2012 528xi without winters?

orion's ache · 11-10-2011, 04:05 PM

Hello,

I have purchased the above car. Very excited to pick it up this weekend. It comes with 18 inch All Season Good Year Eagles. Do you think that is sufficient for the winter? I drive mostly in the city and every second weekend drive up north to Collingwood to ski. For those who drive a similar car, what is your experience with driving with All Seasons? Should I just bite the bullet and buy a very expensive winter tire package from BMW ($3,199 for 18 inchers!)?

MrRWD · 11-10-2011, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orion's ache

Hello,

I have purchased the above car. Very excited to pick it up this weekend. It comes with 18 inch All Season Good Year Eagles. Do you think that is sufficient for the winter? I drive mostly in the city and every second weekend drive up north to Collingwood to ski. For those who drive a similar car, what is your experience with driving with All Seasons? Should I just bite the bullet and buy a very expensive winter tire package from BMW ($3,199 for 18 inchers!)?

Don't buy it from the dealer. Get 17" from TireRack.com

About $1,473.38 shipped to Toronto (Taxes, Duty, Customs etc).
Firestone Snows on 17" Alum. Rims. I usally don't get the wheel sensors for the winters.

Shop around

You'll enjoy the car with snows on. I always put snows on my AWD or 4x4 vehicles and enjoy the winter.

damameke · 11-10-2011, 06:12 PM

BMW dealer's winter package is costly..if cost is not a factor sure buy it
especially for those skiing trip north... else check some of the sponsors in here

BMWdouche · 11-10-2011, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orion's ache

Hello,

I have purchased the above car. Very excited to pick it up this weekend. It comes with 18 inch All Season Good Year Eagles. Do you think that is sufficient for the winter? I drive mostly in the city and every second weekend drive up north to Collingwood to ski. For those who drive a similar car, what is your experience with driving with All Seasons? Should I just bite the bullet and buy a very expensive winter tire package from BMW ($3,199 for 18 inchers!)?

I wouldn't buy BMW packages. I run high performance summers and good winter tyres BUUUTTT in your predicament I would keep your all seasons.. since you already have them.. so it's not justifiable to spend more on a winter package. However, when your All-Seasons run out of tread.. Buy a good set of Summer Performance tires and a nice set of winters on separate rims.

I just don't get "all-season" tyre people.. I guess owning a BMW doesn't automatically make you a driving enthusiast.

Anyways: Keep your all-seasons.. take it REALLY easy in the winter.. and do it right when you run out of tread.

If you're a baller and want a separate rim/tyre set for the winter, I can point you to a great place to get some! PM me for info!

ChrisTO · 11-11-2011, 12:33 AM

i can say having gone through an e46 in all seasons during the winter - new will probably be ok for this winter. i don't know about taking it up for skiing. good advice above. use it this winter but plan on getting proper winters.

not sure how much having x will make a difference with all seasons.

put it this way - 1 accident/collision and any savings on the tires will be out the window along with the pain and headache of fixing up a new car.

MrRWD · 11-11-2011, 08:12 AM

Think of it this way. If you buy snows, your all seasons will last that much longer. You probably don't need high performance summers.

I drive in the heavy snow regions, and awd is useless without good tires.

Get some snows. You'll love it.

SiR · 11-11-2011, 09:05 AM

you just spent the money on a new car...why cheap out to save $1000(price varies of course depending on used/new and where/what you buy) and have sub par winter performance.

?

awd is not a substitute for good tires. Even with winters you won turn or stop better either.

You should definitely pick up some winter rubber. tire rack or places like tires23,joycitytires,megawheelz are way better than the dealer for pricing.

bmwm5lover · 11-11-2011, 09:53 AM

Buy winters from a different tire source, no need to spend nearly 4K on "BMW winter" tire package.
Winters are great to have, even if you are able to swerve/stop/miss 1 accident because of proper tires, they've more than payed for themselves, especially on a beautiful, brand new 5er.

propr'one · 11-11-2011, 10:39 AM

I can't believe how many of these threads we have. AWD does absolutely nothing to help you stop in the snow. If you can afford a 50K$+ car, you can afford 1500$ worth of winter tires.

canukgtp · 11-14-2011, 12:09 AM

Yeah good winter tires are always the safer option... I picked up some dunlop sp winter sports and good looking after market rims from Tire Rack...the tires were installed on the rims, balanced, taxes and shipped to NB for $1900...way cheaper than the dealership...and from what I read online, the dunlops are rated better than the bridgestones BMW wants to sell you...

biginstreets · 11-17-2011, 10:35 AM

its all wheel drive... not all wheel stop. it'll push you forward reeeeal nice, stopping that bitch is up to you.

ChrisTO · 11-17-2011, 11:50 AM

I don't know if the Dunlop SP winter sports are that great.

I've had them and when they are down to about 6/32nd tread remaining they are very slippery. This was on an e60. It was more fear of being stuck on hills...etc. Wasn't too concerned with stopping. They definitely had great grip when newer and never left me stranded. But seems like when the top layer wears it gets into hockey puck stiffness.

either way winters are way better than all seasons no matter how you slice it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by canukgtp

Yeah good winter tires are always the safer option... I picked up some dunlop sp winter sports and good looking after market rims from Tire Rack...the tires were installed on the rims, balanced, taxes and shipped to NB for $1900...way cheaper than the dealership...and from what I read online, the dunlops are rated better than the bridgestones BMW wants to sell you...