[skipmcgoo]

Hi all - new to the forum. I picked up a 23 M60i this week and only after taking ownership realized the tires are summer spec. I live in the northeast and obviously want to avoid driving them in the snow. That said, as mentioned elsewhere in the forum (wish I had done a little more research!), it doesn't appear anyone is manufacturing 23" winters or all seasons that fit the 23 wheels on the m60.

I'm wondering if anyone out there has encountered this issue and what solutions I may have - ideally one that doesnt include buying a set of smaller wheels just to accommodate different tires for 4 months out of the year.

How bad would it be to drive these yoko's in snowy conditions?

TIA!

[blutob2]

Originally Posted by skipmcgoo

Hi all - new to the forum. I picked up a 23 M60i this week and only after taking ownership realized the tires are summer spec. I live in the northeast and obviously want to avoid driving them in the snow. That said, as mentioned elsewhere in the forum (wish I had done a little more research!), it doesn't appear anyone is manufacturing 23" winters or all seasons that fit the 23 wheels on the m60.

I'm wondering if anyone out there has encountered this issue and what solutions I may have - ideally one that doesnt include buying a set of smaller wheels just to accommodate different tires for 4 months out of the year.

How bad would it be to drive these yoko's in snowy conditions?

TIA!

No idea on AS 23's however it's extremely unsafe to drive with summer tires in winter conditions. Extreme cold can lead to cracking of the tires since the summer compound becomes much harder therefore more brittle. But even if it's not very cold, the compound still hardens below 40F and harder compound leads to less traction.

[Young04]

Originally Posted by skipmcgoo

Hi all - new to the forum. I picked up a 23 M60i this week and only after taking ownership realized the tires are summer spec. I live in the northeast and obviously want to avoid driving them in the snow. That said, as mentioned elsewhere in the forum (wish I had done a little more research!), it doesn't appear anyone is manufacturing 23" winters or all seasons that fit the 23 wheels on the m60.

I'm wondering if anyone out there has encountered this issue and what solutions I may have - ideally one that doesnt include buying a set of smaller wheels just to accommodate different tires for 4 months out of the year.

How bad would it be to drive these yoko's in snowy conditions?

TIA!

Snow with summer tires is a no no. You can drive in cold, dry conditions for a little bit with no real issue, but summer tires in the snow is legit unsafe.

[JJacksonIII]

I drove all last winter with my summers and never skidded or spun my wheels. I think it's overblown marketing for the most part. Are winter tires better in winter? Of course. Are you going to die a firey death as you slide through an intersection at 18 mph because your tires cracked in the ten degree weather? No. You won't. Drive slow and carefully when the streets aren't plowed yet. The X7's xdrive is incredibly effective. I'm going through my 2nd winter and my tread-life is still fine. I am not worried.

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by skipmcgoo

Hi all - new to the forum. I picked up a 23 M60i this week and only after taking ownership realized the tires are summer spec. I live in the northeast and obviously want to avoid driving them in the snow. That said, as mentioned elsewhere in the forum (wish I had done a little more research!), it doesn't appear anyone is manufacturing 23" winters or all seasons that fit the 23 wheels on the m60.

I'm wondering if anyone out there has encountered this issue and what solutions I may have - ideally one that doesnt include buying a set of smaller wheels just to accommodate different tires for 4 months out of the year.

How bad would it be to drive these yoko's in snowy conditions?

TIA!

looks like there are no all seasons or snow tires available in stock sizes.

if you slightly upsize to 285/35/23 and 325/30/23, they have an all season.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...omCompare1=yes
but its $4500 for the set of tires and also not currently in stock. the 325 rear is also a little too wide for the rear rims on the X7, should be an 11, bmw specc'ed a 10.5.

cheaper to get a snow tire/rim setup and less road hazard damage on the 23s in the winter.

