Should I buy a Convertible?

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by delta_waves

1 series convertible looks too much like a girl car IMHO

That's just, like, your opinion man

[JimD]

I have PSS tires on my e88 (128) and use them year round. I do not drive it on the rare day there is snow or ice, however. They are great tires on the wet including at lower temperatures (but low temperature here is usually still above freezing during the day and never lower than the teens). I don't think much of the "different compound" theory. I don't push to the limit on the street but with that caveat, I have noticed no difference at colder temperatures.

I also have a square setup on stock wheels. I thought it might look a bit weird but I think it looks fine. You have to look close to notice the wheel width is different. I haven't autocrossed since I got these tires but I believe it will understeer significantly less.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by JimD

I have PSS tires on my e88 (128) and use them year round. I do not drive it on the rare day there is snow or ice, however. They are great tires on the wet including at lower temperatures (but low temperature here is usually still above freezing during the day and never lower than the teens). I don't think much of the "different compound" theory. I don't push to the limit on the street but with that caveat, I have noticed no difference at colder temperatures.

I also have a square setup on stock wheels. I thought it might look a bit weird but I think it looks fine. You have to look close to notice the wheel width is different. I haven't autocrossed since I got these tires but I believe it will understeer significantly less.

Are your wheels 17" or 18" wheels, and what are the stock tire sizes? You may have different sized wheels than those that come from the 135is convertible I'm going to be looking at . . . .

[champignon]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

That's just, like, your opinion man

And we know about opinions, they are like assholes, everyone has one

[135TX]

Originally Posted by champignon

And we know about opinions, they are like assholes, everyone has one

And most stink...

[blue135]

Delta;

I stopped using others' judgments about the cars I drive as an element of my view of my self worth in the 70's. Thanks for your opinion, but i will continue to enjoy the hell out of my convertible.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by blue135

Delta;

I stopped using others' judgments about the cars I drive as an element of my view of my self worth in the 70's. Thanks for your opinion, but i will continue to enjoy the hell out of my convertible.

It's really common in online enthusiast forums for people to have or express a lack of boundaries between their ego and self worth, and the things they own or discuss. The worst kind of example is people who become personally offended when their possession is criticized.

I have a number of friends who have expressed a dislike of various things I own. My business partner, who is also a close friend, doesn't like the red color of the leather in the convertible I'm planning to buy. Since he doesn't have to drive it, and since I like it, I'm not too concerned with his opinion.

In the particular case of the comment that is being discussed here, I think that trollage is the real explanation

[JimD]

Originally Posted by champignon

Are your wheels 17" or 18" wheels, and what are the stock tire sizes? You may have different sized wheels than those that come from the 135is convertible I'm going to be looking at . . . .

I have 17 inch wheels and the fronts are 7 inches wide with 7.5 inch rear wheel width. I went with 225/45/17 PSS tires all around. My fronts were originally 205/50/17. I checked on Tire Rack first to be sure the 225/45s would be OK on a 7 inch wheel.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

I considered A/S 3 for my previous car ('06 W203 C230.) Went with DWS's for significantly lower cost (in that size at that time) but nearly as good reviews.
The Conti's were actually perfect for the M-B. Smooth, quiet, grippy, great in the rain.

I'm getting PSS's for the E88 135i once the rft's give it up. But we don't get snow at home and have an SUV for skiing and such.

based on:
a) it's a convertible. Very capable car, but not the last word in handling compared to others in your stable
b) It won't be a snow machine, but will likely see some foul weather
c) lots of people have them down here as only tires and don't feeling as though they're giving any thing up in the summer

if I were in your shoes, I'd get A/S 3's for the ragtop and not look back.

Having looked over scads of tire reviews and read tons of threads on this site, I've pretty much decided to do as you suggest, to go with the AS/3s. My inclination would be to stick with the standard tire sizes. Apparently I could go with 225/40R/18s up front instead of 215/40R/18 stock, and and 255/35R/18 instead of the stock 245/40R/18. My impression is that with this tire, the AS/3, the benefit would not be worth the additional cost (around $100), and there could be a downside in that the dealer might not install them for me, plus any problems occurring once installed would be less likely to be covered by both BMW and Michelin, since they aren't the OE sizes. Resale could also be an issue because the car would not be in "stock" form. I'm thinking that with a Michelin Pilot SS or similar summer tire, you might be able to justify doing the upsizing anyway, but for this AS/3 it isn't worth it.

