Tire noise This started on our way back from Mo. & after reading other posts I took it back to the dealer in case it was a wheel bearing problem. It wasn't.
After taking a tech for a short ride so he could hear the noise, they put on a new set of wheels & tires. Took the same route w/the same tech,but no noise was heard ! He also noticed a lot of wear on one tire as I did during the last tire rotation. He put all 4 of mine on the Hunter GSP road force measurement machine while I watched. They were all out of balance,even tho I felt nothing thru the steering wheel. It rides smoother but the noise is still there & very annoying since it's louder at 55 & up to 70 where it becomes less audible (different pitch ?) These are Kumho 205/50x16 ecsta asx w/a 30k+ mileage warrantee. They were quiet when new,until just under 29k miles.Needless to say I'll not be buyin' kumho tires again. Any comments about better tires will be appreciated.

 

Not sure why you're blaming the tires. If they were out-of-balance, then they should have been rebalanced. Uneven tread wear, especially on only one tire, usually indicates an alignment issue, as well. Finally, they had a 30K warranty, and you got 29K out of them, despite the alignment and balance issues.

 

 

Kumho's are great tires for the price, but they do tend to get noisier as they wear. Sounds perfectly normal for these tires. I agree that single tire wear is an indicator of alignment issues. Come to think of it, if he roadforce balanced them, you should have a roadforce number along with it. Anything over 15 has the potential to cause a noise similar to imbalance.

As far as tire recommendations- Audi's started shipping cars with Continental ContiSport 3s. Great tires, pricey as hell. I like the ContiSport 2 and the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2. Again, pricey, but the grip is outstanding.

 

Sorry I didn't add hat the tires were put on at16,182 miles. The other tires didn't show abnormal wear as they were rotated as well. Ther's not much chance I'll get close to the warranted mileage. Thanks again for any suggestions as to the next set of tires to buy.

 

I had a 98 Corvette and the original GoodYears were so noisy I could not hear the Radio at 70mph. I replaced the first time with FireStone Firehawks which made a nice improvement except when on concrete roads. They became noisy after about 20,000 miles and were replaced with Micheline and they still had road noise on some surfaces. I think all RUN-FLAT tires will be noisy and ride harder then a regular tire. "BUT" I sure will put up with the noise and not have to worry about being stuck in %$&^ *& Egypt with a flat tire and no spare.
My 2009 JCW also has run-flat tires that are noisy on some road surfaces and I just turn up the radio and roll on.
Ronnie

 

Ronnie

Is that you from the M3forum?