Review: 335 + Blizzak LM-25s + SNOW!

JKratty · 11-26-2007, 09:39 AM

Ok folks,

This Turkey Day had me braving the PA Turnpike heading up to the fam's place in the snowbelt east of Cleveland. In preparation, my E90 was shod with 18" Blizzaks in 225/40-18, per Gary's recommendation. Having grown up in the snowbelt, I've driven in ridiculous amounts of snow since age 16, but never in a RWD, $45k performance sedan! Thanksgiving Day brought a steady flow of the white stuff, so I was able to give her a pretty thorough road test...with this review in mind, of course.

First, on dry roads, the Blizzaks are pretty nice. Definitely a more forgiving ride versus the RFTs. Because the rears are a little stretched (although to the eye this is only visible on close inspection and is not ugly at all), I'm always nervous about taking corners at my usual pace. While they haven't given me reason to be especially cautious, they don't feel quite as glued down as the RFTs, which is to be expected.

Road noise is marginally more noticeable. The strangest, and most amusing noises come under moderate/high braking from 60+mph...the only way I can describe it is the noise the Death Star makes in that one scene where the black-helmeted guy is given the order to vaporize Alderaan, he pulls that one lever, and you see the laser firing up from inside the Death Star just before Obi senses his Great Disturbance.

Ok, on to the snow. I was the family's chauffeur over the river and through the woods on T-Day. We got about 3-4" of wet snow, with temperatures in the high 20s. On snow covered roads, under average acceleration (i.e. minimal boost), I did not lose grip at all, even on inclines from a stop. However, if you get into the right pedal enough to anger the turbos, the traction control immediately kicks in. But the car never fishtailed when this happened, it always maintained a straight line, even when I purposely tried to break traction. This is a good thing.

On the way home, full of turkey and Jameson, and with 3 other people in the car, I tried a few mild panic stops on a snow-covered side street leading home. Now granted I was not absolutely mashing the brake pedal, but the car never slid. I would describe my braking test as hitting the pedal harder than you'd normally feel comfortable doing on a white street.

The snow NE OH had on T-Day moved southeast along the path the wifey and I would take the next day, back down the PA Turnpike toward DC. We had steady snow showers, ranging from flurries to some pretty good squalls, all the way through the mountains. Even at the weather's worst, the car never felt nervous, and always made me feel in control...so long as I didn't do anything stupid, of course.

In sum, this combination of winter rubber and our 335 E90 makes for a completely capable winter performer.

Of course, with the combination of snow, road salt, and dirt roads I drove on, my car looks like I went mud-bogging compared to all the nice, clean cars in DC!

Cheers and happy holidays!

HyperM3 · 11-26-2007, 10:13 AM

Nice review! That should help others out that are debating on what to get.

JackMac · 11-27-2007, 03:26 PM

I have the Blizzak LM-22 RFT's and they are great too.

During your driving, did you push the DSC/DTC button? Engaging the Dynamic Traction Control (i.e making it less sensative and allowing some wheel spin) helps too when driving in snow.

manraj · 11-27-2007, 08:27 PM

Any after-shots of the winter drive?

Can't say I've ever seen a filthy e92.

darkcloud · 11-27-2007, 08:32 PM

Where about in eastern cleveland? I live in Lakewood just west of Cleveland and we saw absolutely no snow haha.

Raz335 · 11-27-2007, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manraj

Any after-shots of the winter drive?

Can't say I've ever seen a filthy e92.

Agreed..

judec · 11-28-2007, 08:30 AM

nice writeup. tire size?

JKratty · 11-28-2007, 08:55 AM

judec -- 225/40-18 all around.

LOL! This has to be a first...demands for pictures of a ridiculously dirty 335!

Truth be told, we had some rain here in DC the last few days so a good deal of the road salt streaks rinsed off. But i'll see what I can do.

darkcloud -- Way out in Geauga County...ahh, the joy of the snowbelt! We drove to Moreland Hills on Thanksgiving...maybe 1/2" while we had 3".

