[winterishere]

Just picked it up earlier this week. It is a used 2009 model at 90k. So far it has been great ride. The only thing I notice, maybe because my last car was a small kia, is the tires feel like performance tires and a tad bit noisy and rough. They are not run flats. It is some brand I have to check on. Size is 225/45/17

However, here are my observations that someone can maybe advise me on.

1 - I noticed my gas mileage is not so great after my first fill up. Already quarter a tank down after driving around 260km. Maybe servicing? I just filled the tank up wednesday. Will see how it goes. I also spoke to an auto service bmw shop about doing a diesel purge . So not sure how great something preventive like this is. Oil change has been done also. Also walnut blasting maybe from this link on here?

I am assuming the Carbon build up might be the issue? I have not had any other issues driving it. Just something i noticed. Maybe I'm being too optimistic about diesel mileage at this point

2 - I assumed the car had runflats. But it hasn't and is a tubeless tire. I noticed the ride is a bit noisy and rough on road and these being performance tires, The tire place checked my pressure and adjusted the air in all. maybe thats why. I didn't notice a whole difference yet.

If I wanted comfort, He gave me a few prices and options. My question is, should I switch to regular tires or run flats. I know there is no spare and I do have CAA. One of the front tires has a small inch tear in the rubber where the rubber meets the rim, so that might give one day. So bit weary.

Also, which make would be beneficial for this car. This is what auto shop options were give to me.

Hercules (cheapest)
Good year (mid range)
Michelin (run flats)

smoother rides
Hank (mid range)
Continental (pricey)

[cpie168]

Quarter tank for 260km translates to over 1000km a tank. That's very good in my books!

[GreekboyD]

Originally Posted by cpie168

Quarter tank for 260km translates to over 1000km a tank. That's very good in my books!

Came in to post this. Time for the OP to add a downpipe and really let loose with this car.

Runflats will make for a harsher drive.

[winterishere]

thanks for the input. The tires currently on there are champion bu66 high performance. Still has lots of wear of them. Except the rims looked scratched and scraped on edges.

[EPOS]

That's amazing mileage if you are only at quarter tank. I was getting on avg 650kms out of a tank with mostly city driving.

[m42stanle]

Originally Posted by crosswire

1 - I noticed my gas mileage is not so great after my first fill up. Already quarter a tank down after driving around 260km.

FWIW the best I have been able to do on my car (gas N52B25) is ~760 km out of a tank (approx 6.8 L/100 or ~35 mpg) so 260 km from a quarter tank is fantastic, especially if this is not pure hwy driving. The diesel may be able to go ~1000 km on a tank with conservative hwy driving.

Originally Posted by crosswire

2 - I assumed the car had runflats. But it hasn't and is a tubeless tire. I noticed the ride is a bit noisy and rough on road and these being performance tires, The tire place checked my pressure and adjusted the air in all. maybe thats why. I didn't notice a whole difference yet.

If I wanted comfort, He gave me a few prices and options. My question is, should I switch to regular tires or run flats. I know there is no spare and I do have CAA. One of the front tires has a small inch tear in the rubber where the rubber meets the rim, so that might give one day. So bit weary.

Some random thoughts on tires for E90 after ~4.5 yrs of driving this car:

The RFT vs non-RFT choice is completely up to you, and it has been discussed to death on these forums if you want to search. Myself I have stuck with them for both my summer and winter sets and have found the new generation of them to be fine for daily and moderately spirited driving, but there are many who have switched to non-RFT and have no regrets.

FWIW my experience is that handling with RFTs will feel a little crisper, especially initial turn-in but in reality true absolute grip is better with non-RFT. Also RFTs will add unsprung weight to the car, they will tend to crash a little on larger road imperfections, and they will obviously be more expensive.

Whether you go RFT or not, my advice would be don't cheap out on tires as the previous owner did. Stay away from the dirt cheap made in China tires (Triangle, Blacklion/Champion, Linglong, etc). They are one of the most important safety features on your car and you will have to live with them for years so shop carefully.

