Gary, what 18" winter tires for E46M3?

Toronto gets very few hard snow days (<10) and most of the time it's dry or minorly wet/slushy/light cover. I don't need a hardcore ice or snow tire as on those 10 nasty days I'll stay home or take our ML320. But I might have to drive through 1" of snow, max.

Will the Pilot Sport A/S do the trick for this type of use? Are there any choices of snows for the OEM 18s or will I have to back down to a 17?

Thanks - JP

I've driven the Sport A/S tires in light snow, and they'll do an 'okay' job of getting you back home...certainly much better than a summer tire. For anything more serious than a dusting of an inch or so, I'd use a dedicated winter tire. Since you've described your conditions as not too serious and you have an alternate vehicle, it could go either way. If you do use a winter tire, you can likely get away with an H rated higher performace winter tire like the Dunlop Winter Sport. Right now we're unsure of what exactly will be coming out tires etc> for this coming winter season, so you may want to check back closer to September. You can view some info about winter tires and pacakges at : http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AB2&...nter/index.jsp in the meantime as well.

Thanks for the response.

So, at this current point, there are no 18" snows available? But there may be some new ones released?

It's a real toss up between giving up all your performance rubber for the days when there is snow cover... and then putting up with crappy performance with snow tires in the dry. Maybe the Pilot A/S is a better compromise for me.

None for both front and rear in stock at this very moment (temps still in the 80's and 90's in most of the US), but there should be some for this coming season, like that Dunlop. We should know more in September.

Originally Posted by Gary@Tirerack

(temps still in the 80's and 90's in most of the US),

LOL! Ok--- just so you don't think we live in Igloos here in Toronto we've had hellaciously hot & humid temps also!

Thanks again!

I hear ya! Its such a common misconception here... so many here in the US think that Canada is a frozen tundra Most of you guys live within two hundred miles or so of the border right?

JP, 17" rims fit on the E46 M3.

You may need to run spacers in the rear for clearance.

Originally Posted by Gary@Tirerack

I hear ya! Its such a common misconception here... so many here in the US think that Canada is a frozen tundra Most of you guys live within two hundred miles or so of the border right?

I'm sure there are some really cold parts... I haven't been there. But, southern Ontario & Toronto is more south than the northern states are including Washington, vermont, maine, dakotas.

Originally Posted by The HACK

JP, 17" rims fit on the E46 M3.

You may need to run spacers in the rear for clearance.

I didn't want to discuss that option yet, but yes I've got the 17" 44's & M68's sticking around.

But I don't want to run the 225/45/17 & 245/40/17 combo from the regular E46's. These tires are 1" smaller than the stock M3 size.

For the M68 wheels, I'd need 225/50/17 & 245/45/17 and those aren't any more available than the 18s.

So, my only real option is to use the non-staggered type 44's with 225/50/17 Pirelli snow sports. I'm not sure how great they will look on the M3!

No good winter options for this car!

Originally Posted by JPinTO

I didn't want to discuss that option yet, but yes I've got the 17" 44's & M68's sticking around.

But I don't want to run the 225/45/17 & 245/40/17 combo from the regular E46's. These tires are 1" smaller than the stock M3 size.

For the M68 wheels, I'd need 225/50/17 & 245/45/17 and those aren't any more available than the 18s.

So, my only real option is to use the non-staggered type 44's with 225/50/17 Pirelli snow sports. I'm not sure how great they will look on the M3!

No good winter options for this car!

You CAN run 225/45/17s all around and not suffer significant consequences. Your mileage will be off slightly and your speedo off as well, but it's only like what, a couple of month out of the season right?

I think you should keep your type 44's and put the 225/50/17 if your worried about the 1" diameter