[Bigyin1314]

Evening all.

I’ve just bought a second hand set of 18’s to fit to my f36 435d for the winter months. They are genuine 400m’s (staggered so 8/8.5?). Now I’m looking at getting some tyres to fit to the wheels. On my previous e90, I had winter wheels with a square set up (225/45 all round). I can’t for the life of me remember if the spare wheels I had back then we’re a staggered set up or not. Given that the wheels I’ve just bought (whilst drunk on eBay - never a good thing) can anyone advise if I could fit a square set up and stretch the tyres for the rear or am I better going for a staggered set up?

I’ve read a fair bit re transfer box going boom on the xdrive due to mismatched set up, so obviously will look to avoid putting any strain on it if I can.

[Rbrown]

I ran staggered on my old car with winter tyres. They were absolutely fine.

[teaston]

I would recommend 245/40’s all round, I’ve put them on my rear winter 400m’s and will be putting them on the fronts before the start of winter too.

Great thing is the Dunlop Winter Sport 5’s are really decent price in that size, and they are probably the best all round winter tyres available.

[Rbrown]

Would also recommend Vredstein Wintrac Extreme for that size.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Rbrown

Would also recommend Vredstein Wintrac Extreme for that size.

They came 27th in this tyre test!

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article...-Shoot-Out.htm

[PFC]

Out of 50?

I found them much better than the Dunlops.

[rosshutchie]

Originally Posted by teaston

I would recommend 245/40’s all round, I’ve put them on my rear winter 400m’s and will be putting them on the fronts before the start of winter too.

Great thing is the Dunlop Winter Sport 5’s are really decent price in that size, and they are probably the best all round winter tyres available.

Also in the same boat. Bought a set of 400m for my 440i, for over the winter months.

So you can definitely run a square set up of 245/40/18 on the staggered 400m?

[teaston]

Originally Posted by rosshutchie

Also in the same boat. Bought a set of 400m for my 440i, for over the winter months.

So you can definitely run a square set up of 245/40/18 on the staggered 400m?

Yes, I’ve put 245’s on my front summer wheels too.

This chart shows what widths can be fitted safely to which wheels:

[sensible]

I have those wheels too. I have 225/45 R18 tyres all round. They are the only 18" winter tyre size on the plate inside the door that BMW recommend. I run them last winter and all was fine with that size on those wheels and tyres.

I have Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 winter tyres all round.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by sensible

I have those wheels too. I have 225/45 R18 tyres all round. They are the only 18" winter tyre size on the plate inside the door that BMW recommend. I run them last winter and all was fine with that size on those wheels and tyres.

I have Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 winter tyres all round.

They’ll be absolutely fine on your 320i, but a bit too narrow for the power & torque of the 335d.

[sensible]

Originally Posted by teaston

They’ll be absolutely fine on your 320i, but a bit too narrow for the power & torque of the 335d.

Narrow tyres are better in snow and going by your chart they fit too. A 335d ain't going to rip the tread off a tyre that's 20 mm narrower.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by sensible

Narrow tyres are better in snow and going by your chart they fit too. A 335d ain't going to rip the tread off a tyre that's 20 mm narrower.

If you drive on snow for the majority of the winter then 225’s might be the best choice, but otherwise the wider tyres will be better for dry/wet conditions.

335d’s can rip the tread off 255’s, let alone 225’s!

[cfm56d7b]

What tires are you looking to install: run flats or non run flats? Is your vehicle xDrive? If xDrive, following BMW OEM tire (sorry - tyre) sizes is always a good idea to avoid rolling diameter issues.

[Rich9600]

I've ran staggered 441M's with square 225/45/R18 tyres since 2014 on a 330d and then on a 340i. Both sDrive...

Both cars worked with these well enough. However, you do miss the extra rear rubber on the better days. However, on poor days you don't want the use the power anyway!

[Rbrown]

Originally Posted by teaston

They came 27th in this tyre test!

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article...-Shoot-Out.htm

It was just a recommendation - I wasnt saying they are any better than the tyres you suggested - which I have not experienced.

I have been using them for years and other cars in the household have had Dunlops and Goodyears. The Vredsteins always felt better to me; but just my opinion. Appreciate that in this review the Vredsteins dont always come top - but they have come out better on other reviews.

More importantly for me, they have never let me down - and that has been in some pretty bad Scottish winters.

At the end of the day, winter tyres should cope better than summers. So any winter should be better. After last year’s weather - we wil probably have no snow this year anyway!

