Review: Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 N-spec

[Mr.47]

It's been about 1 year since my ownership and it been great, however my tires, 20in Bridgestone Dueler Summer H/P RFT, were beginning to deafen me with a obnoxious wobbling noise that starts at 25 mph and beyond, and it gets worse when your on the highway its very hard to keep a conversation. Another thing that I noted that wet traction was beginning to diminish rapidly especially when it comes to puddles of water, hydroplane like crazy. It was that i need new tires asap

Spec:
2014 BMW X5 35d X-line with style 451 20in rims
Previous Tires: Bridgestone dueler H/P
Size Front 275/40/20 6/32" tread remaining
Size Rear 315/35/20 4/32" tread remaining

I always like michelin tires, they're pretty solid tire choice, their QC are excellent, never had any issues with the sets I bought in the past vehicles (ie PRIUS, Mercedes E320 Bluetec) very solid performance so I decided to jump and bought Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+ and Michelin is having a semi annual sale you save $70 for a set.

I ordered them at sam's club and get it installed by them because most of my local tire shop was giving me a lecture for strictly running RFT on my vehicles, I understand the cons of having non-RFT but they insist and later claim such tire is "not exist"... And since I know the tire installer in Sams club he made sure take precautions not to stain my interior (unlike my BMW dealer who left streaks of grease in my seat and headliner after alignment)

A week and about $1,400 out the door with michelin sale discount. It's finally done!


And to my surprise they are (NO) or N-spec aka Porsche Spec tires which means it tuned for comfort, noise control and all season handling.


Observation


You can visually see the differences at the back the michelin side walls are thinner than the masculine blocky bridgestone dueler sidewall which gives a very aggressive profile and stance. Otherwise it almost identical from every other perspective.

Back


Front


Rear


Side Profile


Thread pattern


Impression

The Michelin Pilot sport excelled in comfort, noise and vibration control it almost glides over every crack, fissure and divots on the road with little to no reverberations into the cabin, there is a balloon thump sound when going on bigger bump but not too intrusive to exasperate, road noise are at a minimum.

However there is a some trade off when it comes to performance, when performing slaloms I noted that tires has a softer characteristics it almost has a gummy feeling, it takes corners very well but compared to the Bridgestone it lacks some confidence delivering traction at a turn, this is due in part that this tire has softer rubber compound, and its non-RFT ie weaker side walls, the weight index and speed rating are identical to the Bridgestone.

Wear
Well see about that as time goes by so far it only has 50 miles on it, having some experiences with Michelin tires previously I believe i'll probally get 25k-35k miles on them before the it begins to make that horrible wobbling noise due to wear.

Thread Depth of Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 N-spec
F-275/40/20 10/32 in
R-315/35/20 9/32 in

Final though
So far I'm impressed at the ride quality, and noise control however i'm a little disappointed with the handling aspect of these tires, but it's a tradeoff I'm willing to make.

[kry226]

I've had the exact same set of tires for about a month now and I echo your observations. No issues at all, and while all new tires seem to exhibit some squishiness to a certain extent, these were a bit more squirrely than most new tires I've purchased for any vehicle. But they do seem to be settling in pretty well and inspiring more confidence. No issues at 120+ mph either.

I think they'll be a great set of tires.

[turboawd]

Why do they call these Porsche spec? Is it an oem tire for a certain model of theirs?

[Mr.47]

Originally Posted by turboawd

Why do they call these Porsche spec? Is it an oem tire for a certain model of theirs?

What is N-Spec (ill let them explain)
https://www.porsche.com/usa/accessor...ires/n-marked/

Porsche are engineering extremist, the amount of work and supply collaboration they do to keep a porsche driving like a porsche are insane, and having a specific tire approved for porsche is no easy task my by its supplier. These Michelin AS3 N-spec are mounted on primary on the panamera, however it's also an option for the Cayenne (SUV) for those needing all season option. This tires also meets all load and speed rating per bmw spec, minus the RSC (run flat).

[W37V]

Originally Posted by Mr.47

It's been about 1 year since my ownership and it been great, however my tires, 20in Bridgestone Dueler Summer H/P RFT, were beginning to deafen me with a obnoxious wobbling noise that starts at 25 mph and beyond, and it gets worse when your on the highway its very hard to keep a conversation. Another thing that I noted that wet traction was beginning to diminish rapidly especially when it comes to puddles of water, hydroplane like crazy. It was that i need new tires asap

Spec:
2014 BMW X5 35d X-line with style 451 20in rims
Previous Tires: Bridgestone dueler H/P
Size Front 275/40/20 6/32" tread remaining
Size Rear 315/35/20 4/32" tread remaining

I always like michelin tires, they're pretty solid tire choice, their QC are excellent, never had any issues with the sets I bought in the past vehicles (ie PRIUS, Mercedes E320 Bluetec) very solid performance so I decided to jump and bought Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+ and Michelin is having a semi annual sale you save $70 for a set.

