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[Wiles]

I purchased (tirerack) 135i winter wheels and tires. 17 by 7.5 wheels and 205/50 17 Continental Winter Extreeme contact tires. (top rated snow tire)
with TPMS

Installed and drove them around the block, they were a little squishy but I expected that. It's my wifes' daily driver, she complained that the tires made the car drive funny. I figured it was just the squishy tires, but I drove it yesterday, cold dry roads, temp around 38 f. Wow! very weird behavior. Traction control is comming on repeatedly. Lane changes acceleration, even with just small steering input. I turned the traction control off and it was better.

I figure the traction control is taking the yaw from the tires as lost of control. Anyone have similar experience?

What winter setups are fellow 135i (m-sport) driver running. This current winter set will be comming off the car.

Thanks

[Dackelone]

New tires are very squirmy. You need to drive gentle and CAREFULLY for the first 500 miles. Then the tires will feel better.

I have BMW's winter tire/alloy wheel setup on my 135i.

205/50R17 89H Goodyear Eagle GWT RFT tires with V-spoke #141 wheels 7j x 17 in size.

[RoundelM3]

A dumb question, but I'll ask anyway - what tire pressure are you running in your winter setup? Did you check it with the tires on the car before you drove it?

[ken1137]

This is posted on Tirerack re: break-in period for new tires;As tires are cured, a release lubricant is applied to prevent them from sticking in their mold. Some of the lubricant stays on the surface of your tires, reducing traction until it is worn away. Five hundred miles of easy acceleration, cornering and braking will allow the mold release lubricant to wear off, allowing the other tire components to begin working together.

[1speedbike]

The first few hundred miles will always feel weird. But also, are these tires directional? On the sidewalls do they have an arrow or other indicator of which way they're supposed to rotate? If they are directional and were mounted backwards, they will definitely feel weird and you'll have traction issues.

[Fleethammer]

Not directional, but they do have an inside/outside and must be mounted with the more "conventional" looking tread to the outside of your wheel. OP- remember, winter tires suck bad when not chewing through snow. Squirmy, vague feeling is pretty much the norm. As a general rule, the better a tire performs in snow/ice, the worse it will perform in the dry/wet. Also, the rubber compounds in dedicated winter tires are designed to be soft in colder temps, so that could be what you are experiencing.

On a side note, I just got these same tires mounted to the style 141 rims I got from 1Speedbike! I was a little surprised as how shallow the tread depth is compared to other winter tires like Blizzaks or Altimax Arctics (they start out with only 11/32"). Fingers crossed for good snow performance!

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

The first few hundred miles will always feel weird. But also, are these tires directional? On the sidewalls do they have an arrow or other indicator of which way they're supposed to rotate? If they are directional and were mounted backwards, they will definitely feel weird and you'll have traction issues.

[Wiles]

Thanks for the feedback.

Answers to post.
Tire Pressues 34-35 ish.
Tires mounted correctly.
Tires have about 300 miles of mostly dry winter, 1 day of snow, a couple wet days on them.

I had winter tires on this car "via ED winter tires" when I picked up in Germany in March of 2010, and drove them for 800 miles.and they were fine. We to parked the car last winter and drove my 335i with winter tires (differnt size and style). So 335i with sport setup was ok too. I picked up a Z4 so it gets to sit this winter and the 135i will be doing winter duty.

I think the issue may be the size and tires.

Currently the car's handling is unsafe. Really!

I know how to drive, BMW CCA driving instructor, raised driving in snow, and the car feels like I am driving on ice. It's has me scratching my head.

Thanks again

[Fleethammer]

You peaked my curiosity. I'm going to have to go home and mount these on my car to see what they feel like now. I have the same size as well, so it should be a good reference. Bear in mind, you had a different tire and size on a different car, which is not a good way to judge your current setup.

Here's an example where the same tire model felt different in three situations- On my old R32 I had 205/50/17 Altimax Arctic's and they felt like driving on good all seasons (the 205's were XL rated). They were noisy but felt great; pretty solid in the wet/dry and TORE up deep snow. Currently, my buddy has the same tire on his 135i in 215/50/70 and says they feel TERRIBLE, while still another has the same tire, but different size (205/60/16) on his MS3 and says they feel "decent". So here we have the same tire model, but different sizes and different cars (RWD, FWD and AWD), and they all feel differently. So while the tire is certainly a factor, the car and driving style will typically contribute more as far as the feedback you get.

Originally Posted by wiles335i

Thanks for the feedback.

Answers to post.
Tire Pressues 34-35 ish.
Tires mounted correctly.
Tires have about 300 miles of mostly dry winter, 1 day of snow, a couple wet days on them.

