Need help with winter tire and rim choices

[Karura]

First time buying winter tires/rims, so I've got lots of questions.

As winter is quickly approaching, I have been looking into purchasing a set of winter tires. It can snow quite a bit here, but there are times when the pavement is just cold/wet/dry, so I want tires that are good enough for both.

I have looked into a few brands, and Nokian and Vredestein caught my attention the most.

Does anyone have experience with Wintrac Xtreme? From reviews, they seem to be able to do decent in dry conditions, without limping when it snows hard.

Also, what is the general consensus for buying winter rims? I have the OEM 19s on right now(335is), and was thinking of getting 17" Rial Salneros from TireRack, and ordering the Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme locally. Are there any better solutions than this (and why?).

Is it a good idea to buy track wheels (like Apex EC-7) to use as winter wheels?
Thanks for reading!

tl;dr: Are Wintrac Xtremes any good? If not, why and what else should I look at?

[inlineS54B32]

First time buying winter tires/rims, so I've got lots of questions.

As winter is quickly approaching, I have been looking into purchasing a set of winter tires. It can snow quite a bit here, but there are times when the pavement is just cold/wet/dry, so I want tires that are good enough for both.

I have looked into a few brands, and Nokian and Vredestein caught my attention the most.

Does anyone have experience with Wintrac Xtreme? From reviews, they seem to be able to do decent in dry conditions, without limping when it snows hard.

Also, what is the general consensus for buying winter rims? I have the OEM 19s on right now(335is), and was thinking of getting 17" Rial Salneros from TireRack, and ordering the Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme locally. Are there any better solutions than this (and why?).

Is it a good idea to buy track wheels (like Apex EC-7) to use as winter wheels?
Thanks for reading!

tl;dr: Are Wintrac Xtremes any good? If not, why and what else should I look at?

I live in Chicago - and we see a decent amount of snow. Not sure if it's on par with you up in Vancouver, but here's my thoughts on this. Winter tires wear out very quickly - if you actually count the amount of times it snows enough to require them (at least for me) - it's probably 10-15 times over a solid winter. I had Blizzaks on my car - but again, they wore out very quickly (although I tend to drive pretty aggressively). High speeds (100+) - WILL wear them out quickly. I could actually smell the tires after driving enthusiastically - so, I would consider your driving style before going with full winter tires.

I highly recommend a high performance all season that are rated for snow. Continental sells a tire called DWS, and they are pretty damn good. You can drive them in snow - and yes, they won't be as good as a full fledged winter tire, but they are good. I have an M3, and had no problems - and when the snow wasn't there - had enough grip to have some fun. They aren't a summer tire - and not a winter, but it's a good blend. They are also cheaper than a winter tire - you might want to give them a try. They have an indicator on the tire that shows when they are still "okay" for winter - and I got about 4 months out of them before the "S" (snow) was gone.

They were very hard to find last year - not sure how hard they are this far away from winter. I would definitely give them a shot.

Hope that helps.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic...emeContact+DWS

[Karura]

I live in Chicago - and we see a decent amount of snow. Not sure if it's on par with you up in Vancouver, but here's my thoughts on this. Winter tires wear out very quickly - if you actually count the amount of times it snows enough to require them (at least for me) - it's probably 10-15 times over a solid winter. I had Blizzaks on my car - but again, they wore out very quickly (although I tend to drive pretty aggressively). High speeds (100+) - WILL wear them out quickly. I could actually smell the tires after driving enthusiastically - so, I would consider your driving style before going with full winter tires.

I highly recommend a high performance all season that are rated for snow. Continental sells a tire called DWS, and they are pretty damn good. You can drive them in snow - and yes, they won't be as good as a full fledged winter tire, but they are good. I have an M3, and had no problems - and when the snow wasn't there - had enough grip to have some fun. They aren't a summer tire - and not a winter, but it's a good blend. They are also cheaper than a winter tire - you might want to give them a try. They have an indicator on the tire that shows when they are still "okay" for winter - and I got about 4 months out of them before the "S" (snow) was gone.

They were very hard to find last year - not sure how hard they are this far away from winter. I would definitely give them a shot.

