Thinking about next years winter tyres

C

christhomasleeds

Member
 Leeds
Hi all,

I'm just looking at getting some winter tyres for next year having failed to get any this year as I left it too late. My current tyre config is the standard 225/40/18 on the front and the 255/35/18 on the back but I've been advised to go narrower on a 17" wheel and to increase the profile so I guess something like 205/50/17 on all four corners. What does anyone think about this?
My personal opinion is that this would not be enough of a footprint for a car with this power even when driving cautiously and not only this I assume there is an insurance issue with none standard fit tyres?
Does anyone know the official line for minimum tyre size/wheel diameter for a 3.0si Coupe, I know you can't go smaller than 17" because of the brakes.

I'm determined not to get stuck next winter(which I did this winter, sleeping in the car is no fun) so would appreciate any advice that members could give...

Thanks a lot
 
The 'official' BMW winter spec for your car states 225/45r17 all round. If you stick to that size then the insurance company have nothing to complain about.
 
^ Wot he says.

As you say, you can't go smaller than 17" due to brake clearance (my benefit of owning the older 3.0i 230ps :oops:) but I'd imagine sticking to the same overall diameter would be preferred - the Z4's limiting aspect when on winter tyres is ground clearance and I'd not want to go lower profile. Higher profile, e.g. 225/50/17 would knacker gearing, etc so wouldn't do that either.

Also, I'd not drop smaller than 225-width on a car of this weight/performance, even for winter tyres.
 
I've spent the last 2 winters using Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme's which are available in your normal 18" sizes. My winters are 265/30/19 and 235/35/19 and have been excellent in the worst weather this winter threw at us. I know the BMW recommendations are for smaller, narrower tyres but I don't think it's necessary to go down that line based on my experience. Save yourself buying a second set of wheels and just change your tyres over when the time comes would be my advice.
 
I was reading an article that involved interviews with people at tyre manufacturers. Winter tyres are now so good that they're just as effective on wide wheels as narrow ones in snow - so outside of cost there's no reason to focus on narrow smaller wheels. The tread on low profile tyres is the same as high profile, so it's not like you're going to struggle to disperse water. In snow the tread is meant to fill with snow since snow on snow is grippier.
 
I have the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D and very impressed with them - there a video if you click my YouTube channel link.

I have gone for a set of 17s for a few reasons in no real order...
1. the tyres are cheaper and I suspect the package of 17s + tyres against tyres for 18s is probably about the same.
2. regardless of grip, in the winter pot holes are a lot worse / more prevalent so I don't want to damage my 18s - also more rubber / less rim means they are less likely to be clipped in the first place.
3. fit and balance them once and they'll probably be good for a few years, cost aside, it's a faff (in a Z4) getting the wheels / tyres to and from the fitting centre each time.

I bought mine from mytyres.co.uk - they ship from Europe so generally have a better choice / wider range, and the prices were good too.
 
I have the 225/45x17 Dunlop winter tyres on my 2006 3.0 Coupe. As mentioned earlier this is the official winter spec tyre as recommended by BMW and specified here on our Fahrzeugscheine to be fitted to the car from 1st November annualy.They are fine most of the time, especially in the colder adverse weather conditions when they are significantly more sure footed than the summer tyres, however they will bring the traction control into play regularly if you push them too much as you would expect from a narrower tyre.
 
PawnSacrifice said:
I have the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D and very impressed with them - there a video if you click my YouTube channel link.

I have gone for a set of 17s for a few reasons in no real order...
1. the tyres are cheaper and I suspect the package of 17s + tyres against tyres for 18s is probably about the same.
2. regardless of grip, in the winter pot holes are a lot worse / more prevalent so I don't want to damage my 18s - also more rubber / less rim means they are less likely to be clipped in the first place.
3. fit and balance them once and they'll probably be good for a few years, cost aside, it's a faff (in a Z4) getting the wheels / tyres to and from the fitting centre each time.

I bought mine from mytyres.co.uk - they ship from Europe so generally have a better choice / wider range, and the prices were good too.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, my thoughts are the same with respect to tyre size so will be going for some 17s on some winter rims...
 
Are there any winter tyres available in the standard 18" sizes? Struggling to find any and don't really want another set of wheels to store.
 
sjj84, they are available, but I assume you will need to store the 18" tyres, so won't take up any more room if they have alloys in them... unless they are being used as plant pot holders.

The other issue, if you don't have the alloys you will need to transport the car and tyres to a fitter twice a year to get them swapped over (not easy a Z4), whereas with spare alloys you can just pop them on at home. That's assuming you're not paying a tyre shop to store the tyres for you.
 
I'm on the look out for a new set of wheels for the summer, meaning I'll already have a spare set of 18" wheels. Ideally don't want a third set of wheels for the winter tyres.
 
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