[///ajd]

I'd had my 439 falkens since 2007 and realised they were past their best, with only 4mm tread left - in deep snow they were starting to struggle and last weekend they needed the help of chains to get up to altitude in deep snow slopes in the pyrenees, when others had managed to get to the top on just winter tyres.

Just got a good set of 270M M3 wheels from another e90poster (thanks dave) which I've put some Vred Wintracs on. I was happy with the Falkens when they had decent tread (now Eur120 each in 225/40/18), but thought I'd try something different (vreds Eur150 in the same size).

No rubbing at all with my standard set up, despite the large ET20 offsets. Drives well, but we'll see this weekend how it copes with snow in the mountains. Chains will be a squeeze if needed, but I have a plan for that, and the tread looks like it will cope well even on a decent slope.

One thing I would recommend, don't leave your winters on when you don't need them - not for any driving reasons, but just so they last as long as possible - I clearly did ok getting 6/7 winters out of mine, but several years I left them on well into spring and almost summer, just as i didn't get around to changing - in hindsight I wore them down for no reason (though of course my summers would have worn instead). Its obvious, but winters do really need decent tread to work well in snow.

[verysideways]

So you stole my wheels!
Kidding - you beat me to it by a good few days

You could make me feel better by posting a few more photos though. As Dave had already sold you these i've ended up buying a set from Germany, just waiting for them to arrive now. Planning to go 225/235 on summers.

[Pave Dew]

James

Glad to read you are happy with the wheels, got the tyres and mounted ASAP.

They look good and hope the vreds do the business.

Thanks,

Dave

[///ajd]

Originally Posted by verysideways

So you stole my wheels!
Kidding - you beat me to it by a good few days

You could make me feel better by posting a few more photos though. As Dave had already sold you these i've ended up buying a set from Germany, just waiting for them to arrive now. Planning to go 225/235 on summers.

I might get some photos in some snow this weekend, we'll see.

Clearance in the rear with 235 should be OK, though bear in mind the offsets are ET20 on an 8J rim, compared to e.g. rear 225M ET39 9J wheel - the latter is 25mm wider, but with 19mm more offset, so sticks out approx 7mm less than the basic 270M rim (before taking tyre into account)

I think they look really good, better than the 225M which I also really like.

Hopefully they'll fit my F31 x-drive 330d too....

[///ajd]

Originally Posted by Pave Dew

James

Glad to read you are happy with the wheels, got the tyres and mounted ASAP.

They look good and hope the vreds do the business.

Thanks,

Dave

thanks dave, pleasure doing business

[Pave Dew]

James

I think F31 has 14mm wheel bolts whereas the E91 has 12mm bolts.

The 270m Wheels may have enough clearance in their bolt holes to fit an F31 bolt.

If you decide to pull out one of yr e91 wheelbolts to check if an F31 bolt will fit into the empty bolt hole, I'd be interested to know how it goes.

Dave

[///ajd]

Originally Posted by Pave Dew

James

I think F31 has 14mm wheel bolts whereas the E91 has 12mm bolts.

The 270m Wheels may have enough clearance in their bolt holes to fit an F31 bolt.

If you decide to pull out one of yr e91 wheelbolts to check if an F31 bolt will fit into the empty bolt hole, I'd be interested to know how it goes.

Dave

interesting, found this

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showth...=705532&page=2

looks like they should fit; the mounting cone contact area would appear to be the similar (or at least not smaller), and the angle looks the same.

you wonder why they changed the diameter & pitch though.

f31 is 40,000 miles away for me so not an immediate concern yet.....

[romanbmws]

They look great mate. Awesome winter setup

[Dizzle]

Like those. Nice wheel.

[///ajd]

some more pics

[verysideways]

Thanks - looking forward to mine even more now!
Have a safe trip.

[a11y]

That wheel style really suits the car. But sod the 3-series, that's an interesting looking 911 behind it...

[///ajd]

Friday 5pm, 2000m+. Perhaps no need for winter tyres this weekend....



.....saturday morning, snowing a bit now....



....mmm, err, might need chains here....



...going to need a shovel....



...this morning....is this where I left it?



....borrowed a shovel....



...loads of grip, didn't need chains even though I parked on a slope. Impressed with the vreds, very good, no wheelspin at all when getting out of the space which was quite a surprise to be honest. There was so much snow it was piling up everywhere from attempts to keep roads passable.



...one thing I couldn't fix was the fact that the road from Andorra to France was closed, hence ended up heading to Spain to get home...



....massive detour, took hours longer, but scenery not too bad.



PS the 911 is a standard 85 3.2 carrera with ducktail.

[Pave Dew]

James

Good feedback on your Vreds for future reference.

Hope the shovel didn't get to close yr paintwork or scuff your wheels whilst you dug your car out !

Dave

[Danny.B.]

awesome pics!