgestones give you.

I just bought Michelin PSS on 3/25/16 in 225/255 sizes. They are very good tires... I'm impressed by the smoothness and how they handle bumps. In the rain is amazing, but most new tires are. Will have to see in 6 months if the wet traction holds up. I'll be very curious to see how many miles I get out of them.

[litebulb]

I lucked out and got a lot of my suspension stuff through local private sales. However, I would highly suggest doing something about the RSFB. I went with the Whiteline inserts, for the cost and ease of install. It has really stiffened up the rear suspension travel.

[smrtypants44]

Originally Posted by PA135i

There is some logic to what champignon is saying. This is my third BMW and never knew about "plus sizing" tires when I had the first one. When I asked a salesman from tirerack.com about my plans he said that BMW tunes the suspension to match the size/brand tires on the car. If you alter that by plus sizing you will lose something. At the time I had a 2002 BMW 325Ci and it came with high performance dunlops.

ie. switching out the run-flats and you will lose the quick turn in the OE Bridgestones give you.

I just bought Michelin PSS on 3/25/16 in 225/255 sizes. They are very good tires... I'm impressed by the smoothness and how they handle bumps. In the rain is amazing, but most new tires are. Will have to see in 6 months if the wet traction holds up. I'll be very curious to see how many miles I get out of them.

Also there is minor speedo penalty with using plus size tires. 215/40/18 tires have a 86mm sidewall. 225/40/18 tires have a 90mm sidewall. So the circumference of the 215 tire is 1976.69mm and the 225 tire is 2001.82. Thats a difference of 1.2% over stock. That means at 70mph your speedo will read 70.89mph.

[Stewy_604]

^^^ The speed sensor for the odo/speedo would be on the rear, no? With that said, by my math: if the 255/35/18 is doing 60 mph, the OE 245/35/18 would be doing 59.5 mph...damn close.

[MightyMouseTech]

Originally Posted by smrtypants44

Also there is minor speedo penalty with using plus size tires. 215/40/18 tires have a 86mm sidewall. 225/40/18 tires have a 90mm sidewall. So the circumference of the 215 tire is 1976.69mm and the 225 tire is 2001.82. Thats a difference of 1.2% over stock. That means at 70mph your speedo will read 70.89mph.

Tread wear makes a bigger difference than that.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by champignon

This myth about needing to "improve" the suspension of a 128i or a 135i simply because you put non-run-flat tires on the wheels in place of the old RFTs, is the sort of thing that gets propagated across the internet as though it were fact. It is NOT a fact.

The truth is that tons of people have swapped out their RFTs in favor of standard non-run flats, and haven't done a thing to the car other than the tire swap. Run Flat tires are much more expensive than non-RFTs, so when it comes time to change the tires lots of people who don't participate on internet forums go with the cheaper, non-RFTs, and you can bet that very very few of these people do anything else to their cars, especially if the motivation was largely to save money on the tires.

If you search through the forums you will find some vocal proponents of doing suspension changes if the run flats are changed out; others say they have found the new, non-run flat tires to result in an improvement in handling and ride quality, without doing any additional changes to the vehicle. I have also read posts here where it has been speculated that this is very much tire-size-dependent, in that cars with 16 or 17" wheels might benefit from suspension or insert changes, whereas cars with 18" wheels have no or less "need" for them.

I, myself, have swapped out the RFTs on both my 135i and my 135is convertible, for standard tires (PSS in the case of the 135i, AS/3 in the case of the 135is vert), both with 18" wheels, and done nothing else. The ride and handling to my taste are much improved in both cases over the old RFTs. Does either car drive like my 1M? No. Would either drive like my 1M short of suspension changes out of all proportion to the value of those cars? I doubt it.

On factory rubber, the car felt too harsh, bumpy, underdamped, etc. yet it was soft and spongy in corners.

Non-RFT tires have made a significant improvement in comfort, but they made it even more spongy (I do like this term) and all sorts of movements I did not expect from a BMW of this type. They ain't gone yet, but reduced quite a lot.