New Rubber for Winter

[Darnicmax]

After a few months of should I/shouldn't I, I have finally taken the plunge and invested in a set of winter tyres.

My choice (largely based on what I've read here and the old forum) is Vredesteins Wintrac 4 Xtreme XL (2x 255/50R19 (107V) and 2x 285/45R19 (111V))

Also planning a trip to the Alps early in the new year to fully test them!

Just need to source 4 x 19" rims (my local tyre depot has agreed to swap the tyres for £11 a corner - but it will be a lot of hassle!). So if anyone has any 19" rims for sale, please let me know:

Hadn't realised just how big the tyres on an X5 are until the guy from City Link courier arrived with them this morning - cussing about the weight and asking if they were for a tractor....

[CondorX5]

You won't be sorry.....19" rims come up quite often on ebay from all those upgrading to 20" and 22" so keep an eye out for them - its the 18" rims that are really hard to find! BMW recommends 17" for E53 models, except for the 4.8, which needs 18" OEM rims to clear the brakes, but 19"winter tyres will still perform a whole lot better in snow than normal Diamaris or similar!! Happy snow motoring

[semtex]

If you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for the tyres ?

I'm thinking of going down the same route.

[ChrisLux]

Just for info , mine is running 17'' ContiSport Winter Contacts which are very good .
I also run them on my Alpina and Schnitzer Tourings .

And I've a friend with an E53 in Oslo and he uses Yokahamas and says they're brilliant .

And I know that over here the Pirelli Scorpion is quite highly rated too , same as used on
old Range Rovers/Land Rovers , but quite noisy on the road .

[Darnicmax]

[quote=""semtex""]If you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for the tyres ?

I'm thinking of going down the same route.[/quote]


Hi Semtex

Of course - no problem.

I bought them from http://www.tyremen.co.uk

Price (which was the cheapest I could find last week) was £620 for all four, plus £10 delivery via City link

If it snows again this winter, hoping they will enable me to get up and down this:

[squeaky2]

I have just inadvertantly won a set of 17" alloys on ebay so just need to get winter tyres for them.

I was under the impression that you were better off having a narrower tyre for the winter?

[Darnicmax]

[quote=""squeaky2""]I have just inadvertantly won a set of 17" alloys on ebay so just need to get winter tyres for them.

I was under the impression that you were better off having a narrower tyre for the winter?[/quote]


Yes - you are right. CondorX5 posted recently on this and info is here:

http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=210

I had not realised 17" (for E53) were recommended before ordering my tyres - hence my decision to go with what was already on the car (ie 19"). That said, at least I have the flexibility of all wheels/tyres being the same size.

So...looks like your inadvertant win will set you up nicely for winter.

Sounds like we should arrange a winter meet - where the various sizes/configurations can be tested out!

[squeaky2]

Was kinda a useful thing really..... A. Wanted to get winter tyres on the car even though we dont get much snow really in london but it will be nice to have better tyres suited to the cold. B. also gives me a chance to get the 19" alloys sent off to be refurbed as they have been belted against a few curbs. 17" flowery alloys (as i call them) were £51 on ebay. If all else fails ill put winter tyres on them and wait till everyone is stuck again before putting them back on ebay

A winter meet in a quiet snow filled car park could be fun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a19lnIAb0yY

[CondorX5]

Those "flowery" alloys are ellipsoid style 56 OEM BMW alloys as fitted to the earliest E53s although they are a bit of an acquired taste..ahem...and don't do much for your street cred, they are brilliant in horrid icy / snowy conditions on winter tyres - I had the same set up on my 3.0i X5 and would have been quite happy to have them on my 4.8 but for the fact that the 4.8 needs an 18" as its smallest

They were no problem to sell on and I'm now the proud owner of a set of style 58 18" star spokes and a new set of Vredies in 18", so roll on cold weather! As I always say, there's no street cred in a ditch and wheels are not easily identified under a layer of mucky slush and ice in winter anyway! There are a few sets of the 17" ellipsoids on ebay at the moment - E53 owners should grabthe chance while they can to get set up for winter so you can keep when others are STUCK!

[squeaky2]

Another Article

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/stillatt ... tyres.aspx

A video

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-video/winter-tyres/

Some Interesting reading

http://www.jaffacake.net/dx/winter-tyres

[Darnicmax]

Hmm...now that makes interesting reading...especially the Autocar article on leaving winter tyres on all year round..:

"Talking to the people at Conti here’s the really interesting thing - winter tyres aren’t just for snow, they can be used on slush, ice, frost and even wet roads. In fact any time the temperature dips below +7deg you’re better off on winter tyres. Apparently.

