Winter Tires

[hdman1216]

I am new here and I know this subject has been beat to death, but what is the general feeling on the best winter tires? I have 20" that came with the "Sport" packages. I have found Michelin Latitude Alpin and Pirelli
Scorpoin Ice and Snow.
Any help or comments will be appreciated.
Thanks.

[Alex Kuk]

Originally Posted by hdman1216

I am new here and I know this subject has been beat to death, but what is the general feeling on the best winter tires? I have 20" that came with the "Sport" packages. I have found Michelin Latitude Alpin and Pirelli
Scorpoin Ice and Snow.
Any help or comments will be appreciated.
Thanks.

Be informed that you need RFT (run flat) tires! Are all of mentioned RFT?

If all are RFT, Michelin is better IMO.

[scottyv]

You don't "need" run flats. I ordered my car with a space saver spare and run non run flats for my snows. It saves you money and it's a smoother ride with non run flats.

I had 20's with Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snows and switched to 19" Blizzaks (LM-60's) and the ride and traction is much better with the Blizzaks. I might give the edge to Pirelli with handling, but they were noisier and the traction was OK but not great. The Blizzaks corner much better in snow too.


Both tires seemed to have issues on ice stopping, the H rated tires for performance/snow are not the multi-cell compound (best winter traction) used in the full on Blizzaks like the WS-60, they are a silica mix which is better for wear/handling, but will not be as grabby as the full multi-cell compound snow tires.

The silca based hybrids are certainly better than an all season, but they are not miracle snow tires by any stretch.

[DrEvil]

I drove without runflats on a prior bimmer. No problem and better ride. Worst case scenerio is a complete blowout, but that is rare. Just carry an emergency inflation kit.

[sariggs1]

I ordered the 19" winter setup from BMW. Not exactly what I wanted but I will be the experiment for the good of the forum!

[-JLT-]

i got a dedicated 19" set of wheels w/ Dunlop M3 winter tires and they perform great in the snow.

[Deda]

I want to share my expirience....for several years i was driving x3 fully loaded and for winter i was using dunlop wintersport 2...and that is BEST winter tire for SNOW driving....now i have 19 inches on my x6 with good year ultragrip and i an NOT fully satisfy...dont get me wrong,it is great winter tire in general(excellent on highway,on dry roads,etc...),but not as good as DUNLOP WINTERSPORT for SNOW DRIVING...so for next year i will get a new set!

[DrEvil]

I just ordered Continental DWS extremecontact and should have them on late next week. Will report back.

I have to agree that the DUNLOP wintersports are absolutely awesome in the snow and ice. I had them on another car. Well worth the higher cost.

[DrEvil]

Originally Posted by sariggs1

I ordered the 19" winter setup from BMW. Not exactly what I wanted but I will be the experiment for the good of the forum!

Did you keep the 996tt when you got the X6?

[sariggs1]

I still have my 996tt, covered up right now in the garage until Spring...

[chuck92103]

Originally Posted by DrEvil

I just ordered Continental DWS extremecontact and should have them on late next week. Will report back.

I have to agree that the DUNLOP wintersports are absolutely awesome in the snow and ice. I had them on another car. Well worth the higher cost.

Any update?

My OEM run flat Dunlops tires have 22k on them and are getting noisy.

I am thinking of getting the all season Conti ExtremeContact DWS over the Michelin summer tire. According to to Tirerack and discounttire.com reviews the Conti's seem to be quieter, cheaper, longer lasting, and provide better gas mileage.

[DrEvil]

So, I have driven about 5K on the Conti Extremecontact. Excellent all-around. Quiet, smooth ride, great grip and very confident on ice, but I suspect a dedicated winter tire would still be better. Highly recommend the continentals!!

Since I took delivery in December with the summer tires on, I don't have a good compariosn yet (temp too low for summers).

I am switching back to the summers next week in anticipation of warmer temps.

[chuck92103]

I got the Contintental Extreme Contact DWS tires installed on my X6 today. Will report in as I put more mileage on them.

The reasons I went with the DWS's (all season over the DW) is
1. Strong reviews
2. Quiet tire
3. Not too expensive
4. Longer tread life

When I ran the numbers, the OEM Dunlop run flats were nearly $2200 to replace with tax and installation. That is approx. $4400 to drive 40k miles since they only lasted about 20k miles. They really got noisy around 18k miles.

The DWS cost $1,000 installed and will/should last around 40k miles. That means the OEM tires will cost me 4 times more to use.

Initial impression of the DWS is good. Tires are quieter but I think that is more about them being new rather than a brand change. The tires are definately not any noisers than my PS2's I had on a 6 series, nor the bridgestone or dunlop runflats. Car does ride more comfortable since them are not run flats. Difference in braking, steering, handling, etc. is negligible.

The most astonishing thing is, these are all-season tires that drive 95% like summer tires, are just as quiet as run flats and non-run flats.

[sariggs1]

I was surprisingly happy with the BMW setup with Goodyear run-flats. It was as good in the snow as my 4Runner, really solid and they don't look like truck tires. The $3k for tires and wheels was a lot but I made it through Kansas City's snowiest winter in 40 years without any harm. Worth the expense.

[kahunacanuck]

I have the Pirelli's (275s all around) on my stock 20" wheels, and we just had the weirdest warmest winter ever, so I can't tell you much about their snow or ice performance, but they were certainly easy to live with, not to loud, good performance on dry and wet.