My first winter with the F80 - mini review

[DS_BMW]

I Daily mine in PA. Running PA4s 255/35/19 front and 285/35/19 rears no problem.

[jninja]

Originally Posted by ///M3_F80

Love it! I am into my 2nd winter with my F80 and it is a beast in the snow.

I like all the discussion here... but this pic give me anxiety to look at

Lowered, with lower body mods, ice in the wheel wells...pure winter... I just can't lol

[drkeng]

another DD M4 here. I went with Blizzaks on 18" wheels. I had an '07 335 and a '14 435 before the M4. Used Blizzaks on the 335 and Sottozeros on the 435. Snow gets cleared pretty quickly here, but we had some consecutive big snows this year. Although I toyed with getting a 3rd car for winter, I realized that the cost including insurance didn't make sense as worst case scenario here is 10-15 snow events and anything under 3 inches is insignificant. Also, a few Uber rides to and from work, if needed, would be much cheaper. Almost Uber'ed during one of the big snows, then I figured I'd risk it, but not take the highway. Then I figured I'd risk the highway. Ended up having to pass people going super slow.

One day I did manage to fill the front air dam with snow on the way to work. Not sure if I have a pic of that.

The Blizzaks ride great and are quiet.

Bottom line, as already noted, winter tires are a must. Heck, I even got them for my son's Rogue. The rubber compound is optimized for colder temperatures; below 45 deg (F), all seasons become "brittle" and performance suffers.

The other factor is careful sane driving. I'll give a little "extra" gas on a curve and the DTC kicks in and cuts the power.





I do wash it when possible!

[OF Hero]

The other thing I forgot to mention...creature comforts!

The seats and the heater get up to warm temps pretty quickly...usually by 2 min of starting the car I would start to feel some comfortable heat...and this is even on days were it was single digits or below 0 F.

The other thing I appreciated is that everything worked despite the brutally cold temps. I've had cars in the past where weird gremlins would start to show up when it got cold, usually with the electronics or lighting. The F80 was solid as can be and didn't skip a beat.

[JoeFromPA]

This was my 4th winter on my Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 tires in 245/45/18 on BBS SR wheels. I imagine I have somewhere between 15-20k miles on the tires but I'd need to confirm.

I consider this to be a cold-weather oriented all-season tire. It performs well in the dry and wet - and I just drove home at 75mph in a good downpour yesterday about 75 miles with zero concerns over hydroplaning. Braking is good for this type of tire. Steering response is muted, but not awful. Handling is predictable but of course much lower thresholds and squishier in general. At 6-7/10ths, it feels very similar to summer tires.

My first winter I drove up an ice-crusted, rutted, deep snow driveway with no issues whatsoever. If it would spin, it would still be creating forward movement. Somewhere between winters 2-3 that confidence was gone as the tire wore down some. By this winter, it still did adequate for my needs, but if it was going to snow 3-4" I'd be concerned about getting stuck on slight inclines or something.

I never felt braking decreased though, even on a few inches of snow - fresh or packed. It wasn't amazing at braking, but it was adequate and consistent.

...

One thing I'll say about these and michelin tires in general in my experience: They tend to maintain excellent balance and have good resistance to bubbling sidewalls. I know Michelin has made some....inferior....tires as well, but I give them credit for most of their tires offering excellent construction.

Coming up on 44k miles on the f80.

[Mr. Hankey]

Originally Posted by DDR MFS

I have 18s on my incoming F80. Do you use a second set of wheels or are those your winter wheels? Just wondering!

I'm using a second set of wheels for my winter tires - wanted the smaller diameter and more tire sidewall for frost heaves/potholes. I find it makes a noticeable difference to the 437 19s and 666 20s (I've had both those rims). Also a PITA to constantly have snows/summers switched and rims rebalanced twice a year and switch them out myself.

For this winter I'm using the stock staggered set of 513m 18s with Nokian R2s 255/45 R18 square setup - rears stretched just fine. This setup drives surprisingly like stock until you hit around 70 then you realize you're on winters and get a bit of that winter tire squiggly feeling. Otherwise that setup has been unstoppable for me.

