[FPO]

Hey everyone,

Can anyone tell me the best winter tyre and alloy setup for an E92 335d?

I am currently looking at getting a set from somewhere but don't know which setup, e.g. alloy size, width, tyres etc that would best suit my 335d (remapped) in the snow and ice?

Anyone have any recommendations?

I am currently running 19" 313m's and Falken FK452 265/30 and 235/35 i think.

Also is ebay the best place to purchase?

Thanks

[jimmylimmy]

is your friend!

Depends on whether you want to go a cheap as possible (17" is a minimum with your brakes I think) with a second hand set of alloys from ebay with budget winters or spend a few quid, get a set of 19" CSL replicas with better tyres (similar to what I did) or go the whole hog and buy the OEM BMW Winter setup?

I'd recommend a set of 18"s from ebay (£400ish) with a set of Falken HS-439's (non staggered) for approx £500.

They will last you a couple of years at least (depending on mileage, I hope to get 3 years out of mine) and when you sell the car, you *should* get most of your money back on the rims

If you dont want a second set of alloys, you could just swap the tyres over (then back again in spring) and a set of Vredestein Wintrac Extreme in a staggered setup for 19"s will cost you about £800 fitted

[davyk31]

I went through this last year and eventually sourced a set of 17" wheels as the Tyres are a bit cheaper and the more sidewall the better for winter. My car is also an E92 335d and can confirm that 17" do fit but you can't go smaller. If going 17 you also want to try to get a non staggered setup so the front and backs are the same width and you fit a 225x45x17 tyre. Getting good condition wheels in non staggered setup takes a bit of looking.

I may be selling my set which would be a well priced setup for someone. Just need to decide if I am selling the car or not.

[jimmylad]

Put some OEM BMW 17" on mine off Ebay for £300 plus paid to have them re-furbed - tyres were nokian wrg2 @£480

17" is the smallest you can fit due to brake calipers.

Got mine on now as I'm waiting for the correct tyres I ordered to arrive ( cheers camskills) as my runflats were really really bad on the rear inside edges & the car it totally transformed. Alot lot quieter & alot smoother & I reckon my mpg has gone up at least 10%. You can ease off miles before a roundabout or junction (if you not in any great hurry) & the car just keeps rolling & rolling hence the better mpg. I noticed that I seemed to be braking harder at junctions cos I was easing off the gas as if my RFT's were still on.

If it wasnt for the V rating I would keep these on full time I think.

[briers]

dont go aftermarket on 17's... some dont fit but all e9x bmw oem do afaik

i got 17's off ebay and bought some vred wintracs from mytyres. Reason why i went 17's is tyre choice. Winter tyres are hard to source at certain times so the common sized 17 gave me a better chance i suppose.

[Abbot26]

Morning guys

I'm entering my first winter period with my 335D, how bad does it get if you don't have winter tyres ?

[davyk31]

My experience was that the 335d was really poor in the snow, not sure if it was the ultra wide runflat tyres or whether it because the car had so much torque that it immediately just got itself spinning and making the snow below hard compacted ice very quickly. Changing to the 17" winter tyres was a revelation.

As above, anyone with a 335 needs to stick to genuine BMW wheels as some reps do not fit over the brakes. also stick to 8x17 all round gives you optimum tyre choice.

[jimmylad]

I have to admit I have never drove mine in snow on summer tyres. The very day after I had the winters on was the 1st day of all that snow last November.

Echoing what I and others have said stick with 17" OEM's. They don't look as good as the 19" wheels but the tyres will be easier to get hold of, cheaper & the 225's will cut through the snow better.

My mpg is miles better with my nokians on at the mo & one more thing I have noticed is the gearbox is better in the fact that if you want to drive on a whiff of throttle ( ie. the last half a mile of roundabouts & junctions on the way home where I live) it seems happier to drop to 1100 rpm & hold those revs round a corners or roundabouts where as before it would keep dropping down a gear back up to 1500rpm, rev it up to 1700 to get it to change down again.

I'm sure the gear selections are speed dependent but I think the lower rolling resistance is feeding back to the gear box making it think it needs to do less work if you get my drift.

[briers]

you can't move even on the flat with 19" run flats on in the snow/ice.

[chesney72]

I ran std sport staggered rims with 235's all round last year and never got stuck once and I'm out in the sticks of Aberdeenshire so we get hammered with snow.

Swapped to 19 csl's this year and just had 235 35 19 front and 265 30 19 rear snowflake on mountain winters put on so should be set for another extreme winter. Took a gamble on staying wide at the rear cos I plan to run these all year round and the 235's strugled badly with traction even on dry roads.

Had Nokians last year and they were very impressive. Gone for Wintrac Extremes this year and will see how they go. From what I read they are as good if not better but we'll see.

[225_AB]

why should they be non staggered?

[davyk31]

Non staggered means you can the same narrower tyres on the rear as front, narrower the better to cut into snow. Also bigger range of tyres if you can keep to say the 8x17 wheel using the 225x45x17 tyre which nearly every manufacturer makes. If you have a wider rear wheel you can struggle to get tyres to suit and costs jump up.

[rsmallwo]

I went for the cheapest setup I could get, it was:

17's (17x8J) BMW style 157, £160 from ebay

Nankang SV-2's from www.mytyres.co.uk for £65 a corner (225/45/R17 94V XL)

So £450 all in including fitting, these tyres have been spot on for winter, never let me down and worth the money. Plan on using them for 4 winters in total which looking at the wear on them that shouldn't be a problem (even taking into account the 5mm wear indicator on winter tyres)

[jimmylad]

Originally Posted by rsmallwo

I went for the cheapest setup I could get, it was:

17's (17x8J) BMW style 157, £160 from ebay

Nankang SV-2's from www.mytyres.co.uk for £65 a corner (225/45/R17 94V XL)

So £450 all in including fitting, these tyres have been spot on for winter, never let me down and worth the money. Plan on using them for 4 winters in total which looking at the wear on them that shouldn't be a problem (even taking into account the 5mm wear indicator on winter tyres)

same alloys as me - do the job well for winter

[pjs]

Got a pic of the 157's ?

[jimmylad]

nothing great but here you go.....

[chris330D]

I ran standard 18" MV3s with standard sized tyres ie staggered 255 rear 225 front. Used Pirelli Sottozero runflat winters. Worked really well and guaranteed no insurance problems.

[pjs]

Originally Posted by jimmylad

nothing great but here you go.....

Not too bad, thanks

[davyk31]

Those 157 wheels are the ones I got too.

[Abbot26]

Cheers for the info guys