Would you get tires done at Costco?

[lemming]

Originally Posted by Masskrug

Okay, just got back from Costco this evening. The tires I ordered last week came in. No appointments, first come first served. Weeknite seemed light, and they did the car in 45 minutes.

They have a database of tire pressure and torque values printed out on your work order for your specific vehicle. I was able to get them to fill 36 psi all around, which is what I'm customed to running. However, I was unable to convince the guy to alter the torque specs from 88 ft/lbs to 101 per the 'new' BMW guidelines. He seemed adamant about legal issues, blah, blah. Whatever.

No scratches on the rims. At least, nothing overtly visible. Nothing that stood out more than the regular rock chips and one careless scrape I put on one of the wheels.

They hand torque the bolts. I watched them do it from afar, so as not to be right in their face.

Thanks all for previous advice. I had a positive experience for this, my first time, at my local Costco, and again, it probably is very personnel dependent. YMMV.

Of side note, the new PS2's are at least twice the tire of the OEM Contis, of which no end of terrible things should ever be written about that stupid lousy tire. I forever hate Continental tires.

glad you like 'em. were you running the OEM "contisport contacts" then? (i hate continental tires as much as you do).

they addressed the dry stickiness (lack of) in the PS1 (finally).

that might finally be the michelin tire that i could justify getting.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Masskrug

Okay, just got back from Costco this evening. The tires I ordered last week came in. No appointments, first come first served. Weeknite seemed light, and they did the car in 45 minutes.

They have a database of tire pressure and torque values printed out on your work order for your specific vehicle. I was able to get them to fill 36 psi all around, which is what I'm customed to running. However, I was unable to convince the guy to alter the torque specs from 88 ft/lbs to 101 per the 'new' BMW guidelines. He seemed adamant about legal issues, blah, blah. Whatever.

No scratches on the rims. At least, nothing overtly visible. Nothing that stood out more than the regular rock chips and one careless scrape I put on one of the wheels.

They hand torque the bolts. I watched them do it from afar, so as not to be right in their face.

Thanks all for previous advice. I had a positive experience for this, my first time, at my local Costco, and again, it probably is very personnel dependent. YMMV.

Of side note, the new PS2's are at least twice the tire of the OEM Contis, of which no end of terrible things should ever be written about that stupid lousy tire. I forever hate Continental tires.

Interesting - my local Costco does not hand torque the bolts. I have watched them go at it with an impact wrench as I walked past the installation area many times. Funny thing is - my independent mechanic thinks they have their air tools set for the right torque and they don't do it by hand either. I have to retorque them every time I let anyone touch the car. My dealer in Chicago once put a bolt on so tightly that I had to use a cheater on the breaker bar to get it off. I was not amused.

[Masskrug]

Originally Posted by bonoboy

Good thing...88 ft/lbs is the correct torque spec

it changed from 72 to 88

Right-o, thanks.

I get numbers mixed up between the two cars. 101 ft/lbs is the X5.

[Masskrug]

Originally Posted by lemming

glad you like 'em. were you running the OEM "contisport contacts" then? (i hate continental tires as much as you do).

they addressed the dry stickiness (lack of) in the PS1 (finally).

that might finally be the michelin tire that i could justify getting.

Yes, unfortunately, CSC 1's. I am too cheap to justify "wasting" them before their time.

The PS2's are very pricey right now. Hopefully they'll cheapen up somewhat. Also, and this is a petty point, the sidewall graphics are pretty cheesy for a premium tire. The Conti's, despite their across the board suckiness, had nice clean sidewalls.

[Masskrug]

Originally Posted by rwg

Interesting - my local Costco does not hand torque the bolts. I have watched them go at it with an impact wrench as I walked past the installation area many times. Funny thing is - my independent mechanic thinks they have their air tools set for the right torque and they don't do it by hand either. I have to retorque them every time I let anyone touch the car. My dealer in Chicago once put a bolt on so tightly that I had to use a cheater on the breaker bar to get it off. I was not amused.

My stupid dealer cranked on the oil drain bolt super tight during Oil Service I. It was hard to break it free during my own oil change.