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[TN_3]

Ok, so I've done a lot of research, scoured the forums, spent too much time on TireRack, and I am still torn between these two tires.

I live in TN, so snow traction is not a top priority, but my job requires me to be available for travel whenever needed, to anywhere in the southeast, so I need the capability. From what I've read, the Pilot has the better dry traction/steering response, while the DWS is excellent in the wet and snow (for an A/S).

Anyone have any input on these tires? I keep wavering back and forth, the wet capabilities of the DWS vs the better dry performance of the Pilots. Also, with the current rebate, there is only a $100 difference between the two (total for 4 tires), so the price difference is a wash to me.

[dyong]

Originally Posted by TN_3

Ok, so I've done a lot of research, scoured the forums, spent too much time on TireRack, and I am still torn between these two tires.

I live in TN, so snow traction is not a top priority, but my job requires me to be available for travel whenever needed, to anywhere in the southeast, so I need the capability. From what I've read, the Pilot has the better dry traction/steering response, while the DWS is excellent in the wet and snow (for an A/S).

Anyone have any input on these tires? I keep wavering back and forth, the wet capabilities of the DWS vs the better dry performance of the Pilots. Also, with the current rebate, there is only a $100 difference between the two (total for 4 tires), so the price difference is a wash to me.

I am using the Conti DWS Extreme. Very comfortable and quiet tires. Hold the road pretty well too. See my list of short listed tires comparison in this word attachment.

[bozola]

Same dilemma here.

[Nifty]

I've been running the Conti DWS for a little over 10,000 miles, which included a full winter season, and I have been very happy with them thus far.

[TN_3]

Well, I broke down and bought the Pilot A/S. I had them mounted on the GTS-Rs in all black...the bad news is I don't take delivery of my car until September! I guess I got a little ahead of myself, but at least I can go out to the garage and stare at the wheels

[mpukas]

Just ordered the Pilot Sport A/S Plus myself. Look to be the best dry handling A/S tire. I run winter tires in winter, so I'm not concerned w/ snow performance. My stock RFT's fronts didn't even last me 12k miles. Getting an alignment when I get the new tires. Will get them mounted on 07/30. Will post thoughts then... mpp

[mpukas]

Originally Posted by maxnix

One must remember that "All Season" is marketing speak for "compromised summer tire, and not a very good snow tire.

I completely agree with this statement. Although, I've had two other AWD cars that I ran for about 5 years through nasty CO winters with A/S and was fine. Would never on a RWD car. They weren't as high-performance as the 135i though, so A/S year round were fine.

I'm running A/S 'cuz where I like there's only about three months out of the year that I can be confident that I won't run into cold temps/freezing rain-hail/snow with warning; I want to run the winter tires for as little as possible. The A/S will buy me 2-3 weeks in the spring and fall each.

Very curious as to how the Mich A/S Plus will do on the 135i...

[michifan]

I put DWS on my wife's Volvo V50 T5 AWD. I absolutely love them on her vehicle. We live in Central Florida, but I bought the DWS because I think it will make resale of her vehicle more attractive.

I spent 7 years in Minnesota, so I'm a firm believer in Snows and Summers, but I can say that this is the best all season I've ever purchased. I don't know if I would ever put any all seasons on my car - but I'd never hesitate to recommend these to those that would.

[miiipilot]

Please keep up with the reviews of these two tires. I am also in the market for either of these when Nov comes around

miiipilot

[dyong]

The conti DWS are not uni-directional tires. You could rotate the tires side to side. I have been using them for couple of months now. They are so smooth, quiet and comfortable.

The tread wear rating is 540 which means they don't wear off quickly.

[miiipilot]

DYONG,

I stopped by two tire places omw home today and they both said the Conti are not available in 245/35/18 or 255/35/18.

What is your tire/wheel setup ?

Thanks,
miiipilot

[adrean8j]

Its funny we see all this stuff about tires on websites, in magazines, etc, etc....but the FACT of the matter is you will come nowhere near the limits of most tires in everyday driving.

