Tire Advise - Michelin vs Pirelli

[MotoWPK]

Time is approaching to replace the OEM 255/50/R19 Michelin Latitude Tour HP ZP's on our '14 35d. Am going to stick with runflats and, having been pleased with the Michelins, had planned on replacing them in kind. Taking a look at Tire Rack, I notice the Pirelli Scorpion Verde's receive better reviews across the board, including those areas most important to me; ride, noise, handling and steering response.

There are limited reviews available from Bimmer drivers, so wanted to inquire of other's experience, ideally those who may have had both the Michelin Latitude Tour HP ZP's and Pirelli Scorpion Verde's and can provide a comparison.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[midlifecrisis]

These are both good tires. My 35d came equipped with the Pirellis, and I have been very pleased. I went through the winter of 14-15 with them and never had a problem. This year I ran Pirelli Scorpion Winters (the performance version designed for the Cayenne) and frankly didn't notice a lot of difference between the two in terms winter grip. This isn't a complaint about the winters, but a compliment to the all season capability of the Scorpion Verdes. Next time I'm going to buy a full-on deep snow and ice tire instead of the performance winters. The Scorpion Verde also has a nice quiet ride.

[ixlr8]

I have the Pirelli Scorpion Verde M+S that came with my 16 X5... I HATE them, very noisy and rough ride. The senior tech at my dealer says that the OEM Pirelli tires are the worst that BMW puts on their vehicles. Pirelli also makes a Scorpion Verde + that is suppose to be a much better tire than the OEM one's that BMW puts on their vehicles.

[Xeno]

I have OEM Pirelli RFs at 16K and like them more than OEM RFs by Dunlops or Bridgestones on previous X5s.

[midlifecrisis]

Well, I'm glad we all agree. (!)

[TortugaX5]

I have always preferred Michelin to Pirelli. I have had great luck with my 19" latitudes.

[BGWN]

You may want to take a look at the Michelin Premier LTX. It is the next generation replacement for the Latitude Tours and is much higher rated than both the Tours and the Pirelli. Not sure if they are available yet in run-flats though.

[MotoWPK]

Originally Posted by ixlr8

I have the Pirelli Scorpion Verde M+S that came with my 16 X5... I HATE them, very noisy and rough ride. The senior tech at my dealer says that the OEM Pirelli tires are the worst that BMW puts on their vehicles. Pirelli also makes a Scorpion Verde + that is suppose to be a much better tire than the OEM one's that BMW puts on their vehicles.

From what I can find on Tire Rack, there are three versions of the Pirelli Scorpion Verde;
All Season
All Season Plus
All Season Run Flat

Only the last is a run flat.

ixlr8, do you have experience with other run flats on BMW's to compare to your experience on the '16 X5?

TortugaX5, I too have been a Michelin fan for many years. When I replaced the Goodyear OEM tires on my '13 128i a few months ago, I originally was going to go Michelin, but ended up choosing the relatively new Bridgestone Driveguards and have been extremely pleased with them (indeed, I'd fit them to our X5 if they made them for the X5). So that caused me to question my Michelin loyalty. Then, researching tires for our X5, I find customer reviews of the Michelin Latitude HP ZP and the Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season Run Flat decidedly in favor of the latter. Hmmm...maybe my loyalty has been misplaced!

BGWN, the Michelin Premier LTX does receive better ratings than the Latitude HP ZP, but is not available as a ZP; i.e. 'zero pressure', Michelin's term for run flat.

[ixlr8]

Originally Posted by MotoWPK

ixlr8, do you have experience with other run flats on BMW's to compare to your experience on the '16 X5?

I did test drive a '16 X5 with the OEM Michelin RF's, they were not as noisy on the same roads as the Pirelli's, but still much noisier than I liked. How noisy the tires are seems to be directly dependent on the road surfaces. Most of the roads in New England are rough and the tires are very noisy. On the few roads that were paved within the last 2 years so the roads are smooth, they are fairly quiet. I have a GMC 2500 work truck with studded snow tires on it. On the same roads, the 2500 is much quieter than the X5 with the OEM Pirelli's. I understand that the Pirelli Scorpion Verde + are not made to OEM specs and are a much improved tires over the OEM BMW Scorpion Verde's.

Jim