The day has arrived. I will pick up my 2001 tomorrow. I plan to be there when it rolls off the truck and assist in the prep and PDI as I've done in the past. I get a thrill out of taking the spacers out of the suspension, removing the plastic from the seat and unhooking the temporary battery cable. Just joking.
But seriously, I do have a tire dilemma. I have just driven for 11 months and 11,000 miles on the Michelin Pilots which came on my 2000 M5. My new 2001 is equipped with the Dunlop 8080s, the other OEM tire. I am looking for opinions from M5 owners who have driven on both tires. Anybody think I'll notice a big difference? I'll tell you one thing, the Michelins cost about $290 more than the Dunlops. So, if you get Michelins, you are nearly $300 ahead just on the rubber!
MJ, put the Pilot Sports on your new car. I have the Dunlops and I hate them. I am getting ready to dump them and get some S-02pp. I have driven a M5 with Pilot Sports. It definitely grip better than my Dunlops.
Later,
Kenneth
'00 silverstone M5
Quote:
Originally posted by MJ: The day has arrived. I will pick up my 2001 tomorrow. I plan to be there when it rolls off the truck and assist in the prep and PDI as I've done in the past. I get a thrill out of taking the spacers out of the suspension, removing the plastic from the seat and unhooking the temporary battery cable. Just joking.
But seriously, I do have a tire dilemma. I have just driven for 11 months and 11,000 miles on the Michelin Pilots which came on my 2000 M5. My new 2001 is equipped with the Dunlop 8080s, the other OEM tire. I am looking for opinions from M5 owners who have driven on both tires. Anybody think I'll notice a big difference? I'll tell you one thing, the Michelins cost about $290 more than the Dunlops. So, if you get Michelins, you are nearly $300 ahead just on the rubber!
After installing the DInan Stage 3 suspension system, I still felt as if something was missing (especially after driving the car at The Streets of Willow Springs and being disappointed with a general lack of overall grip).
I thought about purchasing either the Michelin Pilot Sports or the Bridgestone S02 Pole Positions.
I did my due diligence by speaking with ultra-high performance street tire specialists at both Michelin and Bridgestone. The man at Bridgestone conceded that there really isn't that much to choose between these two tires (i.e. that I wouldn't be going wrong no matter which ones I chose, that they're both on top of their game -- although he preferred that I ride on Bridgestones for "loyalty" reasons!).
The Bridgestone representative said that he would give the nod to the S02 Pole Positions for wet grip, and that with the Uni Q T (I think that's what it's called) tread compound, the Pole Positions stay grippier (in both the wet and dry) throughout their "wear" life. He also mentioned that he thought the Bridgestones would exhibit slightly better grip on turn exit, but wouldn;t be noticeably sharper on turn-in (i.e. in terms of exhibiting a quicker steering response).
I decided to go the safe route and purchase the Michelins (in part because they are one of the OEM tires for the E39 M5). Part of my rationale is that while Bridgestone pioneered the current wave of directional tread design, Michelin responded later and may be a little ahead of the curve, with the S02s maybe being slightly dated (possibly that's the reason that they felt compelled to "update" their design with the Pole Position variant). I've even heard that Bridgestone is soon to launch a replacement to be called the S03!
I can report that while the Michelins are very slightly louder and very slightly firmer riding than the the Dunlop 8080s, they are so much improved in terms of turn-in, steering response, overall general grip, and much, much grippier on turn exit (especially with the DSC turned off!). The E39 series of cars has such great sound deadening that the increase in noise and firmness is hardly noticeable and certainly worth the trade-off for vastly improved grip snf responsiveness.
The only improvement would be to install an "R" type of soft tire with a minimal tread depth (i.e. Hoosier, Yokohama A008RS, etc.) that results in much smaller slip angles (i.e. deflection).
With these Pilot Sports, my Dinan-suspended M5 handles incredibly for a heavy sedan.
By the way, I once again have my M5 after "selling" it. The buyer had trouble completing the transaction. I'm so overjoyed to have the car back in my stable!!!
There is no comparison between the two. The Pilots are the BEST of the two. I drove on them for about 14,000 miles now and they are better than the S-02's on my Porsche. Get the Pilots. ;-)
The Dunlops have been sold. The Pilots have been ordered. They go on my 2001 M5 Thursday. Picked up the updated monster a few hours ago. Thanks for all of the responses.
2001 Tomorrow...The Big Tire Question?
Linear Mode
