If you live in parts of the world where the snow falls and love to get the most out of your BMW year-round, it means you need two sets of tires: summer/high-performance rubbers and winter tires.
My favorite summer tire is, hands down, the Michelin Pilot Super Sport. However, when the white stuff starts falling during the winter, summer tires turn into slippery solid bricks. To stay in control and on the road, I took off my Michelin Pilot Super Sports and put on some winter shoes for our BMWs. For winter tires, the thinner the better, so if you run 19 in wheels in the summer, make sure you choose 18 inch winter tires with a more narrow foot print.
Germans are so adamant that if you drive on summer performance tires during the winter, you can get a ticket. The fine is a stout 80 euros. So if you have an European Delivery of an M3 or M4 during winter months, you need to arrange to rent winter tires. Germans say the winter tires need to be on “von O bis O” – from October to Ostern (German word for Easter).
One of the funniest things I’ve heard before came from a German BMW engineer who said, all-season tires should be call “No season tires.” Pursuing the German websites on their winter driving regulations show that some all-seasons with M+S designations will keep you from getting a ticket too.
So you set out to find the 5 best snows tires for your BMW.
Bridgestone Blizzaks
These have long been my favorite snow tires. I have had three sets and just recently bought a set for BMWBLOG’s long-term i3. Interestingly the only snow tire for the i3 is a Blizzak. The Blizzaks on my old 2005 ZHP were insane. I made it through 10 inches of fresh snow on Blizzaks in a rear-wheel drive BMW. My neighbors saw me head out and thought the ZHP had all-wheel drive.
There are no less than nine types of Blizzaks depending on the type of car and tire: a sport ute, a sports car, run-flats, a BMW i car, etc. In my opinion you cant go wrong with any of these. The Bridgestone Blizzak’s website says this about the i3’s winter tires:
The Blizzak LM-500 featuring ologic technology is Bridgestone’s ecologically oriented Performance Winter / Snow tire originally developed for the drivers of BMW i3 and i8 electric cars. Designed to deliver significant improvements in tire rolling resistance and vehicle aerodynamics to enhance vehicle range, Blizzak LM-500 tires help drivers maintain their vehicle’s sporty appearance and wintertime mobility by providing traction on cold, dry, wet, slush and snow-covered roads.
Bridgestone’s ologic technology was voted “Tire Technology of the Year” in the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence in 2014. It combines a large diameter tire with a narrow tread pattern to conserve energy that is otherwise lost through the tire’s internal friction or the vehicle’s aerodynamic resistance. While the tread of smaller diameter tires experience a higher percentage of deflection as they roll, the tread of larger diameter tires can feature higher belt tension and experience a lower percentage of deflection that significantly reduces tire deformation and rolling resistance. The narrow tread also improves tire and vehicle aerodynamics that reduce drag.
The tread compound of Blizzak LM-500 tires feature unique polymer technology to enhance cold weather traction. This compound is molded into a directional design featuring a long contact patch (relative to its narrow width) to combine hydroplaning resistance on wet and slush-covered roads with confident grip and braking traction in cold wintry conditions. Rounded shoulders promote dry and wet road handling while stepped independent tread blocks employing Lamellen edge effect sipes increase the number of biting edges to enhance grip in snow and on ice.
Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D
These come in run-flat or non-runflat. I have driven a bunch on Dunlop winter tires too and they wear really well, offer nice high speed stability, work well in deep snow, but lack a bit on ice. Dunlop makes a Graspic DS-3 which is a softer compound and works better in snow and ice ,but wears much faster than the Winter Sport 3D if driven on asphalt. Here in the Midwest we tend to have snow one week and then it’s gone the next, so a harder compound winter tire like the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D makes for a fine choice too.
