pro2cer

I live in Philadelphia and we had some snow here today. I don't have an Xi, and I was impressed with the handling in the snow. I work where I must drive up and down a slope/hill to get to my department. Though there was a little sliding, there wasn't a problem at all. I have the standard Continental Contacts. I took the 60 in for some warranty work and was given a 323xi. There's no difference to me at all though I understand the 3 is lighter. Therefore, I'm not disappointed I didn't purchase an xi an took the other goodies!!!!! RaJ

genripper

You have the 18" sport package summer/performance tire option, these are not an all season tire, nor are they advertised anywhere as such. You can have 8 wheel drive and it won't matter if the tires aren't the right tread and compound. Audi quattros with performance tires don't do very well either.

That having been said, my 07 530i rear drive with sport package and the same tires works better than any other performance tire I've driven in the winter, although I'm probably going to a non-runflat all season next fall.

katheikia

I dorve my 550 with michelin PS2s today on ice/slush/. It wasnt a death sentence, but it wasnt a snow mobile either. I only drive a mile to work, so I just took it slow and everything was fine. But I definetly wouldnt drive any further with summer tires.

nickolas_g

Today here in New Jersey we had the same ice/snow/crap that you had there if not worse. There was a thick layer of snow and ice on the major streets and worse on the back roads. My fiancee was driving to work and I had the following options in getting here there safely:

1- Porsche with Continental Summer Tires
2- Jeep Wrangler Sahara with Goodyear Wrangler GS-A Tires (aggressive tread made for mixed road and off road use)
3- BMW 530i Sport with Continental WinterContact Sport tires

I warmed up both the Jeep and BMW. The Porsche has been in a Winter caccoon waiting for Spring for a while now.

First, I drove the Jeep out on the street and its agressive tires and four wheel drive did just find moving around the streets. It does not have anti-lock breaks or stability control. So if you stopped it hard it slid hard.

I then drove the 530i with its winter tires and rear wheel drive. It handled better in my opinion than the Jeep in the same mush. It broke loose when accelerated from a standing stop but quickly gained grip. It maintained a straight line when breaking hard. Overall it was just fine in some crappy conditions with the Contis on.

So I still was thinking if the weather got worse. Which it did. And also not worried about my finacee's driving ability, but the moron's here that have no clue how to drive in the now.

Which car would I want her to possibly have have an accident in? Which would she be most safe?

I had her drive the 530 to work. She did just fine and enjoyed all the features it has for the Winter weather. She had no issue getting to work and back. Along with taking a fellow co-worker home and back.

I later drove the 530 after she came home about 3PM today. It is just fine in the snow. A great car in the snow in my opinion!

JSpira

No change with AWD.

Summer tires lose adhesion when the temp. starts to go below 8? or so and below 0? like the last few days you have zero traction.

Winter tires on the other hand shouldn?t be driven in warmer temperatures (over 10?) or you will be leaving lots of rubber behind that would you prefer to keep on the tire.

Scandic24

As a rule of thumb, for the winter season the local tire companies here recommend somewhat narrower tires to get maximum grip and traction. 17" rims and tires has become standard on many cars and it has also has become more and more common with winter tires (marked M+S) on 17" rims (a fairly common size is 225/55/17).
This is ofcourse mainly for looks -- If it is grip, traction and safety you're after choose a narrower tire if you are driving under winter conditions!
If I order a standard M+S tire pack for the E60/61 from BMW I get one of these dimensions: 205/60/16 or 215/65/16.

For you who have seen the pro's driving at the winter rallys you might have noticed that they have very narrow, studded tires and their average speed on an hard, icey, snowy forest road is usually 160 km/h!

That said, I would NEVER, NEVER EVER drive my car during the winter season without studded M+S tires!(...ehh, we have to by law anyway )

ExGMan

I have the stock 17" wheels, OEM Conti tires on my 2007 530xi. Up here in Boston, we had a snow/ice mixture on the roads at 630AM when I wheeled the car out to see how it would do (Mrs. ExGMan takes it to work). Only once was I able to break the car loose with a manuever violent enough to get the car to slide and have the DSC light come on...going uphill, across trolley tracks, turning left at 20 mph. Otherwise, the car did not deviate from the line I chose, and accelerated in a straight line in a street covered with 3 inches of snow/slush from 20 to 50 mph. I had the impression that the DSC threshold for activiation is high enough to allow for a little slide for a violent or abrupt manuever.

I did observe that ABS does nothing for the laws of physics...it still takes a looooong time to get a fast-moving vehicle to stop on snow. :'(

ipp

225/55R16 is as narrow you can go. That's what the car is typed for. Else it will affect your insurance and etc.

uglybear

Hey, I am not buying xi to drive it on dry pavement! This is complete BS. I am getting xi because I do want good performance in snow which is synonim with both sudden and disaster in Seattle. Therefore I can't prepare car for winter like in where it snows regularly as most of the winter there is no snow. So I need good all seasons. I did order 18" wheels because I am getting 4 18" wheels for $600. But I am dumping RFTs right away or at least right after summer is over.

doug_999

I realize it it too late, but I've had both the LM22s and the M3s and the Dunlop M3s are the superior snow tire. I wish I had known this way back when when TireRack told me the LM22s were worth the extra $20 each. All I had to do was check the user ratings which show the Dunlops to be a better tire. Honestly, I've never received good advice from Tirerack.