Seattle Winter Tires: Gary/Grant @ TireRack?

[SizzlerMA]

Hi Guys,

I have a 2004 330i ZHP. I'll be going skiing up to the mountains many weekends, but during the week, my driving is within Seattle where it mostly rains and rarely snows.

I'm considering:

225/45VR17 Dunlop Winter Sport M3 Blackwall
Road Hazard Program
17x8 Mille Miglia MM11-2 Sport Silver Painted

All for $1389.67, shipped and billed to zip 98109 via UPS.

Seem like a good setup? Any fit issues? Gary/Grant, any discounts for bimmerfest members?!? :D

Thanks.

[The Roadstergal]

I live in Seattle, too, and I drive on my summers unless there's actual snow on the ground or I'm going into the mountains. It just doesn't get cold enough here for summers to die on you, unless you live outside of the Seattle area.
FWIW. I swapped to snows twice total last winter.

[FireFly]

Hi Guys,

I have a 2004 330i ZHP. I'll be going skiing up to the mountains many weekends, but during the week, my driving is within Seattle where it mostly rains and rarely snows.

I'm considering:

225/45VR17 Dunlop Winter Sport M3 Blackwall
Road Hazard Program
17x8 Mille Miglia MM11-2 Sport Silver Painted

All for $1389.67, shipped and billed to zip 98109 via UPS.

Seem like a good setup? Any fit issues? Gary/Grant, any discounts for bimmerfest members?!? :D

Thanks.

Great choice! I picked up the exact same set in mint condition from a fellow fest member. Can't wait to put them on my 330xi :)

[Grant@Tire Rack]

Hi Guys,

I have a 2004 330i ZHP. I'll be going skiing up to the mountains many weekends, but during the week, my driving is within Seattle where it mostly rains and rarely snows.

I'm considering:

225/45VR17 Dunlop Winter Sport M3 Blackwall
Road Hazard Program
17x8 Mille Miglia MM11-2 Sport Silver Painted

All for $1389.67, shipped and billed to zip 98109 via UPS.

Seem like a good setup? Any fit issues? Gary/Grant, any discounts for bimmerfest members?!? :D

Thanks.

The Winter Sport M3 is going to be a good choice for that type of Winter use. It's main focus is on dry handling and stability. For areas where most of your driving is going to be on dry pavement, I would stick with that high performance Winter tire category and you will do fine. Some of the more aggressive multi-cell compound tires are going to wear too quickly under those conditions. The fitment would be fine and as always, everyone gets the absolute best price every time they order from us. ;)

[SizzlerMA]

The Winter Sport M3 is going to be a good choice for that type of Winter use. It's main focus is on dry handling and stability. For areas where most of your driving is going to be on dry pavement, I would stick with that high performance Winter tire category and you will do fine. Some of the more aggressive multi-cell compound tires are going to wear too quickly under those conditions. The fitment would be fine and as always, everyone gets the absolute best price every time they order from us. ;)
Grant,

But one concern is that these tires are not staggered widths, back wider than front, as in my current setup: 255 back vs 225 front, for the default BMW ZHP setup. Supposedly this staggering reduces oversteer. Unfortunately, it also prevents rotating back-to-front, and the directionality of the tires prevents rotation left-to-right.

So what about the 225 front, 225 rear on the M3's---oversteer worse than currently (no oversteer, even after trying :D )?

Also, any rotation issues with the M3's or can they be fully rotated?

Thanks.

[FalconGuy]

I did the same rim/tire combo last year. Im really impressed with the performance of the tires in the snow and surprisingly the dry handling. Wear seems good for a snow tire and the rims are much better quality than I was expecting, the finish looks really nice even after a tough winter.

More than once or twice I drove in serious snow with complete confidence last year, you wont regret getting the Dunlops.

[SizzlerMA]

I did the same rim/tire combo last year. Im really impressed with the performance of the tires in the snow and surprisingly the dry handling. Wear seems good for a snow tire and the rims are much better quality than I was expecting, the finish looks really nice even after a tough winter.

More than once or twice I drove in serious snow with complete confidence last year, you wont regret getting the Dunlops.
Thanks for the feedback.

I notice these wheels have a blank center circle, as if you could affix small BMW Roundel stickers or caps there, say about 2" diameter. Can I get those from TireRack or elsewhere?

Thanks again!

[FalconGuy]

If you buy from gary he throws them in( Identical Roundel). The BMW versions dont fit I just.

[Grant@Tire Rack]

The MM11-2 Sport is set up to use our BMW cap which is provided with the wheel. They can be rotated and should be every 3000 miles or so for the most even wear. As far as handling, there is not that much of a difference in understeer if you drive normally. Granted, if you try to drive on them like a Summer performance tire, you will notice a big change in handling with any snow tire. Most folks are not going to put the car through the paces in Winter anyway. For daily driving and traffic, the do handle very well, you just can't beat on them.

[milski]

I have the same tires, same car, living in Redmond and drive quite often in the mountains in the winter. I was quite happy with them last winter even during the big snowfall that closed half of Seattle. One drawback is that sometimes they'd have 'chains required' for Stevens Pass, and you can't get around that. Also, don't worry about the non-staggered setup, there was no excessive overstree at all.

[SizzlerMA]

I have the same tires, same car, living in Redmond and drive quite often in the mountains in the winter. I was quite happy with them last winter even during the big snowfall that closed half of Seattle. One drawback is that sometimes they'd have 'chains required' for Stevens Pass, and you can't get around that. Also, don't worry about the non-staggered setup, there was no excessive overstree at all.
Thanks! Looks like I'll probably get this setup then.

Is the chains law as lame as California's chain law, where it's "chains required except for AWD vehicles"? So there, if you have an Audi S4 with 19" summer racing tires, they'll let you through without chains and watch you slide off a cliff when you can't stop, but loathe the RWD bimmer driver with WS-50's on, oh no, he has to put on chains. :cry:

Were you skiing/boarding in the mountains? I just moved here from Boston.

[milski]

Thanks! Looks like I'll probably get this setup then.

Is the chains law as lame as California's chain law, where it's "chains required except for AWD vehicles"? So there, if you have an Audi S4 with 19" summer racing tires, they'll let you through without chains and watch you slide off a cliff when you can't stop, but loathe the RWD bimmer driver with WS-50's on, oh no, he has to put on chains. :cry:

Were you skiing/boarding in the mountains? I just moved here from Boston.
I'm not sure what the exact wording in CA is but here you need a 4x4 and M+S rated tires. So no, you can't go with S4 with summer tires. On the other hands it's not always enforced, meaning that sometimes there is no patrol car to turn you back.

Yes, I was snowboarding most of the time. I got on skis only once last year.

Welcome to WA, it's time to change your nick. ;)