New Tires for 4.8is- Has anyone tried the Continental Extreme Contact DWS's?
 

These tires have the highest customer rating from Tire Rack and are reasonably priced when compared to the Michelin Diamaris? has anyone tried them or have any comments?

:dunno:

Havent heard anything about them yet. You can't go wrong with the Toyo Proxes and rear camber set as close to zero as possible if price/look is a concern.

Whether they do or don't, living in Houston, I don't have a need for Dry-West-Snow tires. Seems they'd be too noisy.

I don't know Bruce, remember that blizzard we had here in Houston in December . . . lol. They are noisy with stock camber but straighten them up and they quiet down considerably and wear really well. I have been getting great wear from them considering they are not rotatable and can't beat the price/look combination. And when it snows again in Houston . . . I'm ready!

I guess I need to do more homework. I've never even thought about camber settings and what it may do to my ride and tire wear.can you share a few more words about that?

Absolutely! Regardless of what tire you get, the stock rear camber settings are going to wear the rears unevenly (inside first). Now some tires may take it better than others but physics cannot be disproved, it is a fact. Other factors are what size tires you have and if they are rotatable (is that a word?). I have the staggered 19" which are not rotatable. If you have the same size all around, you can compensate for premature inner rear wear by moving them to the front for a while. On any set-up however, the only way to keep the rears from wearing unevenly is to get the rear camber set as close to 0 as possible (adjustment linkage may not allow perfect 0). There is a huge thread recently about is 0 camber possible, I would read it to understand further.

You will lose some of your "BMW" handling qualities by doing this but it is an SAV, not a Ferrari. Besides, tire wear is more important to me than sports car handling and you can't have both 100% unfortunately.

I thought I got a great deal on the Toyo Proxes and they look sick. After about 3,000 miles they started getting really loud on the highway. Negative camber was completely to blame and the wear pattern created knobs on the inside of the tread like a mud tire almost. I rebalanced them and straightened up the rear camber as much as I could and presto, no noise. No noise for a long time now and wearing evenly.

Hope this helps!

Had to edit to add Disclaimer: Negative camber is designed as an anti-roll feature by BMW so adjusting it out of the intended spec will affect the anti-roll characteristics of the vehicle. This should be considered if doing so. Better handling is just a side-effect of the anit-roll feature (negative rear camber).

From what I've read, they are an all-season tire. The noise rating and overall rating on Tirerack is better than most other 20" options (far better than Diamaris), especially with price thrown in. Of course they have much lower reported miles as they are a newer tire. They do not carry Toyo, so I wasn't able to compare there.
Personally I'd rather wear tires than mess with my cars "BMWness." Otherwise I'd drive a Lexus or MB.
To the OP, thanks for asking for real world input as I became curious about these tires when I saw the post about them in the Tire & Wheel forum.

Scott

I personally plan on trying them out once I destroy the Diamaris set I have which is relatively new. I like the all-season component, and Conti all-seasons have a track record of being capable in the snow, so hopefully that offsets the liability of tire width to let me manage through light snow. While treadwear is directional and not a guarantee, a rating of 540 has me optimistic they can endure the camber better than many of the other alternatives. Besides, they're dirt cheap relatively speaking.

I had my rear camber set to the limit of the spec while still maintaining a bit of negative camber.

I am also looking at the Conti's, but for my wife's E46M3 as a likely move to colder climates is looming.

I'd look at the Toyo all seasons too if thye have the right sizes.

I'll check out the Toyo's now that several of you have piped in. Any suggesitons on where I can buy some at a good price since Tire rack doesn't carry them?

One cool thing I read about the Conti's is that they do have a good snow rating and the tread on the tire tells you when they no longer recommend using them in light snow after the tread hits a certain level. Probably a bit of a gimmick but it's something to consider.

Thanks for the responses and keep the input coming. Tires aren't exactly a cheap proposition, especially in the 4.8is!