Snow Tire Recommendations?

[BavarianZHP]

I'll need a good set of snow tires (and wheels) plus a set of chains soon (chains are required, but I probably won't need to use them). Anyone with recommendations? Tire size and width? I'm thinking 17's and the smallest width possible?

Thanks!

[Vas]

blizzaks FTW

[BavarianZHP]

i've heard only good things about blizzaks... I think I'm gonna go with a squared setup since I'm getting a dedicated tire/wheelset anyways. Anything I need to do differently? This is my first sports car and I'm a newb when it comes to everything BMW, oh I'm planning on mounting them myself.

[Lespaulman16]

General Altimax Artic in 205/50 R17 mounted on stock non sport package 17s. They are studable if you need even more traction, and at less then $120/ tire, they are a great deal!

As far as chains are concerned, I would recomend ISSE Textile Chains (http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-330i-M54_3.0L/ES2137176/). They are a breeze to install and work extremely well. The do not fulfil the requirements for chains in CA, OR or WA though.

[BavarianZHP]

General Altimax Artic in 205/50 R17 mounted on stock non sport package 17s. They are studable if you need even more traction, and at less then $120/ tire, they are a great deal!

As far as chains are concerned, I would recomend ISSE Textile Chains (http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-330i-M54_3.0L/ES2137176/). They are a breeze to install and work extremely well. The do not fulfil the requirements for chains in CA, OR or WA though.

Nice! I'm in Washington though. Ugh. I'm leaning towards those sets of tires though - the reviews look great.

[UdubBadger]

Blizzaks, Dunlop Wintersport M3s and Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grip GW3's are all great from my experience.


I hear bad stuff about the Pirelli's, plus they cost a fortune.




If you want some baller ass snows...
http://www.vredestein.com/

[Lespaulman16]

I had them for my Golf TDI, and they were virtually unstopable :thumbup:

[ryankokesh]

Really can't go wrong with Blizzacks. I've got M3's and my wife has Blizzacks. I'd take her car any day in snow over mine just because of the tires. You notice the difference in softness even just touching them when they're off the car. (Granted, I've got more miles on the M3's, and they'll last me a longer time.)

She actually likes them so much she flat out refuses to drive in the snow until I put them on her car. That coming from someone who told me I was wasting my money on the first set of winter wheels I bought :)


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[pfr]

I had good experience with Michelin Arctic Alpins and Dunlop Graspic DS3s

[LivesNearCostco]

Vredisteins or Pirellis? Unstoppable tires in snow could be good or bad...


I had them for my Golf TDI, and they were virtually unstopable :thumbup:

[UdubBadger]

:rofl


likely talking about the Vreds and unstoppable meaning they were great, not that he literally couldn't stop the car.

[Nivo]

I use the Firestone Winterforce on the car. no issues with them.
they are 205/50/16.

[Sockethead]

We have blizzacs on the 135 and even with all that HP they still handle really well. We have Conti. DSWs on the X5 and we could feel all of the sidewall deflection as soon as we drove it. Kpro had General altamax on her 325 and they were downright scary.
Dry and wet handling characteristics are important to us because probably 10% of our winter driving will be on snow

[Oli77]

I have Pirellis in the back (sotozero) and hankooks Winter iPike in the front and all is good.

Wet performance is super and last year's snow was not a challenge at all.

Knoby tires in the front but noise is less than with my all weather hankooks!

I would spend less, rather than more money on winters.

[BavarianZHP]

I use the Firestone Winterforce on the car. no issues with them.
they are 205/50/16.

Do 16's really fit? I thought the lowest we could go were 17's.

[Hermes]

with stock 330 brakes the smallest wheel you can run is 17"

edit: I no longer live in a true winter climate, but all my family in MI swears by the Michelin Alpins...

[Mtnman]

We have blizzacs on the 135 and even with all that HP they still handle really well. We have Conti. DSWs on the X5 and we could feel all of the sidewall deflection as soon as we drove it. Kpro had General altamax on her 325 and they were downright scary.
Dry and wet handling characteristics are important to us because probably 10% of our winter driving will be on snow

OK. Learning time: what do you mean that you could feel the sidewall deflection as soon as you drove it? and what are those symptoms.

[Sockethead]

It's hard to describe... It's like you turn the wheel and then the car turns.. Like its got loose tie rod ends so you're constantly over correcting...

