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[Dr. D]

It is early in the year, but my experience since I bought the car in January made me certain I wanted real winter tires on there next winter.

My 135i came with the stock 215/40R18 front, 245/35R18 rear. Will I be able to put on a square configuration for the winter? Any recommendation on sizes?

[Dackelone]

For snow tires you want the narrowest and tallest tires possible - for best traction in snow and ice.

I went with BMW winter package wheels. 7j x 17" alloys with 205/50HR17's.

Some guys go with a square tire setup on the factory 18" wheels. Like 225's all the way around. But since the rear wheels(8.5j) are wider than the fronts(7.5j... the rear (square) tire really gets stretched.

[Maina]

I run aftermarket wheels with 225/45/17 Hankook Icept Evo 310 tires all around. They have been rated best winter sport tires after the Nokian. I am pretty happy so far. Traction in snow is superb, but might go with wider rears next time around cause current size rears, don't grip too well on dry pavement. I "burn" them all the time when accelerating unless on third or higher gear.

[631twentyeighteye]

Stay with a squared setup for winter tires, staggered setup=worse handling in the snow.

[andrey_gta]

on square 225/40/17" here. dedicated winter rims

[RichLove]

Do people buy an extra set of wheels for winter tyres or swap them on original wheels?

[litebulb]

On OEM 261 RIMS with 225/40R18 all around for winters. I swapped over the RFT to OEM 313 for summer.

[tracer bullet]

I'd suggest an extra set of wheels, but I have a 2-car garage and tools to do the swap-over myself, so that is the reasoning for me.

Having each set of tires on its own wheel set means I can do the whole thing myself in a half hour or so, maybe an hour if I putz with the radio a few times and have a beer or two as well. That including swapping them, double checking I torqued them correctly, and putting in air (just a little cheap Black & Decker tire filler but it does the job).

It's a great excuse to get a set of nice looking lightweight summer wheels, so you can use the stocks for winter tires. And keeps you from having to schedule a time with the tire shop for a swap-over, spending an hour or two doing that, deal with them not getting the balance correct, deal with them stripping a lug nut because they don't hand start them before the impact comes out, over torquing them with the same impact, and so on. And not just once but twice a year every year.

[MuNkY6913]

I didn't have the money to drop on the new wheel setup so I put 245 35 blizzaks all the way around. Even here in the PA mountains never really had any problem with the snow. Love those tires. Everyone is always surprised to see me make it up some of these hills.

[MightyMouseTech]

Will be running a square setup. For winter tires, you want as skinny and tall as you can get. In our case that means 205/50/17. Will most likely be running a studded Hakkapellita.

I actually run three sets of tires, all on dedicated rims. So, will have the 205's on steel wheels from Tirerack for the winter, an intermediate all weather tire like the Pirelli Sottozero in stock sizes on the OEM 313's for the in between seasons spring and fall, then nice wide PSS on a set of Apex wheels for track and summer use. If I wasn't moving into a condo, would also have dedicated track tires on another set of Apex wheels. That may still happen, will have to try the PSS on track a couple times.

In the spring/fall here in Ottawa we can have anything from -20 to +30, 2 feet of snow to near summer conditions or pouring rain or even freezing rain. I find the only way to cope with that is to use an intermediate tire that is "all weather" rated. On my other cars I have used Nokian WRG2's and Vredestein Quatrac 3's. Both can really handle anything and it means I am not damaging the winter tires in hot weather, or damaging the summer rims with exposure to salt.

[allies_jh]

I have 205/50/17's on mine as well. I like the taller tire as it cuts through the snow amazingly well. I've only gotten stuck once in the 5 years I've had these tires. I have some General himalayas. Got the rims and tires as a package for $1500. Not too bad.

[Xios135]

Go with the extra set of wheels. Tire rack usually has good package deals. I dropped down a size for my winter setup for cost reasons. I got 17" Sport Edition A7s and Conti Extreme Winter Contacts. They just finished up their 2 1/2 winter and I should get at least one more out of them. It's important not to run them in warmer weather as they will wear away much more quickly.

[guitarguylp]

I have 225/45r17 winters on my 128i, and 195/55r16 on my wife's Mercedes C230. Both cars are rear wheel drive, and similar in size and weight. I would take the 195s over the 225s any day of the week. They are night and day better. I would go with the 205s if I was in the market for new winters.

[Dr. D]

When visting Tire Rack for winter rims and tires, I see the rims have a variety of offsets and backspacing. As long as I search on 135i Coupe, should I be OK? They all seem to be from 40 mm to 45 mm offset. Is this stock?

[dtwyim]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

When visting Tire Rack for winter rims and tires, I see the rims have a variety of offsets and backspacing. As long as I search on 135i Coupe, should I be OK? They all seem to be from 40 mm to 45 mm offset. Is this stock?

Should be OK if you search under 135. I would just call up Gill from Tirerack. His contact info in the stickies.

[HIPSI]

What does Gill like?

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=588101