Winter tyres... Yes, it’s coming to that time of year
Discussion
Will put this in here as it'll get a better, overall general coverage IMO, more so as it’s a 7 series I drive and will be putting the winters onto.
What wintery tyres have folk run on here and how did you rate them?
I'm soon to be looking to buy x4 for my Style 93 alloys for my land-barge; unfortunately the Alpin A4s are no longer, which I’ve had previous on my E39s; they've been replaced with a PA4 IIRC but at c£150 a corner, a bit over what I want to pay, more so for the mileage I do.
One budget winter tyre that's caught my attention and gets good reviews on other car forums and tyrereviews.co.uk is the Petlas Snowmaster
However; I do like the look of the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D tyres and some of the others like the Vredesteins, Kumho, Nokia’s and Nankang ones too.
Any suggestions of other winters tyres; ones that you’ve owned and used yourself etc?
What wintery tyres have folk run on here and how did you rate them?
I'm soon to be looking to buy x4 for my Style 93 alloys for my land-barge; unfortunately the Alpin A4s are no longer, which I’ve had previous on my E39s; they've been replaced with a PA4 IIRC but at c£150 a corner, a bit over what I want to pay, more so for the mileage I do.
One budget winter tyre that's caught my attention and gets good reviews on other car forums and tyrereviews.co.uk is the Petlas Snowmaster
However; I do like the look of the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D tyres and some of the others like the Vredesteins, Kumho, Nokia’s and Nankang ones too.
Any suggestions of other winters tyres; ones that you’ve owned and used yourself etc?
Edited by d_a_n1979 on Saturday 29th September 10:25
d_a_n1979 said:
Will put this in here as it'll get a better, overall general coverage IMO, more so as it’s a 7 series I drive and will be putting the winters onto.
What wintery tyres have folk run on here and how did you rate them?
I'm soon to be looking to buy x4 for my Style 93 alloys for my land-barge; unfortunately the Alpin A4s are no longer, which I’ve had previous on my E39s; they've been replaced with a PA4 IIRC but at c£150 a corner, a bit over what I want to pay, more so for the mileage I do.
One budget winter tyre that's caught my attention and gets good reviews on other car forums and tyrereviews.co.uk is the Petlas Snowmaster
However; I do like the look of the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D tyres and some of the others like the Vredesteins, Kumho, Nokia’s and Nankang ones too.
Any suggestions of other winters tyres; ones that you’ve owned and used yourself etc?
I used Hankook Winter tires on several BMWs including, the most powerful a 335i. What wintery tyres have folk run on here and how did you rate them?
I'm soon to be looking to buy x4 for my Style 93 alloys for my land-barge; unfortunately the Alpin A4s are no longer, which I’ve had previous on my E39s; they've been replaced with a PA4 IIRC but at c£150 a corner, a bit over what I want to pay, more so for the mileage I do.
One budget winter tyre that's caught my attention and gets good reviews on other car forums and tyrereviews.co.uk is the Petlas Snowmaster
However; I do like the look of the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D tyres and some of the others like the Vredesteins, Kumho, Nokia’s and Nankang ones too.
Any suggestions of other winters tyres; ones that you’ve owned and used yourself etc?
Edited by d_a_n1979 on Saturday 29th September 10:25
Riken Snowtimes on my 3 series, with BMW 308 style alloys (205/55/16) - good economy tyres, manufactured by Michelin. Very progressive tyres and very grippy in all conditions I have found (I drive all year round on these)
Petlas are Turkish and supply Turkish air force their tyres, quite a big company tbh.
Petlas are Turkish and supply Turkish air force their tyres, quite a big company tbh.
Edited by DailyHack on Saturday 29th September 12:43
Thanks for that
Not interested in going to cross-climate tyres; already have good summer tyres and a set of alloys ready for winters and happy to stick with that set up
The Hankooks are on the list; at 245/50/18s, I am slightly limited to what tyres are available
Re the Petlas; thanks, didn't know that, but it's good to know. They do seem to get very good reviews and for the low mileage I do (I only do c5k a year, if that at all) then splashing out c£600+ on winter tyres doesn't make sense; but that doesn't mean I'll be putting ditch finders on either!
