Winter tyres opinion - with poll!

[TheDan]

So this is an opinion based thread as I am not sure of the best course of action: to winter tyre or not to winter tyre. This is mainly aimed at a UK audience (midlands based people will have the most similar weather + temps).

Anyway here's the background:

• I am currently working from home due to coronavirus and have been since May 2020.

• I have had to go into work on average about once every fortnight which is approximately 10 miles each way (either A-road or motorway).

• My Z4 has replaced my daily car so I will be driving it every day if I ever return to commuting full time.

• At the moment I go out for a fun drive at least twice a week.

• I am based in the Midlands.

• I have a spare set of 17" wheels I replaced with MV2s.

• My current wheels have summer tyres on.

My query:
With this amount of driving and the current (as well as forecasted) UK weather, I am unsure if winter tyres will actually be worth it. Please let me know your opinions by answering the poll.

 

[brillomaster]

Where exactly in the midlands? How much snow do you get, and do you live on a hill?

How flexible is your one day a fortnight in the office?

 

[Raj_UK]

I loved running winter tyres. Whether we had snow or not they performed better in cold weather than my summer tyres and running them on smaller wheels gave me extra comfort during the period where I was not driving so quick and conditions were not so great.

The only potential downside in your case is that you end up with two sets of tyres perishing due to age if you aren’t doing many miles.

 

[Mr Tidy]

I voted for winters for the spare wheels, but depending how you drive your car maybe All Seasons on the spare wheels would be an option as you could sell it on those and sell your 18s seperately when your ownership ends.

My first experiences of BMWs in snow were with a 123d in 2010 and 2011 and a few times I couldn't get out of our road! But I had a job where working from home worked for a few days, so that's what I did!

When I got my first Z4 I had a 3 Series as a daily and at this point I had stopped working. But my Mother was in her 90s and living in her own flat over 30 miles away. I'd go over a couple of times a week and cook her dinner. If I wasn't going she had a carer come in, so if I was meant to be going I had to get there, so when I saw someone selling a set of wheels on here I bought them and used them for 3 winters.

I sold them on here when the car went in 2018 because the replacement 3 Series came fitted with winters. Which was handy when the Beast from the East arrived! I was amazed how good they were. So later that year I bought another set of wheels on Gumtree with summer tyres.

I replaced that in 2019 with another 3 Series which came on summers with a full set of spare rims and winters so I just swap twice a year, and my Z4 only goes out in the winter when the weather is decent and there is no salt on the roads.

So my vote is based on my situation, whereas yours may be different. If you get to decide when your trips to the office are you may be OK to keep using summers.

 

[TheDan]

Thanks for the advice and votes so far guys. I was leaning towards buying winters for the 17" spare wheels.

Very good point you make [ref]Raj_UK[/ref] about the tyres perishing due to age. Any idea how long before a summer or winter tyre would perish?

Little more context for those who asked:
I live in Warwick in the midlands and the current flurries of midlands snow have entirely missed us! I live on a very small hill but does have a steep-ish section leading up to a canal bridge. My frequency in the office varies, sometimes I am in once a month other times once a week.

 

[ben g]

The Z4 seems to be one of the more capable rwd cars in snow.

I've been caught in 2 snow dumps with my Z4 over the years and have never had an issue. Yes, it fish tailed a bit when we had a dumping of snow (very rare for the South East), but it still got me home on summer tyres.

 

[Raj_UK]

Very good point you make [ref]Raj_UK[/ref] about the tyres perishing due to age. Any idea how long before a summer or winter tyre would perish?

I have no idea mate! There’s probably lots of factors that influence it. I only mentioned this as I once bought a new car which I kept for many years and was not doing much mileage. At some point, I had to replace my rear tyres due to cracking despite the tread being good.

 

[SiJar]

I’ve had winter tyres on my last 2 BMW 3 series cars but not the Z4MC and I must admit they saved me on multiple times from having an accident including in my 335d which was 4WD. The stopping distances etc are greatly reduced and the difference with snow driving is considerable. im a big fan of winter tyres and would get some spare rims if you have the storage.

 

[mr.tourette]

if you have spare wheels its a no brainer really, you can pick up used winters on ebay pretty cheaply for 17s. That said Michelin Cross Climate + all seasons are a fantastic year round tyre and very capable whether hooning or commuting in snowy/icy conditions... all comes down to if you want to chop and change and have the expense of 2 sets of tyres.. I voted winter 17s

 

[Spriteracer]

I have no experience yet on the E86, but winter tyres were a no brainer on E39 530D and E61 535D. For example, in conditions of hard frost / black and white ice on Somerset country roads the E61 in particular went from undrivable (couldn't get it out of a yard on packed snow with a very slight incline) to perfectly driveable at 30mph + on the country roads.

 

[parabolica]

All seasons on the spares - that’s what I went with. Same situation as you OP but rural Scotland. Bridgestone Allseasons work fantastically for me; the transformation on the slippy stuff is amazing. I’d only go full winters if you regularly get feet and feet of powder snow.

 

[brillomaster]

Warwick! Im in leamington and never felt the need to bother with winters. The snow flurry we had last night was laughable, blink and you'd miss it. Its a very freak occurance we get lasting snow.

And if you can work at home, then on the 3 days a year it does snow, just WFH.

if you do get back to commuting regularly, then maybe switch to a second set of wheels with all seasons, but again, if it does snow, ill just wfh now that ive proved i can.

