Pls recommend snows for E60

[Dave T]

(Cross post from 5 series forum, after I was referred here)

Can someone recommend snows for my new 545/6 speed? I know nothing about tires.

For my 99 540, my dealer sent me to Direct Tire. It seems that they've now gotten into the tire biz, and can sell me the tires/rims directly. I'd like to know if there's anything else people would recommend, and if I might do better buying direct from a tire store.

Here's what my dealer is recommending (his handwriting is pretty cryptic, so I might not have it exact):

Tires: Dunlop SP Winter Sport, 225/50 R17
Wheels: 7.5x17 Style 138, alloy rims.

$2316.80, for 4 tires/rims.

The dealer told me that BMW started selling wheels after people were having to install "spacers" because of the large brakes in these cars. I don't know what that means. If I get my wheels elsewhere, will I neccessarily have to get spacers, and is that a bad thing?

Thanks!

- Dave

[ObD]

I have used Dunlop Winter Sport M2, 225/45 R17, for the past two winters on my 330 in which I commute 30+ miles everyday. I highly recommend them. On an icy day when people were pulling over and SUV's were slip sliding away, I sauntered around without much fuss. :D

[Gary@Tirerack]

(Cross post from 5 series forum, after I was referred here)

Can someone recommend snows for my new 545/6 speed? I know nothing about tires.

For my 99 540, my dealer sent me to Direct Tire. It seems that they've now gotten into the tire biz, and can sell me the tires/rims directly. I'd like to know if there's anything else people would recommend, and if I might do better buying direct from a tire store.

Here's what my dealer is recommending (his handwriting is pretty cryptic, so I might not have it exact):

Tires: Dunlop SP Winter Sport, 225/50 R17
Wheels: 7.5x17 Style 138, alloy rims.

$2316.80, for 4 tires/rims.

The dealer told me that BMW started selling wheels after people were having to install "spacers" because of the large brakes in these cars. I don't know what that means. If I get my wheels elsewhere, will I neccessarily have to get spacers, and is that a bad thing?

Thanks!

- Dave

None of our wheels would need spacers to clear the brakes on the 545. The tire choice is indeed a good one. We'll have packages available with different wheel styles closer to the winter season, likely in mid September here : http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AB2&url=/winter/index.jsp

[Dave T]

Thanks!

The savings at TireRack are pretty compelling. I've been going with Direct Tire for a while. They swap your tires free, twice a year, if you buy tires from them. Does anyone know, roughly, what a service station charges to do that? Do they generally provide the bags for the tires so I can take them home without dirtying my car?

- Dave

[PhilH]

I think I got four tires mounted at the local gas station for $60 for our Passat with 15" wheels. I took my 330i to the BMW dealer and was charged $100 for two tires to be mounted on my 18" wheels.

I hate that nearly anywhere you take your car to get tires mounted, they almost always put some kind of scratches in your wheels. If you've been swapping tires for a while, I guess you're used to the scratches, although I always figure a gas station will scratch wheels more than someplace more expensive (obviously it isn't necessarily the case that the more expensive places give better service).

The gas station I went to didn't provide bags. I'd bet 99% of gas stations don't.

I like separate wheels for my snow tires, so I can swap the wheels/tires out whenever I want by myself without having to schedule an appointment somewhere (for them to scratch my wheels :tsk: ).

I also have Dunlop M2 Winter Sports and they were great in the snow last year, although they're more geared to dry weather grip than all out snow grip. I think they're a great compromise for a BMW.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

I've never understood why it is that people can't swap out their own wheels... It takes 4-5 minutes with the right equipment and 15-20 without. It seems extremely silly to spend all that time loading the car up, waiting in line, and then paying someone just to pull wheels on and off of the car.

[PhilH]

I can understand why my 75 year old dad doesn't want to swap wheels on his 540i (although he still mows his own lawn...).

Also, when I was using the stock jack and stock lug wrench, swapping wheels was a pain in the ass that took me well over an hour, especially back when I was using wheel locks. :mad:

With the proper tools and some practice it now takes me about 20 minutes and is almost enjoyable. As you can see, I take my time no matter if I have the right tools or not. I'm not sure how you do it in 4-5 minutes, Nick. I know you have plenty of practice with all your autocrossing, but..*****. Maybe by "the right equipment" you mean a lift and an airgun. :D

[Elwood]

I can understand why my 75 year old dad doesn't want to swap wheels on his 540i (although he still mows his own lawn...).

Also, when I was using the stock jack and stock lug wrench, swapping wheels was a pain in the ass that took me well over an hour, especially back when I was using wheel locks. :mad:

With the proper tools and some practice it now takes me about 20 minutes and is almost enjoyable. As you can see, I take my time no matter if I have the right tools or not. I'm not sure how you do it in 4-5 minutes, Nick. I know you have plenty of practice with all your autocrossing, but..*****. Maybe by "the right equipment" you mean a lift and an airgun. :D
Takes me 4-5 minutes to get all the crap needed to change the wheels out of the garage!

Jack
Wheel Lock key
Torque wrench and socket
lug wrench
TIRES!

And then I have to put it all back!

M2's are definetly more geared for dry weather. And they do exceptionally well at that. In snow.....Figure them turning a RWD car into a very capable FWD car. Don't expect a snowmobile.

[Dave T]

4-5 minutes? For 4 wheels? I doubt it! But, you have a point. Maybe I'm just being lazy. So, assuming you don't mean a lift and an airgun, what is the "right equipment", and what's a realistic amount of time that swapping 4 wheels would take? Using the lug wrench and jack that come with the car, I could see it taking close to 2 hours from start to finish.

Also, part of the benefit of having someone else do it is that they'll rebalance the tires, and will tell me when it's time for them to sell me some new tires. As I said, I'm pretty clueless about tires, and new tires and "oh my god, you can't drive on those" tires look about the same to me. But, I'm not so clueless that I can't change the wheels, if it's as quick as you say.

[PhilH]

I have an aluminum floor jack from Sears, a breaker bar to get the lugs loose from www.tirerack.com, a torque wrench, a wheel pin to help line up the wheels, and an adapter to spin the lugs for my drill. Total cost for all the tools was probably a little over $300, and they should easily last 20 years or so.

Others have posted their ideas in other threads....

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20673&highlight=tools+change+wheels

Do a search for lots of talk about changing wheels.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

I meant a good jack, and an electric impact wrench, which I have. Wheel studs that let me put all five lug nuts on without any threading are a big time saver, as well.

A speeder bar and a floor jack, with a total cost of $30-$40 would cut that to 10-15 minutes quite easily.

[Elwood]

an electric impact wrench
:nono: those things are evil

[Dave T]

Thanks, Nick!

Ok, can you define some of these things?

"Good jack"? What makes it better than the one that comes with the car, and where do you get one? What about those wedge things that you can drive the car onto, instead of using a jack? Seems like that would be easier, although you'd need a place to keep them, and maybe are expensive?

"Impact Wrench"? What's that?

The "wheel studs" thing for aligning the lugs? Sounds useful. What's that?

"Speeder bar"?

And, what about balancing the wheels? Is that neccessary? When I have Direct Tire swap my wheels, they always say they're rebalancing them.

Thanks.

- Dave