5 Series & E-Class – tyre twins?

Vehicle manufacturers typically demand customised tyres for their cars. To denote this exclusive tailoring, tyres that are approved or factory fitted as original equipment display a special marking on the sidewall. The best-known of these OE tyre designations include those for Porsche (N0, N1, …), BMW (*) and Mercedes (MO), although other brands, from Alfa Romeo to Volvo, also have their own individual sidewall marking. We recently became aware of something new that flies – at least in part – in the face of this concept of original equipment tyres specially tailored to a specific vehicle model.

BMW has approved 14 Continental tyre dimensions for its new 5 Series and i5, and 12 of these tyres have a double OE designation – an approval for two vehicle manufacturers at once. The sidewalls of these 12 tyres feature both a star (BMW) and the MO designation (Mercedes Original). We asked what this is all about.

Continental replied that “the dual OE labelling is the result of a cooperation between the two vehicle manufacturers, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. This applies to the current versions of the BMW five-series as well as the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.” The tyre maker added that for the cars in question, BMW and Mercedes-Benz had “jointly agreed on their tyre requirements with regard to original equipment.”

However, in response to the question of whether this means that vehicles from different manufacturers are becoming increasingly similar or similarly designed, Continental simply stated: “As a tyre manufacturer, we cannot make any statements regarding vehicle design.” In the current case, however, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have “agreed on the same requirement profile on the tyre side but have realised their individual vehicle concept.”