[garethjonesuk]

Hi all,

I have an F20 118d M Sport and I'm looking for advice on what is the best value/choice winter wheel/tyre packages. The BMW site shows only 16" however my car is fitted with the standard 18" alloys/tyres, they add also different front and rear.

[ovekvam]

But you can still use 16" winter wheels.

[fuzzer]

Same as me..

I've just ordered 4 winter wheels a s tyres from the BMW dealer for my car. I've ordered Goodyear ultra grip 8's in 195/55/16 on steel wheels. They come in at £800 for for the 4. That's for runflats. Non runflats are £640.

BMW wheel trims are an additional £20 each

A website called mytyres do wheel and tyre packages too and they are about £680 delivered for runflats.

Stick to the big brands . Continental, Dunlop and Michelin and you won't go wrong. Avoid the Bridgestone blizzaks as they have for bad press.

[wolz]

Originally Posted by fuzzer

Stick to the big brands . Continental, Dunlop and Michelin and you won't go wrong. Avoid the Bridgestone blizzaks as they have for bad press.

I had my car delivered in the middle of the winter on a truly epic armageddon-like winterday. The car was on bridgestone blizzak winter tyres by mistake, they were outrageous. At first I thought there had been a huge mistake so that I actually had summer-tyres on. But no, they were indeed winter-tyres but performed like summer-tyres =)

I had them changed within a couple of weeks to Nokia Hakka R. Nokia beeing a reputable top-brand for nordic winter-tyres. At the time I got them mounted the winter was not that harsh anymore but we'll see this winter how they perform. I feel confident!

[ovekvam]

Nokian (not Nokia) is definitely among the top brands for winter tyres. I went for Michelin X-Ice 3 on our F20. My wife is out on snowy roads with it today.

Wolz, as a Swede, you should also consider Gislaved tyres. I have good experience with those, but Continental (the owner) is holding them back, so they do very little marketing, and rarely participate in reviews.

[wolz]

nokian of course, typo! I had gislaved nordfrost 5 on my previous bimmer, loved them. They were with spikes... together with a limited slip diff nothing could stop me =) never got stuck. Skipped the spikes this time though. Partly because they are banned in part of the city and most of the time I drive under conditions where I don't benefit from the spikes much.

So you got some snow already, I had a little bit of snowfall last night. Gonna put the winter-tyres on monday, might aswell start snowing now like hell so that we can declare the drifting-season opened

[fuzzer]

Nice to hear a first hand account of how bad the Blizzaks are and im glad i repeatedly said no to them.

In the UK we have a completely different winter. Ours is cold and wet and windy with the odd dusting of snow thrown in to bring chaos to the masses complaining why their summer rubber rated to 170mph isnt gripping in the snow.

For the UK , the Goodyear Ultragrip 8 offers good snow traction for us , good behaviour in aquaplaning and good braking and is available in a runflat.

The new continental 850 winter beat it in a recent UK autocar test , but this tyre isnt available in runflat at the moment and only the 810/830.

[garethjonesuk]

Thanks all for your advice my local BMW dealer offered me

£627.98 total excl storage & fitment.
Steel wheels (£326.93 supply only)
and 16" 195/55/16H
Goodyear ultra grip (non run flat)
£118.80 storage and fitment
All incl VAT

[garethjonesuk]

Is it worth getting run flat winter tyres? Or could I just get the inflation kit?

[Turnstone]

My impression is that conventional studless winter tyres are better than the studless runflats as they are softer which ads grip to snow/ice. For winter tyres with studs I believe runflats may be a good choice.

I have just bought and mounted Continental ContiVikingContact 5 tyres on my new 116i, so this winter is going to my first experience with BMW and rearwheel driving.

A recently published big winter tyre test here in Scandinavia put for studless tyres Continental ContiVikingContact 5 and Nokian Hakkapeliitta R on top, but with Dunlop SP IceSport, Goodyear UltraGripIce, Michelin X-Ice XI3 and Vredestein Nordtrack 2 following close. Each have slightly different qualities which should be considered depending on your winter driving conditions and preferences.

[garethjonesuk]

I finally opted for 16x7" dezent re alloys fitted and balanced with Dunlop 205/55/R16 91H Winter Sport 3D RFT at a grand total of £875 inc VAT. Please don't say I've made a bad move.

[ovekvam]

Originally Posted by garethjonesuk

I finally opted for 16x7" dezent re alloys fitted and balanced with Dunlop 205/55/R16 91H Winter Sport 3D RFT at a grand total of £875 inc VAT. Please don't say I've made a bad move.

For Norwegian conditions, those tyres are not any good, but they do well on the Autobahn. They are more stable at high speed than the soft tyres made for Nordic use, but a lot less grippy in slippery conditions.

Maybe they are perfect for your purpose.

[rickk]

Don't worry Gareth, I've been really happy with the Wintersport M3s (predecessor) on my E30 and the 4Ds (successor) on my E46.

They're great in typical Dutch winter weather, which usually is just a few days of real snow but weeks of cold wet and messy weather with maybe some ice in the mornings. I can imagine there a better tires for snow and ice, but I never had any problems with them in those conditions, so..

For a winter tire, they're pretty sporty and fairly quiet.

[Northandy]

Originally Posted by garethjonesuk

Thanks all for your advice my local BMW dealer offered me

£627.98 total excl storage & fitment.
Steel wheels (£326.93 supply only)
and 16" 195/55/16H
Goodyear ultra grip (non run flat)
£118.80 storage and fitment
All incl VAT

Gareth, i just bought two sets of steel wheels for our f20 118d m sports, £176 per set delivered from oponeo

I will bet they sell those tyres cheaper too.

[garethjonesuk]

Originally Posted by ovekvam

For Norwegian conditions, those tyres are not any good, but they do well on the Autobahn. They are more stable at high speed than the soft tyres made for Nordic use, but a lot less grippy in slippery conditions.

Maybe they are perfect for your purpose.

In the UK we never really get that amount of snow it's more cold, wet and icy conditions.

[ovekvam]

Originally Posted by garethjonesuk

In the UK we never really get that amount of snow it's more cold, wet and icy conditions.

Warm and icy is the most slippery road condition you can encounter. I live in the corner of Norway closest to UK, and we have slightly similar weather.

[fuzzer]

Originally Posted by garethjonesuk

I finally opted for 16x7" dezent re alloys fitted and balanced with Dunlop 205/55/R16 91H Winter Sport 3D RFT at a grand total of £875 inc VAT. Please don't say I've made a bad move.

Sounds like a good deal. will look good too.

I got my winters set from the dealer yesterday and they are now on the car.

195/55/16 Goodyear ultragrip 8 RFT on Steel wheels £720 all in.