BMW 120d in the snow - any tips?

[kislilasas]

I've a BMW 120d M Sport with standard 17" rims, which obviously turns into an ice skate once the snow comes. I'm aware that the sensible thing to do is to fit snow tyres, but I have nowhere to store them in the warmer months so they're not an option. I have Jeko straps in the boot, so if I get stuck or need to go down a stretch of really snowy road I can get by, but they're a serious PITA to fit (like chains), and obviously need to come off when driving on a salted, snow-less road. I live in London so there's usually a mix of roads with snow (no grit) and major roads that have no snow as they've been salted. If I lived somewhere rural I'd just put chains on.

So I'm wondering if there's anything I CAN do to improve the car's handling, given it was so bad last year I was overtaken by a gritting lorry, and later that day got stuck in 2cm of snow!

I have heard some people put bags of sand or rocks (from a garden centre) in the boot. Does this actually help? How many Kgs are needed? It makes sense that more weight over the rear wheels would help to some degree but I don't know if it works in practice.

My tyres are not far off needing replacing, but I don't know whether 4mm of tread on a non-snow tyre is better on snow than a brand new set of all-year tyres. It seems possible it could make things worse putting new tyres on.

I assume there's no such thing as an all-weather tyre that actually copes with snow.

Mostly I'll be using public transport as I prefer to be safe than sorry.

[GarryA]

I'd put 100kg of ballast in the boot - probably bags of cement.

Have you got DTC on your car?

[kislilasas]

Have you tried 100Kg of weight in the boot of a BMW? What effect does it have?

It does have DTC.

[budgie smuggler]

kislilasas said:

I assume there's no such thing as an all-weather tyre that actually copes with snow.

From what I've read, a tyre with sipes and a soft compound will do better than a summer specific tyre on snow or ice. Something like a Kleber Quadraxer or a Quatrac would probably be a decent all year round tyre.

[GarryA]

kislilasas said:

Have you tried 100Kg of weight in the boot of a BMW? What effect does it have?

It does have DTC.

It puts weight over the drive wheels, just like the engine does in FWD.

Read up on activating DTC, might help?

[kislilasas]

Yeah, I get the theory as to why weight in the boot should help, but I'm interested to know in practice how well it works.

DTC is always on.

[GarryA]

Are you sure its on, technically it makes the car more unstable so you have to select it, it will show DTC in yellow on the dash.

[kislilasas]

Ah yes, you may be right. I'll check.

[GarryA]

Read my 120d Coupe manual, you have to select it.

[smit8361]

Normal traction control is on all the time. If you press the DTC button it enables the dynamic traction control which will let you slep and slide a little but will still help if things start going tits up. If you press and hold the dtc button the traction control will deactivate completely. Also if it helps when driving mine last year planning and keeping momentum was the most important thing to remember.

Hope this helps

[Aviz]

[E30M3SE]

^^^

[mmm-five]

Winter or all season tyres are perfectly usable in summer (assuming you buy the correct load/speed rating), so if you buy a complete set there no need to store a summer set - unless you're needing specific summer tyres for track days or the like.

The alternative is to get some instruction (and gain confidence) in driving in snowy/icy conditions.

[scarebus]

Aviz said:

[Philrose]

My local BMW dealer has supplied my winter wheels and is storing the summer ones free of charge.
Worth asking.

[mmm-five]

Philrose said:

My local BMW dealer has supplied my winter wheels and is storing the summer ones free of charge.
Worth asking.

Yes, but then you have to pay for overpriced BMW alloys and pay a premium for the winter tyres too.

You can get 16" steel wheels & Dunlop winter tyres for about £500 from Mytyres - or you can get them for less than £400 if you don't mind running a budget tyre.

You can also get budget alloys with winter tyres from the same place for a about £100 more.

[Sortie 10]

Useful website - will stick in my Favourites for when I need some new boots for the Z4 (and also some winter tyres for the Mundano). Thanks

[Gruber]

Buy snow socks. Job jobbed.

[Targarama]

Gruber said:

Buy snow socks. Job jobbed.

Only if the roads stay covered in snow/slush. As soon as you hit a major road with tarmac you will trash them unless you stop and remove them.

All season tyres are the best bet for all-year round use. Look on the winter tyres thread for much discussion. (I'm not sure about availability in run-flat type though.)

[billzeebub]

get on public transport and when that fails go to the pub and have a snowday..or buy an old LandRover for the winter..

..or get an old Landrover and don't tell your boss you've got one, and then head out into the countryside for a snowday..(that would be my choice)