[ronniecs7]

Hi Everyone,

With my G87 being my first performance car, I am unsure what I should be doing to prepare driving in the winter. Should I be buying winter wheels along with winter tires? If so, is there a reasonable set that any of you have purchased? Not looking to get anything crazy - just want to make sure I am going about this correctly.

Thanks!

[ednir98]

I don't deal with winters anymore but best practice is to have a separate set of winter wheels/tires. This way you avoid remounting and rebalancing every season. Storage-wise, tires without wheels take up the same space as tires with.

[Squidget]

OP, what's your experience with Winter driving in general and RWD driving specifically?

I tend to run pure summers/pure winters as a matter of taste. But I would also have no trouble running pure summers and then all seasons during the winter. But I grew up driving RWD in Cleveland, so I have that experience. If you are comfortable with winter driving, all seasons would be fine, just less performant.

So, winter tires are kinda hard to find right now in the G87's fitments, at least the last few times I checked. (I'm running my E90 in the winter and garaging the G87, so it's been a while since I researched.)

According to my (old) notes, the last time I checked, Michelin PS All Seasons were available and reasonable? About $1250 for a set of 4, OEM sizes?

Long term you do want to get dedicated wheels, but if you are budget constrained, it's not harmful to swap tires onto your OEM rims for one winter. Find a good place that won't damage your rims.

If you can afford wheels, something like an Apex SM-10 is a good middle of the road choice, and easy to clean. My notes say around $480 per (again probably out of date).

[M2Cmtl]

I’m getting a set of superspeed wheels with Michelin alpine tires. 3.4k with the tire sensors or so. WY cheaper than the BMW set and I’ve had the superspeeds on my F87 and they where great.

wheels

[Wheelwright]

Originally Posted by M2Cmtl

I’m getting a set of superspeed wheels with Michelin alpine tires. 3.4k with the tire sensors or so. WY cheaper than the BMW set and I’ve had the superspeeds on my F87 and they where great.

wheels

Do those require any spacers ? Does the offset look ok ? (I would personally buy mudguards and keep the offset stock).

[fluffhead]

Definitely get a dedicated snow set.

[minn19]

I think I’ve finally decided I’m going to get Vredestein Wintrac Pros and put them on my stock wheels. They have the stock front size and very close in the rear 275/30/R20. Then get an aftermarket lighter set for the summer.

[TallGibbs]

ronniecs7 There are frequently used wheel sets for sale in the forums (check the m2 and the m3/m4). That is how I found my dedicated winter wheel setup at a much reduced price vs. buying OEM from BMW

[JMcLellan]

My first winter with my M2, I picked up a set of Conti extreme contact all season tires for my stock wheels. The only times I felt uneasy on the roads were when there was more than a couple inches of snow on the ground which is a clearance issue. The only thing I don't like about swapping summers and all season onto the stock rims is the potential wear and tear or damage to the wheels.

This winter the car will be stored in my garage. No more winter driving for me. Now I have a set of nearly brand new all season tires just sitting in my basement.

[minn19]

Scratch the Vredestein idea, just found Michelin is finally sending stock rear size PA5s to the US. Tire Rack had 8 rears in stock so ordered a pair.

OP, yes get a dedicated set. As others have said you can get performance winters that will give up some ice/snow traction for a better performance feeling in the dry/cold wet. Or you can get full on snow tires like an Xice or Blizzak etc equivalent for maximum snow/ice traction. Tire Rack is a great place to do research on both options. At the very minimum I’d get A/S tires, but they wont be nearly as good as a winter tire and you’ll have a much better chance of getting stuck, spinning out and your breaking distance will be longer compared to snow tires.

[mks]

Originally Posted by ronniecs7

With my G87 being my first performance car, I am unsure what I should be doing to prepare driving in the winter.

Originally Posted by minn19

I think I’ve finally decided I’m going to get Vredestein Wintrac Pros and put them on my stock wheels. They have the stock front size and very close in the rear 275/30/R20. Then get an aftermarket lighter set for the summer.

Just adding another anecdote for you to consider. I can't argue with getting a dedicated set for winter--had them for my GTR, which got me through snowpocalpse in VA (I think 2009/10). Before and after, I've just thrown on winters. I've driven in New England (grew up there), DC, North Dakota, CO, etc on vredestein, blizzack, Pirellis, etc, and found all to be comparable to each other. I've found no real reason besides cost to go with one over the other. For example, my vredesteins would take my Super Snake down RT25 in CO to the Air Force Academy and back up to about 7500ft where our house was in 3,4 plus inches (25 mile trek one way). Never had a problem...car drove like a tank. Had blizzacks on mustangs, Evo, 350z. Blizz is a great tire. Had sottozeros on my Supra...car went anywhere in the snow. All that aside I've never had a swap damage a rim or pressure senor or anything else. Could happen, sure. Again, just another piece of anecdotal experience. Good tires are important; being able to manage the car in the environment is crucial. Dedicated set or just swap...not sure that matters as much as skill, application, and so on in the environment your in.

Aside, I've got vredesteins on my M2 (went with 275/30 on the rear). Couldn't be happier....and I'll be trekking from Lake City over Wolf Pass into Pagosa Springs in the coming weeks.

[Squidget]

Originally Posted by mks

I've driven in New England (grew up there), DC, North Dakota, CO, etc on vredestein, blizzack, Pirellis, etc, and found all to be comparable to each other. I've found no real reason besides cost to go with one over the other.

I generally agree with this. Tread wear in my experience tends to be about the same for winter brands, and unless you are for some reason racing in snow or subzero temps, there's little useful performance difference. Get what you can find at a decent price, don't overthink it.

The only real difference I care about (and this doesn't apply to the G87) is sidewall when using runflats. Runflats need as much sidewall as you can possibly get or they eat rims, so that's really important.

[Omnimae]

I live in Montreal and winter tires are a mandatory by law, so I just installed mine last Friday, I was able to pick a set of Pirelli Sottozero series II 270, because of the general consensus that the original mags are not good and I dont like the design I choose to use them for my winter set, and buy a nice set of mags for summer (OZ ultralegera), because Pirelli doesn't have 285/30R20, I installed in the back 295/30R20 instead, why I didnt bought 275 for the rear, because the diameter will be smaller than the front. So right now the set up is 275-35R19 in the front and 295-30R20 in the rear.