Bridgestone RE950 >> Like or Dislike?
 

I have Bridgestone RE950's, 205/60/15, stock rims, on my '92 300TE. I like them a lot. I have them as well on a '80 VW PU -- stock GTI rims and size and like them there too. They have very impressive user ratings at the TireRack, including a very high 'would buy again' rating. Any opinions good or bad would be appreciated. Anyone have them on a 300E?

My wife replaced the MXV4's on her 98 E300 with the RE950, and I was surprised at how much tire they were for a relatively low price. While only H-rated, they handled pretty good and were quiet and smooth. Rain performance was spectacular.

When the RE930's on my C230 are worn out, I'll replace them with RE950's or the newest equivalent.

just ordered some new shoes
 

I had planned to go with some Yokos, but apparently the dbs are experiencing some problems, and I was persuaded to go with the re950s. Lots of great reviews, and my wife (she drives the 124) wants quiet and good rain characteristics. The Tirerack folks were very helpful.

Found out I had too tall a tire on the 400, thanks to the PO--who wasn't fond of anything resembling maintenance or car care! I have Akuret tires on there now, which as best I can tell, me and one other member here have (and maybe two on all the other lists I read). I am overhauling my tires and bearings to troubleshoot some noise. Can't say the Akuret is a bad tire, I'll let folks know if the tires were all the problem or just part.

Tirerack recommends the Michelin MXV$, but I can't see spend 120 per tire with well-rated tires like the b-stone at less than 2/3's that. Nice to know others like these.

I have them on my VW Jetta!
 

I like them. BIG difference from the stock Good Year.:D

I have them on my 92 400E, I use 215/60R15 on my stock 15 inch rims, like them a lot, dry handling and wet traction is outstanding, super quiet and smooth ride. They cost considerably less than equivalent Michelins, I'd recommend them.

thanks, carman
 

...for checking in. I am going with the 215-60's as well. How long have you had yours? I was worried about dry traction as well on a 400. My wife SAYS she hasn't chirped the tires, but I have, which made me nervous about the wet.

What do you do in the winter? I am thinking about Michelin Arctics. And sand bags!

I use Dunlop Winter Sport M2, for one season so far. Excellent. I had trips to the mountains with plenty of snow and slush and ABS did not come on unless I tried to make it come on. I used same size as my summers, 205/60/15. The Dunnies only come one smaller, and that size does not have H rating. These tires did the absolute best in a German Car Mag's tests, Auto, Motor und Sport. Exceptional in snow, wet and dry. There may be better snows, but they all fell way off in wet and especially dry. The only better tire, rated by AM&S last year was the Dunnlop M3, which has very limited availability in the US and is very expensive. PS, TWO out of four of my Dunnies did not need weights to balance! (And this is not at some Ma and Pa tire shop.)

I had 215/60R15 RE950 on my 400E for half a year, 10K kms on them. Before this I had stock size Michelins as summer tires, I remember I could chirp those small tires even at 60 kmph.

I use 215/60 Arctic Alpines on 15 inch wheels in winter, I know narrower tires perform better in snow, but stock 195 tires are just too small for a V8 3600 lbs sedan. I felt dry road performance was more desperately needed than snow traction even in winter, so I went with 215. The wide Arctic Alpines performed acceptably in snow, but certainly 205s would do a little better.

I installed the Bridgestone RE950's on my '95 wagon and liked them so much I put them on the '91 300E.

I was originally all set to put on the $$$$$Michelins but my local tire dealer begged me to save money and try the RE950's.

Honestly I hesitated because the early versions of the Bridgestones were too soft (read Lexus here) and wore out quickly.

I was given a 30-day free test drive, with one cautionary note: I was told not to judge the tires until they had at least 400 miles on them and they had time to "set". From working at Porsche I knew this to be very true. Ten days later I bought them and another set for the 300E as well.

