Should I buy winter wheel/tire set up?

[doug_999]

Yes, get a winter setup, not a snow setup. Snow tires are terrible in the dry and wet. You want something like the OEM BMW setup ( find it used). Reasons?
1. Potholes. Lots more of them in the winter, your winter 18" has a much taller sidewall than your 20"s
2. Temp - your summer tires will not stop, turn, or accelerate like a winter tire in the cold.
3. Mother Nature. That day you are out and you get a half inch of unpredicted snow. You are toast on the summers.

It's a small price to pay.

Ps the bmw OEM set comes with the PA4 and they are amazing for your weather.

Pps. Lots of good deals in the classified area including a screaming deal on some 19"

Ppps, winter setup from bmw is not square. Shows as an option, but not what comes when ordered. Or at least wasn't for me.

[masab321]

Originally Posted by Jason60051

You'll be fine with the stock 666 wheels and tires if you go out on a nice winter day. I live in northwest Chicago and also have an suv as a DD...but on the occasional nice winter day I will bring out the m3 and I've never had an issue with the stock set up...just have to drive a bit more cautiously.

How frequently do you drive your M in winters? What’s the temperature cutoff for you to drive an M with summer performance tires on a dry winter day?

[ironviet]

I live in Utah and the Michelin Alpin PA4 work wonders for your scenario. The reason I'd suggest that is that a more dedicated snow tire would not make the car handle any better. The PA4 still responds and handles well in the cold dry/wet. Light snow is also ok. When it comes down heavy you have the SUV. I didn't want to reduce the nice handling of the car and trade it off for pure traction for the worst case scenario. More days will be dry but cold during the winter so my vote is the PA4 or a performance winter setup vs pure snow traction for a performance car.

[fknlo]

Originally Posted by llvsixaxisvll

I went with 18" Apex square 245/45 studless tires (non-winter performance) and haven't looked back. But I usually don't do crazy hard redlining pulls or performance driving during winter months but can chug along in 3-5" of snow without issues. Also ride is relatively way more comfortable, plus new tires are cheap enough to replace often if you have a little fun on the wet snowy roads. And the larger side wall and strong apex wheels give lots of confidence during post winter potholes.

Same but with a BBS set and Nokian R3's. I'd hesitate to head into the mountains on a really bad day but that's about it and I'm realistically not going anyway because it's going to be 4 hours each way.

[Stumpel]

I'm in PA and decided to go with the OEM recommended set up. I bought it from a BMW dealership which had 2 new sets on ebay. I think I paid less than $2K. Works great (although we had little snow this winter).

[White340]

There are a few sets of used winter setups - prob the most economical way of getting it. If you build from scratch it'll get pricey unless you get some cheap rims. Find a 640m wheel setup . I've seen these for as low as 1200. Throw in shipping and you're still under 1500 for a setup that will fit fine and you can use the car in the winter without worrying.