[Tsuvoi]

Another first world problem:

I want to buy an F30 in M-Sport trim and these come with staggered summer tires. We happen to have a pretty cold winter around here and I know I will have to switch to winter tires/rims at some point this year. I don't feel like spending the additional money of a full set of tires and rims for the winter. Also I don't want to get the all-season run-flat tire downgrade since I will lose the staggered setup.

Does it make any sense to sell the run-flats, keep my rims, buy regular all-season staggered tires and keep them all year? What will that change in terms of noise, ride comfort and handling? All of which are important to me.

[achopra]

I had the same concerns and researched quite a bit on this topic. From what I have learnt, the all-season tires are crap in the winter and not that great in the summer. Also you want smaller, narrower wheels in the snow because they dig less into the snow.

The suggestion I recieved was consistant. It was to get 17" Rims with proper Winter tires for a non-staggered setup in the winter. So, thats what I intend doing.

Considering that I would be able to use the winter tires for 3-4 seasons, will (hopefully be able to sell the rims once I (eventually) get rid of the car, wont damage my nice Msport wheels by running them into potholes on the snow damaged roads and most importantly be safer. I feel it is worth spending the $2K or so for a dedicated winter setup.

[Roki_014]

Originally Posted by ft1337

Another first world problem:

I want to buy an F30 in M-Sport trim and these come with staggered summer tires. We happen to have a pretty cold winter around here and I know I will have to switch to winter tires/rims at some point this year. I don't feel like spending the additional money of a full set of tires and rims for the winter. Also I don't want to get the all-season run-flat tire downgrade since I will lose the staggered setup.

Does it make any sense to sell the run-flats, keep my rims, buy regular all-season staggered tires and keep them all year? What will that change in terms of noise, ride comfort and handling? All of which are important to me.

that is what I did, but I am having hard time selling those summer performance tires, i bought bridgestone potenzas all seasons non RFTs and to me it rides and sounds the same as the summer performance tires

[E36toF30]

I may be wrong, but I thought you could get all season tires and the square wheel setup on M sport. Or did you check with your CA and it's really not possible to combine those two options?

Assuming it's not, I think selling the summer tires and get all-seasons is a decent solution.

However, depending on how much snow Philly gets, I think getting a dedicated set of winter tires and wheels is a better solution like achopra said, and it probably wouldn't be that much more expensive. The reason I say that is if you buy the additional set of tires for winter, it means your first set is not getting used during that time and will last longer. The wheels are an additional cost, but 17" wheels can be quite cheap (look on tirerack). And with the higher profile tires, getting cheap wheels is less of a concern.

Your choice though, the all seasons should be fine unless you're driving on hilly snow/ice covered roads.

[marseille82]

if Philly winters are anything like New York's, all season will be just fine for you. I have all season Conti DWS on my E60 535i(my daily driver) and never had any problems with them. I plan on doing the same when the F30 gets here.

[Tsuvoi]

Just to clarify, yes it is possible to downgrade to all-season square setup, that's what I was referring to in my first post. I call this a "downgrade" because we go from a staggered setup to a square setup and I prefer a staggered setup.

Also my understanding is that winter tires are NOT for snow, they are for cold weather. Different than snow tires. The rubber doesn't get as hard in cold temps. We get snow in Philly but it's plowed alright. We still have the cold temps.

I guess it's one of those things... There is no free lunch. It looks like it's hard to sell the staggered summer tires and I'm not surprised.

[Mako]

don't think of the up front cost on snow tires/wheels, think of just the wheel cost. Eventually everyone has to replace tires, so having "extra" winter tires will save the life of the summer tires, Say you would have got 25,000 miles on your summers, now those summer tires will last 35,000 miles because you put 10,000 miles on your snow tires over a 2 year period... Your only real long term cost is getting extra wheels, and if you go to tirerack.com you can get a decent looking set for $600-$800, if you can afford a new BMW 3 series, you can afford that and the extra safety snow tires will give you in the winter, plus you don't risk damaging your BMW OEM wheels while driving in the winter.

doesn't matter if you are getting a 328 or 335, both are "performance sport sedans" and deserve summer tires, otherwise go buy a Volvo S60

[CharlesJk8]

This is what we did, but i am just obtaining tricky time selling the individual summer performance tires, my spouse and i acquired bridgestone potenzas all seasons non RFTs ALONG WITH in order to me That rides AND ALSO sounds your same Just as your summer performance tires