[danewilson77]

It's hard to describe... It's like you turn the wheel and then the car turns.. Like its got loose tie rod ends so you're constantly over correcting...

Driving in semi-packed sand?

[Sockethead]

Yea...

[Oli77]

Well, that is normal for a snow tire as it is a much softer tire.

[Sockethead]

True but some are worse than others... The Blizzacks are great for a performance snow tire.
Who wants to have their performance car handle like crap for 3-4 months out of the year?

[Oli77]

I never had my Pirellis up front, but my hankooks, even though cheap, are doing a great job and handling those "tight moments we practice, cherish and love every day" very well.

Never tried the famous blizzaks though.

[Sockethead]

I like the Hankook summer tires... It's good to hear the winter tires are good too.

[M0nk3y]

Running Michelin IceX tires on the Scion tC and E92. Works for me.

Never broke traction today on the way home. Probably close to 2-3 inches of fresh snow on the road

[Crickett]

Do 16's really fit? I thought the lowest we could go were 17's.


with stock 330 brakes the smallest wheel you can run is 17"

90% true: Tire Rack has a 16" that they sell with their winter packages that fit the 330. I know, I use a square set! :thumbsup

Sport Edition A7
16" x 7.5", ET 36
(Recommended 205/55R16 tires)
http://www.tirerack.com/images/wheels/sportedition/swap/se_a7_s_ci3_l.jpg (http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=runWheelSearch&wheelMake=Sport+Edition&wheelModel=A7&wheelFinish=Silver+Painted&initialPartNumber=JH369P1S&prefTire=055TR6WS70&autoMake=BMW&autoModel=330i+Performance+Pkg&autoYear=2004&autoModClar=)

[Stewbie]

I'm running brand new 225/45R17 Hankook I*cept Evo's from discounttiredirect.com. They're rated number 2 on consumer reports 2012 performance winter tire rankings for 2012. Crappy cell phone pic:

http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh619/Stewbie2000/Winter%20Mode/111012_124001_zps980b4b8a.jpg

We don't get a lot of snow here in Vancouver, but we did get a dump overnight on Mon and Tue. I live on the side of a mountain, so I always do traction tests on my relatively flat street before thinking about turning down the hill. Not sure what to make of the Hankook's as I wasn't getting enough grip to climb a small rise (before the turn down the hill) from a standing start. Either it was just really slick snow that morning or I bought the wrong tire. Got to enjoy a snow day with the kids thought, so all was not lost.

[Nivo]

90% true: Tire Rack has a 16" that they sell with their winter packages that fit the 330. I know, I use a square set! :thumbsup

Sport Edition A7
16" x 7.5", ET 36
(Recommended 205/55R16 tires)
http://www.tirerack.com/images/wheels/sportedition/swap/se_a7_s_ci3_l.jpg (http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=runWheelSearch&wheelMake=Sport+Edition&wheelModel=A7&wheelFinish=Silver+Painted&initialPartNumber=JH369P1S&prefTire=055TR6WS70&autoMake=BMW&autoModel=330i+Performance+Pkg&autoYear=2004&autoModClar=)

You got it. Mine are the ASA wheels in 16"6701 The sedan has them on now.

[danewilson77]

Damn... So those 16's fit on a zhp. Interesting.

Sent from Williamsburg, VA USA

[BavarianZHP]

90% true: Tire Rack has a 16" that they sell with their winter packages that fit the 330. I know, I use a square set! :thumbsup

Sport Edition A7
16" x 7.5", ET 36
(Recommended 205/55R16 tires)
http://www.tirerack.com/images/wheels/sportedition/swap/se_a7_s_ci3_l.jpg (http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=runWheelSearch&wheelMake=Sport+Edition&wheelModel=A7&wheelFinish=Silver+Painted&initialPartNumber=JH369P1S&prefTire=055TR6WS70&autoMake=BMW&autoModel=330i+Performance+Pkg&autoYear=2004&autoModClar=)


NIIIICE!!!! Holy heck, I'm jumping on those then. That's perfect. How much clearance is there?

[BavarianZHP]

Hmmmm, on tire rack I can't see any wheels less than 18" in diameter using an "'03 BMW 330i performance package" profile. On the '04's I can at least see 17" wheels. Odd right?

Oh, there's a referral number option for tirerack.com, anyone here I can refer to? PM me. Thanks.

EDIT: Since I'm a complete greenhorn, I'll need spacers going from the stock setup to this squared setup correct? Thanks, I just have so many questions right now.

