I have a BMW 318i that I bought tyres for about 4 - 5 years ago. They may need to be replaced soon, so I would like to do so in a rational and inexpensive manner. I am wondering about the feasibility of buying online and possibly from overseas.
Has anyone done this? If so, can you share any tips?
So long as you can find somewhere to fit & balance your tyres you should do OK. Lots of Bricks & Mortar shops on eBay. Freight is a killer for tyres from OS, and no guarantee they meets required Vehicle Standards.
Compare the "treadwear" figure for comparative life, like the bloke of the Cooper Tyres Ad says. Bigger the number, the longer they'll last.
Bear in mind if you buy online you will probablty have to pay for fitting and balancing whereas if you buy from a shop it is "free"
i'd be the last person to say this but you have a BMW… you want the tyres to last 4-5 yrs just like your last set… get some goodyear or kumho or something people recognise
chinese tyres are too unknown
i know this is ozbargain and all but china tyres aren't a bargain at any price
BMW doesn't really have much to do with it, bad tyres are bad on any car. If you have ABS this is much less of an issue (I have no idea how old this 318 is). Without ABS don't even think about getting bad tyres.
With bad or cheap quality tyres on an ABS equiped car, the ABS will activate earlier as the tyres also reach their limits earlier, resulting in a longer stopping distance.
Absolutely, but without ABS the same action would result in locking, and killing yourself on a tree.
Yeah, fair point.
Fair call, but there are good tyres in the lesser known brands and because they are lesser known you can get comparable quality without the price tag. For me this means I can buy higher spec'd tyres for the same price as the low-mid range of a brand name.
Most people have issues with tyres when it's wet, mainly due to insufficient rotation or low tread profile.
I'm guessing if a tyre lasts 4-5 years that person does low kms and probably doesn't drive too hard, so a middle of the road tyre would suit them.
If your not sure, then go a brand name that you recognise. Just be aware that the bottom end of a any range can be pretty crap.
pop down costco if you are nearby, they have good deals for low end tires from time to time. they didn't have good deals for my primacy lc, so i got them from elsewhere.
We bought tyres for a motorbike from US. Aus price for the rear was $320 and front $260. Delivered to our door in a week by fedex $328 for the pair. (the actual shipping cost was $60) Same brand/same size. Don't mind paying a bit of a premium to shop locally but the price difference was ridiculous. On the car we put Coopers nearly 50k/km ago. Worth every cent for the extra mileage and probably just about half worn.
Thanks everyone. I think I will just buy locally. Now I just need to figure out if I do need new ones. Off to google that now.
Errr… say what?
All this planning and discussions about importing, and you don't even know if you need new tyres or not?
If you need to Google to check whether you need new tyres, then you certainly need to go see a professional tyre shop.
Good point. I was checking the pressure levels the other day and looked at the grooves and reckoned they looked pretty shallow. I am happy to buy up to a year in advance if I save 40% or so. I am sure I'll be needing them by then. As I said, good point.
check for uneven wearing, if one side of the tire that is more 'worn out' than the other side of the tire, then you might need wheel alignment ontop of tire replacement.
Asking a tyre shop "do my tires need replacing" will almost certainly result in a yes, regardless of actual requirement.
Yep, that is how I feel.
Sorry if some think I wasted their time. Unless I drop dead, I am gunna need new tyres. Just thought I would try to get thoughts from experts on the most cost/value effective way to do so.
tread has to be more than 2mm
thats it
just rock up to your local tyre place like bob jane when you are expecting their workshop to be flooded, pay for 2 tyres at $200 bucks each (obviously after you bargain them down from $300 each), wait til they have your car up on the machine,wait for the workshop and office to be 2 inches underwater, get turned away because its not safe to change the tyres in 2 inches of water, get a call 2 days later asking if you would still like the tyres, tell them you want 4 for the same price because of the inconvinence then go in and get $1200 bucks worth of tyres fitted balanced and aligned for $400 :)
And this is relevant because…?
if someone has the ability to see the future (ie. flooding workshop), i think the first thing he wants to know is what are the numbers to the powerball tomorrow.
I just bought 4 new Hankook Tyres. Don't know how long they will last though… maybe should've checked online first like tyreright.com.au
318 is obviously not a performance car
brand name tyres for this should not be more than ~$100 each in common 15-16" sizes
buy on those 4 for the price of 3 sales or the $50-$100 cashbac or fuel card sales
do you have any idea how expensive it is to ship 4 tyres from overseas???