E39 18” tyre pressures

I normally run 32psi all round in non-runflat tyres, however according to the manual in the car it should be 33 front and 39 rear when running 18” wheels... seems a bit high to me... ( what does BMW know anyway :D )

What are your thoughts?

Seems a tad high Peter. In the M3 on both sets of staggered 18's and 19's, I had 33 up front and 36 at the rear.

32-33 all round, the tolerances always vary on different tyre pressure gauges. 39 is far too hard, sure that’s not a max load rating?


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I'll check the manual again and see, but I reckon I'll stick with 32 for now as I have been.

Something is ringing a bell in my head about this. I remember feeling the pressure was low on this when I had it. I think the pressures on the door sticker for 1 or 2 occupants seemed right in the end when I had it.

36 / 38 I think.

Check the drivers side door jam.


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My e39 Sport is on 17's but I've found over time that the recommended pressures on the door post are probably the Goldilocks setting. I've tried various adjustments, down and up, front and back but keep coming back to the recommended settings.

With newer BMW's some people run the tyres a little below recommended to try and offset the outer edge tyre wear but in 160-170k of e39 driving I've never had a problem with uneven wear on one that's been reasonably well aligned.

From memory I think that the recommended on 17's is 2.2bar/2.7bar (f/r)

for R18 up to 36 front , 39 rear , or 2.5 and 2.7 bars and tires will wear nice and straight

Thanks Valdas.