I had winter tires on this car "via ED winter tires" when I picked up in Germany in March of 2010, and drove them for 800 miles.and they were fine. We to parked the car last winter and drove my 335i with winter tires (differnt size and style). So 335i with sport setup was ok too. I picked up a Z4 so it gets to sit this winter and the 135i will be doing winter duty.

I think the issue may be the size and tires.

Currently the car's handling is unsafe. Really!

I know how to drive, BMW CCA driving instructor, raised driving in snow, and the car feels like I am driving on ice. It's has me scratching my head.

Thanks again

[ken1137]

Originally Posted by wiles335i

I think the issue may be the size and tires.

Currently the car's handling is unsafe. Really!

Hhhmmm...interesting. I just mounted mine yesterday...225/45/R17 on ASA's. No issues but this is the 2nd Winter with the Blizzak WS 60's. Snow expected Monday

[Backflush]

I have the same issues with my new Blizzaks 205/50R17. The handling of the car is completely different. The steering input has a delay, where before it was instant. I can now feel the wind push the car a little. Under hard excelleration and DTC light flashes constantly and I can feel the car shimmy back and forth. I also can't go around corners and on-ramps as fast either.

Oh well, I hope the handling changes once the tires are broken in and we start getting sub zero temperatures to stiffen up the soft rubber. Lets pray for a short winter.

[BrokenVert]

ok...so you bought tires that were 3 sizes smaller than stock and youre wondering why the traction control light keeps popping on?

[1speedbike]

Originally Posted by Fleethammer

On a side note, I just got these same tires mounted to the style 141 rims I got from 1Speedbike! I was a little surprised as how shallow the tread depth is compared to other winter tires like Blizzaks or Altimax Arctics (they start out with only 11/32"). Fingers crossed for good snow performance!

This reminded me to leave you some iTrader feedback Hope the setup gets you through the winter safely

But yeah, any snow tire won't feel as good as a performance tire. Best advice I can give to OP, as long as everything else is correct with the install etc, is to get some run flat snow tires. The stiffer sidewalls will help with the mushy feeling. Traction will always be an issue because smaller tires have less of a patch touching the ground, and this car can barely keep itself planted at stock boost levels on the stock 8.5 inch wide tires.

[Wiles]

I have a new plan. Tire company is taking back the tires and giving credit, minus shipping. I ordered Blizzak LM-60 215/45 17 (not the WS-60 or WS-70).

They say all the top ice and snow tires get a bit of this type of behavior, so going to a different performance level should improve the dry traction, giving up a little ice traction, but gaining stabilty.

Seriously, I thought my wife was crazy until I drove it on the "Tire Rack" recommended size 205/50 17 full ice tire. It was really bad.
Traction control should not come on when doing standard change from lane to lane at 70 on dry cold interstate. Thats just not cool.

I hope the 215/45/17 LM-60 which are a more performance oriented winter tire works better then the ice/winter tire.

From tirerack website.
Studless Ice and Snow
You want to maximize snow and ice traction from your winter / snow tires without the inconvenience of using winter tire studs.The current, soon to be prior tire was from this group.

My new tire is from this group.
Performance Winter / Snow
You want enhanced dry road handling from your winter / snow tires and are willing to trade some snow and ice traction to get it.


Thanks to all who responded. I will post a follow-up when the new snow shoes are mounted and I have a few miles.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by wiles335i

I have a new plan. Tire company is taking back the tires and giving credit, minus shipping. I ordered Blizzak LM-60 215/45 17 (not the WS-60 or WS-70).

They say all the top ice and snow tires get a bit of this type of behavior, so going to a different performance level should improve the dry traction, giving up a little ice traction, but gaining stabilty.

Seriously, I thought my wife was crazy until I drove it on the "Tire Rack" recommended size 205/50 17 full ice tire. It was really bad.
Traction control should not come on when doing standard change from lane to lane at 70 on dry cold interstate. Thats just not cool.

I hope the 215/45/17 LM-60 which are a more performance oriented winter tire works better then the ice/winter tire.

From tirerack website.
Studless Ice and Snow
You want to maximize snow and ice traction from your winter / snow tires without the inconvenience of using winter tire studs.The current, soon to be prior tire was from this group.

My new tire is from this group.
Performance Winter / Snow
You want enhanced dry road handling from your winter / snow tires and are willing to trade some snow and ice traction to get it.


Thanks to all who responded. I will post a follow-up when the new snow shoes are mounted and I have a few miles.

It is not the tire size but your tire choice that is making your car not handle and lay down the car's power.

I think you should get a RFT snow tire - from the way you describe your wife and your driving style. ALL snow tires will have a soft sidewall. But RFT (aka RSC) will have a much stiffer sidewall and hence better turn-in and lateral grip.