[Bigyin1314]

Haven’t decided what tyres to run yet (tyres are very subjective). Looking at the tag on the door jam, it does quote 225/45/18 as the M+S size, which can fit onto 8.5j wheels so I might go down that route. The alternative is to fit 255/40 rear and 225/45 front inline with the summer tyre recommendation but use winters instead.

[Alscoob]

Originally Posted by Rbrown

It was just a recommendation - I wasnt saying they are any better than the tyres you suggested - which I have not experienced.

I have been using them for years and other cars in the household have had Dunlops and Goodyears. The Vredsteins always felt better to me; but just my opinion. Appreciate that in this review the Vredsteins dont always come top - but they have come out better on other reviews.

More importantly for me, they have never let me down - and that has been in some pretty bad Scottish winters.

At the end of the day, winter tyres should cope better than summers. So any winter should be better. After last year’s weather - we wil probably have no snow this year anyway!

Agreed... I have the same for winters and for me they are just as good as the Nokian's I had previously and better than some other premium brand used before.

I have them in 19's on 403M's in the standard sizes of 225x40x19 & 255x35x19 and for the weather here in the South are excellent.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by Bigyin1314

Haven’t decided what tyres to run yet (tyres are very subjective). Looking at the tag on the door jam, it does quote 225/45/18 as the M+S size, which can fit onto 8.5j wheels so I might go down that route. The alternative is to fit 255/40 rear and 225/45 front inline with the summer tyre recommendation but use winters instead.

The door sticker says that because that's the size on the genuine BMW winter wheel sets which are 8j wheels all round.

[McBeemer]

Originally Posted by Bigyin1314

Evening all.

I've just bought a second hand set of 18's to fit to my f36 435d for the winter months. They are genuine 400m's (staggered so 8/8.5?). Now I'm looking at getting some tyres to fit to the wheels. On my previous e90, I had winter wheels with a square set up (225/45 all round). I can't for the life of me remember if the spare wheels I had back then we're a staggered set up or not. Given that the wheels I've just bought (whilst drunk on eBay - never a good thing) can anyone advise if I could fit a square set up and stretch the tyres for the rear or am I better going for a staggered set up?

I've read a fair bit re transfer box going boom on the xdrive due to mismatched set up, so obviously will look to avoid putting any strain on it if I can.

You can (I have 225/45's on staggered 18's), but when Costco fitted my Alpins, they moaned about them being difficult to fit. I've run them over the winter & they were tremendous … apart from the limited ground clearance, I reckon a Land Rover couldn't have bettered the snowy conditions that I dealt with.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Rbrown

It was just a recommendation - I wasnt saying they are any better than the tyres you suggested - which I have not experienced.

I have been using them for years and other cars in the household have had Dunlops and Goodyears. The Vredsteins always felt better to me; but just my opinion. Appreciate that in this review the Vredsteins dont always come top - but they have come out better on other reviews.

More importantly for me, they have never let me down - and that has been in some pretty bad Scottish winters.

At the end of the day, winter tyres should cope better than summers. So any winter should be better. After last year’s weather - we wil probably have no snow this year anyway!

Know where you are coming from.

I ran Vred's on my 330d, superb winter tyre with a balance for all conditions, including warmer days. I went for them as they were recommended by a 535d BMW user (who understood BMW wheels and tyres better than most), he rated them above other premium tyres. He was crossing Europe every winter. When I had them fitted the guy says, "I see you are fitting the best". Were highly rated at the time.

I'm on Dunlop Winter Sport 3D with the 535i (BMW's tyre package), they are good, but no better than the Vredestein, IMO.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by teaston

They’ll be absolutely fine on your 320i, but a bit too narrow for the power & torque of the 335d.

I agree.

I run a square set of 225/45/18 Sottozeros as my winter set on a full set of 8" 400Ms (i.e. 4 front wheels). With hindsight, the rears are a little too narrow - it's easier than it should be to get the back to step out when accellerating out of a corner. This may be in part due to Sottozeros not being the best tyre, but I do feel that a staggered (225 front, 255 rear) set up would suit the rear-bias of the 335d.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by JD6

I agree.

I run a square set of 225/45/18 Sottozeros as my winter set on a full set of 8" 400Ms (i.e. 4 front wheels). With hindsight, the rears are a little too narrow - it's easier than it should be to get the back to step out when accellerating out of a corner. This may be in part due to Sottozeros not being the best tyre, but I do feel that a staggered (225 front, 255 rear) set up would suit the rear-bias of the 335d.

The thing with 255 section winter tyres is there's very few decent ones available and those that are cost around £100 a pair more than the 245 Dunlops, or at least they were when I looked last winter.