Sorry, this is just not accurate. The suspension certainly is tuned for stiffer sidewalls, but it won't "kill the car" to put softer tyres on it, it will just make the ride softer and the handling less precise. The handling might suffer slightly, but he's hardly going to be putting in full-bore power laps in snow and ice - cornering in these conditions is about getting through without skidding, not about four-wheel-slides and hitting apexes; the only drifts he's got to worry about are snow. I can see that if you put runflats on a car with suspension tuned for normal tyres, the crashiness and lesser primary ride might negatively affect the softer set-up, and possibly even put it under more stress than normal, but I fail to see how softer-than-specified tyres can damage a car's suspension. Plenty of sports-car owners - especially BMW owners - swap their original fit runflats for normal Pilot Sports or SportContacts and nobody reports the accelerated death of their car.
they dont, its actually i known performance 'mod' so to say to remove the run flats and fit some decent tyres as it increases grip performance by letting the tyre give a little. and its saves your back in the long run. Run flat tyres may as well be solid rubber wheels you get on children's tricycles!
I just cut & pasted from the dealers email. It could confuse the sensors a bit, can't beat powerslides in snow
Going from normal tires to run flats shouldn't be much worse than to fit low profile tires. And nobody seems to worry about that... Wait, what? The rims doesn't dictate wheel diameter. If you want bigger wheels you'll have to go for higher profile. (Of course, a larger rim with the same profile will be bigger (if with is the same), but that's not the point.) You can't just fit larger wheels on a car without modifications. It's dangerous, ugly and illegal. (you do of course have some tolerance in total diameter, but not something that you will notice.)
Now that I can agree with, spent a productive morning a coupla days ago in an empty car park spinning my Dad's car until they asked me to leave...
Is there a reason you can't just get snow chains and put them on if you start to slip about? Would be a hell of a lot cheaper. Maybe i'm missing something here but i honestly don't think its worth buying winter tyres in this country when there is at most 2 weeks of bad weather a year
Are snow chains even legal in the UK? I didn't think we had deep enough snow. Summer tyres lose their effectiveness at 6-8 degrees or so, so winter tyres can be a good idea although it's a lot of money but would be a good way to reuse old rims if you upgraded.
They are legal here. emergency vehicles use them, as do some milk floats as they go out in the early hours. They would be a lot more effective than winter tyres. the only problem is that if no1 else has them fitted than you're still stuck behind a que of traffic trying to get up a slight hill.
my arguement stands true, making the wheel diameter in one manor will increase the final gear. There is room to increase the rim size buy a small amount, i am not asking for him to fit 21in rims! if he has 17in, then see if a 19in with the same profile will fit the arches, he might need some spacers on the front to obtain full lock again, but there easy to fit. Its not dangerous or illegal over here!
I'm 99% sure it's not illegal to fit larger wheels to your car, at least as long as you don't exceed the manufacturer's recommendation. Admittedly there will be slight changes in your speedo (which could cause an MOT failure if it really alters it) but unless these wheels foul the arches and make it impossible to turn, I don't see that they are 'dangerous.' Almost all cars on sale offer variant wheel sizes and they don't adjust anything at the factory, not even the gearing I don't think and certainly not the spacing or the arches/liners, so I reckon DIY is unlikely to be illegal. Going up into wheel/tire sizes larger than stock but still within the manufacturer's recommendations will be fine. 18", should you so desire, is definitely on the menu for a 1-Series.
...English talking winter tyres and NOT ONE OF THEM has denied their existence/usefullness yet. A miracle, a true miracle! I'd advize you to keep the same tyre size (diameter wise) but smallest original width. (ask BMW!) In the 205 width, especially recommendable are: Continental WinterContact TS830 Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 Goodyear Ultragrip 7+ Dunlop Wintersport 3D Hankook Icebear W440 I've got the W440's myself at 205 width (though frontwheeldriven car) and they're allright. Better than the Uniroyal MS plus 55 I had before. Generally though the cars I had before that had max.185 width had better winter grip though. Xir
In this country they are of no real use unless we get exceptional snowfall. This year for example. What we should use is cold weather tyres though - a lot of people drive cars with summer tyres all year round and neglect to think about their performance characteristics in winter weather.
I can't believe that I missed this thread for so long. Did you get some in the end? If so, what did you go for?
BMW certifies only this dimension for winter-tires on the 123d : 7J x 17 205/50 R17H. Don't know about your laws but if you drive different dimensions (from what's been certified by the manufacturer) in austria you have to get them "legalized". The Dunlop Wintersport 3Ds are brilliant, i drive them on a 530d in Austria (5 months below or around 0°C).
