can someone please confirm for me, that if a tyre is not "e" marked, its not legal to use on the road in the UK?

Thanks.

True

e, is for england so you can't use them in Scotland or Wales

True

Thankyou.

e, is for england so you can't use them in Scotland or Wales

lol... I'll remember that andy :p

Nope load of tosh perfectly legal to drive on. E marking is just for sales. As long as its round of the correct load and speed rating and tread depth. Then they are fit for construction and use. If you look at a lot of proper off road 4x4 tires they aren't e marked and they are ok for road use

There is currently a big debate about this going on in the motorsport world, and it is not as simple as Brian says. The MSA are currently saying that to sell a tyre in the UK it needs to be E marked, but not to use it. Certainly EU Regulations seem to back this up, but a lot depends on the exact wording of a very small piece of legislation that was passed in the last Parliament.

It appears to be a case of it needing a test case to set precedent. I know I wouldn't want to be the first one to get stopped for this, and get taken to Court. Certainly in South, West and Mid Wales the Police have said they will be taking a very pro-active stance over this.

From various websites

E-mark

All tires sold for road use in Europe after July 1997 must carry an E-mark. The mark itself is either an upper case "E" or lower case "e" – followed by a number in a circle or rectangle, followed by a further number. An (upper case) "E" indicates that the tire is certified to comply with the dimensional, performance and marking requirements of ECE regulation 30. A (lower case) "e" indicates that the tire is certified to comply with the dimensional, performance and marking requirements of Directive 92/23/EEC. The number in the circle or rectangle denotes the country code of the government that granted the type approval. The last number outside the circle or rectangle is the number of the type approval certificate issued for that particular tire size and type.

and from here http://www.btinternet.com/~madmole/Reference/Tyres.html

Tyre suppliers commit an offence if they sell a passenger car radial ply tyre which does not have an 'E' mark showing that it complies with the load and speed requirements of ECE regulations. With certain exemptions (ie tyres for pre-1949 vehicles and for off-road and competition use), from 1 January 1997 new car and light trailer tyres (including 'VR' and 'ZR' radials) must be ECE or EU approved and 'E' or 'e' marked respectively (and from 1 June 1997 for motorcycle tyres).

Since 1 January 1995 it has been illegal for any person to supply re-treaded tyres unless they are marked to indicate compliance with the current BS AU 144 standard. It is also illegal for any person to supply a part-worn tyre which does not comply with legal requirements and which does not have tread grooves at least 2mm deep

and from here http://www.hometyre.co.uk/safety/uk-tyre-law

For a tyre to be legally used in the UK, it must carry an 'E' or 'e' letter which shows that it is approved to European Standards for tyre loads and speeds.

Each tyre make and type will have a unique 5 or 6 digitnumber following the 'E'letter which is a reproduction of the certificate of approval number. The 'E' certifies that the tyre complies with the dimensional, performance and marking requirements of ECE Regulations (R30 in the case of passenger and R54 in the case of Commercial). The 'e' certifies that the tyre complies with the dimensional, performance and narking requirements of DIRECTIVE 92/23/EEC and relates to tyres without specfifc speed rating for example ZR tyres (Passenger only).

The number associated with the letter 'E' in the circle or 'e' in the rectangle is the code number of the government which granted the approval.

It should be noted that if there is no certificate number then the E or e mark is not valid.

At present ECE marks are not yet a legal requirement unless the regulations have been ratified by the parliament of the individual.

Tyres will now have additional e-marks for meeting the new European noise regulations.

There is currently a big debate about this going on in the motorsport world, and it is not as simple as Brian says. The MSA are currently saying that to sell a tyre in the UK it needs to be E marked, but not to use it. Certainly EU Regulations seem to back this up, but a lot depends on the exact wording of a very small piece of legislation that was passed in the last Parliament.

It appears to be a case of it needing a test case to set precedent. I know I wouldn't want to be the first one to get stopped for this, and get taken to Court. Certainly in South, West and Mid Wales the Police have said they will be taking a very pro-active stance over this.

I sent you some info on BRF graham. Forgot to mention when 3 of my mates all bought imported evo 5 and 6's they were the first uk owners and still are. The tires they came with were Bridgestone potenza but a type which at that time were not available over here so no e mark They passed sva test to be registered over here