Any wheel/tyre gurus? Another winter tyre question.

[Scubaregs]

Had a look through the forum and quite frankly I'm just confusing myself. Considering purchasing a set off alloys and winter tyres as I have an 80 mile round trip work commute that can begin around 4 am. Central Scotland so hopefully just cold, wet roads rather than snow. When the beast from the east hit a few years back it took me nearly 5 hours to get home in my then GT86 on summers.

I'm not wanting to spend a fortune as being made redundant next summer and hope to semi retire/get a job close to home after that.

So questions, my G29 is on 19 inch wheels so I was planning on going 18 inch with Goodride ZuperSnow Z-507 tyres as they have the same ratings as Continental WinterContact TS 850P but are £70 a corner less.

I'm assuming a square set up is fine for winter tyres? Should I go for 225/45 or 245/40? Price is negligible between the two. I believe the narrower tyre is better for snow, but the wider tyre will give better grip in the wet/low temps?

It's unusually mild for the time of year here, 13.5c yesterday, 8 or so today, but at some point temps will fall. I'm still debating pulling the trigger as last two winters have been fine, but at around £800 for alloys/tyres/TPMS I'm leaning towards them.

Appreciate any thoughts on sizes etc.

 

[tiglon]

Narrower tyres are also better for aquaplaning on standing water. I would think if you go as small as square 225 you might lose a lot of grip in the dry for a small gain in the wet/snow. I'm not sure either will help much if we get a repeat of beast from the east.

 

[Jembo]

I’d highly recommend going Michelin cross climates - after running full winters for many years can’t rate the cross climates enough

Will easily get you moving in snow & ice… but in our temperate climate when get intermittent warm cold warm spells found full winters get greasy…

 

[Scubaregs]

Surely winter tyres will be far better, even in those conditions?
So, better with the 245/40 then?

 

[tiglon]

I should probably qualify my comments - I am not a tyre/wheel guru, I'm just an ordinary idiot with an opinion and an internet connection.

 

[B21]

Surely winter tyres will be far better, even in those conditions?
So, better with the 245/40 then?

IMHO, for your location and profile of requirements I’d go with an all seasons tyre…

Winter’s would be the wrong tyre for most of the time.

If you had 6 inches of hard packed snow would you insist in those conditions driving to work?

Generally for winter people tend to go with square set ups

Seems 225/45 is the correct sizes for a square set up..

Within the all season brands for your profile of requirements and taking cost into consideration I’d say the Goodyear Vector 4 seasons..

I did run winter tyres for 3 seasons but have now swapped to all seasons and my profile of use is a bit more challenging than yours, weather wise.

 

[Scubaregs]

Goodyear Vector 4 seasons..

Ditto, hence the questions. :rofl:

 

[B21]

Well checking Michelin and Pirelli they suggest in an 18” size 225/45 18 and 255/40 18

I assume you are going to acquire alloy wheels to suit?

I would still stick to all seasons ….tyre size and compound are two separate issues, albeit with some interlinking.

For reference I ran a square set on Conti TS830 on 17” square 225/45 17 and now Goodyear Vectra 235/45 17 and 245/45 17

 

[Scubaregs]

Problem is, by the time I go to all seasons and a set of alloys it bumps the price up a good bit, for something I will probably only really need for one winter and it is hard to justify that cost.

Decisions, decisions. Plan B, as i've done before, 2nd car for winter use and sell in the spring.

 

[sars]

Having done the research the recommended winter wheel sizes for the G29 are 255/40 R18 all round fitted with Continental Winter Contact, however as others have suggested unless you have to deal with a lot of snow then I would suggest the new Michelin cross climate 2, which are basically winning every test.

 

[Scubaregs]

[ref]sars[/ref], BMW also sell a set of 17 inch on 225's for the G29 30i

 

[B21]

You could source your own solution for under half the price from BMW…your 17” example replica here with all season..obviously you could do winters for a similar price..

 

[sars]

[ref]Scubaregs[/ref], ah yes indeed they do, though I’m not sure I’d like 225’s on the back of a car with a turbocharged engine producing 400 N.m of torque :driving:

 

[Scubaregs]

[ref]B21[/ref], No TPMS with the wheelbase packages. I've been all over these sites, believe me.

£785 with TPMS and winter tyres. Also 18 inch.

 

[Ian J]

I've got 18" wheels on mine and am wondering if I can keep the wheels and just buy tyres as per sars list to keep the cost down.

I would probably use a tyre hotel to store the tyres not in use

 

[B21]

Ah well, plenty of options…your call..

SARS where does it list 255/40 R18 as the recommended set up?

 

[Scubaregs]

For some reason Mytyres won't offer All season tyres on the rims i've looked at.
Wheelbase will do this set, but need to add TPMS which brings it up to nearer £1200, if they do sell TPMS that is. Also wheelbase are not showing the G29, showing the E89 up to 2021.

 

[Bombardino]

Is Mr Wilkes still on the forum? If so he seems to be very knowledgeable on wheel/tyre options.

 

[adey]

i have just got some style 618 17 inch alloys normally fitted to 5 series 2017 onwards offset works similar to z4 ones and same stud pattern going to fit 225/50/17 dunlop winter sport 3d tyres, £450 for the lot , i use https://www.wheel-size.com/size/bmw/z4/2019/ for standard set up measurements then use https://www.willtheyfit.com/index.php?width=255&aspect=35&diameter=19&wheelwidth=9&offset=32&width2=225&aspect2=50&wheel_size=17&wheel_width=7-5&offset2=27 to compare different offsets, etc. this is on 2.0 sport with 19 inch wheels might be different for m40i but then your right foot does come into play when driving on cold wet roads .

 

[Scubaregs]

[ref]adey[/ref], I've got a 30i. Yes, have the BMW site saved too. Saying slightly different sizes than Mytyres are suggesting.