TahoeOG · 11-28-2007, 12:19 PM

Hey Great Review. I actually JUST got my Blizzacks last night with 17 sport rims as my winter set up. I installed and going to do a thread on them.. They look really nice, and believe it or not, so do the rims. The ride was great and i'll post all the info up on the thread. Now i'm WAITING for the snow lol.

Good Post!

Park2670 · 11-28-2007, 02:51 PM

I had the experience of driving my E90 335 in the snow for the first time last night. I have driven RWD in snow, but have not had a ton of experience. I think with snow tires these cars will handle better than FWD with all seasons. Im running 235/40R18 Dunlop 3Ds.

darkcloud · 11-28-2007, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKratty

darkcloud -- Way out in Geauga County...ahh, the joy of the snowbelt! We drove to Moreland Hills on Thanksgiving...maybe 1/2" while we had 3".

You don't want to know how often I'm out that way. I was in Burton/Chardon/Middlefield area just yesterday. Your parents truly do live in the sticks with the Amish people

JKratty · 11-28-2007, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkcloud

You don't want to know how often I'm out that way. I was in Burton/Chardon/Middlefield area just yesterday. Your parents truly do live in the sticks with the Amish people

Ruh roh!!

11-26-2007, 09:39 AM	#1
JKratty In Scotch We Trust 0 Rep 76 Posts Drives: '69 Chevelle, E90 335 Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DC iTrader: (0)	Review: 335 + Blizzak LM-25s + SNOW! Ok folks, This Turkey Day had me braving the PA Turnpike heading up to the fam's place in the snowbelt east of Cleveland. In preparation, my E90 was shod with 18" Blizzaks in 225/40-18, per Gary's recommendation. Having grown up in the snowbelt, I've driven in ridiculous amounts of snow since age 16, but never in a RWD, $45k performance sedan! Thanksgiving Day brought a steady flow of the white stuff, so I was able to give her a pretty thorough road test...with this review in mind, of course. First, on dry roads, the Blizzaks are pretty nice. Definitely a more forgiving ride versus the RFTs. Because the rears are a little stretched (although to the eye this is only visible on close inspection and is not ugly at all), I'm always nervous about taking corners at my usual pace. While they haven't given me reason to be especially cautious, they don't feel quite as glued down as the RFTs, which is to be expected. Road noise is marginally more noticeable. The strangest, and most amusing noises come under moderate/high braking from 60+mph...the only way I can describe it is the noise the Death Star makes in that one scene where the black-helmeted guy is given the order to vaporize Alderaan, he pulls that one lever, and you see the laser firing up from inside the Death Star just before Obi senses his Great Disturbance. Ok, on to the snow. I was the family's chauffeur over the river and through the woods on T-Day. We got about 3-4" of wet snow, with temperatures in the high 20s. On snow covered roads, under average acceleration (i.e. minimal boost), I did not lose grip at all, even on inclines from a stop. However, if you get into the right pedal enough to anger the turbos, the traction control immediately kicks in. But the car never fishtailed when this happened, it always maintained a straight line, even when I purposely tried to break traction. This is a good thing. On the way home, full of turkey and Jameson, and with 3 other people in the car, I tried a few mild panic stops on a snow-covered side street leading home. Now granted I was not absolutely mashing the brake pedal, but the car never slid. I would describe my braking test as hitting the pedal harder than you'd normally feel comfortable doing on a white street. The snow NE OH had on T-Day moved southeast along the path the wifey and I would take the next day, back down the PA Turnpike toward DC. We had steady snow showers, ranging from flurries to some pretty good squalls, all the way through the mountains. Even at the weather's worst, the car never felt nervous, and always made me feel in control...so long as I didn't do anything stupid, of course. In sum, this combination of winter rubber and our 335 E90 makes for a completely capable winter performer. Of course, with the combination of snow, road salt, and dirt roads I drove on, my car looks like I went mud-bogging compared to all the nice, clean cars in DC! Cheers and happy holidays! __________________ ---------------------------------------------------- E90 335i, black sapphire metallic, terra dakota, PP, SP, 6MT, cold weather, iPod, CA, burl walnut, LeatherZ ZHP shift knob, 19" M5 reps w/ Kumho Ecsta SPT staggered, BMC drop-in, SSTT. Amen.