Not interested in going to cross-climate tyres; already have good summer tyres and a set of alloys ready for winters and happy to stick with that set up
The Hankooks are on the list; at 245/50/18s, I am slightly limited to what tyres are available
Re the Petlas; thanks, didn't know that, but it's good to know. They do seem to get very good reviews and for the low mileage I do (I only do c5k a year, if that at all) then splashing out c£600+ on winter tyres doesn't make sense; but that doesn't mean I'll be putting ditch finders on either!
I’ve had the Alpin 4’s on my (departed) 335d, and my 7 now runs the PA4’s over winter. (As does the M6) As I said on your rr thread, the ride change going from 20” to 18” is pretty impressive in terms of comfort, the only issue I’ve found on the winters is that a full-bore 3>4 shift will get the tyres chirping, which doesn’t happen on the summer tyres, but then they are 285 vs 255. To be fair, not something that occurs in UK driving with any regularity (it’s about 105mph). I bought the winters on the basis of wet grip / aquaplaning resistance, as the car lives on the motorway, so those were the two most relevant aspects for me to consider.
(one summer, one winter)
The big 7 & PA4 combination was incredibly sure-footed during the weather earlier in the year, (there’s a lot of weight pressing down with a 7 ) However, I tend to drive to a speed appropriate to other people’s capabilities in snow, it’s no good going past someone for them to then rear-end you at the next set of lights because they can’t stop.
I’d still recommend the PA4’s, even at 2500 miles per year on them you’re still likely to be >4mm tread remaining (so still effective), and while it might be an upfront cost, if you get to year 5, it’s £10/month when averaged out, which isn’t all that much in the grand scheme if things.
Whichever way you go, do let us know - we can do a direct comparison if need be. (barge meet!)
(one summer, one winter)
The big 7 & PA4 combination was incredibly sure-footed during the weather earlier in the year, (there’s a lot of weight pressing down with a 7 ) However, I tend to drive to a speed appropriate to other people’s capabilities in snow, it’s no good going past someone for them to then rear-end you at the next set of lights because they can’t stop.
I’d still recommend the PA4’s, even at 2500 miles per year on them you’re still likely to be >4mm tread remaining (so still effective), and while it might be an upfront cost, if you get to year 5, it’s £10/month when averaged out, which isn’t all that much in the grand scheme if things.
Whichever way you go, do let us know - we can do a direct comparison if need be. (barge meet!)
Prinny said:
I’ve had the Alpin 4’s on my (departed) 335d, and my 7 now runs the PA4’s over winter. (As does the M6) As I said on your rr thread, the ride change going from 20” to 18” is pretty impressive in terms of comfort, the only issue I’ve found on the winters is that a full-bore 3>4 shift will get the tyres chirping, which doesn’t happen on the summer tyres, but then they are 285 vs 255. To be fair, not something that occurs in UK driving with any regularity (it’s about 105mph). I bought the winters on the basis of wet grip / aquaplaning resistance, as the car lives on the motorway, so those were the two most relevant aspects for me to consider.
(one summer, one winter)
The big 7 & PA4 combination was incredibly sure-footed during the weather earlier in the year, (there’s a lot of weight pressing down with a 7 ) However, I tend to drive to a speed appropriate to other people’s capabilities in snow, it’s no good going past someone for them to then rear-end you at the next set of lights because they can’t stop.
I’d still recommend the PA4’s, even at 2500 miles per year on them you’re still likely to be >4mm tread remaining (so still effective), and while it might be an upfront cost, if you get to year 5, it’s £10/month when averaged out, which isn’t all that much in the grand scheme if things.
Whichever way you go, do let us know - we can do a direct comparison if need be. (barge meet!)
Thanks for that and from a fellow land-barge owner (one summer, one winter)
The big 7 & PA4 combination was incredibly sure-footed during the weather earlier in the year, (there’s a lot of weight pressing down with a 7 ) However, I tend to drive to a speed appropriate to other people’s capabilities in snow, it’s no good going past someone for them to then rear-end you at the next set of lights because they can’t stop.
I’d still recommend the PA4’s, even at 2500 miles per year on them you’re still likely to be >4mm tread remaining (so still effective), and while it might be an upfront cost, if you get to year 5, it’s £10/month when averaged out, which isn’t all that much in the grand scheme if things.
Whichever way you go, do let us know - we can do a direct comparison if need be. (barge meet!)