In a couple of years I'll have the tires rotated from wider rears to the narrower fronts...

[seis-speed]

I drove it all winter to a local ski resort that is infamous for having a steep/twisty 9 mile road leading to the resort base. This small resort has a slideshow - advising against driving RWD to the resort on it's webpage. It is the exact road that screams no RWD cars. I was getting pretty confident and stopped one time to let some faster cars pass. I had to have someone give me a push and find some soft snow to get going. AWD cars would stop, ask how I was doing and blast right off. It shook my confidence. So I just learned to always keep a little momentum and get some speed up the hills and it has worked.

I learned over this winter how to drive RWD. I will say - You have to get used to it. Momentum is key. Do not stop on a hill unless you know you can get traction. Be mindful of parking. I always park downhill or on flat surfaces. In reverse this car is a monster FWD machine, so keep that in mind.

Starting from a stop is the biggest issue you will face IMO. If you need to drive in snow/ice pick a route that is not as steeep or doesn’t have a redlight on a hill.

AWD is superior for my needs, but RWD is manageable.

[moonluv810]

Love mine in the snow!
I decided to go with a square 18" setup with Blizzak LM001. No issues getting around on fresh, packed snow and some ice. I'm concerned somewhat with the front bumper clearance though. 😀

[OF Hero]

Originally Posted by Kief

Yeah, if don't mind
Thanks

Sorry for the late reply...hopefully these help give you a better idea.

[timhatimay]

The F80 is an excellent car in the snow with Nokians. I don't know if the it's the car, the DSC/MDM, the Nokians, or all of the above, but it really is confident in snow.*

This week, I drove into the nor'easter blizzard. On the way, I saw at least 7 accidents (mostly SUVs), passed AWD cars up a mountain pass, and saw people stuck on the road. The M3 climbed the hills, took turns, it just felt great for everything. The M is confidence inspiring and easy to control even in slick conditions. The picture below gives an idea, but some of the pass was much tighter and probably up to about 6" of snow on the road.

Then I got cocky...In the parking lot of the ski resort, I got plowed into my spot and there were snow drifts there. I said this car is a beast, let me just bust through! Well, the car is still low and will get hung up. Especially on wet heavy snow. After some nice guys helped push I eventually got out. Everyone did have some snarky comments though (e.g., "hows that sports car life treating you", "m3 is probably not the car for today"). The snow behind the car was probably about 1.5' of plowed slough and snow drift.

Moral of the story, the car is still low. Once you get hung up on compacted snow, tires aren't really going to help. With about 1 minute of shoveling and some rocking back and forth, I did get out with some minimal hassle. That incident aside, on the road with less than 7-12" of snow, in light fluffy snow the car is really great. I drove it with some major snow in NYC earlier this year and on un-plowed parking lots and roads the car was great. Never stuck or too much slipping. Overall, the car is great in snow conditions and winter, just stay away from the real deep stuff.

*This still requires driving with special attention and techniques in the snow. Leave space, reduce speeds, and make your inputs smooth!

Tim

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by timhatimay

The F80 is an excellent car in the snow with Nokians. I don't know if the it's the car, the DSC/MDM, the Nokians, or all of the above, but it really is confident in snow.*

*This still requires driving with special attention and techniques in the snow. Leave space, reduce speeds, and make your inputs smooth!

I've got a few decades of heavy winter driving experience with just about every tire I can think of including the eastern euro stuff (gislaveds). FWIW here's my 2 cents on the trade-offs.

I'm going to skip tread life as a core factor because if you have an M car, spend the fucking money for new tires every year, duh.

(1.) Dry Performance.
Are you willing to flex on winter ice/snow/slush/wet traction for cold dry performance? If so a Vredstein Wintrac is awesome

(2.) Frequency of Wet vs Snow vs Ice
Do you get 60% or greater snow and ice? Or do you get wet slush / salted wet roads?
For snow and Ice go Nokian Hakkas, for wet slush for Alpins.

(3.) It's Snow. Always Snow. Deep with the fucking snow.
In this case, as another poster said, you gotta get narrow tires so they're like skis. Wide tires lose traction because they float on top of the snow/slush rather than cut through to the basepack.