Blizzak's are some of the squirmy-ist tires out there. Unless you spend a good amount of your time on fresh deep snow... I would not order Blizzak's. IF you do mostly dry cold weather driving with ocosional snowy road travel... I would get a performance snow tire like Dunlap's winter Sport 3D or Michelin Alpin PA3 OR... better yet buy a RFT snow tire like Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 RFT (Performance Winter/Snow)


When I installed my snow's coming from my Michelin PS3's (non RFT tire) summers... I noticed right away that with the RFT tiires the car turns in better and has better steering feel. With the PS3's the overall performance is better, but RFT hands down have better steering response - due to thier STIFF sidewalls.

I really think you should buy sme RFT snows. Btw... the 205's vs 215's size tires have no real effect on how the car will handle. More important is the TIRE choice.

[ken1137]

Originally Posted by wiles335i

I have a new plan. Tire company is taking back the tires and giving credit, minus shipping. I ordered Blizzak LM-60 215/45 17 (not the WS-60 or WS-70).

They say all the top ice and snow tires get a bit of this type of behavior, so going to a different performance level should improve the dry traction, giving up a little ice traction, but gaining stabilty.

Seriously, I thought my wife was crazy until I drove it on the "Tire Rack" recommended size 205/50 17 full ice tire. It was really bad.
Traction control should not come on when doing standard change from lane to lane at 70 on dry cold interstate. Thats just not cool.

I hope the 215/45/17 LM-60 which are a more performance oriented winter tire works better then the ice/winter tire.

From tirerack website.
Studless Ice and Snow
You want to maximize snow and ice traction from your winter / snow tires without the inconvenience of using winter tire studs.The current, soon to be prior tire was from this group.

My new tire is from this group.
Performance Winter / Snow
You want enhanced dry road handling from your winter / snow tires and are willing to trade some snow and ice traction to get it.


Thanks to all who responded. I will post a follow-up when the new snow shoes are mounted and I have a few miles.

Let me know how that works for you...I have always used WS-60 style in the Winter b/c we get a shit-load of snow on occasion. It takes an hour to swap out my tires so I would rather keep these on the car.

[Backflush]

I have noticed after the last couple of weeks that the handling is much improved. Not summer tire handling but acceptable.

[Nitroxide2]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

It is not the tire size but your tire choice that is making your car not handle and lay down the car's power.
IF you do mostly dry cold weather driving with ocosional snowy road travel... I would get a performance snow tire like Dunlap's winter Sport 3D or Michelin Alpin PA3

QFT. I've got Dunlap winter sport 3D's on and they're great in the wet, snow and on dry cold pavement. Absolutely no complaints.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Nitroxide2

QFT. I've got Dunlap winter sport 3D's on and they're great in the wet, snow and on dry cold pavement. Absolutely no complaints.

This. double QFT

[Shawnski]

Just wait until you drive on snow and or ice...then you'll get it. In the meantime enjoy the softer ride.

[IZAGLO]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

It is not the tire size but your tire choice that is making your car not handle and lay down the car's power.

I think you should get a RFT snow tire - from the way you describe your wife and your driving style. ALL snow tires will have a soft sidewall. But RFT (aka RSC) will have a much stiffer sidewall and hence better turn-in and lateral grip.

Blizzak's are some of the squirmy-ist tires out there. Unless you spend a good amount of your time on fresh deep snow... I would not order Blizzak's. IF you do mostly dry cold weather driving with ocosional snowy road travel... I would get a performance snow tire like Dunlap's winter Sport 3D or Michelin Alpin PA3 OR... better yet buy a RFT snow tire like Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 RFT (Performance Winter/Snow)


When I installed my snow's coming from my Michelin PS3's (non RFT tire) summers... I noticed right away that with the RFT tiires the car turns in better and has better steering feel. With the PS3's the overall performance is better, but RFT hands down have better steering response - due to thier STIFF sidewalls.

I really think you should buy sme RFT snows. Btw... the 205's vs 215's size tires have no real effect on how the car will handle. More important is the TIRE choice.

Agreed^^^^^^^^Snow tires are noisy and squishhhhhy unles you buy RFT snow's....After experiencing a 135i with softer sidewalls than the RFT OEM....i made certain i went with the Yoko AD08's for just that exact reason...there sidewalls are stiff and square and steering responce is amazing.....You may give a little in tire wear but the gains are worth every minute of it...The reason i bought the BMW in the first place....great steering feel and turn in....NO WAY i would give that up.

[Wiles]

225/45/17 LM Blizzaks , Wow, the dry cold handling is great. Car is stable, (slightly sqishy due to winter tread) but not scary weird with the narrow continental ice tire.

So do not recomment Conti, Extreeme winter ice and snow tire. Like the Bridgestone performance Snows.

Have a great day.

[Dackelone]

thanks for the update.