They are not quite as quiet as some tires, but very good. The additional properties that I like besides their high-performance qualities, SUPER rain pattern, strong side-walls, is that they don't loose their rain qualities with tire wear (at least up to a certain point, obviously).

Hope this helps.

(Buy 'em, you'll love 'em)

Haasman

I recommended these tires to a colleague for his '99 328i, he absolutely raves about them.

Can't wait for these retched Pirellis on our wagon to wear out (soon!) so I can get 215/55/16 950s on Mille Miglia rims.

We have 910s on our 328i and even they are quite remarkable for a low price tire. You made the right choice, far as I can see.

I think Bridgestones are really good tires period. I have Turanza on the '99 E300 TD and while they are good on dry pavement they excel in the rain. Prices of Bridgestone tires are usually reasonable too - not like Michelins which can be excessive. On the '94 wagon I run Sumitomo at ~$49 a piece. Excellent tire for the money.

Just spent a few days with the 950's. ALL the noise (low-speed, high-speed) is gone. I have to blame the off-brands that were on there, since that's the only difference, but maybe a belt had separated or something.

Nice profile on these tires. Anyway, I am happy, the wife likes the quiet and the handling on the dry, and I can move on to my wagon!

Any dealer that begs you to get Bridgestones is purely out for the money. The Michelins may not be twice the tire but I guarantee anyone else gives the dealer twice the margin to off them. Michelin unfortunately has no problems offing their tires and margins are terrible. I have never seen a good tire saleman start with Michelin. They look so good promoting a cheaper tire: while making twice the markup.

Steve ....

go to the Tirerack and check out the overall ratings for the RE950s ... then pick the Michelin of your choice.

The RE950s are great tires for the money.

Maybe I should have substituted the word "begged" for "highly recommended".

I have no problem with these tires, they just have more to prove than tirerack ratings to sit in the same room with Michelins.

My point stands; tire salesmen love to move people from Michelin due to the low profit margins.

The ratings in question at the Tirerack are USER ratings, not salesmen. Tried Michelin vs. Bridgestones on the same car for a real world test, as many people here have noted?

Nonetheless, in regard to H rated tires, I really have a hard time to pay $116 for tires with dangerous wet performance (Michelin MXV4) when I can pay $74 for Bridgestone RE950 tires with amazing rain and track performance. And I don't sell tires, just trying to share great vs. bad experiences I've had.

My experience comes from fixing peoples problems. Michelins fix people's problems. I never use M&S tires, but I live in Florida and travel no mountain roads. Quiet is of most importance.

The deal with Michelins over Bridgestones or Yokahamas or Dunlops is not how they handle now. Its how they handle in 10, 20, 30, 40k from now. Talking tire economics on the most expensive of machinery is hard for me to understand. My experience isn't just the tires I've driven personally, it comes from thousands of alignment experiences. I am very observant!

I personally will throw away any tire that alters performance or noise. Ninety percent of the driving public wish me as a technician to work it out with alignment (for those drifting conditions), balancing (to solve those roundness irregularities caused by the lesser tire's inability to take a pounding), and through rotation to find two that can not sound like an ATV grinding down the road. Michelins solve problems and MBs amplify the problems with their sensitive handling character.

Anything handles alright on a Chevy.

Steve,

This scenario sort of reminds me of the false economy involved with converting an R12 a/c system to 134.

I sheepishly admit that I do economize on tires by using Continentals while at the same time I hardily agree that Michelins will fix tire complaints. Hopefully times will get better and money will not be so tight at the next tire time. The last tire time came all at once for every car on the place it seemed.

In the mid 90's I was test driving a low mileage, used '92 300D. The tires were the equipment Michelins and worn completely out. They were roaring and I commented to the sales guy about them. He said, "oh, you just fix that by getting rid of the Michelins." I told him that I usually fix that by PUTTING ON new Michelins.

Sharing your experience is always greatly appreciated.