Any opinions on that?

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

That's just, like, your opinion man

I dig your style dude

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by champignon

Having looked over scads of tire reviews and read tons of threads on this site, I've pretty much decided to do as you suggest, to go with the AS/3s. My inclination would be to stick with the standard tire sizes. Apparently I could go with 225/40R/18s up front instead of 215/40R/18 stock, and and 255/35R/18 instead of the stock 245/40R/18. My impression is that with this tire, the AS/3, the benefit would not be worth the additional cost (around $100), and there could be a downside in that the dealer might not install them for me, plus any problems occurring once installed would be less likely to be covered by both BMW and Michelin, since they aren't the OE sizes. Resale could also be an issue because the car would not be in "stock" form. I'm thinking that with a Michelin Pilot SS or similar summer tire, you might be able to justify doing the upsizing anyway, but for this AS/3 it isn't worth it.

Any opinions on that?

In my opinion, which may smell just as bad as anyone else's, you are correct sir.
I think the move from rft's to A/S3's will be enough that you won't miss the 10mm upsizing, and if the incremental benefit doesn't outweigh the incremental cost to do it, then don't.
But let us know how you like the Sport All Season's on the 135!
(Are you planning on springs/shocks/struts or coilovers, too?)

[champignon]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

In my opinion, which may smell just as bad as anyone else's, you are correct sir.
I think the move from rft's to A/S3's will be enough that you won't miss the 10mm upsizing, and if the incremental benefit doesn't outweigh the incremental cost to do it, then don't.
But let us know how you like the Sport All Season's on the 135!
(Are you planning on springs/shocks/struts or coilovers, too?)

I'm not into mods, as a general rule. I do have the benefit of owning a 2013 135i coupe on which I recently changed from the RFT tires to a set of OE sized Michelin PSS. In my humble opinion, I don't need those suspension changes. Also, I have the 1M and an STi if I am feeling more aggressive :-)

So, no, barring some experience after switching out the RFT for the AS/3 tires, I think I'll leave it stock.

It would be fun to get similarly equipped 135s, with non RF tires, and to compare one that has had the suspension modded to one that has not. Maybe this will happen someday and will convince me to do the mods.

[Bimmer-Bob]

I'm shopping for a set of all-season tires in anticipation of a move to the PNW. I won't be able to run a summer tire year-round up there any more, and I think a winter tire will be overkill. So I think a good all-season for year-round street use makes sense, and I'll just reserve my summer tires for competition.

Anyway, I had been considering the DWS against the A/S 3, and as near as I could tell the Michelins are the better performer. The Contis are supposed to perform well too (were the former class leader) but their main claim to fame seems to be decent snow and ice traction. The main ding against the DWS is a soft sidewall. However, there is a new generation (DWS06) with a rigid "sport" sidewall insert that is supposed to improve feel considerably. The compound was also updated.

So, based on reviews, I think the new Contis will give up a marginal performance advantage to the Michelins, offer similar levels of dry and wet grip, and superior traction in ice and light snow. All at a cheaper cost.

I don't think it snows very much where I'm going (Whidbey Island), but it happens often enough that I have to be prepared for it. I think the newer Contis sound like just the ticket - you might have a look. Whatever modest performance advantage lost seems irrelevant given we're talking about all-season tires for use on public roads. When I really want to go all out I'll use my RE-71Rs on a closed course anyway.

EDIT: I just remembered you were shopping tires for a convertible, and probably don't care about snow and ice traction! In that case I would probably go with the A/S 3, too, if not a summer tire.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

So, based on reviews, I think the new Contis will give up a marginal performance advantage to the Michelins, offer similar levels of dry and wet grip, and superior traction in ice and light snow. All at a cheaper cost.

I don't think it snows very much where I'm going (Whidbey Island), but it happens often enough that I have to be prepared for it. I think the newer Contis sound like just the ticket - you might have a look. Whatever modest performance advantage lost seems irrelevant given we're talking about all-season tires for use on public roads. When I really want to go all out I'll use my RE-71Rs on a closed course anyway.

Tire Rack has a video on several of these high end all-season tires, but haven't yet tested them for use on snow. The consumer reviews as regards snow and ice performance were pretty unconvincing for me and I wouldn't base much on them, but the summer performance reviews, including recent ones, were very much in favor of the Michelins.

