Not sure if you've decided but...

Sorry AV8R, I'm getting old... I DO run Nittos on my E53, noticed today while cleaning the wheels. Running a pair of NT420 285/40/20's on the 4.8is. They have about 1.5 years and about 15,000 miles on them. They are still quiet, still drive well, and still have plenty of tread. Didn't measure, but I'd guess 8 or 9/32nds. I'd recommend them to someone looking for a higher than entry level, but not quite premium tire brand. Hard to compare ultimate performance between a premium brand and the Nitto's but they have solid wet weather performance and very good dry... I don't track the X5 so that's as good a "review" as I can give.

+1 for the DWSs. They are the 3rd set I have put on in my 8 years of ownership and by far my favorite. Had Michelin Diamaris when bought, I put Vredesteins, then Bridgestone Duellers, now these. Looking like I'll make it longer on these than my previous sets.

I bought my 4.6 new. Have tried many tire brands. I am now running Continental extreme contact DWS. They are rated to wear less than more costly tires. Wheels are stock staggered 87s and I have 18mm spacers and have it lowered, both increase negative camber., I have it aligned at the max for negative camber spec for handling purposes. The Continental tires are very quiet, ride is a little softer than other tires I have run. The sidewalls flex more than anything I have run. It added a small amount of tire rollover but didn't decrease handling performance, it just makes it a little more scary to push to the traction limits.

In the past I got about 15,000 miles out of front tires and about 10,000 out of rears. Based on the tire wear gauge these will last longer. I won't take a guess on the miles but at this point when they need replacement I will purchase same tire again.

Initially my decision was based on finding they have been the choice of some manufacturers on sports models known for handling performance. And, that they cost much less than any brand I have purchased in the past.

Depends on how you use your truck but I happenstance ended up with my current and permanent solution: I now run winter Dunlop Grand Trek year round on both mine and wife's e53. My copy came with Dunlop Winter Sport M2 and had phenomenal grip. I didn't have the $ to replace so I kept them on through two summers and one winter before replacing.

I had at least a dozen incidents where the far better traction helped me greatly (oily asphalt during first rain in a while, wet leaves, wet road strips, wet manhole covers etc. ).

I did some math and determined it would be about 8-12 years return on investment to get a second set of wheels and winter and summer tires vs burn through winter tires more quickly but have better grip all year. Insurance for those surprise slick spots.

I happened into a special deal on some Dunlop GrandTrek WT M3 run on flat and got them for my X5. It wasn't five months before we were on a road trip about six hours from home when one of my valve stems blew out leaving me with zero psi within a block.

I was able to drive a few blocks to a safe place to check on my situation and was able to actually patch the stem with tape until I could get to a garage and have them replace the stem. There was zero damage to the tire and the tire paid for itself. I will only buy run flat and am a lifetime fan of the winter Dunlop. Winter Sport or Grand Trek WT.

I have one set that aren't run flat but they are sitting in storage for the moment. I will probably (ironically) run them in winter to give myself more traction since they are 235 vs 255 and are impressively more grippy in snow and slush than the already fantastic grip of the 255s.

I drive off road a fair amount. Mostly grass trails in and around wooded areas but also through sand traps and over grass fields. The winter tires beat the crap out of the all season on wet grass, no comparison! I've pulled out of deep ditches where the outside front wheel will come right off the ground and at just 4/5 mph I won't leave ruts. The grip is out of this world.

I've gone up sand roads about 15° slope with 9" deep ruts with no problem at all. I'm a lifetime fan of the Dunlop Winter tires. I'm also permanently converted to run on flat although since I do have a set of standard I may use those in winter to extend the life of my "summer set" ironic since it would certainly suck more to get a flat in winter.

I may also just sell them. They have less than 4/5000 miles on the set. I swapped them for run on flat and wider for my wife's copy of the X5. It didn't seem right the hubby had run on flat and wife did not.

I get blow back about ROF can't have the same performance of standard or that winter tires won't perform like summer or all season but I've driven 100,000 miles in high performance car with summer performance tires and do know how to drive spiritedly.

I am not saying you can't get better performance. I'm saying for me the added benefit of the grip and not having to stop when a tire goes flat is well worth any trade off. Also that I'm very ok with the superb handing dry, wet, snow, grass, sand, slush or even ICE. I'm set for life with this line of tires.



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Did you find the Bridgestones to be noisy? I inherited a set and they're noisy as hell.

Another vote for DWS's. Those plus a really good alignment will make them go a long way. The key I found (as have many others on here) is that if you set the rear camber to within spec (I shoot for as low as I can that I can match either side) and just a hair of toe in, the rears will last and not shred the inner shoulder. A "hair" is not within BMW spec. My dealer grumbled, but I went and talked to the tech and he got it. Now he does all my alignments. But, align the rear to dealer spec toe in and you'll wear through them quicker.

The Price is Right
 

I agree with the assessments on the Bridgestones.
I would get another set regardless as the costs were right for me.