Best Tyres for the BMW 325i

Tires feel numb once I put them on road, compared to my previous summer tires (Conti. PC6). I immediately start to feel more grip in any second while driving, no matter in dry, rain, or snow condition. Just lots of grip. Therefore trade-off is the fun-to-driveness, as the tires make the car less agile. It feels like lots of muffle and absorption (of momentum/kinetics) from the tires. One evidence is I was able to hit the end of the speedometer (250km/h) with summer tires but with these tires I couldn't anymore (~230km/h). But that's ok for me, just FYR. Handling and cornoring doesn't sacrifice much though; I can still feel the car's own character. And the braking remains above par and even becomes rather balanced; compared to summer tires, the tires perform slightly shy in dry and warm days and much better in wet, cold, or even snow condition. They make me feel rather safe especially when I have had car an accident before due to bad tires. Additionally, they give me enough confidence in light or mild snowy days.
The rolling resistance is higher obviously, so as higher fuel consumption, but only a little bit compared to summer tires. Comfort level is really high; I feel the squishiness from the tires when the road isn's flat, and the tires seem to muffle noise too. Wearing is also quit sensible; my estimation is > 50k km of life.
Less fun, more safe. For a daily-commuter the tires are a great fit.

Absolute junk! Traded down from Pirelli because of the 'good' reviews but it seems like these reviews were fake.
They are just as uncomfortable as the previous Pirellis which were run-flats. And just as noisy.
But worst of all, they cannot be properly balanced! Had the shop try a number of times, the machine says they're balanced but above 80km/h they shaking of the steering wheel starts. This is a good tyre shop which I've used before.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!

Good dry and wet grip when new. Dry grip remains good at 50% wear, but wet grip has declined noticeably.

When driving under normal circumstances and at normal speeds, the tires are quiet and great on the highway. While noise is good even at 50% wear, comfort is poor, these tires feel as stiff as run-flats, at the recommended tire pressure of 260kpa for my car, these tires are crashy. Every pothole, rough surface and joint is felt. To compensate I dropped my tire pressures to just 180kpa (26psi), which of course came at the expense of wear. On the upside, braking in the dry is excellent, with a short stopping distance and good control during emergency braking.

When driving spiritedly (using the recommended 260kpa tire pressure), these tires are alright with pretty good grip in the dry. Grip is progressive which makes driving moderately fast quite easy, steering feel and responsiveness actually improves as the tires heat up and these tires become noticeably more responsive when warm. However, fast steering changes cause the front end to wash out. Overall a serviceable tire for occasional spirited drives. However, avoid driving spiritedly during rainfall, especially when worn. The tires have decent braking and acceleration in the wet, but cornering grip is weak and unpredictable. These tires lose all its progressiveness in the wet, when it slips it lets go. Snap oversteer isn't fun, at least it isn't my cup of tea.

In summary:
+ Good dry grip and handling, responsiveness and steering feedback improves when warmed up
+ Great dry braking performance
+ Fairly quiet at high speed
+ Very cheap for a well-known brand
+ Good straight line acceleration and braking in the wet
- Terribly harsh ride
- Unpredictable wet handling at 50% wear
- Average tread wear
- Vague road feedback and lack of auditory feedback make driving at the limit guesswork

The Goodyear Assurance Triplemax 2 is a decent buy on a budget. It's a cheap touring tire that's quiet, with grip levels close to UHP tires. The stiff sidewalls are uncomfortable but seem damage resistant. Just be careful of it's wet cornering once worn.

Would I buy again? Probably not, but not because it's a bad tire, but because doesn't suit my preferences and car.

Would I recommend it? Probably yes, for those on a tight budget looking for a well known branded tire that has good grip and handling.

Follow up to an previous, early-impression, review. 5000 miles and a winter later.

Still very impressed with overall blend of characteristics in terms of performance and everyday comfort.

What's really surprised me was the grip levels over winter (northern England), especially on cold wet roads. Not sure it if it's the compound but it really didn't feel compromised when/where I expected it to - at the point I'd normally fit AS tyres. Obviously not in terms of any snow but just cold greasy roads.

Wear seems ok for what it is.

I loved these tyres as soon as they went on the car, night and day difference from the OEM Bridgestone RFs that are meant for my E92 325i (those were awful tyres). I'm so glad I went with the F1 A5's as it's been a really pleasurable and safe ~3 years. I've done a mixture of driving, but at it's my daily it will most often be town/motorway. However I do enjoy driving down a country lane every few weeks (no track). The dry grip has been incredible and the feedback through the wheel is sharp, even more impressive in my opinion was the wet grip which really inspired confidence even around corners. Aquaplaning was sensational; on many occasions I had done long road trips around the UK in torrential rain, often from London to Dartmoor, Devon. On one occasion I was doing a healthy speed on the motorway with an M135i driving alongside me in seriously torrential rain till the point where they aquaplaned into the hard shoulder and my car continued thanks to the A5's. On top of that I did several spirited drives from London to Devon in the peak of winter in a RWD BMW on icy conditions that went as smooth as anything.

I really can't fault these tyres as they were so affordable and impressive. The only downsides for me were that they aren't particularly good looking tyres and they go quite "dry" in appearance fairly quickly so frequent tyre shine is needed. In terms of wear I guess around 18k miles is decent as the rears are only now getting to the limit and I guess I tend to power off the line more frequently than others, I've also done a couple of donuts over the years but only a handful of times.

I'm now considering going for Continental SportContact 7 in 255/30/19 (stock) or 265/30/19 for the rear replacement but I worry the wet grip will be lost.

BMW 325i M Sport LCI (E92) on ST XA coilovers
Front: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 225/35/19
Rear: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 255/35/19

Very impressed with the dry grip, didn't think you could have such grip without going to a semi slick, this is worlds ahead of other premium tires I have felt. (looking at you pzero and pilot super sport, although on very different cars, which were not mine) They also do not compromise on wet grip, even on the ancient chassis of the e36, it felt perfectly safe to drive in a downpour with standing water. They're also still comfortable and quiet which is not always a given with performance tires.

Only done a few hundred miles on these (can’t comment on wear) but so far really impressed. Mix of average and smooth/spirited driving.

Ideal mix of firmness/compliance. For a family car anyway. They replaced runflats and I was worried they might be over-squishy, but they just aren’t. They’ve transformed the car and it feels both smoother and more sure-footed at the same time, with more predictable behaviour under load.

Not too noisy, and seem decent for rolling resistance.

Plenty of grip in the dry, but the wet traction and stability really is remarkable – including in some pretty deep standing water. Probably the best tyres I’ve experienced for wet grip if not on the same car. You don’t have to be throwing it around to tell the grip is just ‘there’, which gives a lot of confidence – including braking. A world of difference to a couple of hire cars I’ve had lately with (branded) eco tyres that just felt horribly aloof and skittish in the wet.

For ref I’ve got the 91 load (as recommended) -not 94/XL.