Also there’s no real reason you can’t use winter tyres all year round in the UK. There is some trade off in dry braking in really hot conditions, but this balanced with better braking in the wet and cold. Likewise the softer compound might wear more quickly in the summer, but this is balanced with better wear rates in the winter"

I had assumed you must swap out...but if there is an option to just to run winter tyres as above, then I might consider. Would certainly save effort with buying spare rims and swapping out. My X5 is used as second car - so not concerned about potential higher wear rates...more concerned about potential higher road noise from winter tyres (I am assuming deeper/wider tread will generate more noise)

Feels like an early swap out this year to see how they compare to the Michelin Diamaris fitted at the moment.

[ice climber]

Hi
Just had a new set of Wintrac Extreme 4 fitted on my 19" rims. Good price at £690 fitted etc. Been on now for around 1000 miles, just in time for the very wet roads last week. All I can say is that they are very quiet and very good in the wet if anything these tyres are way underated. My old MIch Diamaris by comparison were not in the same league for noise or wet roads. It is a myth that winter tyres are only for winter, you just need to look at all those LR Discos on M&S all year!
There are some good USA tyre vids showing the difference in traction and stopping, should make you think. I want to keep moving this year and as I hope to go to the Alps this winter where M&S tyres are a requirement in the areas I am going it is a no brainer what to use. Having sexy looking tread patterns just doesn't cut it in winter.....

[Darnicmax]

[quote=""ice climber""]Hi
Just had a new set of Wintrac Extreme 4 fitted on my 19" rims. Good price at £690 fitted etc. Been on now for around 1000 miles, just in time for the very wet roads last week. All I can say is that they are very quiet and very good in the wet if anything these tyres are way underated. My old MIch Diamaris by comparison were not in the same league for noise or wet roads. It is a myth that winter tyres are only for winter, you just need to look at all those LR Discos on M&S all year!
There are some good USA tyre vids showing the difference in traction and stopping, should make you think. I want to keep moving this year and as I hope to go to the Alps this winter where M&S tyres are a requirement in the areas I am going it is a no brainer what to use. Having sexy looking tread patterns just doesn't cut it in winter.....[/quote]

Ice climber - the more I read/learn on this, the more I question the need to have a summer set if you are running Wintrac Extremes. I've trawled through a few LR forums today - and there is a view, as you state, that winter tyres are suitable year round. The write ups on various tyre forums are very positive - with many people keeping them on year-round.
It sounds that you are ahead of me in terms of comparing the Mich Diamaris to Wintrac. If I experience the same, then I think I will put my MIch Diamaris on ebay and be done with it (especially as I run round in an old Merc SLK for the spring/summer months anyway!)

[ice climber]

It was seeing drivers in Colorado driving in the snow that I finally got on board with the all year 'winter tyre' concept.
Nice set of summer wheels u have there! No room on our drive for more cars and looking after mine and hers is enough!

[CondorX5]

[quote=""Darnicmax""][quote=""ice climber""]Hi
Just had a new set of Wintrac Extreme 4 fitted on my 19" rims. Good price at £690 fitted etc. Been on now for around 1000 miles, just in time for the very wet roads last week. All I can say is that they are very quiet and very good in the wet if anything these tyres are way underated. My old MIch Diamaris by comparison were not in the same league for noise or wet roads. It is a myth that winter tyres are only for winter, you just need to look at all those LR Discos on M&S all year!
There are some good USA tyre vids showing the difference in traction and stopping, should make you think. I want to keep moving this year and as I hope to go to the Alps this winter where M&S tyres are a requirement in the areas I am going it is a no brainer what to use. Having sexy looking tread patterns just doesn't cut it in winter.....[/quote]

Ice climber - the more I read/learn on this, the more I question the need to have a summer set if you are running Wintrac Extremes. I've trawled through a few LR forums today - and there is a view, as you state, that winter tyres are suitable year round. The write ups on various tyre forums are very positive - with many people keeping them on year-round.
It sounds that you are ahead of me in terms of comparing the Mich Diamaris to Wintrac. If I experience the same, then I think I will put my MIch Diamaris on ebay and be done with it (especially as I run round in an old Merc SLK for the spring/summer months anyway!)[/quote]

I think the trade-off comes with bigger wheel sizes and the desire to have large, low profile wheel set ups rather than the much smaller narrower wheels usually fitted on winter tyre set ups - the best performance in winter is on the smallest wheels suitable for the car, (although your new set of 19" tyres will certainly do a far better job than their Diamaris conterparts in ice and snow, BMW recommend the smaller sizes with higher sidewalls) - and I suppose no-one really wants to drive around on 17" ellipsoid style 56 wheels all year round or indeed, the 18" style 58S I have just acquired, when the "standard" wheels for my 4.8 are 20" staggered skateboards.....