Hope that helps.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic...emeContact+DWS

Hi inline, thank you for the suggestions. It sure makes more sense to see if I truly need winters or just good all-seasons, and I will look into it more; however, I am still kind of concerned about black ice. Have you had experience with skidding on black ice? Would these suffice?

Thanks for the input

[inlineS54B32]

Hi inline, thank you for the suggestions. It sure makes more sense to see if I truly need winters or just good all-seasons, and I will look into it more; however, I am still kind of concerned about black ice. Have you had experience with skidding on black ice? Would these suffice?

Thanks for the input

That's a good question... To be honest - I can't say I have had a ton of experience with black ice+those tires. I would imagine the winter tire would be better off for this, but if I knew there was a ton of black ice I would throw studs or chains on. Maybe someone else can chime in - I would say this though - for a few inches of snow - the car was composed and controllable. The differerence between these and other summer or high perf all seasons was dramatic for winter. Black ice - not sure if any tire would be good.

Hope you get a better answer.
Cheers.

[Sticky]

First time buying winter tires/rims, so I've got lots of questions.

As winter is quickly approaching, I have been looking into purchasing a set of winter tires. It can snow quite a bit here, but there are times when the pavement is just cold/wet/dry, so I want tires that are good enough for both.

I have looked into a few brands, and Nokian and Vredestein caught my attention the most.

Does anyone have experience with Wintrac Xtreme? From reviews, they seem to be able to do decent in dry conditions, without limping when it snows hard.

Also, what is the general consensus for buying winter rims? I have the OEM 19s on right now(335is), and was thinking of getting 17" Rial Salneros from TireRack, and ordering the Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme locally. Are there any better solutions than this (and why?).

Is it a good idea to buy track wheels (like Apex EC-7) to use as winter wheels?
Thanks for reading!

tl;dr: Are Wintrac Xtremes any good? If not, why and what else should I look at?

Might want to talk to @CoreyWB

[654]

Nokian WR D3 has won a few tests lately. The wear is minimal and it is a true winter tire for ice and snow.

[DavidV]

I had my OEM 18" wheels lying around since I bought a new set this year, and I wanted to use them as my winter setup instead of the original 17" LM wheels BMW sold me when I bought the car with a set of 205 wide Runflat tires. 205 is just not enough rubber to drive around and have any traction whatsoever, except when it snows really hard and everybody is driving around in a walking pace.
But I wanted a set of runflats for my winter tires. Don't wat to be caught in a very cold place with a flat tire and no spare. Those events always happen in the worst possible moment.
Unfortunately runflats and wintertires are scarse. I found a set Pirelli WINTER 240 SOTTOZERO S2 225/40 R18 92 V as front tires, and a set of Pirelli WINTER 240 SOTTOZERO S2 255/35 R18 94 V for the rear wheels.
They are runflat and come in various sizes. For my 135i they are just what I wanted. But they definately are not the cheapest solution you can find.
But they will keep me safe when it snows, and give me enough traction and road performance when I want it when there is no snow around.
Allweather tires IMO are a compromise in every situation and only usefull if you don't come across snow much. My guess is if you live in Vancouver you'll see more cold weather and snow than allweather tires can handle safely.
If you don't care for Runflats the best tire to get would probably be the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 if they are available in the size you want.

[ajm8127]

I wanted to post here to recommend the Pirelli Sottozero Series II tires. In Pittsburgh we see enough snow to warrant snow tires in the winter, but the majority of the time, the roads are dry or just wet. These tires perform very well in the wet and dry, and give the driver a definite sense of confidence in the snow. I put 225/40R18 on the front and rear of my sports package 162 rims. They fit fine on both the 8 and 8.5 inch width wheels. My RWD 335i has no problems in the snow to the point I can easily pass vehicles with four and all wheel drive. I have not measured the tread depth, but they do not appear to be wearing very rapidly even in the rear. For their price on tire rack, they are a fantastic tire.

Given their performance in dry, wet and snowy conditions, I would absolutely buy these tires again, but at the rate they wear, that should not be too often.