The A4s I found to be superb; they were in a balloon size 225/55/16 on my previous E39 530i:
The car rode so well on them; more so as it was on D2 coilovers and lowered quite a whack too:
Found them to be very sure footed indeed and they even got me to the main car park on the Cairngorm, Feb just gone, my Dad in his 3.0 xDrive X3 and on summer tyres was left on the middle car park
He & Mum ended up walking the rest to the funicular We travel to my folks property in Dunkeld every Dec and 2nd week in Feb (start of the salmon season for my Dad and the always needed distillery tour or 3 for myself & my brother); so with the weather we generally have, more so the weather we had Feb 2018 (average of 4" snow overnight and temps of -5ºC); the tyres really came into their own
This was the afternoon of the Sunday we landed; this was 2hours after parking up and emptying the car:
I agree as well that it'll be interesting to drop down from the staggered 20" alloys to the 18" Style 93s; I do think the ride will be smoother; but again, I don't drive my cars like a loony, more so in bad weather. I like to have the confidence that I've got decent tyres between me & the road and will keep my distance from other drivers and the knowledge that I know I'll be able to stop better too!
Previous 330d xDrive Touring I had Pirelli Winter Sottozero Serie-II and currently on my M235i Convertible, Pirelli Winter Sottozero S3.
I'd say the Serie-II are better in warmer conditions such as you get late autumn and early spring but the S3 are better in standing water and snow. We're probably taking 10%-15% difference (very subjective). So for these two brands, it's take your pick, depending on whether you're likely to hit snow or not.
The car takes us skiing a couple of times over the winter so I opt for the S3 because I'm likely to hit snow. If it was UK-only, I'd probably go for the Serie-II which are also PZero-like in preferring heavier cars like your 7 Series. But if you live somewhere that gets a lot of rain then the S3 looks to have better water-clearing capacity than the Serie-II.
I've also had Vredestein and Michelin winters on previous cars and they were pretty good too.
I drop 1" wheel width and 20mm tyre width for the winter wheels/tyres. But I appreciate that not everyone wants to buy and store a separate set of wheels.
The reduced tendency to aquaplane is very noticeable, which I put down to the combination of much 'groovier' tread and narrower wheels. This to the extent that when I've hit summer thunderstorms, I would actually much prefer to be on the winter setup.
I'd say the Serie-II are better in warmer conditions such as you get late autumn and early spring but the S3 are better in standing water and snow. We're probably taking 10%-15% difference (very subjective). So for these two brands, it's take your pick, depending on whether you're likely to hit snow or not.
The car takes us skiing a couple of times over the winter so I opt for the S3 because I'm likely to hit snow. If it was UK-only, I'd probably go for the Serie-II which are also PZero-like in preferring heavier cars like your 7 Series. But if you live somewhere that gets a lot of rain then the S3 looks to have better water-clearing capacity than the Serie-II.
I've also had Vredestein and Michelin winters on previous cars and they were pretty good too.
I drop 1" wheel width and 20mm tyre width for the winter wheels/tyres. But I appreciate that not everyone wants to buy and store a separate set of wheels.
The reduced tendency to aquaplane is very noticeable, which I put down to the combination of much 'groovier' tread and narrower wheels. This to the extent that when I've hit summer thunderstorms, I would actually much prefer to be on the winter setup.
Edited by msej449 on Saturday 29th September 15:14
msej449 said:
Previous 330d xDrive Touring I had Pirelli Winter Sottozero Serie-II and currently on my M235i Convertible, Pirelli Winter Sottozero S3.
I'd say the Serie-II are better in warmer conditions such as you get late autumn and early spring but the S3 are better in standing water and snow. We're probably taking 10%-15% difference (very subjective). So for these two brands, it's take your pick, depending on whether you're likely to hit snow or not.
The car takes us skiing a couple of times over the winter so I opt for the S3 because I'm likely to hit snow. If it was UK-only, I'd probably go for the Serie-II which are also PZero-like in preferring heavier cars like your 7 Series. But if you live somewhere that gets a lot of rain then the S3 looks to have better water-clearing capacity than the Serie-II.
I've also had Vredestein and Michelin winters on previous cars and they were pretty good too.
I drop 1" wheel width and 20mm tyre width for the winter wheels/tyres. But I appreciate that not everyone wants to buy and store a separate set of wheels.
The reduced tendency to aquaplane is very noticeable, which I put down to the combination of much 'groovier' tread and narrower wheels. This to the extent that when I've hit summer thunderstorms, I would actually much prefer to be on the winter setup.
