winter tires

Anyone put winter tires on their E39 5 series car? I have a 1999 540i with Michelin Pilot Sport all season tires and was wondering how much better traction I would get on snow and ice with winter tires.

Dunlop WinterSport M3's on my e39. Not as good as full snows but better than all season, especially when the temperature gets down around 10 degrees or less and there's snow on the road. My all seasons worked well as long as it was snow and the temperature above the 30's.

The Wintersports however don't have as much squirm as the snows when the roads are dry. Where I live, that's about 90% of the winter months so I chose them over the full snow tires. Initially, I had the Blizzaks.

I just bought a separate set of rims for the Dunlops.

OP: Yes.
For Denver area…Blizzak WS-60 mounted on 16’s for about 2.5 months.
OE Dunlop SP Sport 2000E on 17 inch style 5’s remainder of year.

Winter tires will give excellent traction in snow - ice is a different story.... I never get traction...

I've been in situations with winter tires where my E39 gets up hills covered with 2 to 3 inches no problems while a front wheel drive car with all season has a significantly tougher time...

one you get snows, (depending on where you live, and how often you get caught in the storms) that you will wonder how you lived without them!

Dunlop Graspics have always been great for me!

Originally Posted by jkgrage

Anyone put winter tires on their E39 5 series car? I have a 1999 540i with Michelin Pilot Sport all season tires and was wondering how much better traction I would get on snow and ice with winter tires.

Night and day difference!

All-season tires are really just summer tires with some deceptive marketing behind them. I have studded Kumho KW-19s for the winter.

My stopping distances have improved so much with these tires, that I have to carefully monitor the rear view mirror when I slow down or stop, so I don't get rear-ended by dumb-a$$es sporting "all-season" tires.

Here in southern WI, I swap into my snow tires around T-Giving. Back to summer in mid April. The difference they make in getting thru even a couple inches of fluff is amazing. Plus, you get twice the lifetime (years, not mileage!) out of your performance tires, which only seem to last about 20-30K miles.

I run Dunlop WinterSport M on style 66's, i think they work great, i used to run Hancook Icebear W300 and i think they are about the same.

The best are still the Nokian Hakkapeliita Rsi for winters.
There are some cool vids - Aston Martin at over 200Km/hr on ice & snow track with the Rsi's on.
Myself I have the Hakka's for quite a while now (winter only). Better performance than the leading brands by far.

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Michelin Pilot Alpins here. Drove in seven inches of snow last winter and did fine. I will take my RWD over my wife's Outback with all season tires.

Absolutely yes on a RWD like BMW E39!

If you drive a FWD car like Toyota Camry, you can get away with Four-Season Tires, but RWD, you definitely need WINTER Tires.

Every year, Tire companies (Michelin, Firestone etc.) make a special winter tire rubber compund that is softer than 4-season tire rubber compound.
This makes winter tire rubber still soft even at let's say minus 20F.
Every Fall, for efficiency reasons, tire companies re-tool their plants and only make certain number of winter tires (let's say they make only 80,000 winter tires for let's say 225-60-15).

So the trick is to buy Winter tires around Oct-Nov to avoid running out.
Buy a seperate set of rims so you save money on install and removal every Fall and Spring.

I bought Firestone WinterForce tires from tirerack dot com for my wife's 2007 Honda Odyssey. Each cost us $70 (not incl install and balance) from tirerack dot com. We have used them for 2 winters now. Very happy with the quality and price of Firestone WinterForce.

I used to own a 1991 Volvo 240 (RWD), I used Nokia Hakkapeliitta winter tires but personally I do not think Nokian Hakkapeliitta is better than Firestone WinterForce.

just in mounted 4 (235/45 17) Hakka's R with new rims....but as no snow, have yet to experience how they run. On dry/wet surfaces with temps abover freezing very quiet and solid...

Originally Posted by doru

The best are still the Nokian Hakkapeliita Rsi for winters.
There are some cool vids - Aston Martin at over 200Km/hr on ice & snow track with the Rsi's on.
Myself I have the Hakka's for quite a while now (winter only). Better performance than the leading brands by far.

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That's what I was going to say. I really think that in their temperature range, they're a much better tyre than my Toyo Versados (which are supposedly a premium brand!) My Hakkas are going on in about a week, depending on temperature. I should point out that in temperatures over 10°C, they're like driving with silly putty on the rims—incredibly soft.

I disagree with CN90; FWD cars need snows just as much as *our* RWD cars. Their odd balance can result in some very odd handling, which can be resolved by putting snows on the rear, at least. However, I understand what he's getting at. There's less weight on the drive wheels, making it easier to become stuck in heavy snow.

Ice performance is very relative.

I run 4 Dunlop M2s in the winter.

In this month's Car & Driver:

"an all wheel drive vehicle with all season tires can out-accelerate either a FWD or RWD with winter rubber but that's where the advantage ends..."

"...winter tires allow a 2WD car to outbrake, outturn and outmaneuver AWD"

"to buy a second set of tires to get through winter is almost always cheaper than AWD and allows you to relish the superior driving dynamics of RWD for the rest of the year"

Get a set of 4 snows and you are all set. This also extends the life of your summer tires.

Dunlop WinterSport M3s are also my choice....they`ve gotten me through all kinds of slop with no problems, and are rock-steady at triple-digit speeds on dry pavement.