A big national tire chain ordered four new Bridgestone's for me to replace the old ContiPremiumContact 2's that are ready for replacement after 22K miles.

I ordered 195/60-15 Bridgestone Potenza RE960 for the stock 15" wheels on my 2007 MC (not S).

Installer and his manager refuse to install these tires and said they'd only install 175/65-15 like the old Contis.

They flat out refuse to install 195/60-15 on my car! Anyone had this happen? Any advice?

 

Yep, sounds like a walmart.

Take the wheels off, then take them up there, they should do it then.

 

When I replaced my OE 195/55-16 run flats with 205/55-16 non-run-flats I encountered 'resistance' at Costco, but eventually persuaded them to put them on. And it wasn't because of the no-spare issue; it was related to the size.

 

Try showing them a plus 0 Tire size chart once they see you are within the normal diameter they should not have an issue with it

 

Unfortunately this won't work with some of the large chains. They have a policy of ONLY installing OEM size tires. Best bet is to do as suggest before, just take in the wheels.

 

Go to another tire shop, or offer the guy an extra $20.

 

Find a better shop.

 

go somewhere else?
I hate these chains and their BS rules.

 

I just found Tire Racks availability of the 195/55 r16 (in the last minute or so) after searching for a couple days for blizzaks that will fit the 16" steelies I also just purchased. The only tires I did find were 195/60 r16 which I finally ordered after I couldn't find ANYTHING here on NAM or searches in general. Is the only problem with have the 195/60 on 16s that the speedometer will be off (and based on the 'incompatibility' my speedometer may actually read correctly) as well as the odometer? Has anyone done this? Should I cancel my order and pay more for 195/55s from Tire Rack?

 

Here is a link to nice tire size calculator that should help.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...foTireMath.jsp

 

To get a better visual of the difference in your choices check out this link...
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

So it will fill the wheel well better! Those calculators do give a better impression of what the difference is/will be.
And again the only real negative I can see thus far is that the odometer will not be correct during the winter months, but the speedometer will....interesting trade between Summer/Fall and Winter/Spring.

 

I am running 205 55 15 Snows on my 16 inch wheels with out any problems
may want to take a look at those

 

I would not worry to much about the speedometer being off. Most of the BMW/MINI speedometers are way off by +3 or +4 mph anyway. Just to be sure you check the odometer to be sure you don't run out of gas. If it is off, the gas gage will also be off.
These stores don't want to change tire size because they get sued if something went wrong and you wrecked your car. It is a shame but it is the way it is.

 

Your tires are for 15" wheels, but they fit your 16"s?

 

Wait... what? Please correct me if I'm wrong but... Most modern cars still use a float and sender, including the MINI. Although race cars measure flow against a known quantity of fuel in the tank to estimate the remaining fuel and the MINI ECU tracks the flow over time of the fuel injectors to measure economy and range, the fuel guage still gets its reading from sender attached to the float in the tank.

 

Yep, I think he was refering to the OBC remaining miles figure.

 

Several ideas.

If using a chain or Costco- check with them first about the size and your car and wheels. If they order the tires then they should install them for you. My costco will work with me usually for a small difference in tire size when they do not have the OEM tire size in stock. They usually will want as close to OEM as possible and also load rating should be at least equal to stock. Also they like speed rating to be equal or better than stock.

If using a garage or tire installer shop they usually don't care but ask about it anyway especially if you drive your car in and bring the tires or ship the tires to them. They can see the car and the wheels and might question the different tire size.

Chains have tire size install rules to limit their liability most likely.

Independent shops will mount and balance any tire that will fit on any wheel if they can. If you don't show them which car it goes on then they don't ask.
If you bring in the car then they might question it.

If you make friends with a garage owner or mechanic they will mount almost anything for you. I always work with the same shop for everything I do.

There is nothing wrong about mounting a 195/60-15 tire on a stock MINI 15x5.5" rim and using it for a MINI. Hogwash!

 

Where is the best place to get/order an extra set of tpms sensors for the new wheel/tires? I have searched the posts and I find some recommendations for some from Tirerack, but they don't tell you which ones or if they will actually work with the Mini OBC. I see they have fancy ones that will tell you the tempurature, etc but I really just care that the dash lights to stay off....or let me know my tire(s) is low/flat. I will probably call Tirerack, but this is easy to get info for other sources.

 

Talk to Alex@tirerack, he is the MINI specialist.
Or PM him here on NAM.

 

I have the OEM Beru 433mhz Beru sensors for $196+ shipping for a set, give me a call.

Alex

 

Do you have a National Tire and Battery in town? They will help you with what you bought, I've never had them look twice at anything I wanted to do on any of my cars, and in fact they are a preferred installer for Tire Rack.

Edit: NTB does NOT carry the pressure sensors, get them from MINI or from Alex at Tire Rack

 

Nice! Thank you Alex. I will be giving you a call in the next couple days....or maybe today, what hours are you there?

 

8-6 EST this week. I look forward to it!

Alex

 

I've had challenges twice with those large tire chain stores refusing to do a job for some ridiculous reason, their logic makes no sense. I even had one place remove a brand new tire that I had purchased that morning at another dealer - their "logic" was so confusing it wore me down and after an hour I finally said "whatever, just get it done so I can get out of here". After I left I regained my presence of mind and it occurred to me what they did so I went back, had them remove the tire and get a refund (which was another struggle). Do some homework and try to find the same tire through a smaller "mom & pop shop" tire dealer, might cost a couple bucks more but factor in the frustration factor of the large chains and I think you'll be ahead of the game.