BMW: Snow tire Rims (year dependent?)

"gabby" <com> wrote in message news:<1cP%a.8745$news.prodigy.com>... 


Welcome to BMW ownership. Hondas are very nice cars to drive and own
but BMWs are definitely much more refined and sporting. However, you
will likely spend more effort maintaining your BMW. I think the
extent of your enjoyment of a BMW will depend on how much you enjoy
driving.


Well back to point of my question: 

Winter driving is one of my pet interests given where I live (Southern
Ontario).

16-inch wheels will give you a softer ride and soak in potholes and
bumpy roads better. With the 3-series, I think 16-inch Winter rims
will deliver a good balance of comfort and highway performance.

Your choice of the Pilot Alpin and tire aspect ratio are also good.
It should give a desirable blend of performance, safety and Winter
grip. However, you did not specify 3 other factors important in
choosing wheels:

1) ALLOY vs STEEL RIMS - IMO, forget steel rims if you like your car
to look good and handle well in the Winter. Wheel covers can come off
while you're driving or when you go over sharp bumps. Steel rims are
heavy and affect the handling of the car. You've spent good money on
a nice car - no sense using crappy steel rims half of the year.

2) TIRE LOAD INDEX - stick with the load rating equal to or higher
than those of your current tires. If you pick tires with a lower load
index it can burst while you are driving should conditions overcome
the manufactured load limit designed into the tire. This can happen
if you are carrying a full load of passengers at speed or encounter an
emergency maneuver or road conditions that puts extra stress on the
tires. Proper adherence to load index is very important.

3) TIRE SPEED RATING - if you drive fast on dry highway pavement you
should pick a tire with a speed rating that will exceed your vehicle
speed by a comfortable margin. I've had to avoid being pushed off the
highway in the Winter by truck drivers and have had to power around
them on the shoulder. By the time I was safely past them I had
exceeded the speed limit by a hefty margin. For instance, tire stores
carry and sell many Pilot Alpins that are Q-rated for your car.
Q-rating means 99 mph or 160 kph. On those occasions I was well in
excess of 160 kph when I got by those trucks. My tires are V-rated
(240 kph). IMO, H-rated (210 kph) would do.

You might also consider Dunlop Winter Sport M2, Pirelli Winter 210/240
SnowSport and Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22s. These tires all come in
different load and speed ratings.

I actually use Goodyear UltraGrip GW2 winter performance tires which
are in the same class of tires as the ones above. Test results show
my tires to be slightly less grippy in the wet but they were really
good buys when I got them and I've not been disappointed.

 

I guess part of this is personal preference. I like to keep my car
looking nice even in the Winter so I always pick nice Winter rims.
Since you also have long Winters in Chicago I suspect it also makes
sense to pick something you like to look at.

After this, I always try to get a rim style that is not going to trap
snow and will be easier to clean (if given the choice). I would also
pick a rim that "resists" looking grungy and damage by salt when it
gets dirty. There are many days in Winter when you will not feel like
washing your rims.

You can also post a "want-to-buy" ad in the www.bimmer.org website for
E46 owners in case someone in California or Florida upgraded their
OEM 16-inch wheels and want to unload them. Your local BMW dealer
parts department will have current BMW wheel catalogs. Pacific BMW
also has a good set of webpages showing these rims.

If you're good with Adobe Photoshop you can paste the images of BMW
rims on to a photo of a 325ci taken off the TireRack website to
preview how the rims will look on your car. That's how I selected my
rims.

 

It looks like this eBay ad is no longer active.



Michael

"TB" <com> wrote in message news:<jUm1b.230189$bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com>. .. 


Some service shops will store your Summer wheels for you when they
swap you over. Just make sure you take pictures of your wheels before
you hand them over.

Your friend's suggestion of October for Winter wheels is good. The
issue with snow tires is not entirely due to snow. It's partly due to
Summer performance tire rubber compounds failing to grip when surface
temperatures drop below say 4 to 6°C. Some tires are deadly when
driven cold especially with early morning ground frost.

Other than that just follow the prescribed maintenance schedule and
clean your rims with a proper cleaner when they go grungy. The BMW
brand wheelcleaner works well - make sure you heed the instructions.



Michael