I know, I'm in a UK car forum (as my car was more popular in the UK than elsewhere) and up to a few years ago they didn't just "neglect to think", they simply refused to accept the concept of winter tyres. I live in a hilly area with 4-5 months of winter, so good winter tyres are to me more important than summer tyres I understand your point though, I'd probably be getting all-year tyres in the UK (Goodyear vector 4) The Scots might argue differently off course
Winter tyres loose their effectiveness in comparison to your standard summer tyres as it warms so in the wet and dry in a warmer region your stopping distances will be farther than with good summer tyres on. Already here its gone beyond 7 degrees for most of the day and the roads are just a bit moist, you would of got a good month out of winter tyres in the conditions they are designed to operate and that is about it, up north there is probably more of an argument for them looking at climate stats. But if you want to buy them go for it, you will be much safer for that month (or more likely week that has snow/slush), course that assuming the person behind you doesn't ram you hard because you've just braked at lot later and harder than they could without them. These might help you justify it. http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/stil...010/01/13/just-how-good-are-winter-tyres.aspx http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=116& The problem with the BMW, well most german motors is they set them up with incredibly stiff suspension and stiff tyres, you need some suppleness to the ride in snow, RWD doesn't help either. Dropping to 16s with winter tyres would help if its an option. Me I'll just not drive like a muppet when there is snow and ice on the road and save my dough, even stay at home if I have too, it doesn't stay long enough in the UK to worry about it. If you are that bothered it'd be cheaper to buy a FWD banger with skinny tyres for teh period and not worry if someone bumps it.
Ah yes... Winter tires... To start, If your worried about getting stuck during the winter, keep a bucket of sand, or de-icing salt in the trunk of your car. I'd recommend the sand over the salt, since, if your anywhere near a beach it is quite inexpensive, and will work just as good if not better. A good 12-18 liter bucket of sand will go a long way. If you ever find yourself unable to get up a hill or out of your parking spot due to ice just throw some under your tires and in the path you intend to take. As for winter tires, Studded tires in my experience are slightly better for getting moving since it provides some "bite" into the ice. But I have had wonderful experiences with stud-less winter tires. I use them on my ice racing car for when I do ice oval racing which is 2 wheel drive only. I have driven with several kinds of winter tires in road conditions that I don't think you will ever see in the UK (excluding another ice age), and the best I've used so far are Bridgestone Blizzaks. These are made of a soft rubber with walnut husks ground up into it and in many cases I've found that they work better than studded tires, and also damage the roads a lot less. Although I will warn you, these tires are rather soft, and if you take proper care of them they will last a good number of seasons. That means using them only during the winter when its cold. If you don't change them out, the warm weather will make the rubber even softer and will wear the tire out in a year or so. As far as tire size goes, go for the widest tire you can. Since this will give you the most purchase in ice, in snow your car is rather low to the ground a wide tire will help since it will give you flotation over the snow and might keep you from plowing and dragging. In summary: Bridgestone Blizzak (if you cant get these a similar soft rubber tire with siping) Wide Tires If anything carry some sand with you Good winter driving habits (slow down, Stop well in advance of stoplights, Singnal for a extra period of time than you normally would) And If all else fails, and you ABSOLUTELY must get somewhere, and happen to have 1200 1/4" stainless steel bolts, 2400 stainless washers, 4 tube-less tires, and some good pliable sealant lying around. With plenty of time in advance you cant do this to your tires. (These are my front tires for my ice-racer)
Interesting, in Germany and Austria you generally get the advice to get tyres as narrow as possible, to get more pressure per square centimeter/inch. Then again, I guess in Alaska you've got severely different road conditions. Spikes are actually forbidden over here (except for Finland or so) Winter tyres in the summer will wear faster..but not that fast. With a summer tyre in winter, you won't get out of your street here (no matter how slow you drive...or don't drive)
The thing with winter tyres is you have two very different surfaces to try and drive on - snow and ice. If the snow isn't that deep and you have more ice you'll be better off with the narrowest possible ones to increase pressure and cut through as much snow as possible... But with deep snow a big wide squishy tyre would be best to avoiding sinking into it.
Nearly, but then the temperature went quite a bit above 7C, and then again, and left me wondering if it was really worth it considering the far more exciting alternatives. The alternatives being buying a truck instead. I'm now looking around for a nearly new Mitsubishi L200 Warrior. Which brings other advantages, like being able to transport a fridge, or something, if needs be... its funny how these things escalate
