Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[dth656]

hi all,

i thought i'd post a new topic since this tire is relatively new. i have an e90 330i w/ sport package and OEM 18" staggered set up. for the past two installs, i've used bridgestone potenza RE-11s w/ no issues (ordered from tirerack, w/ the same installer to align and install the tires).

this year, i ordered the new micheline pilot super sport tires (apparently the sucessor to the pilot sport PS2), and had them installed yesterday. i noticed that the car had a pretty significant pull to the right. checked air pressure, and then took it back for an alignment. just had the alignment completed (camber and toe-in was pretty out of whack), and the car still pulls to the right. i wanted to ask the forum a few questions:

• is this tire (or the prior PS2) just waayyy more sensitive to the crown/slope of the road?
• has anyone else had this tire on their car and had an issue?
• has anyone else experienced "conicity" w/ michelin tires? basically, if the tire is not a perfectly cylindrical shape, it'll cause the car to pull. i had this issue w/ some POS falkens i had at one point, and even had them replaced under warranty.

thanks in advance

[dth656]

update: talked to tirerack, and reviewed their procedure to try to isolate which tire is causing the pull. went back to the shop, they re-checked alignment, and then swapped the fronts side-to-side. they test drove it, everything checked out, but when i got back on the fwy, the car still pulled to the right. (i use a constant bearing, flat concrete section of fwy as a baseline).

i'll keep driving today, and then go back and try swapping the rears side to side. if we can isolate the tire, then i'll get the single tire swapped via tirerack. the shop owner did mention someone w/ an e46 330i and pilot sport PS2s that ended up having to do that.

[JRubin13]

have the supersports, no problem like this. Good luck though! I do love the tires

[edirtaynine]

Originally Posted by JRubin13

have the supersports, no problem like this. Good luck though! I do love the tires

same here and i love my tires too! i even have two super minor bends in my passenger-side front wheel and still goes straight with no pull

[twinturboa51]

Originally Posted by edirtaynine

same here and i love my tires too! i even have two super minor bends in my passenger-side front wheel and still goes straight with no pull

+1 no problems at all, about 1200 miles so far.

[dth656]

thanks for the updates on your experiences w/ the tires. i now have about 200 miles on them, so they should be scrubbed in. i also really love the tires (very quiet, SUPER smooth compared to the RE-11s), but have not pushed them too hard just yet.

Update:

• had the rears swapped side to side
• car is still pulling---i put about a 100 miles on it, and depending on road surface, it will take from 2-5 seconds for it to start pulling right
• re-checked tire pressures, alignment, and to see if there is a loose suspension component

just got back from the tireshop--i'll put a few hundred miles on them over the weekend, but the shop owner has recommended replacing the set. if swapping side to side did not change the pull, its likely multiple tires that are out of spec.

i'll send a summary of our work to tirerack, and see what i need to do accomplish this. the customer service lady did mention that replacing more than 1 tire would require an authorization from michelin.

[mthomas]

Seems like the problem might be alignment not tires