I ordered them at sam's club and get it installed by them because most of my local tire shop was giving me a lecture for strictly running RFT on my vehicles, I understand the cons of having non-RFT but they insist and later claim such tire is "not exist"... And since I know the tire installer in Sams club he made sure take precautions not to stain my interior (unlike my BMW dealer who left streaks of grease in my seat and headliner after alignment)

A week and about $1,400 out the door with michelin sale discount. It's finally done!

Observation


You can visually see the differences at the back the michelin side walls are thinner than the masculine blocky bridgestone dueler sidewall which gives a very aggressive profile and stance. Otherwise it almost identical from every other perspective.

Back
Impression

The Michelin Pilot sport excelled in comfort, noise and vibration control it almost glides over every crack, fissure and divots on the road with little to no reverberations into the cabin, there is a balloon thump sound when going on bigger bump but not too intrusive to exasperate, road noise are at a minimum.

However there is a some trade off when it comes to performance, when performing slaloms I noted that tires has a softer characteristics it almost has a gummy feeling, it takes corners very well but compared to the Bridgestone it lacks some confidence delivering traction at a turn, this is due in part that this tire has softer rubber compound, and its non-RFT ie weaker side walls, the weight index and speed rating are identical to the Bridgestone.

Wear
Well see about that as time goes by so far it only has 50 miles on it, having some experiences with Michelin tires previously I believe i'll probally get 25k-35k miles on them before the it begins to make that horrible wobbling noise due to wear.

Thread Depth of Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 N-spec
F-275/40/20 10/32 in
R-315/35/20 9/32 in

Final though
So far I'm impressed at the ride quality, and noise control however i'm a little disappointed with the handling aspect of these tires, but it's a tradeoff I'm willing to make.

Make sure your tires are properly inflated. BMW calls for rather high psi on these tires (iirc 42 in the rear and 37 up front). If the tire is under inflated it will have more give. Initially my tires were pumped to 35 psi all around. Made the ride spungy. However, once corrected they sharpened up that the sway is barely noticeable.

Btw. Costco is the cheapest seller of these tires for this size.

You had the same observations.
https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...&highlight=As3

[brevets10000]

Originally Posted by W37V

Make sure your tires are properly inflated. BMW calls for rather high psi on these tires (iirc 42 in the rear and 37 up front). If the tire is under inflated it will have more give. Initially my tires were pumped to 35 psi all around. Made the ride spungy. However, once corrected they sharpened up that the sway is barely noticeable.

Btw. Costco is the cheapest seller of these tires for this size.

You had the same observations.
https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...&highlight=As3

This brings a question to mind. Since BMw spec’s RFT’s, is the PSI set the same for non RFT’s, such as this tire or the Conti DWS06?

[W37V]

Originally Posted by brevets10000

This brings a question to mind. Since BMw spec’s RFT’s, is the PSI set the same for non RFT’s, such as this tire or the Conti DWS06?

X5M comes with non run flats. Pressure on those cars is also rated at F35/R42. So, I don't see why would this change it. Maybe I am wrong.

[Dilmorecg]

Originally Posted by W37V

Btw. Costco is the cheapest seller of these tires for this size.

https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...&highlight=As3

Can you post the link to how you bought them from Costco. When I search by our car they don't come up. If I put in the straight tire sizes I can find them but they don't specify they are the Porsche N-spec ones.

[W37V]

Originally Posted by Dilmorecg

Can you post the link to how you bought them from Costco. When I search by our car they don't come up. If I put in the straight tire sizes I can find them but they don't specify they are the Porsche N-spec ones.

Went in and told them I wanted Michelins. He said that they don't make them. I told him they do, and told him to look closer. He found them on second page. Told me how they are special order only and would take about a week to get them. Told him to order them. Week later, they arrived and were installed on the car.

If you want, i get the part number from costco next time I stop by.

[DuSh]

Tire psi depends on many factors - we have a thread about it on forum. I don't want to beat same old topics - it depends on 2 row vs 3 row seating, 35i vs 50i, AWD vs RWD, even what speeds you travel and what season. There is a huge table in manual with about 60 different psi combo for front/rear. Just saying.

[Dilmorecg]

Originally Posted by W37V

Went in and told them I wanted Michelins. He said that they don't make them. I told him they do, and told him to look closer. He found them on second page. Told me how they are special order only and would take about a week to get them. Told him to order them. Week later, they arrived and were installed on the car.

If you want, i get the part number from costco next time I stop by.

Thanks, P/N would be great if its easy. I may just go in and see if they can look them up too.

[alphaod]

I look forward to an update if you get a chance of using them in winter with snow, etc.