Have a great day,

It's interesting to note that Mercedes Benz (and other luxury automakers) have gone to Continental tires as OE on some of their new models. I suppose you can view this two ways ... that this is an endorsement of Continentals as being solid, quality tires, equal to or greater than Michelins of which they replaced on that particular model. Or, that MB (and others) are cutting costs hoping that the Contis hold up for at least the first 20k miles or so, which is almost a certainty with a brand new car in perfect alignment.

If you had to pick a "second best" brand of tire behind Michelins, which brand would that be Steve?

Well, I do respect Steve's opinion a lot, BUT. I have used Michelin exclusively for 25+ years. I didn't want to run Michelins on my 1996 Jetta, due to cost. I was having such a bad experience with the Continental CH95s on the car that I asked a recommedation from Luke at the Tirerack. He recommeded Bridgestone Turanza Revo H. What a transformation; they now have about 30K on them and they have been consistently quiet, round, and have stayed in balance. Then, my son needed replacements for the Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus on our 1995 C280; he really felt the Michelins were poor in the rain and didn't want another set. I did some research and reluctantly (I really didn't want to have the problems Steve talks about and cost was not a concern) bought a set of Bridgestone RE-950s. They have been excellent (much superior to the Michelins); they have about 10K on them so far. So, the next set coming due are for our E430 and I am probably 70% of the way towards installing either RE-950s or SO-3 Pole Positions. I don't know what has happened at Michelin, but I had been noticing odd wear pattern problems that I could not seem to get corrected with alignment, pressures, etc. over the past ten years or so. So far, the RE-950s on the C280 are wearing perfect. Maybe the work Bridgestone is doing with the Ferrari F-1 team is carrying over to the passenger car tires, but it appears they have equaled, or perhaps exceeded Michelin from my experience.

I appreciate the discussion here, both the users and the voices of experience.

There are definitely false economies to be had; not sure I think the Bridgestones fall in that category, but I just spent a wad on them, so I may be a hostile witness. For the record, the Tirerack folks didn't try to steer me one way or another. The sales rep gave me 3-4 choices that would fit (including Michelins), I said I'd call him back, I checked their site for reviews, I checked this site (which I trust more) for reviews, called my tech, and settled on the 950's. Price was a factor, but I mostly wanted quiet and rain traction.

Funny thing, all of my cars have been bought on the used market, and I have only ever sprung for new tires for the benzes. Even my first one out of college, a 64 190. New tires and shocks, and that car road like a...well...like an MB, of course!

I'll be happy to report back in a few years (it'll take my wife exactly 2.3 years to hit 40K) and let the forum know how they last. Any problems, Steve, and I'll put michelins on!

If the alignment is right and you rotate them at your yearly service, they will do fine. Stay away from potholes!

Steve, I've heard quite the opposite- Michelin factory kick-back (as I call it) is about $20, Yoko's about $5. Maybe I've heard wrong...

I tried to get a Michelin dealership about twenty years ago. They came out and bluntly told me that I would be able to buy tires cheaper from others than through Michelin.

Whatever kickback you are talking about has to do with volume. I buy low speed sedan Michelins from a distributer over night for about the same price as I get wholesale from Tirerack (we are an authorized tirerack installer), but when it comes to Hi Speed tires my local distributer can't touch Tirerack. Has to do with volume.

I can tell you that with competative pricing one can only get about 15-20% mark-up on Michelins. Anybody else usually can be bought so cheap that 30-50% margins are the norm.

update
 

All noises went away with the new tires. 1500 miles or so and the re950's are nice, sticky wet and dry, quiet.

I probably had some damaged and/or very poor quality tires on prior. I could have sworn I heard some bearing noise, definitely tire noise, and another mystery noise that seemed very irregular and inconsistent. All gone. Or the gremlins are biding their time!:p

Anybody have any comments on how the RE950s perform on snow and ice? Are they good enough for a Canadian winter?

Only experienced in my '80 VW PU on slush. They are adequate.