BimmerFest BMW Forum banner

All Season Tires

11K views 49 replies 20 participants last post by  dunderhi 
#1 ·
I just took delivery of a 2011 SAV with the 20 inch Y wheels/staggered configuration. Does anyone have a comment about the Continental Extreme Contact DWS VS the Michelin Latitude Tour HP.
 
#2 ·
What are you looking to accomplish? Are you going to get rid of your summer rubber for all season rubber?
 
#4 · (Edited)
I considered doing the same, but my local tyre dealer showed me the prices for doing that,
and for an extra 200 euros I ended up ordering 18 inch wheels with Continental winter tyres (RFTs)

gives me the oppurtunity to change back to Summers over any given weekend, and to have the summer rims re-dressed (I have some minor nicks)

I stayed RFTs although I now have a spare in the trunk, to allow me to decide where, and when, to swap out a flat (safety zone)
 
#5 ·
Personally I would keep the 214's and get a set of winter rims/rubber. Now you will have an excellent combination and not have to worry about it.
 
#9 ·
Based upon personal experience, or a guess?

Has anyone actually been running the 20 all seasons in the snow and have some real feedback?
SEARCH IS YOUR FRIEND. The E70 was introduced in 2006 as a 2007 model, and this topic has been discussed many, many, many times over the past 6 years. If you take the time to search, you will get the REAL WORLD experience of dozens of 'Festers.

If you just ask a question that has been answered many times before, you won't.
 
#11 ·
SEARCH IS YOUR FRIEND. The E70 was introduced in 2006 as a 2007 model, and this topic has been discussed many, many, many times over the past 6 years. If you take the time to search, you will get the REAL WORLD experience of dozens of 'Festers.

If you just ask a question that has been answered many times before, you won't.
Seriously? Where do you think all these threads came out of? Hum......the search button. Yet, most seem to end the same, no one actually trying them.

If you can actually point to an all season conversation where people talk about using them on the 20 inch setup in snow please, help and point me, I don't see them. All I seem to find is the constant 'don't do it, get snow tires on smaller rims' opinion.
 
#10 ·
VERY different tires. One is a UHP and the other a Touring. Either way, the DWS is rated higher in the snow. I may the switch from UHP Summer to UHP all season and it helped. On all wheel drive vehicles I have never seen the need for dedicated snows in the climate I am in. Rear wheel is a different story. I am in a possition that is the weather is so bad that my all seasons won't cut it, I don't need to go out in it. If I wasn't, I would go the winter tire route. They are vastly superior in the snow and ice. All season = performance in all seasons is not what it could be. They are a compromise.
 
#20 ·
LOL - I guess those IDIOTS over at Tire Rack and others were pretty much all idiots, huh?
What was the point of that video? That the DWS were the best of the all seasons? Big freakin' deal. To quote you:

Granted TRUE winter tires are ALWAYS going to be better
but 90% of us live in areas where use of studded winter tires is impractical and quite honestly, well...Stupid.
First of all, who ever mentioned anything about studded tires???:tsk:

Second, maybe have a look at where the OP is posting from. Since you clearly have no clue what you're talking about in regards to mountain driving and true snow, maybe have a quick look at the weather network and see what Colorado actually gets.

There are many of us that need and LIKE using all-weather tires on our SUVs to head up to the mountains to do a bit of skiing when the weather here at the foothills is 50 degrees and not a spot of snow anywhere to be seen. Yet, we drive less than 2 hours away and can easily be in a foot of snow. So far, all season tires have worked VERY WELL on my wife's Highlander Hybrid (225/65-17s). Now granted, those are CONSIDERABLY more narrow than are these new DWSs on my X5 and I WILL be careful my first days in foot-deep snow when I am in SnowShoe, WV but I'll be a LOT happier with the 5.5 hour ride up to that particular ski resort.
And it's exactly jackasses like yourself that make my daily drive less safe because you are unwilling to properly equip your vehicle for the conditions that you are going to encounter for "less than 2 hours" each way.

Guess what Einstein. I live in one of the most beautiful and popular ski resorts in the world.....and guess how many times I see vehicles in the ditch, sliding all over the place, or doing 60 km/h on the highway 'cause they can't control their vehicle safely. Proper equipment and some patience in the snow would go a long way to making things safer for everyone.

Just give us time, someone here will provide feedback on how effective they actually are.
Do you actually have the 20" DWS set up that the OP specifically asked for feedback regarding???

As I stated earlier....I DO....so whether you like it or not, my feedback is absolutely relevant to the topic.