[Maverik259]

From tire rack right now.

[Dilmorecg]

Just purchased these from Costco today. If you are looking to do this they have a special right now on top of the $70 rebate from Michelin. $0.01 install per tire. So $130 off total. Mine were $1,269 out the door including tax.

I did have a few issues:
1) They would not install non-run flats on a run flat vehicle. I talked the guy into doing it anyways.
2) Their system would not allow a V speed rating to go on our cars. I guess W is factory on the rear and their computer would not allow them to install them.
To get around these issues they told me I could bring my wheels/tires in off the car and they would install. All the warranty and maintenance/flat repair is still fine...they just aren't allowed to install the tires apparently.

Had to get an install date about a week out but I plan on just pulling the wheels off the car to bring them in. They did not need to order them since they had the exact spec tires "in stock". Looks like someone ordered them presumable for our car and didn't end up putting them on...probably because of the above issues.

So whoever ordered these for the Gig Harbor, WA Costco...Thanks!

[Ferg]

Originally Posted by Dilmorecg

Just purchased these from Costco today. If you are looking to do this they have a special right now on top of the $70 rebate from Michelin. $0.01 install per tire. So $130 off total. Mine were $1,269 out the door including tax.

I did have a few issues:
1) They would not install non-run flats on a run flat vehicle. I talked the guy into doing it anyways.
2) Their system would not allow a V speed rating to go on our cars. I guess W is factory on the rear and their computer would not allow them to install them.
To get around these issues they told me I could bring my wheels/tires in off the car and they would install. All the warranty and maintenance/flat repair is still fine...they just aren't allowed to install the tires apparently.

Had to get an install date about a week out but I plan on just pulling the wheels off the car to bring them in. They did not need to order them since they had the exact spec tires "in stock". Looks like someone ordered them presumable for our car and didn't end up putting them on...probably because of the above issues.

So whoever ordered these for the Gig Harbor, WA Costco...Thanks!

It's funny you say this about them being reluctant to put non-run flat tires on. Apparently our local BMW dealership is telling people that you can only use run-flat tires on the OEM wheels. I recently just put these all-seasons on my wife's X5 and they have worked great! Sidewalls are a little softer which makes handling a bit "floatier" but the positives outweigh the negatives.

[spyderdoc]

I ordered from costco.

They are not on the website, so have to go in and order them,,,,

COSTCO Item # 1142096 for fronts (2754020PAS3), @ $296.99.
COSTCO Item # 1142108 for rears (3153520PAS3), @ $314.99.

My Costco in San Jose is fine with installing non RFTs on my X5...

[9mmkungfu]

I found them on the Costco site by searching the sizes. You won't see them if you search by car model.

[yahtzee]

Do they still have the aggressive look of the Dunlop OEMs? The ride and noise has to be better but I'm looking for the best compromise of look and performance. Also considering the Conti DWS.

[alphaod]

My local Costco told me they wouldn't install non-runflat tires because they didn't want to responsible if I was stranded on the road with a flat. I showed them my spare tire and that satisfied them to do the job.

[Dilmorecg]

Got these installed 2 days ago and these are my early impressions:

- Really glad to get off runflats - car is not pulling in grooves anymore and I don't feel the small bumps in the road as much
- Much quieter than the Pirelli's - both slow and freeway speed driving.
- Sidewall flex - there is slightly more but not noticeable unless im doing back to back sharp turns. The minimal amount is totally worth the change.
- Looks - Michelin's tend to be chunkier tires and these are no exception - definitely look wide from the back like the Pirelli's. The front tires have slightly different sidewalls which is weird. If you look at OP's pics you can see right by the rim the rears have a sharper angle transition and the fronts are smooth. Not a big deal, I just noticed. Treads are the same on both.
- I did notice that running at the recommended 36/41psi the fronts looked a little low/bulging so I went up 1-2psi.

I am excited to see how they do in the rain since it rains a lot in Seattle. Also, interested to see how they do in the snow. It only snows a few times a year here but the X5 is our only family car so we were forced to drive in it with the Pirellis and it was not pretty.

[Maverik259]

May just order these from Costco as they're on sale for $1216 and take somewhere else to install. Don't feel like arguing with idiots about whether they can install these or not but can't ignore that price. Only $150 more than DWS.

Edit: just kidding I guess. Just ordered the extreme contact DWS. Go figure. Lol

[yewlock]

Originally Posted by Maverik259

May just order these from Costco as they're on sale for $1216 and take somewhere else to install. Don't feel like arguing with idiots about whether they can install these or not but can't ignore that price. Only $150 more than DWS.

Edit: just kidding I guess. Just ordered the extreme contact DWS. Go figure. Lol

I will try this when my DWS worn out if this is $150 more than DWS. It might take awhile though since the DWS is only 4k miles. So far I am happy with it.