absurdly early winter tyre question..

[Some Gump]

hat cheap rims are comatble with an E46 M3? I'll need to run winter tyres at some point, and want to get some budget 'loys and put them in the shed ready for winter.

Anyone got advice?

Cheers

[E30M3SE]

A set of OE 18" M3 wheels are probably favourite, like these.

(No connection to seller)

[gareth h]

I ran OE 18s with winter tyres last year, don't perform quite as well in the dry but are unbelievable in the snow.

[mmm-five]

Mytyres have a section where you can buy cheap (new) alloys (DOTZ, AEZ, etc.) and winter tyres, from £230 a corner for e46 M3 sizes, or from £190 for 17"s.

[Crackie]

I bought some refurbed rims for my 335i from here http://www.bmautosport.co.uk/index.php?catid=35&am...
and then fitted some Dunlop Winter Sport 3D from Camskill http://www.camskill.co.uk/m11b0s0p0/Winter_-_Snow_... Excellent service and great prices from both

[Deva Link]

Some Gump said:

I'll need to run winter tyres at some point, and want to get some budget 'loys and put them in the shed ready for winter.

Anyone got advice?

It's not "absurdly early", by the way - I've had mine in the garage for a month and people have been commenting this week that prices are already increasing. If you leave it a bit, you'll find them hard to get (or very expensive).

Edited by Deva Link on Sunday 11th September 18:09

[cosworth330]

I bought a set of secondhand alloys for my dads Volvo S60 last month & then bought Continental winter tyres from Blackcircles.
Just looking for some style66's for my E39 M5 and then some 235/45/17 winter tyres.

Simon.

[Some Gump]

Thanks guys. Getting some raggy OEM's was the first option, I was just wondering if, e.g 17's fit, so I could get some naff non-m car wheels and theoretically cheaper winter tyres to go with. Currently eyeing up the set of 18's / winter tyres option, but since I'm on 19's now, having 2 sets of wheels that match might be handy later on..

[stabilio]

I've just purchased a set of 18" OEMS and ordered some Vred Wintrac Extremes.
Be interesting to see how they go when time is right but i'm more interested initialy to see how 18" wheels compare to 19".

[bennyboysvuk]

I've also just purchased some 18s and some Falken HS439s. Ebay was the cheapest place for reasonable rims and MyTyres.co.uk was the place to get the tyres. All a lot more reasonable than buying a 4x4 for winter.

[gareth h]

stabilio said:

I've just purchased a set of 18" OEMS and ordered some Vred Wintrac Extremes.
Be interesting to see how they go when time is right but i'm more interested initialy to see how 18" wheels compare to 19".

Once you've run on 18" rims you won't want to refit the 19"s, the Vreds will blow your mind in the snow.

[spareparts]

gareth h said:

stabilio said:

I've just purchased a set of 18" OEMS and ordered some Vred Wintrac Extremes.
Be interesting to see how they go when time is right but i'm more interested initialy to see how 18" wheels compare to 19".

Once you've run on 18" rims you won't want to refit the 19"s, the Vreds will blow your mind in the snow.

+1

I ran Vred Wintracs last year on the M5 through blizzards and France in driving snow on the mways... they give big confidence, and amazing grip and traction as if the snow was not there.

[stabilio]

gareth h said:

Once you've run on 18" rims you won't want to refit the 19"s, the Vreds will blow your mind in the snow.

Yeah all my previous 'sporty' cars have had large wheels/low profile tyres so looking forward to the 18"'s.

My Vred Wintrac Extremes were delivered today and getting them fitted to spare set of 18" OEMS tom

When is the optimum time for swapping summer tyres to winter - bearing in mind I usually leave for work at an ungodly hour of between 4-6am when its generaly the coldest time? October time??

[krisdelta]

Deva Link said:

It's not "absurdly early", by the way - I've had mine in the garage for a month and people have been commenting this week that prices are already increasing. If you leave it a bit, you'll find them hard to get (or very expensive).

Edited by Deva Link on Sunday 11th September 18:09

+1, my tyres were purchased in July, once the first frost hits - Europe has none left.

[dan5oclocksmith]

stabilio said:

When is the optimum time for swapping summer tyres to winter - bearing in mind I usually leave for work at an ungodly hour of between 4-6am when its generaly the coldest time? October time??

When you're consistently driving in temperatures of 7 degrees or less.

[Lefty]

dan5oclocksmith said:

stabilio said:

When is the optimum time for swapping summer tyres to winter - bearing in mind I usually leave for work at an ungodly hour of between 4-6am when its generaly the coldest time? October time??

When you're consistently driving in temperatures of 7 degrees or less.

This. Winter tyres are not just for snow and ice.

I put ours on the Forester in October and they come off in April.

[0836whimper]

stabilio said:

I've just purchased a set of 18" OEMS and ordered some Vred Wintrac Extremes.
Be interesting to see how they go when time is right but i'm more interested initialy to see how 18" wheels compare to 19".

Stabilio, what size rubber (front and rear) did you go for on the 18's ?

I have a set of OEM 18's with 255/40 (summer rubber) on the rear and 225/45 on the front and am wondering how small you can go on Witrac's. I am assuming smaller is better/cheaper but don't want to expose any rim to kerbs etc. Cheers.

[mmm-five]

0836whimper said:

I have a set of OEM 18's with 255/40 (summer rubber) on the rear and 225/45 on the front and am wondering how small you can go on Witrac's. I am assuming smaller is better/cheaper but don't want to expose any rim to kerbs etc. Cheers.

Why have you got smaller tyres on the rear?

[dan5oclocksmith]

mmm-five said:

Why have you got smaller tyres on the rear?

Standard M3 staggered setup, no?

[mmm-five]

dan5oclocksmith said:

Standard M3 staggered setup, no?

Correct, but I'm sure it said 225/40 when I posted the reply