E46 M3 winter winter/ tyres?

[matty w]

Hi all i'm in the process of buying a e46 m3 i just wondered if anyone use different tyres or have another set of wheels & tyres for the winter as i can imagine they are a nightmare in the ice & snow?
any advice would be grately appreciated matt

[Mahogany]

Good thread.

I'm starting to consider getting some smaller alloys (18s) with winter tyres for my M3.

[bennyboysvuk]

I considered this last year, but it would cost about £250 for a set of 2nd hand wheels from ebay, plus £600 for a set of winter tyres.

I decided that I could buy a cheap old hack and fit winter tyres to it for less. Plus it would be quite a laugh too.

[mat205125]

I used different wheels last year ......... attached to a different car!!!!

[rassi]

I would not even consider driving my E39 M5 during the winter without winter tyres! 17" style 66 with 235/45 tyres (the Dunlop M3 or 3D are highly recommended).

[Nedz]

If we have another winter like last year i will buy myself an old front wheel drive banger for a couple of hundred quid. Couldnt even get my E46 M3 off the driveway for a month last year let alone drive anywhere in it.Also i wouldnt be too concerned about the possibility of someone skidding into the back of me.

[mat205125]

Nedz said:

If we have another winter like last year i will buy myself an old front wheel drive banger for a couple of hundred quid. Couldnt even get my E46 M3 off the driveway for a month last year let alone drive anywhere in it.Also i wouldnt be too concerned about the possibility of someone skidding into the back of me.

Exactly my thinking during last winter.

A lot of humble pie was consumed by myself after many years of mocking my dads mondeo in drag. When my M3 wouldn't get off the driveway, and its wide rubber was just skating over the surface of snow and ice, his Jag X Type was remarkable. It was quite increadble how it handled the snow ..... it's relatively crude 4x4 system was like a mountain goat on the tricky stuff, and actually amusingly rear biased when the roads were wide and traffic free.

[DaveR]

Proper winter tyres make more difference than you would ever believe possible.

A mate of mine has a 123d that he couldn't get off his drive for a week last winter when it snowed in December. As a result he procured himself another set of wheels from fleabay and had them shod with Nokian WR G2 rubber. When the second dump came in January he drove up a lane parallel to the M40 cutting at Stokenchurch in inches of the stuff. No bother!

That weather prompted a rash of winter tyre reviews in places like Evo which all reached similar conclusions and were conducted when various Evo and Scoooby 4WD weaponry on summer rubber was rendered rather impotent.