[Crickett]

Hmmmm, on tire rack I can't see any wheels less than 18" in diameter using an "'03 BMW 330i performance package" profile. On the '04's I can at least see 17" wheels. Odd right?

Oh, there's a referral number option for tirerack.com, anyone here I can refer to? PM me. Thanks.

EDIT: Since I'm a complete greenhorn, I'll need spacers going from the stock setup to this squared setup correct? Thanks, I just have so many questions right now.

I'm not sure why the 16" options don't show up; I do remember having a hard time finding them without going through their winter packages page.

As for spacers, you really don't need them going from stock M135s; the rears lose 1.7 mm & the fronts gain 1.7 mm of "poke".

[alexandre]

I'm running 17" style 44's on Blizzak WS60's and have no complaints. If you want nice OEM wheels pretty much everything 17" that's been offered on sport package E46's is usually around $200-250 a set.

[Rovert]

I have Dunlop 3D's on my car now. I've had Blizzak LM-22 and LM-25. All these performance winter tires are much better at road feeling and non-snow holding traction compared to a winter tire that is less on the performance scale. In my area where snow falls heavy because temps usually hover at freezing level, performance winters could get you into trouble with traction on inclines as well as just deep heavy snow. The car is too low to overcome the weight of the snow up front. But when there is half a foot of fresh dry powder, performance have little problem. It's the same in sub-ice age temps in Edmonton where I am right now! I'm driving my sister's Audi A4 with performance winters and they feel awesome in the dry and compact snow&ice with the temps being -15C or 5F. They grip tenaciously. But once it becomes heavy and deep...forget about it. Performance winter tires don't have that snow holding ability like more aggressive non-performance models. You either have great handling one on side...and poor on the other, or vice versa.

I won't bring my car out on deep heavy snow adventures. Even with agressive winter tires, my car is far to low to clear that stuff so it just bunches up in front stopping the weight of the car from moving against it. I feel as though Michelin X-Ice 3 tires seem pretty promising with minor compromise.

[ryankokesh]

Yeah, what Trevor said.


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[Nivo]

NIIIICE!!!! Holy heck, I'm jumping on those then. That's perfect. How much clearance is there?

They fit, no spacers on stock suspension and brakes.
I will take pictures when I come back.

[BavarianZHP]

They fit, no spacers on stock suspension and brakes.
I will take pictures when I come back.

Sweet, I actually just bought them. I'm heading up to the pass to start skiing, so winter tires are a must.

[BavarianZHP]

Oh, stupid question: does tirerack include valve stems? I had them mount the tires to the wheels (16" sport edition).

Thanks,

[Crickett]

Oh, stupid question: does tirerack include valve stems? I had them mount the tires to the wheels (16" sport edition).

Thanks,

Yup; they'll arrive ready to mount! Congrats! :thumbsup

[UdubBadger]

Put the blizzys to work today!


- Goin' H.A.M. Mobile

[BimmerWill]

No white christmas for us down here...just rain...sad day

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[UdubBadger]

putting the blizzy's to work again today!

[Nivo]

And for informational purposes:

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=runWheelSearch&initialPartNumber=JH369P1S&wheelMake=Sport+Edition&wheelModel=A7&wheelFinish=Silver+Painted&showRear=no&autoMake=BMW&autoModel=330i+Sedan&autoYear=2005&autoModClar=Standard+Model&filterFinish=All&filterSize=16&filterBrand=All&filterSpecial=false&filterNew=All&filterWeight=All&sort=Brand

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=runWheelSearch&initialPartNumber=JH369P1B&wheelMake=Sport+Edition&wheelModel=A7&wheelFinish=Black+Painted&showRear=no&autoMake=BMW&autoModel=330i+Sedan&autoYear=2005&autoModClar=Standard+Model&filterFinish=All&filterSize=16&filterBrand=All&filterSpecial=false&filterNew=All&filterWeight=All&sort=Brand

Fit the ZHP if you want a taller sidewall/skinnier tires. 205/55/16 will work perfect.

[UdubBadger]

Wow 16s clear the brakes?

I always went 18s just to be safe and look good at the same time.


Goin' HAM mobile

[Nivo]

Wow 16s clear the brakes?

I always went 18s just to be safe and look good at the same time.


Goin' HAM mobile

sometimes taller sidewall and narrower tire will bite through 6" of snow like nobodys business...

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=6701&d=1356214694