If your first priority is ride comfort, then frankly you may have purchased the wrong car. ;-) All E90 -- even non-sport pkg cars -- tend to prioritize handling and road feel over a plush ride. The good news is with 17" wheels you can probably find a tire you can live with. Most performance-oriented drivers will hate them, but you may want to take a look at one of the OE A/S tire that came on the car, for example Continental ContiProContact since it comes in both SSR (RFT) and non-RFT variants. I recall this tire was fairly comfortable for a RFT for the few months I lived with it, and they are on my wife's VW in non-RFT and they are great - good comfort and treadlife. You may even be able to find others on this forum selling them used for very cheap with not too much wear. Could also look at the Michelin Primacy MXM4 which comes in both ZP (RFT) and non-RFT with good comfort and treadlife (UTQG 500).

Regardless of your choice for summer tire, you will want to budget for a good set of winter tires especially in your case. 335d is a RWD torque monster and it will be basically undriveable with all seasons in any kind of snow.

Also don't go to an auto shop if you are shopping for tires - go to a good tire shop who knows these cars and can share customer feedback and recommendations. FWIW I have had very good luck with SimplyTire in the GTA.

[winterishere]

Originally Posted by m42stanle

FWIW the best I have been able to do on my car (gas N52B25) is ~760 km out of a tank (approx 6.8 L/100 or ~35 mpg) so 260 km from a quarter tank is fantastic, especially if this is not pure hwy driving. The diesel may be able to go ~1000 km on a tank with conservative hwy driving.



Some random thoughts on tires for E90 after ~4.5 yrs of driving this car:

The RFT vs non-RFT choice is completely up to you, and it has been discussed to death on these forums if you want to search. Myself I have stuck with them for both my summer and winter sets and have found the new generation of them to be fine for daily and moderately spirited driving, but there are many who have switched to non-RFT and have no regrets.

FWIW my experience is that handling with RFTs will feel a little crisper, especially initial turn-in but in reality true absolute grip is better with non-RFT. Also RFTs will add unsprung weight to the car, they will tend to crash a little on larger road imperfections, and they will obviously be more expensive.

Whether you go RFT or not, my advice would be don't cheap out on tires as the previous owner did. Stay away from the dirt cheap made in China tires (Triangle, Blacklion/Champion, Linglong, etc). They are one of the most important safety features on your car and you will have to live with them for years so shop carefully.

If your first priority is ride comfort, then frankly you may have purchased the wrong car. ;-) All E90 -- even non-sport pkg cars -- tend to prioritize handling and road feel over a plush ride. The good news is with 17" wheels you can probably find a tire you can live with. Most performance-oriented drivers will hate them, but you may want to take a look at one of the OE A/S tire that came on the car, for example Continental ContiProContact since it comes in both SSR (RFT) and non-RFT variants. I recall this tire was fairly comfortable for a RFT for the few months I lived with it, and they are on my wife's VW in non-RFT and they are great - good comfort and treadlife. You may even be able to find others on this forum selling them used for very cheap with not too much wear. Could also look at the Michelin Primacy MXM4 which comes in both ZP (RFT) and non-RFT with good comfort and treadlife (UTQG 500).

Regardless of your choice for summer tire, you will want to budget for a good set of winter tires especially in your case. 335d is a RWD torque monster and it will be basically undriveable with all seasons in any kind of snow.

Also don't go to an auto shop if you are shopping for tires - go to a good tire shop who knows these cars and can share customer feedback and recommendations. FWIW I have had very good luck with SimplyTire in the GTA.

Thanks for the input. Appreciate your time in helping.
The tires that are on the car came with the car. So I have budgeted for decent good tires. Hence my research.

[Zebra99]

Simplytire without question for tires in GTA. Best prices and can advise you on what tire to get if you want to maintain drivability and comfort.

Me personally I have moved away from RFT's because of noise/road feel. I now have PSS's and love them. Still slightly noisy, but amazing grip.

As for mileage, that's awesome. If you want the absolute most out of your engine and to keep it health then a walnut blast and diesel purge may help. Check out Leslie in markham or join the FB group BMWTrueNorth and we have lots of vendors.

Enjoy your torque beast

And p.s. If you want more mileage go see the boys at EuroCharged who will tune that beast to make better mileage and more powa!

[winterishere]

thanks zebra. Check on the Walnut blasting already

[GreekboyD]

Stay away from Eurocharged for full diesel tunes. They've tried but the complexity of deletes for EGR, SCR, DPF and other alphabet acronyms is a little too much for them.