[Young04]

Originally Posted by JJacksonIII

I drove all last winter with my summers and never skidded or spun my wheels. I think it's overblown marketing for the most part. Are winter tires better in winter? Of course. Are you going to die a firey death as you slide through an intersection at 18 mph because your tires cracked in the ten degree weather? No. You won't. Drive slow and carefully when the streets aren't plowed yet. The X7's xdrive is incredibly effective. I'm going through my 2nd winter and my tread-life is still fine. I am not worried.

"Overblown marketing?" No sir. A quick search shows that stopping distances in snow at 40mph with summer tires is about double what it is with even all season tires. X-drive ain't gonna do jack for stopping and for your and other motorists' safety.

I've driven a variety of cars on a variety of tires. I agree it is a bit overblown to say you cannot drive in cold weather at all. But to say it is fine to drive in snowy conditions on summer tires is flat out wrong.

[weingarm]

Originally Posted by JJacksonIII

I drove all last winter with my summers and never skidded or spun my wheels. I think it's overblown marketing for the most part. Are winter tires better in winter? Of course. Are you going to die a firey death as you slide through an intersection at 18 mph because your tires cracked in the ten degree weather? No. You won't. Drive slow and carefully when the streets aren't plowed yet. The X7's xdrive is incredibly effective. I'm going through my 2nd winter and my tread-life is still fine. I am not worried.

This posters’ bio says he’s in Chicago. I looked it up and Chicago gets 37” of snow per year which truly isn’t that much. That’s about 9” per month during the cold weather season. If it comes in tiny amounts and he waits until the roads are plowed & salted - he’ll survive on the summer tires.

However his stopping distances will be significantly longer, cornering grip will be significantly worse, and yes - his summer rubber may crack in the extreme cold Chicago gets (avg lows in January of 17F, often dropping to single digits).

I would recommend anyone with dedicated summer tires (in Chicago) swap them out November-March for A/S tires at a minimum.

[blutob2]

Originally Posted by JJacksonIII

I drove all last winter with my summers and never skidded or spun my wheels. I think it's overblown marketing for the most part. Are winter tires better in winter? Of course. Are you going to die a firey death as you slide through an intersection at 18 mph because your tires cracked in the ten degree weather? No. You won't. Drive slow and carefully when the streets aren't plowed yet. The X7's xdrive is incredibly effective. I'm going through my 2nd winter and my tread-life is still fine. I am not worried.

No not marketing...I literally built tires at Goodyear when I was younger and in college. My father built tires at Goodyear for 30+ years and it was a college program where I got to work with him at the factory. I learned a lot of the different compounds, etc.

But hey don't take my word...here are some videos.

Fast fwd to 5 min in the video and watch him get stuck on a very small hill. No reason winter tires and maybe even AS wouldn't have worked better.

Then this should absolutely prove the point...SQ7 AWD w/ summer tires vs an A3 FWD with Winter tires. The SQ7 couldn't even get going and then once they did, they slid backwards. They thne changed the tires on the SQ7 and it then had no issues.

This one shows level comparison between 2 cars and then braking.

So yeah keep enjoying that traction on your summer tires, haha.

[JJacksonIII]

First off, define 'Summer' tires. Because the Conti premium contact is more like a three season tire. It's not a true summer tire. I don't think anyone is suggesting not driving on the tires during fall or spring. And that does make a difference. True high performance (summer) tires shouldn't even be pushed hard in the rain, at least not in a large SUV. Second, I'm not pushing my vehicle hard into corners in the snow, no matter what tires I have on it, and I'm not launching the vehicle in single digit temperatures either. Third, it is rather flat in my part of the country. No mountains and no real hills either. I won't be seen sliding backwards down any steep inclines. Fourth, like weingarm stated, we don't get that many heavy snow storms here, and when we do, the streets get cleared within 24 hours. Last year I think I drove through 6" - 9" storms twice. And like I stated before, the X7 outperformed any past vehicle I had ever owned, and that's with it's "summer" tires. No sliding or spinning of wheels. Lastly, I am going to switch fairly soon to all seasons. I'll probably put some new tires on her in three or four weeks. I just hope I survive until then.

