can one put non performance snows, eg. heavy duty hakkapelita or hankook, on a 328i sedan with sport pkg? if so, is there a downside to that? I used to have 4 studded haks on my 2004 325i w/o sport suspension and it was fine-except for the noise. I wouldn't do studs again.
The downside to the Blizzak MZ-01s I had on an E46 328i with ZSP was the jelly like feel on dry roads. Switching to Dunlop M3 performance snows cured that without much degradation of snow traction.
I used to run high performance snows (forgot which) on my old VW R32 all year. There is a very noticable difference on using those and the car differently wont stick to the ground even as good as all-seasons. On those days when it did snow, i was always thankful. When it comes times for new tires i dont think i will be doing thata gain. Maybe the Dunlop M3 performance snows because i had those on my Z and they were amazing.
The only downside is degraded dry road performance. I'd suggest the Blizzak LM 25 or equivalent - that's what I'm running on my M Roadster with no problems in the heaviest of CT/NY/DC snow and ice.
with snow tires on the car, the limiting factor for the BMW will be ground clearance, not tire traction. IMO performance snow tires just make sense for the low-to-the-ground cars we have, any snow deep enough to require a really aggressive tread tire is likely too deep for the car to handle anyway.
Sure, I'm running ContiWinterExtremes on my 335xi and they worked great in all conditions last year.
In dry conditions they obviously weren't as grippy as performance tires but they were perfectly fine for daily driving in wet, dry, snowy or icy conditions.
If you need assurance that you can get around in virtually all conditions, then "real" winter tires are answer.
I had 3Ds on my R32 and they were better in most conditions but notably less stable in real snow or on ice.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
BimmerFest BMW Forum
11.4M posts
753.1K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to BMW owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about Bimmerfest events, production numbers, programming, performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more! Bringing the BMW community together.