Driving in Snow/Ice with 255-55-18 tyres please tell me your experience.

[LooneyLeon]

Hello Guys/Girls,

Ok so ive decided to buy a second hand set of 18" wheels to run in the winter on my X5 as I've read that the standard wheels/tyres that are on my 4.6i.s are too wide (315) and too low profile, so are pretty much useless in the snow / ice.

A few questions based on using your X5 only with 18" alloys and 255-55-18 tyres.

I'm interested if you have any experience driving the car on snow and ice and how did the car perform with the following tyres:-

'Normal' Summer Tyres (non winter but a decent brand i.e Michelin, Continental etc)
1) Brand new Normal (i.e Michelin, Continental etc tyres) with 7mm - 8mm tread left
2) Lightly Used Normal (i.e Michelin, Continental etc tyres) with 5-6mm tread left
3) Heavily Used (i.e Michelin, Contiental etc tyres) with 2-4mm tread left

Winter Tyres
4) Brand new Winter Tyres (i.e VREDs Wintrac tyres) with 7mm - 8mm tread left
5) Lightly used Winter Tyres (i.e VREDs Wintrac tyres) with 5-6mm tread left
6) Heavily Used Winter Tyres (i.e VREDs Wintrac tyres) with 2-4mm tread left

I'm from England and I'm asking the question because one year we had a fair bit of snow and my car (BMW E46 330) was basically undriveable, the tread on my tires was around 2mm (normal/summer tires). The next year we had even more snow but i had brand new tyres on (8mm of tread - the tyres were the same make/tread pattern but just brand new) and the car was actually really good and driveable in the snow and ice. Yes I know some winter tyres would have been better but the car was actually ok to drive.

So im thinking, if i pick up a set of second hand 18" X5 wheels that have 'normal' non winter tyres on, but have decent amout of tread on them say 5mm or more, would that mean I could drive the car in snow / ice? or do i really need to go to the expense of getting brand new dedicated winter tyres?

The reason why ive got the X5 is that I want a car that will not get stuck in snow / ice etc if we have a bad winter.

Im quite a confident driver so i dont mind breaking traction a bit etc to get or keep the car moving, so im not bothered from that perspective i just want to know at what point does the X5 basically get stuck/not go anywhere in snow or on ice.

I dont mind spending the money, i just dont want to waste money if the wheels I buy come with tyres that would get me through the winter.

Your comments will be greatly recieved thanks in advance guys/girls.

[CondorX5]

The investment into winter tyres is not a waste of money.  It doesn't make a lot of sense to me to put summer tyres of whatever age/depth on winter wheels as the rubber compound is really different to that of a winter tyre and will become even harder under 7celcius, so the grip will not be ideal, particularly with heavily worn tyres whose grip on good roads is probably poor, let alone in snow and ice.

I have had a set of 18's for the past 5 years for my 4.8is, before that I used 17's on my previous X, a 3.0i.  I have always had Vredestein Wintracs on them and change tyres at 4mm as the performance of winter tyres is significantly less from 4mm down - ie 2mm Vredies may be legal, but the performance in adverse conditions would be significantly compromised and you may as well not have bothered having winters on if they are allowed to become so worn.

He 18's are the recommended BMW size for the 4.8 /4.6.  Mine have been fantastic- have only had two sets of Vredies over 50.000 miles, some of which has been in temps over 7deg C, so really not too bad.

Personally, I would never use summer rubber of any description as my winter tyres, it just doesn't make any sense to me,  I want the safest, best performance and I want to be able to keep moving in winter conditions.........the 18's with winter rubber fits the bill completely.

[kkx5]

Ok, my experience:
Driving Poland every Chistmas and we've got some snow there    :xmasgrin:
I've got set summers on 20"(315,275 michelin) and winters on 19" (285,255 Vredestains)
The problem with x5 on summer tyres is not setting off but breaking...
  "Normal" summer
1. ok to set off, poor for breaking, steering
2. so so set off, no breaking,steering
3. useless even for summer
    Winters
1. Excellent
2. Good
3. pointless

[Don Coffey]

Do you remember the news reports from Northern Ireland for Easter 2013.  Upto 15' drifts, power out, etc. etc.  well I was there and it took three days before a guy came down the street with a JCB to clear the road and our driveway.  As I said it was a JCB so not smooth clear roads, but rutted, very uneven clearance that anything other than a high riding 4x4 could attempt.

Well I was out and about on a set 18 winters and other than driving with care and slow speed never had a problem except where the tracks formed by the JCB and other tractors had left the centre so high I wasn't prepared to take the chance of damaging the bumper.

It's fair to say when driving in the rain I did notice the grip was a little lacking, but only when pushing on and nothing I was concerned about.

I always use dedicated winter tyres now.

Don

[LooneyLeon]

Thanks for your replies, i think ill bite the bullet and get some new winter tyres then, i'll be hoping for snow this winter to make the most of them  :xmasgrin:

[gobiman]

Hi,
Have a look at this - I think it answers your queries

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfuE00qdhLA