Thanks; will look into thoseI'd say the Serie-II are better in warmer conditions such as you get late autumn and early spring but the S3 are better in standing water and snow. We're probably taking 10%-15% difference (very subjective). So for these two brands, it's take your pick, depending on whether you're likely to hit snow or not.
The car takes us skiing a couple of times over the winter so I opt for the S3 because I'm likely to hit snow. If it was UK-only, I'd probably go for the Serie-II which are also PZero-like in preferring heavier cars like your 7 Series. But if you live somewhere that gets a lot of rain then the S3 looks to have better water-clearing capacity than the Serie-II.
I've also had Vredestein and Michelin winters on previous cars and they were pretty good too.
I drop 1" wheel width and 20mm tyre width for the winter wheels/tyres. But I appreciate that not everyone wants to buy and store a separate set of wheels.
The reduced tendency to aquaplane is very noticeable, which I put down to the combination of much 'groovier' tread and narrower wheels. This to the extent that when I've hit summer thunderstorms, I would actually much prefer to be on the winter setup.
Edited by msej449 on Saturday 29th September 15:14
The Vreds are of interest, listed at a good price on Camskill currently too!
Just taken delivery of 4x 18in BMW alloys plus part worn pirelli sotto 2 for my new (to me) X3 335 from an German company from Ebay. Fast delivery and the tyres are apparently inspected and look in good condition (2x7.5mm and 2x5.5mm of tread). So will be changing soon from the staggered 19in set up to square 18in.
I bought my E91 in February this year. The Bridgestone Blizzaks it came on were fine when the Beast from the East arrived!
Prior to that I used Michelin Alpins on my E46, but it never snowed while I had them.
Still I now have a set of 16" E46 wheels with Alpins that I don't need, so they will be for sale soon.
Prior to that I used Michelin Alpins on my E46, but it never snowed while I had them.
Still I now have a set of 16" E46 wheels with Alpins that I don't need, so they will be for sale soon.
Just a quick update, just unpacked the wheels from seller original-raeder on ebay, can report all wheels and tyres in very good condition and delivery from Germany only took about 4 days. I've no affiliation to this seller but just wanted to assure anyone who thinking of ordering wheels from Germany that in case it was well worth the money.
pills said:
Just a quick update, just unpacked the wheels from seller original-raeder on ebay, can report all wheels and tyres in very good condition and delivery from Germany only took about 4 days. I've no affiliation to this seller but just wanted to assure anyone who thinking of ordering wheels from Germany that in case it was well worth the money.
I’ve seen alloys & tyres like these on EvilBay; none for my big 7 though unfortunately Plenty though for the 3 & 5 series for those looking into these more
More research done today and the Nokian’s and Dunlop winters are leading the list, Vreds and Petlas on an even 3rd
Sottozero 3 will be going on mine at the end of this month. Used to run Blizzak LM32 which were good.
I drop down from 20" 245 and 275 combo to 225 17's and like others enjoy the extra comfort in ride as they are 55 profiles.
Only time my begin to struggle is initial move off if it is a bit dry....
I drop down from 20" 245 and 275 combo to 225 17's and like others enjoy the extra comfort in ride as they are 55 profiles.
Only time my begin to struggle is initial move off if it is a bit dry....
No one considered Riken? They have been superb on my 3 series. I run my winters all year, and they have been great, got them through Camskills website.
I believe they are a subsidiary of Michelin, and too be honest they have a very similar tread pattern to the Michelins, makes you think. Magazine tests I take with a pinch of salt sometimes.
I believe they are a subsidiary of Michelin, and too be honest they have a very similar tread pattern to the Michelins, makes you think. Magazine tests I take with a pinch of salt sometimes.
DailyHack said:
No one considered Riken? They have been superb on my 3 series. I run my winters all year, and they have been great, got them through Camskills website.
I believe they are a subsidiary of Michelin, and too be honest they have a very similar tread pattern to the Michelins, makes you think. Magazine tests I take with a pinch of salt sometimes.
All depends on whether they cater for the odd sizes BMW dream up at times, in my case, they don't do the size I need!I believe they are a subsidiary of Michelin, and too be honest they have a very similar tread pattern to the Michelins, makes you think. Magazine tests I take with a pinch of salt sometimes.
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