 

[Zedebee]

Even in the Southeast, there is heavy and persistent snow a couple of years every decade, you never know. If you run a Z4 as your only car and have a spare set of wheels, it makes complete sense to run a set with Winter tyres. Even if there’s no actual snow, they are better in heavy rain, standing water, sleet, ice etc than a standard tyre. In certain conditions they can make the difference between a drivable car and an undrivable car. They are worth it even if they save you from the PITA of just one stranding or accident.

And while you are using your winter tyres, you are not wearing out your summers, so they don’t cost you any more in the long run.

Of course if you only have one set of wheels, then all-seasons are a perfectly good and sensible compromise.

Opinions differ on how long tyres last, but opinion generally seems to be 10 years. So even if you don’t wear them out, it’s only costing you £30 a year for a decent set.

 

[sars]

All season tyres now on the 17” spares, I can’t believe my luck in fitting a brand new set Veemann’s shod with Continental AllSeasonContacts and since then it has either been freezing or snowing or both and I’m utterly impressed with the grip they offer. If we lived in a climate where temperatures were consistently negative and it snowed regularly from December to March winters are an absolute must, but we just don’t get that. All season tyres work well enough on snow and ice, and offer reasonable driving pleasure when the temperature gets warmer then come May change back to your summers and get the benefit of those.

 

[Jl-c]

Based in Shropshire, 18" 108's off (Michelin Sports) 17" daisies square set on with Avon WV7 snows fitted. Loads of grip. Don't think the cross climate things are good in either cold or warm, they are a permanent compromise in both situations. The Avons are cheap enough though.

 

[Chippie]

I have a Audi Q3 Quattro as the family car, don’t use it for work just school run for grandkids, supermarket etc and I’ve still got an extra set of wheels with winter tyres on, it’s not just the snow you have to worry about but also the low temperatures and ice, having said that I went up to Scotland from West Yorkshire the other year when they had about a foot of snow, at that time I didn’t have the extra set of wheels and winter tyres and it still performed well, but it did push me into getting the winter tyres, I’ve voted for winters on the 17” and as you use it as a daily I’d definitely go for it in the Z’d this time of year, you should get plenty of use out of them as they are only on through the dark winter days so won’t be adversely affected by the sun.

 

[sars]

Based in Shropshire, 18" 108's off (Michelin Sports) 17" daisies square set on with Avon WV7 snows fitted. Loads of grip. Don't think the cross climate things are good in either cold or warm, they are a permanent compromise in both situations. The Avons are cheap enough though.

That may well have been the case quite a few years ago but things have moved on, but hey don’t take my word see the results with actual test data on this specific topic

[youtube]bKtnczk8Mxk[/youtube]

 

[Jl-c]

interesting viewing but what he says is use summer tyres in the summer ( no suprise there ) but use ( in the UK ) cross climate tyres in the winter. So NOT cross climate all year. Effectively what I am doing but have gone for more Nordic type tyres as we live up an unmade up lane and when it snows we are stuck if on summer tyres. Fit winters or book holiday to be stuck at home is the choice. I'll stick to my winters thanks. When the Avons are due replacement I may try the Continental Cross Climate offering.

 

[Ed.Straker]

The set of videos that chap makes are really well researched and his analysis seems very logical.

If you watch his collection what he seems to say that in relatively benign climates like UK that an all season is the best compromise for the winter season as they now run with the winter tyres in snow fairly well and beat them in almost all other conditions..his video states a very small number of actual snow days in England..10 I think.

The all seasons seem to out handle the winter tyres on those drier days and don’t overheat on those strange warm days we get in the middle of winter.

If it’s going to be deep snow than I don’t think you would want to risk it being low slung plus I think I’d cry as a granny or oik ran into me anyway on their cheap budget summer tyres..

That video of the car going around the test circuit in summer conditions, track temperature 40c without going off was pretty impressive.

 

[mr wilks]

interesting viewing but what he says is use summer tyres in the summer ( no suprise there ) but use ( in the UK ) cross climate tyres in the winter. So NOT cross climate all year. Effectively what I am doing but have gone for more Nordic type tyres as we live up an unmade up lane and when it snows we are stuck if on summer tyres. Fit winters or book holiday to be stuck at home is the choice. I'll stick to my winters thanks. When the Avons are due replacement I may try the Continental Cross Climate offering.

Also difficult to make a personal decision on brands / tyre types when most of the online tests are not done in cars we intend to fit the tyres to .
A fwd Golf is a world away from a 5 series tourer , 35is etc .

I run Nokian WR A4s on our 5 tourer all year round ,https://www.nokiantyres.com/winter-tyres/nokian-wr-a4/
quite simply because i don't want 2 sets of wheels for it & i know the tyres will perform beyond my demands whether its 2inch of snow in January ( like yesterday in Lancs ) or its 27deg & i want to cover 1000 m way miles to France & back , the difference if i ran summer tyres all year is i doubt id have been driving around yesterday & today like i have been .
I can also confirm that running the WR A4 all year round has no noticeable affect on wear rate though admittedly this was a known issue on early winter tyres .
As for all season cross climates ? I think they are a massive improvement now on what they were , i would consider them next time i'm after a set of tyres that will function for 12 months of the year in all conditions .
Another big factor for me keeping the tyres on all year is rain / standing water , in Lancashire this can be all year round so knowing the car will drive the same / feel planted at speed through heavy downpours any month of the year is a big plus point .

Ive also had the same WR A4s in 19s on Si Zc used from Jan - Nov , never felt compromised https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=125622&p=1793039&hilit=Nokian#p1793039



new forum owner north of the border should also have a opinion on them by now :wink: