Thinking of upgrading my winter wheels (17" -> 19")
10-24-2009, 12:46 PM
#1
Contributors
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Kajaani, Finland
Posts: 5,851
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes
on
3 Posts
My Ride: Bmw 530d 2004
Hi!
I survived the summer without buying new summer wheels and you may remember my time attack update on my current ones...
So, the money has to be spent on something! Last weekend I changed my winter setup on, and the 17" tyres look like big donuts now
.
Our winters are real winters with lots of snow and ice, but I'm still thinking of 19" winter wheels. Does anyone have any opinions about should I go all the way up to 19" or no? Except Mika (Seip??nreik?)! I know what you think
!
xBMWx - you have a 19" setup, but how are the winters in Denmark?
The current ones (pics taken last spring):
Thank you for your opinion!
- Antti -
I survived the summer without buying new summer wheels and you may remember my time attack update on my current ones...
So, the money has to be spent on something! Last weekend I changed my winter setup on, and the 17" tyres look like big donuts now
.Our winters are real winters with lots of snow and ice, but I'm still thinking of 19" winter wheels. Does anyone have any opinions about should I go all the way up to 19" or no? Except Mika (Seip??nreik?)! I know what you think
! xBMWx - you have a 19" setup, but how are the winters in Denmark?
The current ones (pics taken last spring):
Thank you for your opinion!
- Antti -
10-24-2009, 12:50 PM
#2
Contributors
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: New York, New York
Posts: 10,301
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: See my signature
Given that you live where winter is real, I'd stick with the 17s. 19s won't give you as much protection against road hazards and your traction in snow should be better with the smaller wheels.
10-24-2009, 01:09 PM
#4
Contributors
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: New York, New York
Posts: 10,301
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: See my signature
Originally Posted by Anzafin' post='1039687' date='Oct 24 2009, 05:03 PM
It seems that 245/35 R19 winter tires are extremely rare and extremely expensive... :thumbsdown:
10-24-2009, 01:19 PM
#5
Contributors
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Kajaani, Finland
Posts: 5,851
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes
on
3 Posts
My Ride: Bmw 530d 2004
Originally Posted by sdg1871' post='1039689' date='Oct 25 2009, 12:09 AM
True. After 18 inches, the number/selection of winter tires that fit our cars goes way down. I roll on 18s in the winter but if I were in your country as far north as your are, I'd roll on 17s in the winter. Do you use studded snows?
.I've seen lots if 5ers with 18" winter wheels so I guess I could go for that...
10-24-2009, 04:10 PM
#6
Senior Members
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Finland
Posts: 253
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 Black E61 530Xd - M-sport - Comfort - Advantage
Originally Posted by Anzafin' post='1039680' date='Oct 24 2009, 11:46 PM
Hi!
I survived the summer without buying new summer wheels and you may remember my time attack update on my current ones...
So, the money has to be spent on something! Last weekend I changed my winter setup on, and the 17" tyres look like big donuts now.
Our winters are real winters with lots of snow and ice, but I'm still thinking of 19" winter wheels. Does anyone have any opinions about should I go all the way up to 19" or no? Except Mika (Seip??nreik?)! I know what you think!
xBMWx - you have a 19" setup, but how are the winters in Denmark?
- Antti -
I survived the summer without buying new summer wheels and you may remember my time attack update on my current ones...
So, the money has to be spent on something! Last weekend I changed my winter setup on, and the 17" tyres look like big donuts now
.Our winters are real winters with lots of snow and ice, but I'm still thinking of 19" winter wheels. Does anyone have any opinions about should I go all the way up to 19" or no? Except Mika (Seip??nreik?)! I know what you think
! xBMWx - you have a 19" setup, but how are the winters in Denmark?
- Antti -
Your car looks nice enough with those BBS wheels. Considering the amount of € you would spend on 18" or 19" set up, I would save the money for the new summer wheels.
The risk of destroying those 19" winter wheels is too high. If I remember correctly member Hilden has experience with that thing
10-25-2009, 04:18 AM
#7
Contributors
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: UK
Posts: 4,186
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
My Ride: Jan 2006 E63 650i Sport
.
Options:
Sport version (includes: sport-seats, sport-suspension, M-Sport steering wheel, Anthracite headliner, Shaddow Line), Saphire Black, Black Dakota Leather, Anthracite Maple Wood trim, Steptronic Auto, Xenons, NAV-Professional with Voice Control, TV, CD-Changer, Bluetooth, Logic7, Head-up Display, Comfort Access, Seat Heating front, Auto Dimming & Folding Mirrors, Extended Auto Air Conditioning, PDC.
.
Mods:
Spacers 5mm front & 15mm rear
.
Wheels:
20" Alpina Softline (Classic) with Dunlop Sport Maxx non-RFT (255/35/20 & 285/30/20)
I have run my previous E60 and now my current E61 both with the same 19" winter set-up; 245 front, 275 rear with Dunlop Winter Sport non-RFT.
I mainly have winter tyres for best grip in cold temperatures and damp weather, not for getting through snow -- that's a very important detail here!!! Although I have used them in snow on a number of occasions, see picture below from last winter in Germany to prove it , I was mainly driving on well prepared/gritted roads or simply cold / wet roads. When driving on fresh heavy snow I was always able to keep going, but if I had to drive through those conditions every day and also had to deal with bad roads / surfaces, I would maybe consider something less than 275s on the rear... I simply don't know.
The tyres cost me about EUR 950. So they are a similar price to an equivalent quality summer set up, such as Michalin PS2s or Dunlop Sportmaxx. Not cheap, but because I still do quite a few high-speed trips down the Autobahn, i.e. speeds up to the tyres' maximum of 240km/h (when its dry of course!), I have no intention of going for anything other than "high-quality performance tyres".
My current car on snow last winter on my 19" winter set-up, whilst still registered and living in Germany... and it was not stuck in the snow
Regarding Copenhagen, I would probably only drive around the city when not using the public transport and my experience last winter (Jan-March 09) was that the roads are pretty well prepared, i.e. they get cleared quickly. So for now I will keep running my 19" winter set-up... or just drive my car around the under-ground garage where I park it
Have you checked this post or contacted member titanium? He is running a 19" winter set-up in northern sweden which may be closer to the weather conditions you will be confronted with?
If you are running 245s at the moment, other than cost, I would see no reason why you would not go for a set of 19" 245s all round, i.e. do not go for a staggered set-up. If 245s are also too wide, I'm not sure if you could go much under 235s on 19s -- it obviously all depends on what is available out there. However the E90 runs thinner 19s, so maybe there is something suitable out there
The down side of 19s will probably be less protection for the rim, so you will also need to consider how bad the quality of the road surfaces get where you are.
Not sure what else to advise / suggest. I hope that's good food for thought. Needless to say, I would suggest you try to find a way of getting some 128s on your car, but hey, what else would you expect me to say
I mainly have winter tyres for best grip in cold temperatures and damp weather, not for getting through snow -- that's a very important detail here!!! Although I have used them in snow on a number of occasions, see picture below from last winter in Germany to prove it
, I was mainly driving on well prepared/gritted roads or simply cold / wet roads. When driving on fresh heavy snow I was always able to keep going, but if I had to drive through those conditions every day and also had to deal with bad roads / surfaces, I would maybe consider something less than 275s on the rear... I simply don't know.The tyres cost me about EUR 950. So they are a similar price to an equivalent quality summer set up, such as Michalin PS2s or Dunlop Sportmaxx. Not cheap, but because I still do quite a few high-speed trips down the Autobahn, i.e. speeds up to the tyres' maximum of 240km/h (when its dry of course!), I have no intention of going for anything other than "high-quality performance tyres".
My current car on snow last winter on my 19" winter set-up, whilst still registered and living in Germany... and it was not stuck in the snow
Regarding Copenhagen, I would probably only drive around the city when not using the public transport and my experience last winter (Jan-March 09) was that the roads are pretty well prepared, i.e. they get cleared quickly. So for now I will keep running my 19" winter set-up... or just drive my car around the under-ground garage where I park it
Have you checked this post or contacted member titanium? He is running a 19" winter set-up in northern sweden which may be closer to the weather conditions you will be confronted with?
If you are running 245s at the moment, other than cost, I would see no reason why you would not go for a set of 19" 245s all round, i.e. do not go for a staggered set-up. If 245s are also too wide, I'm not sure if you could go much under 235s on 19s -- it obviously all depends on what is available out there. However the E90 runs thinner 19s, so maybe there is something suitable out there
The down side of 19s will probably be less protection for the rim, so you will also need to consider how bad the quality of the road surfaces get where you are.
Not sure what else to advise / suggest. I hope that's good food for thought. Needless to say, I would suggest you try to find a way of getting some 128s on your car, but hey, what else would you expect me to say
10-25-2009, 04:28 AM
#8
Contributors
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Kajaani, Finland
Posts: 5,851
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes
on
3 Posts
My Ride: Bmw 530d 2004
Originally Posted by xBMWx' post='1039954' date='Oct 25 2009, 02:18 PM
I have run my previous E60 and now my current E61 both with the same 19" winter set-up; 245 front, 275 rear with Dunlop Winter Sport non-RFT.
I mainly have winter tyres for best grip in cold temperatures and damp weather, not for getting through snow -- that's a very important detail here!!! Although I have used them in snow on a number of occasions, see picture below from last winter in Germany to prove it , I was mainly driving on well prepared/gritted roads or simply cold / wet roads. When driving on fresh heavy snow I was always able to keep going, but if I had to drive through those conditions every day and also had to deal with bad roads / surfaces, I would maybe consider something less than 275s on the rear... I simply don't know.
The tyres cost me about EUR 950. So they are a similar price to an equivalent quality summer set up, such as Michalin PS2s or Dunlop Sportmaxx. Not cheap, but because I still do quite a few high-speed trips down the Autobahn, i.e. speeds up to the tyres' maximum of 240km/h (when its dry of course!), I have no intention of going for anything other than "high-quality performance tyres".
