Winter Tyres - 330 Touring Auto

[KH]

Simple question folks,

Did any of you have winter tyres fitted to your BMW Touring Auto last year, and if so, did they work - ie get you up and down and stop on a snowy/icy road etc.

My garage says these cars are the worst on the road for winter conditions and that winter tyres would be a waste of money.

Thanks in advance. Kim

[road_rager]

Your garage may have a point, I've got kuhmo winter tyres on my 330i touring and it was still pretty damn bad in the snow, for instance couldn't get the car back on the driveway without digging. After that I wouldn't take it out untill it all cleared up. My old forester didn't get stuck once even with old tyres on.

[Dover Nige]

Not a touring or a 3er I'm afraid, but a E39 saloon auto. I ran Avon ice tourings all round and was the only thing mobile around here when we had that shedload of snow earlier in the year. Still need to drive sensibly and gently and be able to control slides. Oh and switch the traction control off.

[KH]

Thanks for the honest answers - it wasn't just me then.
I rely totally on my car for my job and got badly caught out (having just bought it) last winter.

Trouble is with a saloon is that it's too small for the family holiday and the dog.

Anyone used those snow shoe things that wrap around the tyres? (my car seems to have lost about £3k in a year so I'm loathe to change it)

Edited by KH on Thursday 2nd September 20:15

[phelix]

I run Vredestein Ultrac Extremes in the winter on my E61 and it dealt with last January's snow without issue. To give an example: I had to stop on a snowy hill because FWD cars and SUVs were slipping and sliding left and right. When the road was finally clear ahead I went to pull out and one of the stuck drivers laughed at me and said I must be dreaming since if his X5 couldn't climb the hill I had no chance. I put the car in drive, tickled the throttle and easily climbed the hill and carried on. In the snow it's not AWD or FWD but tyres that make the biggest difference.

[KH]

So, would these tyres make a 3-series Touring work in the snow like yours?
I need to make a decision - to sell the car or shell out a fair bit of money for a set of winter tyres.

Edited by KH on Thursday 2nd September 22:35

[Rollcage]

I'd respectfully suggest your garage has not got a clue what he is talking about! Where is BMW's biggest market?

Winter tyres will make a huge difference - there are plenty of vids on YouTube illustrating this (one with a 3 series,ISTR!)

[cptsideways]

KH said:

So, would these tyres make a 3-series Touring work in the snow like yours?
I need to make a decision - to sell the car or shell out a fair bit of money for a set of winter tyres.

Edited by KH on Thursday 2nd September 22:35

Like night & day, our fwd golf was better on the snowies than my 4x4 Landruiser! Set of skinny snowies will cost you £50 a corner + some steelies off of ebay. See what size the handbook states for winter/wheels tyres

[phelix]

KH said:

So, would these tyres make a 3-series Touring work in the snow like yours?
I need to make a decision - to sell the car or shell out a fair bit of money for a set of winter tyres.

Quite similar I would have thought. I believe your 330 will require at least 17 wheels to clear the front brakes so steel wheel will be all but impossible to find in the UK. But a decent set of BMW 17s should be £100-£150 on ebay if you're patient. You will obviously have the outlay for the tyres but since you're going to wear out tyres summer or winter all you're really doing is slowing the wear of your summer tyres by using them less so over a few years you're really only out of pocket for the wheels. And the added safety and security in the winter months, not just when there's snow but when it's cold and wet or there's ice, will be noticeable. All that said you can't forget the importance of driving slower, leaving much bigger gaps and being extra smooth with throttle, brake and steering inputs. Plus, when you can stop well in snow it's a bugger when the twit behind you is tailgating and therefore can't stop anywhere nearly as well and slides into you!

[KH]

Can I not put winter tyres on my existing wheels?

[BalhamBadger]

KH said:

Can I not put winter tyres on my existing wheels?

You probably could but putting skinnier wheels on would reduce the surface area of the tires on contact with the road, increasing the pressure and allowing the tires to bite into the snow, rather than sit on top. At least that's how I understand it.

[KH]

Yes, that sounds right. Just had a quick look at the manual and they suggest putting the same width and profile winter tyres as the summer ones. Wouldn't have thought that would help.

[phelix]

KH said:

Can I not put winter tyres on my existing wheels?

Yes but narrower is better. And if you keep them for a couple of years you'll save the cost of the wheels with the tyre mounting and balancing fees you've avoided.

[KH]

Ok, great.
Thanks you all for your replies.
See you on the slopes.
Kim

[Carmo99]

KH said:

Ok, great.
Thanks you all for your replies.
See you on the slopes.
Kim

I live in Switzerland and we all have winter tyres. I bought separate wheels and tyres for my 330i for winter as its easier to swop them myself rather than getting a garage to change the tyres and rebalance everytime you change. The tyres are thinner and a higher profile (17" from 18") as that works better as stated above.

Go on ww.ebay.de (the german version) and search for BMW Winterreifen you will have thousands of options and they deliver cheaply too.

[Pablo16v]

Carmo99 said:

KH said:

Ok, great.
Thanks you all for your replies.
See you on the slopes.
Kim

I live in Switzerland and we all have winter tyres. I bought separate wheels and tyres for my 330i for winter as its easier to swop them myself rather than getting a garage to change the tyres and rebalance everytime you change. The tyres are thinner and a higher profile (17" from 18") as that works better as stated above.

Go on ww.ebay.de (the german version) and search for BMW Winterreifen you will have thousands of options and they deliver cheaply too.

Thanks for that. I've just started looking at winter wheel & tyre combo's for my 325 Touring so will check out Ebay.de

[HellDiver]

Last year, my winters were wider than my summers (Lancer with 215-45-18 summers, I put on 225-45-18 winters). They were Wintrac Xtemes, brilliant job, got me places few others could dream of.

[Silver993tt]

I have a set of wheels for my 2009 330D Touring. They are 225x17 all round unlike the summer set which have 225x18 front and 265x18 back (different profile of course). I had no problems driving in snow covered roads through the Alps. However, the main benefit is in temperatures at 7C or below, particularly on cold wet roads, which the UK experiences very often between November and March. The winter tyres add a massive safety buffer over normal summer tyres.

[Rollcage]

Silver993tt said:

I have a set of wheels for my 2009 330D Touring. They are 225x17 all round unlike the summer set which have 225x18 front and 265x18 back (different profile of course). I had no problems driving in snow covered roads through the Alps. However, the main benefit is in temperatures at 7C or below, particularly on cold wet roads, which the UK experiences very often between November and March. The winter tyres add a massive safety buffer over normal summer tyres.

Good point. Winter tyres are significantly better in the cold and wet, not just snow and ice.

It will never happen in the UK, but mandatory winter tyres would dramatically decrease the overall accident rate during the winter months for this very reason.

[Silver993tt]

Rollcage said:

Silver993tt said:

I have a set of wheels for my 2009 330D Touring. They are 225x17 all round unlike the summer set which have 225x18 front and 265x18 back (different profile of course). I had no problems driving in snow covered roads through the Alps. However, the main benefit is in temperatures at 7C or below, particularly on cold wet roads, which the UK experiences very often between November and March. The winter tyres add a massive safety buffer over normal summer tyres.

Good point. Winter tyres are significantly better in the cold and wet, not just snow and ice.

It will never happen in the UK, but mandatory winter tyres would dramatically decrease the overall accident rate during the winter months for this very reason.

A complete set of new (very good) replica BMW wheels & new winter tyres cost £750, a bargain IMO. It also means 5 months of the year my expensive RFTs don't get any wear at all and my nice oriiginal BMW 18" wheels don't get used in the winter months.