Case in point: I recently bought a set of Maxxis tires, routinely considered, and rightly so, a very cheap alternative for high-performance all-season tires. I promptly took them to the track, a road course to be exact. On the track running in the blue group I did make the tires sing...but not until a few hot laps, that is 4-5 laps around Roebling Road. Did they grip the best? No...but that was at the limit and that is a limit you will not hit 98% of the time on the road (that is an arbitrary percentage and I have no concrete data to back it up). I have had the tires now for almost a month and trust me I have not noticed a major difference on the street between these and the Goodyear Eagle F1's I had on before. Ok off my soapbox.

[timhatimay]

I had the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus in 225F and 255R on my car for a few thousand miles so I can at least give my experiences with those. As mentioned, all-season tires are a compromise, and jack-of-all-trades/master of none does apply.

The Good:

For normal day to day driving the Michelins were excellent. They ride pretty comfortably and are reasonably quiet. The tread wear is 500 if I remember correct, and even after a few thousand miles and auto-x events, they have plenty of tread left.

In the rain and dry grip on the road is great. I found it better than the stock Dunlop RFT. They hold to the road very well, and traction is great for an A/S tire. The response and feeling of the tire is excellent as well. They seem to communicate constantly with the driver, and are extremely predictable. Even if the limits are lower than a good Summer, they are easy to push due to this.

In the snow they also work pretty well. With slush and snow covered roads they have no problem going, turning, and braking. I was able to navigate the car even through 4+ inches of snow (carefully), and was even going past an SUV on my street. With normal cold and wet roads that you might find in your area, they should be more than adequate.

For performance, the dry grip is good and as mentioned the response and predictability is great. I was able to auto-x with the tire and even be competitive. They gripped well on the course and worked even with a modified car.

The Bad:

For normal driving in wet and dry, there isn't much bad. The dry grip isn't as good as a summer tire, but on the street this won't be as apparent unless you really push the car hard on the street. Although, I've now installed Max Performance Summer Tires (Hankook), and they do noticeably grip better than the A/S.

In the snow, they worked 90% of the time. I went through deep snow and covered roads fine, but in several situations I got really stuck. Once the tire lost traction initially, you are screwed. I got stock on my street and had to do significant digging a few times. Given they are A/S tires however, and worked so well all of the other times (it was a nasty winter), I can't really fault them. This doesn't sound to be a big concern for you either. Just know, that they will not turn go or brake like a snow tire. I will be putting proper snow tires on this year.

I mentioned they worked and were competitive at auto-x, but are not in the same league as performance tires. They were frayed and chewed to pieces after two events. After driving around, this went away, and surprisingly there is still good tread left, but for a period of time they were trashed. Also, they worked well in the morning, but after heating up lost traction much more significantly.

Conclusion:

The Michelin's will work for about 80% of what a specialized tire can do, and perform it at about 70%. They are great for daily driving and on the street. In the snow they will work, and for most snow-storms you can get around fine. However, they will not compete with a real snow tire, and you definitely could get stuck. For performance driving, they work. You can use them at auto-x or an event, but they will suffer (especially once hot) vs. a true summer performance tire. They are an expensive tire, and definitely a jack-of all trades. The bad points I mention, apply to probably most all A/S tires, so I doubt the Conti's would be better overall. From the A/S tires I've used, these ones are great, but as you know if you want real performance in any one category you will need a specialized tire.

Hope this helps!

Tim

[miiipilot]

Tim,

Do you have a stock suspension set up too?

I have a '11 135i M-Sport with the 18" w/261s and Sport Brakes. Will 225/40-18 tires fit all around on the 7.5"F and 8.5"R stock rims?

I like the 261s, a lot actually...could I buy squared snow tires to swap back and forth from the RFT in Win/Sum driving without having to buy new wheels. I haven't found a wheel that stands out to me in order to spend the extras cash...any thoughts?

Thanks,
Tom

[timhatimay]

Tom,

At the time I had M3 front control arms and front sway bar. Don't make much difference in terms of tire fitment. You probably couldn't go much wider on the front due to the small wheel, and would probably stretch the tire if you went down to something like a 225 on the rear 8.5 wheel. I'm just speculating on that, and tire fitment and selection is not my expertise by a long shot. Tire-rack lists the suggested wheel widths for any given tire. Maybe if you love the 261, you could mount 225 on the 18x7.5 (front wheel) all around and then use a spacer in the rear. Don't know if its been done around here before, but seems feasible. Then you have a square set-up for winter, and the ability to rotate. The downside is you have to find/purchase two front wheels.

