The first taste of a true Canadian winter..

Just wanted to let you guys know that the Z4M seems to handle the frigid cold like a champion. It has been -20 degrees celcius (-35 with the wind chill) and the starts and runs great.. The only thing that seems to be acting up is the tire pressure sensor light. It was too cold to check the tire pressures but visually they looked okay.

+1 ... I've got a set of Dunlop M3's on the factory 18's and the car pulls through the snow without any problems whatsoever. The traction control is great keeping the car out of trouble and those brakes are a thing of beauty! My Coupe seems to be even better in the snow than my RX8 which was twitchy ... probably because of the weight difference!

Zoomby_U

Originally Posted by kav

Just wanted to let you guys know that the Z4M seems to handle the frigid cold like a champion. It has been -20 degrees celcius (-35 with the wind chill) and the starts and runs great.. The only thing that seems to be acting up is the tire pressure sensor light. It was too cold to check the tire pressures but visually they looked okay.

I think the cold affects the pressure, just like heat does. My sensors went off on a sub-zero day as well.

Only drove mine once in snow last season. Had snows on, however, after seeing the car covered in salt and others flying off guard rails and other cars, I parked it from January 15th until March 15th. This year; Saturn Ion.

I have yet to get a chance to drive the MC in the snow (central NJ gets a max of 2-4 snowstorms), but I have the snows on (Pirelli Snowsport 210s). Good to know that there is a chance to get home in this car

Originally Posted by Zoomby_U

+1 ... I've got a set of Dunlop M3's on the factory 18's and the car pulls through the snow without any problems whatsoever. The traction control is great keeping the car out of trouble and those brakes are a thing of beauty! My Coupe seems to be even better in the snow than my RX8 which was twitchy ... probably because of the weight difference!

Zoomby_U

+1 on the Dunlop M3 tires. I have mine on 17 inch wheels on my Z4 M Coupe, and the tires are terrific as is the handling of the car.

EB

Originally Posted by ebruder

+1 on the Dunlop M3 tires. I have mine on 17 inch wheels on my Z4 M Coupe, and the tires are terrific as is the handling of the car.

+2 on the Dunlop M3s, I've got mine in OEM sizes on inexpensive ASA 18" rims that are black with polished lip. I actually get more complements on the ASA rims than I do on the stock ones, go figure! I guess because the setup looks different enough to people that it stands out. Just curious on fitting 17" rims on the Z4M? When I looked a year and a half ago, tirerack assured me that there was no fitment that would clear the calipers. Of course, car was just out then, so maybe things have changed?

Apparently 17's do fit with the proper offset ... but you can't even put a piece of paper through the opening between the wheel and the caliper :-)

Cheers,
Zoomby_U

Originally Posted by Caddyshk

Only drove mine once in snow last season. Had snows on, however, after seeing the car covered in salt and others flying off guard rails and other cars, I parked it from January 15th until March 15th. This year; Saturn Ion.

+1 all the way.

I take her out on dry clear days and even the slightest amount of salt on her brings tears to my eyes.

Originally Posted by DaveZ

Just curious on fitting 17" rims on the Z4M? When I looked a year and a half ago, tirerack assured me that there was no fitment that would clear the calipers. Of course, car was just out then, so maybe things have changed?

Tire Rack doesn't list the 17 inch wheels as a choice for the Z4M in their computerized selection process, but if you speak with a sales rep, they can set you up properly. The only wheels that they recommended for 17's for the Z4M were Borbets, a fairly inexpensive (and kind of ugly) wheel. The offset for the rears is fine, but they included spacers along with longer lug bolts for the front to clear the calipers. The 17's allowed me to go to 215/55x17 for the winter, and the M3s work great. Dry road cornering is surprisingly good even with that much higher profile tire, but I certainly wouldn't take it to the track this way.

As was pointed out, the wheel weights have to be placed at the very edge of the rims to clear to calipers. TireRack mis-mounted the weights on one of the wheel/tires combos they sent to me, but the shop I had put the wheels on popped on a new weight in a minute. Tire Rack apologized like crazy and offered to pay any charge the shop added (they didn't).

EB

Originally Posted by ebruder

Tire Rack doesn't list the 17 inch wheels as a choice for the Z4M in their computerized selection process, but if you speak with a sales rep, they can set you up properly. The only wheels that they recommended for 17's for the Z4M were Borbets, a fairly inexpensive (and kind of ugly) wheel. The offset for the rears is fine, but they included spacers along with longer lug bolts for the front to clear the calipers. The 17's allowed me to go to 215/55x17 for the winter, and the M3s work great. Dry road cornering is surprisingly good even with that much higher profile tire, but I certainly wouldn't take it to the track this way.

As was pointed out, the wheel weights have to be placed at the very edge of the rims to clear to calipers. TireRack mis-mounted the weights on one of the wheel/tires combos they sent to me, but the shop I had put the wheels on popped on a new weight in a minute. Tire Rack apologized like crazy and offered to pay any charge the shop added (they didn't).

Thanks for the info, although its a moot point for me now. I take it that you are running 215 all round, non-staggered setup? Even with the 255 M3s in the rear I can throw the tail out easier than the stock Contis (which are no great shakes as far as I am concerned). I can imagine that with 215s in the rear they can so easily be overpowered by this car that you have to be very careful with the throttle.

Originally Posted by epbrown

I think the cold affects the pressure, just like heat does. My sensors went off on a sub-zero day as well.

Yes. Pressure is a function of temperature and desity.

I'm running 17" M5 replicas and they fit tight but have been okay so far. Again I can't fit anything between the caliper and the wheel weights but they do not seem to rub.

BTW I checked tire pressure and they were all uniformly 28psi (all 4 tires) - topped up to 31psi and tire light went out on its own.

Originally Posted by DaveZ

Thanks for the info, although its a moot point for me now. I take it that you are running 215 all round, non-staggered setup? Even with the 255 M3s in the rear I can throw the tail out easier than the stock Contis (which are no great shakes as far as I am concerned). I can imagine that with 215s in the rear they can so easily be overpowered by this car that you have to be very careful with the throttle.

Dave, correct that I am running not staggered. In all honesty, I really don't want to throw the tail out in slippery conditions, expect for practicing car control in a large, vacant parking lot.

With the bite of this wheel/tire combination I have yet to have any of the control function (ABS, etc.) kick in unless I am purposely trying to find limits. Daily driving is a non-event.

EB

Originally Posted by DaveZ

+2 on the Dunlop M3s, I've got mine in OEM sizes on inexpensive ASA 18" rims that are black with polished lip. I actually get more complements on the ASA rims than I do on the stock ones, go figure! I guess because the setup looks different enough to people that it stands out. Just curious on fitting 17" rims on the Z4M? When I looked a year and a half ago, tirerack assured me that there was no fitment that would clear the calipers. Of course, car was just out then, so maybe things have changed?

Do you have any pics of your asa rims on your car?