WTF? Just noticed while washing my car that it has two different front tires

[TT1351]

Check this out, apparently I have two different versions of the front tires, both Michelin Pilot Cup2, but my left front has about a third of an inch wide space much like my rears, however my right front does not. Anyone in the same boat? Will address this with dealer at 1200 mile service. See photos.

[MarksM]

Don't worry, they won't last very long before up need to replace them

[TT1351]

Very true! Good way to look at it!

[M4_GTS]

I am going to say that maybe a tire was damaged before you got a hold of your car and was replaced by a non "star" tire because it was not available.

[TT1351]

M4_GTS nailed it! There are the letters MO where the star should be. Odd

[w00tw00t]

I didn't get it... are you saying they are different specs?

[TT1351]

Tires used by BMW have a star indicating they conform to their rigid standards or something like that, the one on my right front has no star and is different then the OEM supplied tires. For example, you buy a tire from your local Michelin dealer, they supply you with the tire available to everyone, no star, if you buy the same tire from BMW it will have the star. Tirerack may be the exception as they will often list a BMW spec star tire, and the same tire built for the rest of the market.

[M4_GTS]

Originally Posted by TT1351

M4_GTS nailed it! There are the letters MO where the star should be. Odd

"MO" is Mercedes spec.

GTS spec is 24lbs. and MO spec is 26lbs. Tread width is also 9.1" vs. 9.5"

I would go back to the dealer and have a nice talk with them about this issue. Not acceptable.

[w00tw00t]

Originally Posted by TT1351

Tires used by BMW have a star indicating they conform to their rigid standards or something like that, the one on my right front has no star and is different then the OEM supplied tires. For example, you buy a tire from your local Michelin dealer, they supply you with the tire available to everyone, no star, if you buy the same tire from BMW it will have the star. Tirerack may be the exception as they will often list a BMW spec star tire, and the same tire built for the rest of the market.

interesting! good to know!

[M4_GTS]

Originally Posted by TT1351

Tires used by BMW have a star indicating they conform to their rigid standards or something like that, the one on my right front has no star and is different then the OEM supplied tires. For example, you buy a tire from your local Michelin dealer, they supply you with the tire available to everyone, no star, if you buy the same tire from BMW it will have the star. Tirerack may be the exception as they will often list a BMW spec star tire, and the same tire built for the rest of the market.

A lot of tire shops are just clueless and don't understand or know there are different specs of a tire. Even Costco carries different specs, but you have to do some research and know the item number from Michelin. Their site only lists the tire size, load rating and item number only.

To make things more complicated, there is now a 265/35/19 Cup2 tire listed for the M2...lol

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by M4_GTS

"MO" is Mercedes spec.

GTS spec is 24lbs. and MO spec is 26lbs. Tread width is also 9.1" vs. 9.5"

I would go back to the dealer and have a nice talk with them about this issue. Not acceptable.

^ This

You should not have different spec tires on each side.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by TT1351

Tires used by BMW have a star indicating they conform to their rigid standards or something like that, the one on my right front has no star and is different then the OEM supplied tires. For example, you buy a tire from your local Michelin dealer, they supply you with the tire available to everyone, no star, if you buy the same tire from BMW it will have the star. Tirerack may be the exception as they will often list a BMW spec star tire, and the same tire built for the rest of the market.

w00tw00t

It's a bit more complex than this. Tires are specifically developed and designed to a car manufacturers specification for a given vehicle application. The tires contact patch shape and size, tread pattern, carcass rigidity, wheel width fitment, front-or-rear application or even tread compound are optimized for a given vehicle. Hence the many different specs for a given tire size. For example, there are no less than 5 different specs for the 265/35R19 PSS:

• N0: Porsche Carrera GT front tire
• * : BMW M2 rear tire
• M0: AMG GT-S front tire
• M01:AMG C63 rear tire
• TPC:CTS-V front tire

Every tire dealer should be able to get you a tire to the righ specification, not only a BMW dealer or TireRack.

[BarryB]

Absolutely correct. It took me several days talking to tire rack, BMW and another local tire shop before going to the dealer. The non BMW star tire (MB) is almost $100 cheaper than the BMW spec and it was hard to get the correct answer as posted above.
I landed up getting two new fronts. Someone incorrectly replaced that tire. It couldn't/wouldn't come from the factory like that.

[TT1351]

As previously mentioned this will be addressed soon. All this additional information will add to my arsenal of reasons they need to make it right. The dealer has been always good to me so I don't anticipate a problem. Thanks for all the additional information. As a matter of fact I will address this with them tomorrow, so when I do go in for the 1200 mile service they will have the correct tire in stock. Interesting the same family has aMB dealership next door. Would love to find out the truth about why this tire was installed.

[kupcake]

After reading the above, and having just received 2 new fronts for my GTS, got me to wondering: if the tire is a 265-35-19, "star spec", how can you be sure it's a front GTS, not a rear M2? I couldn't acurately measure tread width, since it's not yet mounted. So I weighed the tire; close to 24#, definitely not 26#.

[4everkidd]

Originally Posted by TT1351

As previously mentioned this will be addressed soon. All this additional information will add to my arsenal of reasons they need to make it right. The dealer has been always good to me so I don't anticipate a problem. Thanks for all the additional information. As a matter of fact I will address this with them tomorrow, so when I do go in for the 1200 mile service they will have the correct tire in stock. Interesting the same family has aMB dealership next door. Would love to find out the truth about why this tire was installed.

Most likely a pinch flat due to dropping your car off of the back of the delivery truck...

[CPWINCH]

Originally Posted by kupcake

After reading the above, and having just received 2 new fronts for my GTS, got me to wondering: if the tire is a 265-35-19, "star spec", how can you be sure it's a front GTS, not a rear M2? I couldn't acurately measure tread width, since it's not yet mounted. So I weighed the tire; close to 24#, definitely not 26#.

The M2 tire is Pilot supersport where as the GTS tire is Pilot Cup 2

[kupcake]

Originally Posted by CPWINCH

The M2 tire is Pilot supersport where as the GTS tire is Pilot Cup 2

There's also a Cup2 for the M2:ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2Not Yet Rated
Click to Compare
MICHELIN
PILOT SPORT CUP 2
Streetable Track & Competition
Front: 245/35ZR19 (93Y) XL
Star BMW M2
Sidewall Style: Blackwall
UTQG: 180 AA A
Qty:Per Tire:

2
$337.66
Availability: In Stock
How soon can I get this?
See Shipping Cost
Rear: 265/35ZR19 (98Y) XL
Star BMW M2
Sidewall Style: Blackwall
UTQG: 180 AA A
Special Offer: Buy a set of four and get $70 via MasterCard Reward Card by mail-in rebate.

[M4_GTS]

Originally Posted by CPWINCH

The M2 tire is Pilot supersport where as the GTS tire is Pilot Cup 2

Originally Posted by M4_GTS

To make things more complicated, there is now a 265/35/19 Cup2 tire listed for the M2...lol

[DeliAhjusshi]

Wonder if the dealership will try to say that you incorrectly replaced that tire within the 1200 mile period. Do keep us posted.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by CPWINCH

The M2 tire is Pilot supersport where as the GTS tire is Pilot Cup 2

The M2's 265/35R19 PSC2 is a relatively new offering that comes with the newly released 763M 19x10 M-Performance wheels.

[TT1351]

Went there today, no issue. Will bring it in in a few weeks, off to Alaska for 10 days.

The service guy wasn't aware that different manufacturers have different specs for the same size tire. Thanks to everyone for their input, I too learned a lot.