Winter tires advice please!!

[Big Chin]

Originally Posted by HaMmErHeAd

My suggestion is:

Keep your current 16” rims and look for a set of new/used 205/55/16 winter tires.

When spring time rolls around sell your 205/55/16 summer tires and purchase a set of new/used 18” or 19” rims along with summer tires. Actually you can start looking at your summer set during the winter season, I am sure you can get a better price during the off season.

Second this option... I would look during the winter for a set of summers... just because around January people sell off a whole bunch of things to pay the Christmas debt off...

[jeff2]

Originally Posted by Blackedout95

You have an X so honestly you dont need pure winters unless you of course are using strictly summers any ways. I have run the michelin wet/dry all year for years on my X and love em.

Best bet is call Phil at Eurostyle above, wont beat his prices I bet.

I'm tending to agree with Blackedout95. If you bought a Xdrive it should be better than just RWD. That's the main reason I went with a Xdrive. I replaced the Runflats with Cooper CS4 205/55/R16 All Weather tires. So far I've been happy with them but when snow comes, I'll really know how good they are for everyday winter driving. I tried a few things during the recent heavy rains we have been having in Toronto. The combination of traction control and tire design work well with the 328xi. I can stop on a dime and accelerate somewhat aggressively without alot of spin in most cases (with DTS disabled.).

[BMWdouche]

Originally Posted by HaMmErHeAd

My suggestion is:

Keep your current 16” rims and look for a set of new/used 205/55/16 winter tires.

When spring time rolls around sell your 205/55/16 summer tires and purchase a set of new/used 18” or 19” rims along with summer tires. Actually you can start looking at your summer set during the winter season, I am sure you can get a better price during the off season.

This is the best idea

[HaMmErHeAd]

In terms of where to buy your winter tires, I feel by buying used you will get a much better deal than buying new. Just read a couple of articles on the Internet or watch a couple of videos on YouTube on ‘what to look for when buying used tires’.

Just a quick search on Kijiji I was able to find a used set of Michelin X-Ice Xi2 for $350. You can probably even talk them down in price since we are still a couple of months away from seeing snow.

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...AdIdZ414223108

[Blackedout95]

Originally Posted by jeff2

I'm tending to agree with Blackedout95. If you bought a Xdrive it should be better than just RWD. That's the main reason I went with a Xdrive. I replaced the Runflats with Cooper CS4 205/55/R16 All Weather tires. So far I've been happy with them but when snow comes, I'll really know how good they are for everyday winter driving. I tried a few things during the recent heavy rains we have been having in Toronto. The combination of traction control and tire design work well with the 328xi. I can stop on a dime and accelerate somewhat aggressively without alot of spin in most cases (with DTS disabled.).

It was a nice little bonus to owning an X I found. My last bimmer was rwd of course and I had both a set of winters and summers, needed the winters!

The michelins that came on the X were a wet/dry tire so not aggressive either way and do excellent in the snow with the awd system. Making true snows completely a waste of money.

[latifk]

I agree that XDrive is a lot more stable in winter, but my work involves driving on smaller highways at times, and without winter tires you definitely feel your car is not stable on road on snowy/icy days...
I like the idea of putting 16 inch wheels (used preferably) on my current rims and buying a full set of 17-18 inch summers.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions!!!

[KIRASIR]

Originally Posted by Blackedout95

... Making true snows completely a waste of money.

Tell that to us again when you kiss a car in front of you during a snowstorm. Xdrive wont help you to stop and turn in the snow without winter tires.

[Blackedout95]

Originally Posted by KIRASIR

Tell that to us again when you kiss a car in front of you during a snowstorm. Xdrive wont help you to stop and turn in the snow without winter tires.

Winter tires do not make you a better driver. I wont kiss anyone because I dont plan on driving beyond the conditions of my stopping ability with a tire geared for wet like a Hydro Edge ( no one said use strictly summer tires ). I have and know plenty of X drivers who do not use and havent used strictly winter tires for over 10 years now and no one is kissing anyone. In fact I am willing to bet a lot of those winter tire users are kissing just as many people. If you buy winters for your X simply for the reason of stopping some feet sooner I would suggest you first take a driving class to learn how to stop properly to start with.

Now I drive in the niagara to toronto region, obviously if he is in a deep rural area or very off the path roads he may like to have winters but for the most part an XI or Xdrive will pull these cars through a crap load of snow, turn and handle just fine with a Hydro Edge type tire.

[latifk]

Any good auto body shops in GTA area to fix/repaint my car's left side panel just below the passenger doors? I have been quoted $407 Taxes in for the job and apparently it takes about 6 hours and they will repaint the whole panel on left.