Recommendation on snow chains

I haven't use snow chains before & will be driving soon to some locations where snow chains may become mandatory. I have16" wheels with regular Bridgestone Turanzas' RFTs on my 2009 E90 . Would appreciate your recommendation on where I could get the appropriate snow chains & if there are concerns/ issues to be kept in mind.

Where will you be driving your BMW to need snow chains? I have not seen them in use since I was in 2nd grade living in Upstate NY. You have to check your state laws to see if they are legal to use, and when you can use them. I think most states that do allow their use, limit you to driving on snow covered roads.

If not mounted properly, they will damage your wheel wells.

Modern snow tires have become so good that snow chains are not needed in most cases, especially if you have AWD, IMO. (at least where it would be practical to take a 3 Series BMW because of the relatively low front end clearence).

I'm not in a location where I need them, but I've always thought the fabric "snow chains" looked interesting.

http://www.ecstuning.com/News/ISSE/

Originally Posted by BMSJ3

I haven't use snow chains before & will be driving soon to some locations where snow chains may become mandatory. I have16" wheels with regular Bridgestone Turanzas' RFTs on my 2009 E90 . Would appreciate your recommendation on where I could get the appropriate snow chains & if there are concerns/ issues to be kept in mind.

You actually want to buy cables, not chains. They should fit fine on 16" wheels. You need to practice putting them on to ensure you will be able to get them tight enough not to rub on the wheel wells.

I would strongly advise NOT to get any "fabric" or "Spyder" thingys: in most cases they are not classified as Snow Chains and therefore not legal to use when the Chain Sign is up (in WA, OR CA at least.)

Tirerack probably sells them; discount tire, Les Schwab, Big O, etc. Pep Boys, Kelley's and other auto part stores. Some of them will allow you to return them after the season if not used. Buy a blanket (or tarp), cloth/rubberized gloves and anything else you think you need to put them on in the snow. A shovel is quite useful, too.

I recommend Thule CB-12's. It's what we carry with us when we're going where we might need them.

http://www.amazon.com/Thule-Quality-...pr_product_top

I used SCC Super Z6 cable chains on my X3. They seemed to work quite well in the bare pavement-ice-snow mixed conditions that we'd get around the ski areas here. Never had any problems with them damaging the wheels. The instructions were terrible, but once I figured it out, they were fairly easy.

The fabric ones look interesting. There are some very useful reviews for another brand of them on Amazon; I don't think they would work for me (too much bare pavement in chain-required areas).

If you live somewhere with consistent sub 40f degree temps, then getting winter tires makes a lot of sense. Then you never need to worry about chains, and general performance (assuming you get good ones) should be similar to all-season tires.

Originally Posted by hoopla

If you live somewhere with consistent sub 40f degree temps, then getting winter tires makes a lot of sense. Then you never need to worry about chains, and general performance (assuming you get good ones) should be similar to all-season tires.

Agree with the first sentence. Agree with the second half of the second sentence only if you're talking about high-performance snow tires, but they're not that great in a situation where you would otherwise be considering using chains. If you're on "true" snow/ice tires, you're bad weather performance is greatly enhanced and I'd agree with the first half of the second sentence, but dry and wet driving really do suffer.

Thank you all for your suggestions.This was very helpful in the processs. I'm going with cables as recommended. Hopefully, I wont need to use them :}

Originally Posted by BMSJ3

Thank you all for your suggestions.This was very helpful in the processs. I'm going with cables as recommended. Hopefully, I wont need to use them :}

Here's some info I'm sure you'll find useful. If anybody knows about snow getting around in snow it's Oregon and Washington.