If I had to pick one, and I have, it's always Nokians. Nothing is better for traction, but some are close depending on the primary conditions. If there's a big snow forecast for the season then it's narrow nokians. If it's medium snow, then wider nokians. If it's gonna be a dry winter, then Vreds for the cold performance.

For dry winters, the Nokians kinda suck and in those cases go Vreds. Plus Vreds will wear like iron.

[JeremyDFW]

Never any issues. 19" Blizzaks, staggered with OEM sizing, mounted on 437 wheels. Third winter with the car.

[GritsNGravy]

Originally Posted by timhatimay

The F80 is an excellent car in the snow with Nokians. I don't know if the it's the car, the DSC/MDM, the Nokians, or all of the above, but it really is confident in snow.*

This week, I drove into the nor'easter blizzard. On the way, I saw at least 7 accidents (mostly SUVs), passed AWD cars up a mountain pass, and saw people stuck on the road. The M3 climbed the hills, took turns, it just felt great for everything. The M is confidence inspiring and easy to control even in slick conditions. The picture below gives an idea, but some of the pass was much tighter and probably up to about 6" of snow on the road.

Then I got cocky...In the parking lot of the ski resort, I got plowed into my spot and there were snow drifts there. I said this car is a beast, let me just bust through! Well, the car is still low and will get hung up. Especially on wet heavy snow. After some nice guys helped push I eventually got out. Everyone did have some snarky comments though (e.g., "hows that sports car life treating you", "m3 is probably not the car for today"). The snow behind the car was probably about 1.5' of plowed slough and snow drift.

Moral of the story, the car is still low. Once you get hung up on compacted snow, tires aren't really going to help. With about 1 minute of shoveling and some rocking back and forth, I did get out with some minimal hassle. That incident aside, on the road with less than 7-12" of snow, in light fluffy snow the car is really great. I drove it with some major snow in NYC earlier this year and on un-plowed parking lots and roads the car was great. Never stuck or too much slipping. Overall, the car is great in snow conditions and winter, just stay away from the real deep stuff.

*This still requires driving with special attention and techniques in the snow. Leave space, reduce speeds, and make your inputs smooth!

Tim

Tim - are you running the stud less or studded Nokian tires?

Sounds like you do what I do - I live in CT (work in nyc), travel to Vermont some weekends I don’t have the wife’s SUV.

Anyone please chime in - i am going Nokian - I have the option to get the Hakka r3 9 or 8. The 8 sounds like overkill - but I am torn on if I need the studded 9 (which seems to be more everyday road capable) or the not studded r3s. Here in northeast it is mostly cold roads but random black ice and random huge storms that drop a sh load.

On my car - 2018 F80 M3 with some mods &bm3 stage 2 tune (I’m assuming turn this off in snow) - I have the 20” 666M wheels, but will be taking off for my 19” varrstoen es-2s, which I had on my old e93 M3.

Will going from the 20” to the 19” really make much difference outside more rubber protection? They both run the same 255/35zr and 275/35zr??

Appreciate any help anyone can share in guiding me for a better winter experience.

[GritsNGravy]

I’ll also add - the studless Hakka are the same price as the studded right now pretty much - and I will probably only do a couple thousand miles on the wheels this winter if that ...

[evoix]

Originally Posted by ///M3_F80

Love it! I am into my 2nd winter with my F80 and it is a beast in the snow.

I hope you're on bags bc driving slammed like that is just a bad decision. Must look nice in the summer but seeing this pic raised my blood pressure lol

[///M3_F80]

Originally Posted by evoix

I hope you're on bags bc driving slammed like that is just a bad decision. Must look nice in the summer but seeing this pic raised my blood pressure lol

This is daily ride height. It's been perfect so far! No damage at all.

[Humdizzle]

i just run all seasons and live in missouri. never had an issue with my FRS, rwd f30, or civic.. would recommend the pilot sport as3 or the michelin crossclimate+.

i think alot of your tire choice isn't just dependent on where you live, but you're route. If your city doesn't clean the street too quick, salt them before a storm, or you have a 30 degree incline to get through... you probably want a snow tire.