Is anyone having issues with front tires at the track?

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by BMW9

Me Too. This was after just one day willows springs . I did half day at the streets and 1/2 at big willow so most of this wear was in 1/2 the day at Big willow. It was 100 degrees. Tires were new with 2000 street miles on them .
Time for new tires And later, camber plates. I was sure that I would go with 275/295s but now I'm having second thoughts. Is it better to stay with stock tires that BMW and Michelin took the time to developed exclusively for this car or is there some time to be gained from 275/295s? (I'll get either torfeo or PSC2) The stock set up was very predictable and consistent, I don't really care about comfort. I want faster lap times and a consistent and predictable set up.
Any advice would be appreciated. Mr VCP, you have probably tried everything.

I'm going with the Merc spec 275 Cup 2's when I replace my fronts this coming week. Cheaper, wider, very unlikely that they're slower. These plus camber plates have produced good results for others. I think there's some documentation a few pages back. Wear looks excellent.

New owners: If you intend to track at a high intermediate/advanced pace, really, camber plates are a must. This is not due to driver error (understeering/plowing through corners), or lack of tire adjustment. As stated earlier, car is just way too fast and dampers/chassis too competent for street camber settings up front. Engineering error by BMW. Wish I would have done them straight away and saved $700-800.

[VCP]

Originally Posted by FormulaMMM

I'm going with the Merc spec 275 Cup 2's when I replace my fronts this coming week. Cheaper, wider, very unlikely that they're slower. These plus camber plates have produced good results for others. I think there's some documentation a few pages back. Wear looks excellent.

New owners: If you intend to track at a high intermediate/advanced pace, really, camber plates are a must. This is not due to driver error (understeering/plowing through corners), or lack of tire adjustment. As stated earlier, car is just way too fast and dampers/chassis too competent for street camber settings up front. Engineering error by BMW. Wish I would have done them straight away and saved $700-800.

I agree with all your setup points. I did all of this last year. Why do you consider this an engineering flaw? The car was destined to set the fastest ring time possible and this was the optimum setup. Not many tracks mimic what the ring asks from you or your car. What they truly gave us is a car that can be dialed In nicely with some setup knowledge. Glad you played around with it to find this out I don't mind the Merc spec but I find the sidewall a bit soft for my liking. The chassis likes a stiffer sidewall I feel.

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by VCP

I agree with all your setup points. I did all of this last year. Why do you consider this an engineering flaw? The car was destined to set the fastest ring time possible and this was the optimum setup. Not many tracks mimic what the ring asks from you or your car. What they truly gave us is a car that can be dialed In nicely with some setup knowledge. Glad you played around with it to find this out I don't mind the Merc spec but I find the sidewall a bit soft for my liking. The chassis likes a stiffer sidewall I feel.

The lack of front camber adjustment is an engineering flaw/oversight in my view. Can't argue with the ring time, but setup for other types of tracks should have been considered. Wide range of adjustments (aero, dampers) on the car, but can't get more front camber than my stock E90. Come on.

Front tires are falling apart while staying well south of the mechanical limit for every other component on track -- brakes, cooling, rear tires, etc. And we're having to "correct" with camber plates. That's what I mean.

[BarryB]

At the track today with my non BMW star front tires (275) and GC Camber plates for the first time. Fingers crossed I'll keep my right front happy ......

[rr_m]

After many sets of the Merc Cup2's and 1 failed experiment with R888R's, I just finished my first set of RE71R's (275 & 295), and I like them a lot. As predictable as the Cup2's but a bit more grip and precision with less rollover (see pics -- not the same corner, but I think pretty representative).

I got 3 days (16 sessions) out of them. Grip fell off a little on the 3rd day to about where the Cup2's are.

Running -3.2 camber and about 0 toe in the fronts.

[FormulaMMM]

Originally Posted by rr_m

After many sets of the Merc Cup2's and 1 failed experiment with R888R's, I just finished my first set of RE71R's (275 & 295), and I like them a lot. As predictable as the Cup2's but a bit more grip and precision with less rollover (see pics -- not the same corner, but I think pretty representative).

I got 3 days (16 sessions) out of them. Grip fell off a little on the 3rd day to about where the Cup2's are.

Running -3.2 camber and about 0 toe in the fronts.

Nice, thanks for the feedback.