Don't like it....you know where the door is. :cry:
 
#23 ·
Someone needs some cranberry juice.....

Sent from my HTC Inspire using BimmerApp
 
#24 ·
UTIs are a bitch, eh?

:)
 
#25 ·
Do yourself a HUGE favor and watch The Departed this weekend.

Cranberry juice: its not just for UTI's any more. :D

Sent from my HTC Inspire using BimmerApp
 
#28 · (Edited)
I was referring only to my own experience with 255's, and decrying "the gentleman's" (sic) incredible rude over-statements/ rant about how "completely useless" all-seasons are in general. On our BMW with 18's I find all-seasons the best choice in the Upper Midwest for a spectrum of temperatures which is inching to the warmer end. We are in the mountains every winter skiing somewhere. Last March I towed the family race car through high mountain passes in a covered trailer during blizzard conditions to Durango, Colorado for a combined ski trip and visit to my chassis prep guy in Cortez. The X5 was loaded with 4 skiers and backcountry/ alpine gear and pulling 4500 lbs deadweight including racecar and covered trailer. The trip back through Utah saw 55-60 degree temps. All-seasons worked fine on the X5 with 255's in those extreme conditions and were the best and perhaps only choice. I do put dedicated snows on my wife's Mini Cooper, but that is a different set of issues and parameters. My prior SUV was a diesel Touareg with 275's all around. All-seasons were no problem with that, which I attribute to an excellent traction control system (like the X5's) and "common sense" driving. My experience driving with winter tires is that I drive faster, which is to say closer to the traction edge. I suspect that is common, and tends to diminish or eliminate the safety advantage winter tires do have in heavy snow and ice and, generally, temps below freezing.
 
#29 ·
This place is getting like a sorority house. Lots of folks need cranberry juice at the same time.

I am with MVR99. You CANNOT compare the low profile staggered 20's to the higher profile "square" 18's. (Well, actually you can, but it doesn't do you much good...)

Are 20" all seasons going to outperform 20" summer performance tires when the flakes start to fly? Yup. Are 20" winter performance tires going to be mo betta? Yup, Yup. Are 18" or 19" square winter performance tires going to perform best - and also save a bunch of money? Without a question.

I understand the X5 looks less aggressive with the 18's, especially if you have the flared fender lips. I know mine does. And I know that many folks don't get enough snow to make dedicated winter tires really necessary. And lots of so-called skiers make 3 or 4 trips a year, and never get to the mountain till the roads are plowed. But for those of us (ard, CDNRockies and yours truly), whose kids are ski racers, and need to be slipping the course when the lifts open, even if that means leaving home at 3:00 AM and driving unplowed roads in whiteout conditions - All Season tires do NOT make the grade.

Finally: I find it nuts that the guy who has only driven square 18's called out the guy who has actually tried running the staggered 20's in deep snow. Please realize how foolish this makes you sound.

/Rant

Sent from my HTC Inspire using BimmerApp
 
#30 · (Edited)
Wow, if your kids are actually ski racers and you actually DRIVE mountain roads before they are plowed and sanded, WOW, I absolutely defer to you, and retract everything I have said, like, ever, especially about driving in the snow. I really DO need some of that cranberry juice, and appreciate you pointing out how "things work," especially in the winter.

Wow, actual SKI racers, like on TV, except, you know, smaller, being kids and all.

This forum is the richer for your keen insights and, well, how you so capably discharge you duty of noblesse oblige and all.
 
#31 · (Edited)
Yep. Raced USAA from the time they were J6's (6 years old). Just like Bode, Mancuso, Liggety and the rest of the US National team, kids who are serious (and whose parents are serious) start young. My daughter used to compete against Mikaela Schiffrin, who finished on the podium at Levi last weekend: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/more/11/10/womens-world-cup.ap/index.html

I realize all this is pretty difficult for someone from IOWA to comprehend. Don't sweat it. Those of us who have been here a while are pretty much used to folks making ignorant comments.
 
#37 ·
I never understood this snow tire vs all season discussion. If you live in an area where temps are consistently below 40 degrees and gets snow, you should get snow tires.

All season tires are a compromise in most conditions. Why not have a dedicated tires for warm and winter weather. It will improve the way your vehicle handles.
 
#38 ·
I never understood this snow tire vs all season discussion. If you live in an area where temps are consistently below 40 degrees and gets snow, you should get snow tires.

