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      07-02-2012, 11:50 PM   #1
rjc32000
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M Sport & all season tire option

First time BMW owner (well, lease-holder, anyhow). Vehicle currently in production with expected completion of 7/6.

I ordered a glacier M Sport X Drive with, among other options, the all season tires (which are a necessity in my area). I did understand that the all season x-drive version of the M sport would have a few compromises: no top speed increase and no lowered suspension (neither are deal breakers for me, as I chose the M sport line primarily because I think it looks cool).

BUT...

In my production page on BMW, it displays what appears to be the 7 spoke style 396 wheels, which I'm really not a fan of. Can anyone verify that this is actually what my car will have? This is not something I understood when I elected all season tires, and the 396 style just doesn't seem to match the styling of the M Sport package.

Of course, I haven't actually seen them in person and may really like them. If anyone knows which wheels will actually be on my car, I'd appreciate hearing from them. I'd also love to hear that others have seen the 396 wheels and think they will look great!

Thanks! Looking forward to being part of the BMW family soon (well, at least as soon as my car leaves the factory, travels across the atlantic, traverses the Panama canal, and steams up the length of the Pacific--hopefully before the next generation of 3 series is introduced).!
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      07-03-2012, 07:23 AM   #2
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I ordered the same, you will be getting the 18" non staggered 400M wheels not the 396.
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      07-03-2012, 11:38 AM   #3
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It's a little unclear on BMW's website, but I would guess that PeteNJ is correct and you will be getting the non-staggered 400M wheels. Also, wouldn't you want full on winter tires for where you live?
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      07-03-2012, 12:01 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E36toF30 View Post
It's a little unclear on BMW's website, but I would guess that PeteNJ is correct and you will be getting the non-staggered 400M wheels. Also, wouldn't you want full on winter tires for where you live?
I hope you and PeteNJ are correct! We'll see about winter tires. I've never had anything other than all-seasons, and have lived here my entire life. Winter tires (and/or studded tires) are very common here, but I've never used them. I might get a set put on at some point, but want to see how the all seasons work for me before I drop the money.
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      07-03-2012, 01:50 PM   #5
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I couldn't resist the look of the staggered wheels, so I'm getting the staggered 400Ms with the performance tires for 9 months of the year, and a set of non-staggered wheels and performance snows from Tire Rack.
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      07-03-2012, 02:36 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by dbpe View Post
I couldn't resist the look of the staggered wheels, so I'm getting the staggered 400Ms with the performance tires for 9 months of the year, and a set of non-staggered wheels and performance snows from Tire Rack.
Yeah, they do look really great, don't they? Sadly, the seasons are reversed here: our summer is only 3 months, and we have snow on the ground from late October through May. Plus, I've heard that performance summer tires are better in temperatures above 50F, which is never guaranteed up here, even in summer.

I've heard some people on the forum suggest that staggered tires are poor in winter conditions. Why is that?

Assuming earlier posters are correct and I'm getting the non-staggered 400 rims, I am just planning on having winter tires put on those rims every season. Is there any reason why this would not be a viable option for me?
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      07-03-2012, 03:05 PM   #7
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It's better to have summer performance tires and another set of wheels with winter tires.
All seasons are good for nothing: in spring and autumn they give their best

Seriously speaking I'm working for almost 6 years in a Pirelli factory and this is my suggestion
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      07-03-2012, 04:08 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by vladberca View Post
It's better to have summer performance tires and another set of wheels with winter tires.
All seasons are good for nothing: in spring and autumn they give their best

Seriously speaking I'm working for almost 6 years in a Pirelli factory and this is my suggestion
That's good to know! Thanks for the advice. Our summer weather here is much like spring and fall in the rest of the country: A hot day (of which there are only a handful) will hit 70F. Nights are typically in the 40-50F range (it is only 52F at 1pm now). I've always heard that summer tires are best in temps above 60F, which just isn't guaranteed here. Plus it rains all the time, and our roads tend to have lots of dirt and/or mud.

Up here, most people use all seasons from April through Oct, and winter tires the rest of the year. Most people also have a single set of wheels and simply have the tires swapped out. Is there such a thing as a winter wheel? If so, what is the difference?
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      07-03-2012, 04:19 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rjc32000 View Post
I've heard some people on the forum suggest that staggered tires are poor in winter conditions. Why is that?
Wide tires are poor in snow and ice. If given an option, go with a less wide tire for winter.
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      07-03-2012, 10:41 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rjc32000 View Post
That's good to know! Thanks for the advice. Our summer weather here is much like spring and fall in the rest of the country: A hot day (of which there are only a handful) will hit 70F. Nights are typically in the 40-50F range (it is only 52F at 1pm now). I've always heard that summer tires are best in temps above 60F, which just isn't guaranteed here. Plus it rains all the time, and our roads tend to have lots of dirt and/or mud.

Up here, most people use all seasons from April through Oct, and winter tires the rest of the year. Most people also have a single set of wheels and simply have the tires swapped out. Is there such a thing as a winter wheel? If so, what is the difference?
I think that in addition to the tires you have to think about the wheels themselves.

I agree with others who say a good set of winter tires is better than all-season tires.

But my experience with my E90 was that BMW wheels are made of butter. If you have lots of potholes -- which we have in the Boston area due to weather and lack of maintenance -- you will bend the wheels with depressing regularity.

I bought a set of Borbet wheels with Dunlop winter tires for my E90. Over the course of seven years, I had to have both the OEM wheels and the Borbet wheels straightened five times.