Tire Rack has a $70 rebate offer on the Michelins right now, and looking at the total cost to buy, ship, mount, and balance these tires, plus do an alignment, made the savings on the Contis and other tires small enough that I decided to order the Michelins. Should I resell the vehicle, I think that the Michelins would make the car more desirable to a potential buyer, as well.

Thanks for your suggestion and let us know what you decide to do personally, and how you like your tires once done.

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by champignon

Tire Rack has a video on several of these high end all-season tires, but haven't yet tested them for use on snow. The consumer reviews as regards snow and ice performance were pretty unconvincing for me and I wouldn't base much on them, but the summer performance reviews, including recent ones, were very much in favor of the Michelins.

Tire Rack has a $70 rebate offer on the Michelins right now, and looking at the total cost to buy, ship, mount, and balance these tires, plus do an alignment, made the savings on the Contis and other tires small enough that I decided to order the Michelins. Should I resell the vehicle, I think that the Michelins would make the car more desirable to a potential buyer, as well.

Thanks for your suggestion and let us know what you decide to do personally, and how you like your tires once done.

I'm more or less decided on the new Continentals, as my criteria for an all-season includes the ability to handle occasional light snow, if needed.

It's true that the tires are too new to have had extensive winter-testing performed by consumer groups (like Tire Rack), but the previous generation DWS was the class leader by a long shot in this regard, besting the previous generation Michelin all seasons in this test, as well as beating the newer A/S 3 by a smaller margin in this test. I think it is reasonable to assume that the DWS06 will outperform the DWS.

In all other regards (dry traction, wet traction, handling) the Contis seem to be a close second to the Michelins, so I don't feel like I'll be giving up much, especially at the cheaper cost.

Anecdotally, both seem to be very good tires, but I'm perhaps biased towards the Contis because my brother has recommended them - he uses them on his GTI and has wintered in Calgary for several years, as well as driven to Alaska on them.

Maybe I'm making too big a deal about the possibility of snow, and I certainly don't intend to do any serious winter driving in my 1er, but if I'm going to maintain 2 sets of tires and live that close to the Canadian border, I figure it makes sense to expect one of those sets of tires to be decent at handling snow. Maybe I'll change my mind once I move.

In any case, I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I think you made the right choice, given the current rebate offer and likely fair-weather-only use of a convertible.

[champignon]

Sorry for the long delay, but it was a major project uniting myself with the car due to its location 5 hours drive away, the time needed to ship it there (to Salt Lake City from Georgia), and the Thanksgiving Holiday.

I flew to SLC at the end of a family visit in San Diego, forfeiting the return half of my long-ago purchased RT ticket in favor of a cheap SW Air ticket I bought last week. After overnighting in a cheap SLC Airport hotel, I awakened to a snowstorm, which was not what I was anticipating. The roads were so bad that the Carfax people told me to take a cab to their lot and they would pay for it instead of them driving to pick me up at the hotel, as originally planned.

After a half-hour long cab ride surveying multiple SUVs in the ditch on the side of the freeways, I got to Carfax and had my first in person look at the car:



I then had a test drive which was on partially snow covered roads and I was surprised that I could actually drive it with the installed summer run flats. I do, however, have a lot of experience driving on snow. By this time the weather was improving and after deciding to go through with the purchase, I got out my wallet and the rest is history. Here is a picture of the saleslady, LynnDee, whom I would very much recommend, in front of the car after purchase:



The car had <6500 miles on it at purchase and looked new, with no visible defects anywhere. The drive started out with wet pavement (but I could not be sure it wasn't ice) but then ultimately half the way on to Boise was just dry pavement. I was able to do at least the speed limit (80 mph on freeways in most of Utah and Idaho now) for most of the trip.

I really like the car; it is very very cool!!

[BrokenVert]

Looks great! Enjoy it!

[tjswarbrick]

They shined 'er up nice!
Enjoy your new ragtop.

[dbronnik]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

Hey dbronnik how do you feel about the structural integrity of the vert youve been autocrossing for years?

Our verts have a very rigid chassis. Add a quality triangulated strut tower brace (see: Mason Engineering) and you'll hardly even feel any chassis flex.

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

That's just, like, your opinion man

Originally Posted by delta_waves

1 series convertible looks too much like a girl car IMHO

a stock 1 series looks girly full stop. Try to tell me my car looks girly