Winter tyres

JFRTDI

Hi,

Interested to know who uses winter tyres and what type of car you have?

I have a BMW and this will be my first winter upcoming so would like to be prepared as I've read some stories that they are absolute dire in snow and won't go anywhere. How true is that?

Will winter tyres even make a difference?

Finally, could I buy some 16" steels and put them on mine? Currently have 18s and thus would be cheaper rubber with the 16s.

Ive read some stories re the 16s not fitting due to size of brakes etc.

Thanks

rousetafarian

Quattro here (unsubscribed )

JFRTDI

Wife has a tt quattro, I'm sure she'll be smug come winter

un1eash

Living in the midlands I've never had the need for winter tyres, if I was further up north where they get more snow then I'd consider them.
Touch wood never been stuck in snow with any RWD car and I've had plenty.

JFRTDI

Well having recently moved I've got a 5 mile stretch of country roads to navigate in my route to work which is up and down, coupled with the fact I work shifts so 6-2 and 2-10, I'm either one of the first on the roads in the morning or get stuck going home if the snow hits.

Ive never bothered with winters before but having a rwd and factoring in the country roads, I'd like to be prepared.

mjn

Used Continental winter tyres before, well wirth the money.

And winter tyres on a car perform better than a 4WD drive on summer tyres. Have a search on youtube plenty of comparison videos.

gg13533

Living in the north of scotland I put winter tyres on my 5 series.  You certainly notice a difference even in wet conditions when the temperature drops.  So if you regularly get low temps I would certainly recommend.  I know a lot of people buy steel wheels to use over the winter, I guess it depends on how new your car is and how much you value it's "looks." I bought another set of alloys fitted with winter tyres to make it easier to swap over myself.  Another option is to buy a set of winter tyres and pay to have them fitted to your existing wheels.  As mjn says there are videos and reviews on youtube.

Iain42

Here's a link showing the difference between 4wd with regular tyres and 2wd with winter tyres, in snow.  I have a rear wheel drive Jaguar, and put winter wheels on every year.  I bought a set of tyres and wheels when I got my previous XF which had 20" wheels.  It was cheaper to buy the 18" wheels with winter tyres than it was to buy just tyres for the 20" wheels.

I first got winter tyres for a Mercedes E class, just tyres, and they made a huge difference when we had the snow 6 or 7 years ago.  Since then, I'm pretty sure I could have done without, but if you buy when the car is new and use for a few years, the overall increase in cost isn't huge.  I've had four winters out of them now, and haven't had to replace my regular tyres on either car.

I live in Hertfordshire, right on the border with Buckinghamshire, but in a village that has a long hill going out one way, as we're in The Chilterns, so it's good to be prepared.  I used to change them over myself, but now pay a mobile tyre fitter about £30 to change them, much better for my old back .

Russ 66

I've had BMW's for the last 12 years and those 2-3 bad winters we had a few years back were a nightmare. They never clear the roads where I live and there were a few days I had to get lifts to and from work.
So I went out and bought a set of winter tyres and alloys (no way am I putting steel wheels on).
In the snow they are awesome you have to really push for them to loose grip.

As the above poster I haven't really needed them the last few years but they are much safer in wet and icy conditions.

Next car will be an X drive so I can get away without winters as they are a pain to change.

If you live in a large town on roads which are regularly gritted you probably don't need winters.


The wheel has to clear the brakes. Ask BMW for a quote for a winter wheel set. You can then use that info and look elsewhere to compare. I got my set from Mytyres.

JFRTDI

Cheers guys, will take a look at the videos after work. Just out of interest how do I know what 16s would fit for example would a set of 16s from an e39 5 stud work? What about offset and stuff like that.