Edit: I just want to add that we don't get ice storms up here very often either. Like ever few years at best. I'm sure blutob2 probably does, living in KC. And I'm also not advocating that people avoid winter or all season tires. I'm just saying that I am glad I didn't run out and switch my tires out after two months becuase I have had zero issues driving them in winter conditions, thus far.

[blutob2]

Originally Posted by JJacksonIII

First off, define 'Summer' tires. Because the Conti premium contact is more like a three season tire. It's not a true summer tire. I don't think anyone is suggesting not driving on the tires during fall or spring. And that does make a difference. True high performance (summer) tires shouldn't even be pushed hard in the rain, at least not in a large SUV. Second, I'm not pushing my vehicle hard into corners in the snow, no matter what tires I have on it, and I'm not launching the vehicle in single digit temperatures either. Third, it is rather flat in my part of the country. No mountains and no real hills either. I won't be seen sliding backwards down any steep inclines. Fourth, like weingarm stated, we don't get that many heavy snow storms here, and when we do, the streets get cleared within 24 hours. Last year I think I drove through 6" - 9" storms twice. And like I stated before, the X7 outperformed any past vehicle I had ever owned, and that's with it's "summer" tires. No sliding or spinning of wheels. Lastly, I am going to switch fairly soon to all seasons. I'll probably put some new tires on her in three or four weeks. I just hope I survive until then.

Edit: I just want to add that we don't get ice storms up here very often either. Like ever few years at best. I'm sure blutob2 probably does, living in KC. And I'm also not advocating that people avoid winter or all season tires. I'm just saying that I am glad I didn't run out and switch my tires out after two months becuase I have had zero issues driving them in winter conditions, thus far.

Well actually high performance summer tires are actually great in the rain. My Camaro ZL1 tears it up in the rain and I have zero issues pushing it on wet roads. It's a misconception that they are only for dry conditions.

But yes living in KC, I'm good with AS tires on the X7 even though they still have less traction than winter tires however I'm not going to swap them out for only a month or 2 of bad weather. Now, we do drive to ND and took it last Xmas and it performed fairly well.

I agree that one has to be cautious with summer tires in bad weather and yes an experienced driver can take the appropriate steps to mitigate an accident but bottom line, just because it's an AWD, stopping distance is still greatly increased as indicated in the videos I posted.

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by JJacksonIII

First off, define 'Summer' tires. Because the Conti premium contact is more like a three season tire. It's not a true summer tire. I don't think anyone is suggesting not driving on the tires during fall or spring. And that does make a difference. True high performance (summer) tires shouldn't even be pushed hard in the rain, at least not in a large SUV. Second, I'm not pushing my vehicle hard into corners in the snow, no matter what tires I have on it, and I'm not launching the vehicle in single digit temperatures either. Third, it is rather flat in my part of the country. No mountains and no real hills either. I won't be seen sliding backwards down any steep inclines. Fourth, like weingarm stated, we don't get that many heavy snow storms here, and when we do, the streets get cleared within 24 hours. Last year I think I drove through 6" - 9" storms twice. And like I stated before, the X7 outperformed any past vehicle I had ever owned, and that's with it's "summer" tires. No sliding or spinning of wheels. Lastly, I am going to switch fairly soon to all seasons. I'll probably put some new tires on her in three or four weeks. I just hope I survive until then.

Edit: I just want to add that we don't get ice storms up here very often either. Like ever few years at best. I'm sure blutob2 probably does, living in KC. And I'm also not advocating that people avoid winter or all season tires. I'm just saying that I am glad I didn't run out and switch my tires out after two months becuase I have had zero issues driving them in winter conditions, thus far.

the OP has the 23s, which are either pirelli pzeros (max performance summer) or yokohama advan sport (also max performance summer)

so i think we can all agree that those are definately not suitable for winter driving.

the conti premium contact 6 is a bit of an abomination.
its a grand touring summer, so you get the short treadlife, lack of all season capability ( its definately a summer compound tire with a treadwear in the 200s) but not the full grip of a summer tire.
and its discontinued for over a year so bmw kinda screwed everyone by continuing to install it, once the inventory in the channel dries up, you're looking at a full tire change vs a pair.