Order the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D
Pirelli Winter Sottozero (Performance Winter / Snow)
I surveyed my local BMW Club’s car and coffee folks this morning and found that the Pirelli Winter Sottozero was the third most common winter tire. Though I have no experience with the Winter Sottozero, their owners told me they were very happy with their performance. Pirelli’s “dual-season” Performance Winter / Snow tire developed to be effective as ambient temperatures approach freezing and below from mid-Fall until early Spring by offering hot performance compared to summer tires when driven on cold, dry, wet or icy surfaces. Winter Sottozero tires are for the drivers of high performance sport cars, coupes and sedans who don’t let their enthusiasm for driving cool off in winter.
Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3
Michelin makes twelve different winter tires. Again, these vary depending upon mission, but one that would work well on an M3 or M4 would be the Pilot Alpin PA3. I owned a set of Michelin Snow tires for my E36 M3 that I daily drove and they were grippy and worked great.
Nokian Hakkapeliita
Hakkapeliitta tires are Nordic Legend. These originate from Finland and are the ultimate snow tire for the most Northern latitudes. If you live somewhere where snow is always on the ground, these are the tires for your BMW. They even come studded. Studded snow tires, however, have to be driven on the snow. Great tires but for a very specific scenario.
I just put 4 Blizzak ws80s on my 318ti. They work great in the snow. They are awful in the dry, which is 90% of winter driving conditions in my city. No feeling on center, mediocre grip and they wallow around in a hard turn. Overall, nice tire, and it’s quiet too. And being much skinnier and taller than my summer tires, it’s not a fair comparison. I purchased a pure winter tire, and shouldn’t have expected anything else!
Because my dry performance is shit with the Blizzaks, I almost wish I would have picked up some studded snows (legal year round here) because they are the end all, be all snow/ice tires.
That’s the thing about RWD, on the days with 10 inches of snow or solid ice, you cant get away with anything less than the most aggressive tires, which prove to be unnecessary 90% of the season.
i just take the bus or the day off.
NYC.
I had a set of Blizzak WS50’s, several generations earlier of your tire for my old 325is. They were wicked good in the snow, but you are right the rubber is very soft. It’s made worse especially when the weather warms up and on dry pavement. I use to swap them out for my summer tires every other week depending on the weather forecasts. I have since driven mostly on the Blizzak LM series and feel less inclined to be taking them on and off so much now, but realize they are not as good on ice as the WS80.
Great comment!
Studded snow tires can be driven on pavement just fine, especially the Hakkapeliittas. That technology has been around for decades, and the Hakka’s have improved it. The studs sit on a bed that is chosen to be soft enough to depress when they hit pavement, but not ice. Even at 80 mph on a dry highway, there is only the faintest hum. Most states in the US that actually get substantial snow allow them during specific dates.
Agreed. I used to drive studded snow tires all winter in the US, even though for much of the time the pavement was dry. It was a little noisy, but it worked just fine. When there’s snow or ice, though, there’s nothing better.
The “Hakkis”, as they are lovingly referred to, at least in the midwest, are awesome in the snow and ice. And they seem to wear really well – its rather comical when the local shop measures the tread depth and they have to say “well, uh, tread looks good” :) The only quibble I would have is that they are a bit noisy. And yes, you definitely need to take these off once it warms up, but no worries, the rubber is why these are so great in winter (von O bis O sounds about right). I know studded tires, or chains (?) are required in Austria, but illegal in the U.S., though I haven’t heard of these new retractable type. Not as much experience with the newer Hakkis, so I may check out those Blizzaks, thanks!
My first set of dedicated snow tires were Gislaved. I had them on my 1982 Mazda 626. Made me a believer in snows on RWD cars. I bought Blizzak’s for my E34 535, based on the extensive advertising campaign. They worked well. A set of Blizzak’s came with my 1999 528iT. They were also good, till I got to half tread, then they were just a decent ‘all season’ tire. For the past 10 years, I’ve only purchased Hakka’s. They are a bit more expensive that the others, but in my opinion, well worth the additional cost. The design and tread compound is thru the entire depth of the tread, not just the first 50%. Your needs may vary depending on where you live, but here in N E Ohio, we have ‘lake effect’ snow storms, which may dump anywhere from a trace of snow on the west side of Cleveland, to a few feet over in upstate NY.
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