I liked the stock m-sport wheels a lot also, and thus didn't want to replace them. Finally I bit the bullet and replaced them with lightweight 17s and summer tires, and also upgraded to the BMW Performance suspension and Dinan camber plates. So far, I would highly recommend the switch to 17's, as they have made a major improvement in the car, especially using lightweight variants.

I always found however, that to pay $100+ each season change to swap tires, plus the hassle, makes it easier to just buy separate wheels if you have the space. For that money you could buy cheap 17" wheels with the 17" winter tires (which are much cheaper than 18's usually), and then leave the RFT on the stock 261 for summer. This is assuming a few seasons of switching. Or if you don't mind the compromise go with A/S tires as mentioned in this thread. There are lots of nice wheels out there IMO, but unfortunately most of the great ones are major $$. Maybe you could find someone selling a set of 261's, as many do after they purchase new wheels. But BMW wheels are expensive, so for that money there are plenty of nice options. Sorry this is a pretty inconclusive post by me, so probably doesn't help much!

Tim

[miiipilot]

Thanks Tim,

I have a few months before I really need to decide what I need to do. I was going to call TireRack and pick their brains.

So far I haven't found wheels I love. The Alufelgen SF-71a are awesome, but they don't make a 135 fitment yet (Just got a PM from someone at wheeladdicts.com)

The quest continues, thanks for everyone's input.
miiipilot

[dyong]

Originally Posted by miiipilot

DYONG,

I stopped by two tire places omw home today and they both said the Conti are not available in 245/35/18 or 255/35/18.

What is your tire/wheel setup ?

Thanks,
miiipilot

My tire sizes are 225/40/18 & 255/35/18.

[miiipilot]

Hmmmmm

Guess I will just have to get those sizes off tirerack.com and have them shipped to a local shop.

But I am glad they are available.

thanks again,
miiipilot

[ptack]

The biggest caveat about all-season tires on a 1 is that by year 2 (assuming you've put 10k+ miles on them) they start to be useless in any serious snow. The big question is how many miles you put on the car. It may make more sense to have winter and summer wheels, especially if you know you're going to driving in snow every year.

[mpukas]

I've had my Pilot Sport Plus A/S for about a week now. So far they are great! Now, I'm not tracking my car, so my comments are from daily driving observations. They handle every bit as good as the stock run-craps, and they are quieter and smoother. I'd even go so far to say as they are more stable at high speeds - I tend to drive too fast on the freeways, and I'll look down at the speedo and being doing 100mph w/ out without a hint of the actual speed. My RE050RF's only got me about 11K - these are have a tread life warranty of 45K. My mileage has also increased by 1 - 1.5 mpg's.

The GF has Conti DWS's on '09 Audi A4 wagon - they may be rated as the best A/S tire in snow, but I don't think they handle nearly as good as the PS's. Her car doesn't handle as good as when she had Audi's stock summer's on.

The PS Plus A/S's have far exceeded my expectations for an A/S tire - very happy and would highly recommend. However - I won't say they are better handling than a real Max Perf Summer tire, or adequate in snow to take the place of a snow tire. I'm looking forward to seeing what these will be like in the snow come mid fall, but I'll be running snow tires during the winter - now I just get to keep them on for less time. For where I drive and the adverse conditions I may be confronted with at any time, I am very impressed with these tires.

[bozola]

Debated between the Contis and the Pilots and went with the pilots. One week so far and the Pilots have changed this car completely. I am very happy with them. Will report out when we get rain/snow. Better than the NCT5 for sure.

[Tom K.]

I didn't mind the NCTs, but when I was quoted $700 to replace only the two worn rears, I opted for 4 Conti DWS tires @ $600 including mounting, balancing & tax (the CCA discount helped a bit as well).

Although the initial turn in doesn't seem to be quite as sharp with the DWS, the handling is equal to the Goodyears and the ride is superior. I normally don't drive the 1er in snow, so that's not an issue - but I wanted a tire that could handle cold weather if necessary. So far (about 1,000 miles), the DWS is a winner.

Tom