My current car on snow last winter on my 19" winter set-up, whilst still registered and living in Germany... and it was not stuck in the snow
Regarding Copenhagen, I would probably only drive around the city when not using the public transport and my experience last winter (Jan-March 09) was that the roads are pretty well prepared, i.e. they get cleared quickly. So for now I will keep running my 19" winter set-up... or just drive my car around the under-ground garage where I park it
Have you checked this post or contacted member titanium? He is running a 19" winter set-up in northern sweden which may be closer to the weather conditions you will be confronted with?
If you are running 245s at the moment, other than cost, I would see no reason why you would not go for a set of 19" 245s all round, i.e. do not go for a staggered set-up. If 245s are also too wide, I'm not sure if you could go much under 235s on 19s -- it obviously all depends on what is available out there. However the E90 runs thinner 19s, so maybe there is something suitable out there
The down side of 19s will probably be less protection for the rim, so you will also need to consider how bad the quality of the road surfaces get where you are.
Not sure what else to advise / suggest. I hope that's good food for thought. Needless to say, I would suggest you try to find a way of getting some 128s on your car, but hey, what else would you expect me to say
I mainly have winter tyres for best grip in cold temperatures and damp weather, not for getting through snow -- that's a very important detail here!!! Although I have used them in snow on a number of occasions, see picture below from last winter in Germany to prove it
, I was mainly driving on well prepared/gritted roads or simply cold / wet roads. When driving on fresh heavy snow I was always able to keep going, but if I had to drive through those conditions every day and also had to deal with bad roads / surfaces, I would maybe consider something less than 275s on the rear... I simply don't know.The tyres cost me about EUR 950. So they are a similar price to an equivalent quality summer set up, such as Michalin PS2s or Dunlop Sportmaxx. Not cheap, but because I still do quite a few high-speed trips down the Autobahn, i.e. speeds up to the tyres' maximum of 240km/h (when its dry of course!), I have no intention of going for anything other than "high-quality performance tyres".
My current car on snow last winter on my 19" winter set-up, whilst still registered and living in Germany... and it was not stuck in the snow
Regarding Copenhagen, I would probably only drive around the city when not using the public transport and my experience last winter (Jan-March 09) was that the roads are pretty well prepared, i.e. they get cleared quickly. So for now I will keep running my 19" winter set-up... or just drive my car around the under-ground garage where I park it
Have you checked this post or contacted member titanium? He is running a 19" winter set-up in northern sweden which may be closer to the weather conditions you will be confronted with?
If you are running 245s at the moment, other than cost, I would see no reason why you would not go for a set of 19" 245s all round, i.e. do not go for a staggered set-up. If 245s are also too wide, I'm not sure if you could go much under 235s on 19s -- it obviously all depends on what is available out there. However the E90 runs thinner 19s, so maybe there is something suitable out there
The down side of 19s will probably be less protection for the rim, so you will also need to consider how bad the quality of the road surfaces get where you are.
Not sure what else to advise / suggest. I hope that's good food for thought. Needless to say, I would suggest you try to find a way of getting some 128s on your car, but hey, what else would you expect me to say
Yeah the winters are quite different here than in Denmark or Germany. I think I'm not going up to 19" but maybe 18"... We'll see.
10-25-2009, 05:59 AM
#9
Contributors
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: The State of Southern NJ!
Posts: 5,972
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I feel the popular choice [ 17s w/ the appropriately size winter tires] provide the best driving balance [traction & wheel/tire protection] for snow, ice, deteriorating roadway conditions.
10-25-2009, 06:20 AM
#10
Members
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Sweden
Posts: 216
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2006 Audi A8 4.2TDI
Previous rides:
2005 E61 530d, 20" Breyton reps, Eibach springs, M5 bumper/mirrors/MFSW
2000 Audi S6 Avant, 18" OZ, RS6 exhaust etc
1998 Audi A8 4,2Q, 19" RS4 wheels, Remus exhaust KW coilovers etc
1986 Audi 100CC, funky fresh steel rims w plastic covers, rubber lip on boot.....
1987 BMW 320i, 15" alloys + rubber lip on boot :)
1982 Opel Ascona 1,6DL, tinted windows and a big-ass subwoofer :P
The risk of destroying those 19" winter wheels is too high. If I remember correctly member Hilden has experience with that thing
Don't know how the Finns do but where I live, the road authorities are fond of spreading massive amounts of that #?%&#?%"?# salt on the roads so I would never ever get something fancy for a winter setup.
Currently I roll on studded Nordfrost 5 but when I replace them I'll probably go for non-studded. Coming from Audis with Torsen 4WD I was afraid a RWD, 500nm BMW would dance all over the road but this car is surprisingly stable in winter driving so regular tires should perform just fine. Key is of course also to have a pretty narrow rim/tire, I personally never go wider than 225.
From durability pov I think you should be fine as well but honestly, if I didn't have a technical reason forcing me to get larger winter wheels I'd keep the money for some nice spring 2010 mods instead