Noisy Dunlop Direzza?

[ray ruthven 0]

I have just joined the forum with my son "David Ruthven" with our '94 325SE. I am wondering if anyone has experienced noise problems with the Dunlop Direzza tyres. We have 215/45-17's on 5 spoke BMW wheels and have an annoying fluctuating whine. It sort of sounds like a gear mesh type of whine but does not change at all with load on the drive, on or off throttle or clutch in, it is speed related and appears to move from the front to back of the car under some conditions. Road surface sometimes has an effect on the noise but it never goes away above 40 kph. It does seem to peak at aabout 40 and 80 kph? I've tried different pressures and again only a small effect.

We have only just bought the car, 3 weeks ago, and do not remember it being there on 3 test drives - although we were liking the exhaust note at that time!!

Any suggestions?

Ray,

[3 SERIES 93]

Hi Ray

Welcome. At present I have 215/45/17 Direzza's on my 95 E36. I have never experienced any problems like what you have said. You sure its the tyres?

Brett

[JaseNZ 53]

I have just put a brand new set of these on my 323I 1996 about 3 weeks ago and cannot hear a thing. If anything at all i praise them.

Sorry if this not what you want to hear.

[zenetti 0]

Hi Ray

welcome to Bimmersport!

It sounds to me as if you have 'scalloped tyres'. This will be the cause of the whine and unfortunately the only way to cure it is to buy new tyres (see your friendly forum sponsor. hint hint )

The easiest way to check is to run your hands from the front of the tyre to the back on the inside and outside shoulders. It will feel like a scallop shell ( hence the term scalloped tyres). You should be able to feel the bumps.

It may also pay to check the manufacture date on your tyres as older tyres go hard and become more prone to scalloping.

Hope this helps

Johno

[|ncary 0]

Direzzas were made because the predecessor to them had more grip and took longer to wear out. Gotta make MONEYYYYYY they said.

[zenetti 0]

Direzzas were made because the predecessor to them had more grip and took longer to wear out. Gotta make MONEYYYYYY they said.

How is that of any help to the original post?

And who said that?

If you are going to make inflammatory statements like those above please back them up with proof.

Edited March 10, 2009 by zenetti

[|ncary 0]

My old boss used to be the South Island Rep for Michelin. He currently owns the rights to distribute Michelins in the South Island and does so out of Advantage Tires. That's inside industry knowledge

[hybrid 1043]

Run Direzzas on the e30 and my flatmate runs them on his GSR. No problems like this with them at all.

[bmpower 3]

I had them on my e36 last time round (running toyo's for a change!), nothing but good things to be said - and they are extremely quiet tyres normally. Also running them on the front of my old mans e36. Good all round tyre. Only bad point i can see is they wear out slightly quicker than the sport maxxx.

Probably not too relevant to the post - but they would be worth getting again. Talk to people in the know ie. 'zenetti' about some new rubber.

Good luck.

[CamB 48]

My old boss used to be the South Island Rep for Michelin. He currently owns the rights to distribute Michelins in the South Island and does so out of Advantage Tires. That's inside industry knowledge

I'd be far more inclined to believe him if he hadn't been a competitor.

[DavidR 0]

I fitted Direzzas to the rear of my E39 against my better judgement - these are a heinous tyre on a car with firm suspension in good nick -

They do exactly what the initiator of the post experiences. they are noisy , drum (develop a resonance at certain speeds) plus they have god awful feel when pushed.

I will not be fitting them again to any car I own - glad to hear the wear out quicker than the maxx - means I will be rid of them by the end of the year.

Thanks for all the input!! We'll check out the age and scallops - I'm not 100% convinced it is the tyres but haven't found anything else wrong yet. Interesting how opinions change on tyres - I've previously thought BMW's were quite sensitive to tyre issues - is this a confirmation?

I'll let you know what we find.

Ray,

[zenetti 0]

I'd be far more inclined to believe him if he hadn't been a competitor.

Haha very true. I wonder if he can name the tyre that the Direzza superseeded?

[Gus 5]

FM901?

[Guest Ari Gold]

FM901?

You were the kid that put his hand up and then answered the question before the teacher said "yes Gus?" weren't you.

[Gus 5]

they didn't talk about car tyres at school unfortunately sam!

back to the original topic, direzzas have been nothing but great for me, no undue noise or improper wear, good grip wet or dry. no sure what you are on about 3pedals? maybe the extra weight of the e39 was a problem compared to my e30 experience

[*Glenn* 854]

I was running Direzza's on the TI. They were a good tyre, wet & dry. They did get noisey over time when they got close to the wear strips. I think you would get that with any tyre though. I got 24,000km out of them. I'm now running Nexens thanks to Johno (Zinetti) and I'm very pleased with them so far... half the price as well.

[zenetti 0]

You were the kid that put his hand up and then answered the question before the teacher said "yes Gus?" weren't you.

gold!

[Braeden320 0]

I just put a set on Direzza's on my ST220, Done about 7000k's on them. They are a nice tyre to drive on but yes alot of road noise

Edited March 10, 2009 by braeden.

[Guest Ari Gold]

on topic, I loved my Direzza's when I had them on the iS. Still got them, going to put them on the daily.

[hybrid 1043]

The e30 was on Contis before the direzzas and found them to be a of a pig dog of a tire. This is probably more due to the fact they are a harder tyre on a light car @8.5 inch wide on a race suspension setup.

Remember different tyres for different weight vehicles. While some hate some brands and some dont. It all comes down to the expectation of the tyre from the consumer. Also alot of people run their tyres at different pressures and I would bet a few vehicles are well over due for wheel alignments and varous suspension bushings.

For a start, at least your asking for other peoples experiences.

Also, there is no silver bullet tyre. What works very well on the road, generally sucks balls on the track and vice versa.

Have a chat with jono (zenetti) has he does this day in and day out. His recommendations are spot on for requested requirements.

[|ncary 0]

FM901 yes, and I run a spare set of basketweaves on my e30 with 4X901's for summit rd runs and also had 4xDirezzas on my car when I got it in October last year. I know which tires I trust on a cliff road. The 901's have fantastic grip and heat up so well. Direzzas are very very dodgy in the rain.

I run Pilot Precedas now, downhill braking with these is a caliper flaming affair.

[str8_6 275]

I have a set of Direzza's on the e36 coupe and notice they are noisy at speeds around 30-60 KPH. Most of the noise was due to a rear wheel bearing which was replaced.

To be honest, i'm not sure if the road noise is normal or not because the previous tires were just as bad (Toyo's) and there is a little scalloping of the front left tyre.

I would get a wheel alignment but has anyone driven on the Hutt Motorway through Petone recently!!??

[hybrid 1043]

The e30 was on Contis before the direzzas and found them to be a of a pig dog of a tire. This is probably more due to the fact they are a harder tyre on a light car @8.5 inch wide on a race suspension setup.

which was the pig the Conti or the Direzza- and wree the both relatively new tyres or were the contis years old and gone off ??

The Contis where.

They were a couple of years old when I replaced them .. but now the Direzzas are a couple of years old too and no where near as 'wobbly'.

In saying that a friend of mind runs Contis on his e30 m3 with 9.5 rears and 8.5 fronts. He has no problems with them. The only different / Im running a hard suspension setup. So who knows. I just know what works and what doesnt with my particular setup. And I think thats key to arguement on tires Everyones setup is different.