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11-26-2007, 10:13 AM	#2
HyperM3 Too many Alex's, from now on, call me Beaufort 342 Rep 6,188 Posts Drives: See Sig Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lawrenceville, NJ iTrader: (8)	Nice review! That should help others out that are debating on what to get. __________________ 13 HD FatBob 17 A4 Glacier/Black 1st Edition/Pre+/Sport/EurocodeTMD/Racechip 16 S6 (gone),14 S6 (gone),14 S6 (gone),13 S6 (gone),10 S4 (gone) 07 335i(gone)
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11-27-2007, 03:26 PM	#3
JackMac Recovering BMW Addict 151 Rep 1,914 Posts Drives: <OO (\|\|\|)(\|\|\|) OO> Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Southeast PA iTrader: (7) Garage List 2010 MINI John Coop ... [9.66]	I have the Blizzak LM-22 RFT's and they are great too. During your driving, did you push the DSC/DTC button? Engaging the Dynamic Traction Control (i.e making it less sensative and allowing some wheel spin) helps too when driving in snow.
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11-27-2007, 08:27 PM	#4
manraj Private 2 Rep 62 Posts Drives: e92 M3 AW Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: PA iTrader: (2)	Any after-shots of the winter drive? Can't say I've ever seen a filthy e92. __________________
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11-27-2007, 08:32 PM	#5
darkcloud Colonel 335 Rep 2,385 Posts Drives: 09 VW JSW Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: cleveland, oh iTrader: (2) Garage List 2006 325i [0.00]	Where about in eastern cleveland? I live in Lakewood just west of Cleveland and we saw absolutely no snow haha. __________________ retired 06 E90 325i New: 09 VW Platinum Grey Jetta Sportwagen 2.0T SEL w/DSG, panoramic sunroof and Ipod adapter
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11-28-2007, 08:30 AM	#7
judec born to be turbocharged 24 Rep 1,347 Posts Drives: Not a bimmer yet Join Date: May 2007 Location: Slovakia iTrader: (0)	nice writeup. tire size? __________________ Disclaimer: All this message was written with recycled electrons.
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11-28-2007, 08:55 AM	#8
JKratty In Scotch We Trust 0 Rep 76 Posts Drives: '69 Chevelle, E90 335 Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DC iTrader: (0)	judec -- 225/40-18 all around. LOL! This has to be a first...demands for pictures of a ridiculously dirty 335! Truth be told, we had some rain here in DC the last few days so a good deal of the road salt streaks rinsed off. But i'll see what I can do. darkcloud -- Way out in Geauga County...ahh, the joy of the snowbelt! We drove to Moreland Hills on Thanksgiving...maybe 1/2" while we had 3". __________________ ---------------------------------------------------- E90 335i, black sapphire metallic, terra dakota, PP, SP, 6MT, cold weather, iPod, CA, burl walnut, LeatherZ ZHP shift knob, 19" M5 reps w/ Kumho Ecsta SPT staggered, BMC drop-in, SSTT. Amen.
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11-28-2007, 12:19 PM	#9
TahoeOG Major 83 Rep 1,208 Posts Drives: e92 335i Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NJ iTrader: (1)	Hey Great Review. I actually JUST got my Blizzacks last night with 17 sport rims as my winter set up. I installed and going to do a thread on them.. They look really nice, and believe it or not, so do the rims. The ride was great and i'll post all the info up on the thread. Now i'm WAITING for the snow lol. Good Post! __________________ Selling my winter setup, Hit me UP!
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11-28-2007, 02:51 PM	#10
Park2670 General 355 Rep 18,218 Posts Drives: Tesla Model 3 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: UTAH iTrader: (8)	I had the experience of driving my E90 335 in the snow for the first time last night. I have driven RWD in snow, but have not had a ton of experience. I think with snow tires these cars will handle better than FWD with all seasons. Im running 235/40R18 Dunlop 3Ds. __________________
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