I have just spent my first week in my Dark Silver (is that right? Or is it gray?) '05 MCS with a surprising 19,000 miles on it. I was a little suspicious at first since all the other '05 cars that I was looking at had more than 40K miles on them. The CarFax report checked out and I did what I could to look at the car at the dealership (American Service Center in Arlington) and it seemed OK. It was a lease that sat on their lot for 6 months because they wanted $24,000 for it. I didn't pay nearly that much ($17,900) so I think I got a good deal.

That said, now I am spending some time looking at the car and I noticed that it had two different makes of tires - Bridgestone Potenza G019 195/55R/16s in the front and Dunlop SP Sport5000 195/55R/16s in the back (which are runflats, I think). Is this any sort of issue? Tread and wear look good on both sets and handling (what little I have been able to try) seems fine.

Other than that, I love the car and I will be participating in next month's meetup at Mini of Sterling with the DC Metro Mini (http://www.dcmetrominis.org) group. I have also been spending an inordinate amount of time on these forums reading all the accumulated wisdom of those who have gone before me. Thanks for all the posts!

Oh, I am getting it detailed on Monday (gratis) and I will post pics after that (for anyone who cares).

 

Personally, I would be very reluctant to drive with run-flats at one end and non-run-flats at the other, regardless of the condition of their tread.

 

That is what I am saying. So now should I look at replacing one set or the other or both?

 

My guess is that the Potenzas are the newer ones. If you can get two of those to replace the Dunlops, that would probably be best. But realize that you will be driving without a spare, on tires that are not run-flats.

 

Welcome from another DC person

 

Welcome to NAM & congrats on your new ride. You will like it here; very knowledgeable & nice people can be found hanging out, they have a lot of good advice...

 

Hello! I saw a DS MCS drive by me in Arlington today. Maybe it was you!

 

Sorry. Not me. But if you see an '05 Gray MCS squiring around South Riding, then maybe you will see me.

 

Thanks, I will see you at the next meetup in Sterling (where it looks like I will be spending an inordinate amount of my disposable income in the next few years).

 

Congrats on the purchase, and welcome to NAM!