All season tires are a compromise in most conditions. Why not have a dedicated tires for warm and winter weather. It will improve the way your vehicle handles.
This topic is like politics. You have your beliefs and you will find arguments to tell you that you are wrong. Everybody can debate why/why not and it is up to you to make the educated decision. I can only assume that if you are purchasing one of these vehicles, you must have had the intelligence(could have been luck) to obtain the means to purchase these high priced, poor investments.
 
#43 ·
" Although I've never been in any type of accident, my brother DID try to take our '70 Cutlass down the mountain one time in white out conditions and he bounced it off a few guard rails (this while I was in college and not able to talk SENSE into him..LOL)"

Must have been Beech Mtn, been there, tried that. Not fun.

A
 
#45 ·
He was on a staggered 275/315 set up with Toyo Proxeses.

Coming up to our house is a fairly steep hill. There are 4 houses at the top. Very few people with all season tires make it up in snow. The ones that do are brave enough to get a good run at it and try not to lose momentum. Getting down without snow tires is an E ticket ride.
 
#47 ·
Honestly, if you live in a place with cold weather and snow, I can't see any downside to having dedicated winter tires.

If you can afford a relatively new BMW, you can afford under $2,000 for snow tires.

If you lease, using snow tires may save mean you do not need to buy that last set of run flats when you turn it in. Sell the snow tires and I bet you are close to breaking even.
 
#48 ·
Update

So I figured I'd come back and provide an update.

I'm running the 20 inch staggered setup and I've switched over to the Continental DWS's.

There have been 2 snow storms here in the last week, so if course I've taken the car out to experiment before and after the plows were coming through. I also took my family members 4.8is with the 20's because he has taken the 20's off and put dedicated 19 inch 255 snows). So I have a fairly good comparison reference.

Without snow, the DWS's are fantastic tires. Very smooth ride, good handling, and excellent low noise. A significant improvement over the run flat's that originally were on the car. Absolutely love them.

The great news is, the DWS's are also FANTASTIC in the snow. We took both X5's up the same course and routes and ran into no situation the DWS's couldn't match the dedicated snow's. Slow crawls up steep hills, descents with lots of braking, extreme and controlled handling comparisons. Highway, local roads, back roads. Bottom line, the DWS's are about as close to dedicated snow tires I've experienced in all seasons.

Additionally, I was amazed the 315's didn't seem to have much effect.

My conclusion, for anyone trying to decide if they should go the DWS route or use dedicated snow's, unless you are running in very extreme climates or locations, the DWS's will perform amazingly well even in the 20 inch setup. You can take the comments from the peanut gallery not running them with a very large grain of salt.

For many of us, storing and changing over dedicated snow tires is a pain. The DWS setup in the staggered 20's IMO make that changeover completely unnecessary in my region (about 1 hour north of NYC).

Best of luck!
 
#50 ·
I love to see a thread where so many people that know "the" right answer eventhough they all have different answers. :rofl:

So here's my right answer for me, myself, and I. I buy Winter tires, all-season tires, and/or Summer tires based upon the car and my intended use. For my 650xi where performance driving will matter the most, I have two sets of wheels/tires. Both sets are performance oriented set-ups - BBS forged wheels with Michelin PSS and Michelin Pilot Alpin PA-3. If I had selected "better" Winter tires, I would have to endure longer wet and dry stopping distances and less lateral grip thoughout he entire Winter. I might slide a bit more in the snow with the Pilots, but I only drive in the snow 10 of the 90 days of the Winter, so I went with the overall max performance over the course of the entire Winter, not just the days it snows.

Now for my X5M, I have plenty of experience with all-season tires with SUVs and trucks. Some were good all-seasons in the Winter and some were bad all-seasons in the Winter. A good all-season like the DWS will provide adequate performance in the snow and excellent dry and wet performance the other 80 days, so thats what I am putting on my X5M. Also, the ultra-high performance all-season DWS will out perform the stock Bridgestone Summer tire in the warm weather too. :thumbup:

So, will the staggered setup hurt the snow traction? A bit, but as a guy who understands how his vehicles handle while in loss of traction conditions (I practice) I'm certian climbing the 13-16% slope that is my long winding driveway won't be a problem. So remember spinning tires aren't necessarily a problem, they might just a different driving mode. When snow covered, my RWD 335d usually requires a light and continuous spin to get up my drivewway even with non-staggered Winter tires. :drive:

For those of you who say all-seasons don't excel at anything, that's completely wrong, they excel in the transistional season with better braking and traction than either Summer or Winter tires.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top