[Boogie2121]

Reviving this thread - I have a 21' m50i

My 22" are bald and I need a new summer set.

Looking to move to 23" wheels and it seems like there is no all season option. The most economical route is to build a set that hits the 23" Yokohama advan option on 275/35 315/30.

Is this the confirmed only route of action?

The would make the set I build 23x10 front and 23x11.5 rear? Any idea on what offsets would give me a flash aggressive stance?

[XB7]

I had a 2016 M3
We got a early snow one day I was out in 2018 before I changed my tires.
I slid on ice and just spun in the snowy areas.
NEVER again will I got caught in winter with summer performance tires.
If your roads are totally clear of ice and snow you can drive with them but as said above the cold hardens them and they will wear much quicker.
Im in Metro Detroit so our weather is similar to Chicago my advice is get proper wheels and tires for winter if you don't want to slide into a car at a traffic light or just spin trying to get up a small hill.

[Boogie2121]

Originally Posted by Boogie2121

Reviving this thread - I have a 21' m50i

My 22" are bald and I need a new summer set.

Looking to move to 23" wheels and it seems like there is no all season option. The most economical route is to build a set that hits the 23" Yokohama advan option on 275/35 315/30.

Is this the confirmed only route of action?

The would make the set I build 23x10 front and 23x11.5 rear? Any idea on what offsets would give me a flash aggressive stance?

Bumping this!!!!!!

[espressoo]

If you check out my photos, this will give you an idea what 10.5 et35 fronts 11.5 et40 rears look like albeit on a 22" setup. To get them more flush to the fenders, I would have to add 15-20mm spacers.

I personally would not try to get winter or all season tires to drive through snow on a 23" setup. That's a disaster waiting to happen on low profile tires with terrible roads during winter time. I would sacrifice looks and downsize to a 22" setup. You can get Pirelli winter tires in OEM 22" sizes or Continental DWS 06 all season tires in OEM 22" sizes. The latter is what's pictured on my wife's X7.

[beemerb0y]

Any type of tire chains, cables, socks, or anti slip straps available and safe for 23" wheels? (X7 or XB7)

[ren]

I would consider going down to 22s for a winter set. I bought a set of 22" 755M wheels at the end of last winter to use as a dedicated winter set with Pirelli Scorpions at OEM spec.

[Orient330iNYC]

Originally Posted by beemerb0y

Any type of tire chains, cables, socks, or anti slip straps available and safe for 23" wheels? (X7 or XB7)

safe, probably not.
bmw only recommends chains on 20" tires- the tire size for 20s is 255/55-20, suspect clearance is an issue for the 275-285 tires on the 21-23" rims

[Ducting]

Originally Posted by espressoo

If you check out my photos, this will give you an idea what 10.5 et35 fronts 11.5 et40 rears look like albeit on a 22" setup. To get them more flush to the fenders, I would have to add 15-20mm spacers.

I personally would not try to get winter or all season tires to drive through snow on a 23" setup. That's a disaster waiting to happen on low profile tires with terrible roads during winter time. I would sacrifice looks and downsize to a 22" setup. You can get Pirelli winter tires in OEM 22" sizes or Continental DWS 06 all season tires in OEM 22" sizes. The latter is what's pictured on my wife's X7.

Your wife's car looks amazing. I just joined this board looking for a answer and I believe you may have it on her setup.

I too just got my wife a 2024 x7 with the 22" mutil spoke rims (757). The vehicle looks great sitting on the Pirelli PZ4 tires, but we need to get some all season tires, the winter months in NJ can bit you in the ass.

I too am looking at the the Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 PLUS and they sell the exact same match for the rear size but the FRONT is only available in
275/40Z/R22 108W XL, the original Pirelli are 275/40R22 107Y XL.

Since its 108, not 107, it can handle more load weight (don't see a problem that), but Top speed on the W is 168 whereas top speed on the Y is 186. And no, I doubt she will ever go over 110mph.

I was wondering if you got the front tires in 108W too? If so, have you notice a difference in tire sound and comfort?

TYIA