Once, I thought for sure a wheel was bent beyond repair -- and you shoulda heard the noise it made after I hit the pothole. It was like the wheel had gone square.

If you can hack the look, you should try to find winter tires (I like Nokians) and a pair of steel wheels for your car.

Even better is a winter car.
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      07-04-2012, 12:42 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rjc32000 View Post
That's good to know! Thanks for the advice. Our summer weather here is much like spring and fall in the rest of the country: A hot day (of which there are only a handful) will hit 70F. Nights are typically in the 40-50F range (it is only 52F at 1pm now). I've always heard that summer tires are best in temps above 60F, which just isn't guaranteed here. Plus it rains all the time, and our roads tend to have lots of dirt and/or mud.

Up here, most people use all seasons from April through Oct, and winter tires the rest of the year. Most people also have a single set of wheels and simply have the tires swapped out. Is there such a thing as a winter wheel? If so, what is the difference?
Often times, swapping tires ends up being more expensive in the long run. A tire mount and balance is $40 on the low side for a set. You will need to do this twice every year. If you get just 5 seasons out of your winter wheels, you've just spent $400, barely less than the price of a set of cheaper wheels at the tire rack. Not to mention the potential damage to your wheels and tires every time they need to be mounted/dismounted. Plus the hassle of going to a tire place every spring/fall and having it done. My steel winter wheels have 10 years on them and will go many more. I'd easily be up to $800 on tire swapping alone if I did the single wheel set method. Instead I spent the $300 up-front and can swap the wheels in my driveway at my leisure.

As for buying winter tires, once you use them I guarantee you will never go back to all-seasons in the winter. They are far superior to all-seasons in the snow, and even more so on ice. All-seasons should only be used in locations that see light winters in my opinion. St. Louis, Kansas City, Nashville, D.C., etc. and south.

Last edited by CirrusSR22; 07-04-2012 at 12:48 AM..
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      07-04-2012, 01:45 AM   #12
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Any suggestions for good winter tires? I only got one answer on another thread. Thanks!
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      07-24-2012, 08:19 AM   #13
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Decided to nix the non staggered 400Ms and instead go with the 19" 403 staggered for most of the year. During the winter I will be switching off to a dedicated winter wheel/tire setup.
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      07-24-2012, 08:43 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elk View Post
Wide tires are poor in snow and ice. If given an option, go with a less wide tire for winter.
This is what is "commonly understood"... however, running a staggered setup in winter, you end up w/ the same width tire up front as a non-staggered (225mm), and you're only marginally bigger in the rear (255mm). While in theory, thinner is better, I have a hard time believing that this nominal difference is going to make much difference (if at all).

For me, 225 tires in the rear take away from the cars asthetics way too much (to the point that it actually doesn't make me enjoy my car as I hate the way it looks), so asthetics wins over questionalble performance throeries.

In Toronto, our winters are mild at best, so in the event that there is snow on the groud (5% of the time), I should be just fine (note that we're not driving Porsche sized 305mm rears).
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      09-02-2013, 03:42 PM   #15
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F31 Staggerd Summer Tires vs. All Season same size all around

I just took delivery of a 2014 F31 M Sport after waiting 4 months from the time of order back in May. Unfortunately it arrived with All Season Tires (225/45/18) front and rear Continental ContiPro Contact on the 400M wheels. I live in Southern California so snow and rain is not much of an issue.

I've always had summer performance tires on our BMW's, usually the OEM Bridgestone RE 050's but prefer Michelin Pilot Sports. The Brigdestones have a tread wear rating of 140 so they wear out quickly and are expensive.

My point to this thread is that I was dissapointed not to have the Front 225/45/18 and Rear 255/40/18 summer tires on it. It doesn't look right and doesn't handle as well. We currently have an E91 M Sport with the staggered set up Front 225/40/17 and Rear 255/35/17. Same with my previous E90 335i on 18's.

I'm currently awaiting to see if BMW will swap them out. I drove the car home of Friday and stuck it in the garage so I wouldn't put miles on the tires. It sucks to have a new car you can't drive. However, they may need to change the rear rims out also because they may not be 8.5" wide.

Last edited by SWHEELS; 09-02-2013 at 09:10 PM..
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      09-03-2013, 01:37 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbpe View Post
Any suggestions for good winter tires? I only got one answer on another thread. Thanks!
I have a square set of Blizzak WS70 on my 328 M Sport, and I love them! Definitely not a "performance" winter tire, but I was primarily interested in snow/ice performance since I never get above 75-80mph in the winter here. Note: I live in a climate where we have constant snow/ice on the road all winter long, so snow/ice performance was my primary goal. If you live somewhere with only occasional snow/ice, you might be more interested in the Blizzak performance winter tires.
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      09-03-2013, 03:52 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by martinf79 View Post
This is what is "commonly understood"... however, running a staggered setup in winter, you end up w/ the same width tire up front as a non-staggered (225mm), and you're only marginally bigger in the rear (255mm). While in theory, thinner is better, I have a hard time believing that this nominal difference is going to make much difference (if at all).
The wider the tire the larger the surface area, the larger the surface area the larger the contact patch, the larger the contact patch the more likely it is to hydroplane. Although you say 255mm isn't that great a difference than the 225mm tire if you do the math out you find that the 255 tire is 13% wider than the 225 tire - although that may not translate into an additional 13% chance of skidding I still wouldn't take the risk in Alaska of all places.
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