Winter Tyres - Speed ratings

[Skirmisheer]

I'm thinking about getting a BMW 320 Touring but am aware of their rather poor reputation in the snow. I would therefore be getting a set of winter tyres for it. The standard tyres are 225/45/18 Y and 255/40/18 Y. Winter replacements for these are rather expensive if i stick with the speed rating of Y. Dropping the speed rating gives much more choice at lower prices.
Is this something i could do as it's rather unlikely I'm going to be doing 186mph or anywhere near that.

The other option is to get different sized wheels as sold by BMW specifically for Winter use. If I went down that route would the speed rating need to be the same.

Hope someone can advise me on this rather confusing subject.

[pills]

Check manufacturer recommendation as far as I am aware some manufacturers have a lower speed rating for winter tyres.

[HustleRussell]

Just check the handbook or the sticker in the door jamb, all the info you need is in there.

[TooMany2cvs]

Can't imagine you NEED 18s to fit over the brakes on a 320d, and I presume you're not going to get the tyres swapped over on the rims twice a year - so get a set of 16s or 17s with sensible sidewalls for the winters. BMW - being German - will definitely have recommended sizes/ratings for winters.

[jon-]

You're allowed to drop the speed rating without any risk or insurance or legal issues.

You must keep the size and load rating the same, or if you don't, notify your insurance company.

[vikingaero]

2 choices:

(1) Buy same sized winter tyres for your rims and swap the tyres over. As others have said as long as the load rating is OK then the speed rating will be much lower.
(2) Buy a smaller set of alloys from Fleabay and buy tyres from Openeo/Mytyres etc.

ABI Winter Tyre Guide:

https://www.abi.org.uk/globalassets/sitecore/files...

[redrook]

pills said:

Check manufacturer recommendation as far as I am aware some manufacturers have a lower speed rating for winter tyres.

This.

Actually EU DIRECTIVE 92 / 23 / EEC states winter tyres can be of a lower speed rating. Also double check whether your car has two ratings (like mine - an A4). If one has "M + S" after it, which stands for Mud and Snow, it may have a different rating. My car is usually a Y, expect for M+S tyres, in which case it's rated V.

Edited by redrook on Monday 4th November 01:17

Edited by redrook on Monday 4th November 01:17

Edited by redrook on Monday 4th November 01:18

[joropug]

On my mercedes in the menu there is an option to apply a winter tyre speed limit that is permanent until you deactivate it so I would assume this is so that you can do just that.

So long as you know the speed limit of the tyre, which I assume is more than 100 anyway, you will be ok ?

[SuperPav]

Most winters will have lower limits. That’s normal.

Just be mindful that there are some winter tyres where the limit is 112mph (or thereabouts) so worth setting a soft limiter if going onto autobahns as you can easily exceed the limit otherwise.

[anonymous-user]

It's very common to go to smaller rims for winters. More tyre choices, bigger sidewalls, and you can often pick up the rims for peanuts from people who have upgraded to bigger ones.