Winter tyres for 18"

a11y · 08-16-2012, 08:11 AM

I've always run winter wheels/tyres on my car and am shopping around to find winter tyres for the e90. I've already got wheels sorted (18" staggered 189-style) so am tied into 18" winter tyres, but I'm having a dilemma about which tyres to get...

225/40/18 for 8.0" fronts - not a problem, lots of choice

255/35/18 for 8.5" rears - not much choice

In fact, mytyres only lists 6 different winter tyres in that size (other sellers are even worse) and TBH I'm not keen on many of them: the cheaper ones have crap ratings, the expensive ones are ridiculously expensive (significantly more than my summer rubber) and even then their ratings aren't that much better than the cheap ones. I don't know if it'd be an idea to drop to a narrower tyre on the 8.5" rim, don't know if that's even possible as my current 255/35/18 tyres look quite stretched on the 8.5" width rims. It's not so much their performance in snow that has my interest in winter tyres, but their performance on wet/cold roads - that led me to stick with 255-section rather than drop to 225-section that would handle snow better.

I'm strongly considering Kumho KW27s - yes, a budget tyre but I ran them on my 3.0 Z4 (in 225/50/16 all-round) the last couple of winters and was seriously impressed. Only negative was the rear felt under-tyred being 225 compared to my usual 255.

But is there any other solution...?

What have other owners done for winters on an 18" wheel setup?

Cheers.

IanS100 · 08-16-2012, 08:49 AM

BMW recommend 225/45 R17 94 V tyres so you may be better off selling the wheels you have & going for a 17" square setup for winter.

a11y · 08-16-2012, 10:14 AM

I've seen that, I was originally looking for 17" alloys to use for winter (cheaper tyres than 18") but the offer on the 18" I bought was too good to pass up - yup, I got seduced by a bargain

17" all-round isn't the only combo that'll work so I'm keen to hear what others on here have done. Surely others have done 18" winters?

08-16-2012, 08:11 AM	#1
a11y First Lieutenant 21 Rep 309 Posts Drives: VW T5 Campervan... Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Central Scotland iTrader: (0) Garage List 2004 VW T5 Campervan [0.00]	Winter tyres for 18" - lack of options? Advice required please. I've always run winter wheels/tyres on my car and am shopping around to find winter tyres for the e90. I've already got wheels sorted (18" staggered 189-style) so am tied into 18" winter tyres, but I'm having a dilemma about which tyres to get... 225/40/18 for 8.0" fronts - not a problem, lots of choice 255/35/18 for 8.5" rears - not much choice In fact, mytyres only lists 6 different winter tyres in that size (other sellers are even worse) and TBH I'm not keen on many of them: the cheaper ones have crap ratings, the expensive ones are ridiculously expensive (significantly more than my summer rubber) and even then their ratings aren't that much better than the cheap ones. I don't know if it'd be an idea to drop to a narrower tyre on the 8.5" rim, don't know if that's even possible as my current 255/35/18 tyres look quite stretched on the 8.5" width rims. It's not so much their performance in snow that has my interest in winter tyres, but their performance on wet/cold roads - that led me to stick with 255-section rather than drop to 225-section that would handle snow better. I'm strongly considering Kumho KW27s - yes, a budget tyre but I ran them on my 3.0 Z4 (in 225/50/16 all-round) the last couple of winters and was seriously impressed. Only negative was the rear felt under-tyred being 225 compared to my usual 255. But is there any other solution...? What have other owners done for winters on an 18" wheel setup? Cheers.
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08-16-2012, 08:49 AM	#2
IanS100 Major General 136 Rep 5,050 Posts Drives: 520d F10 LCI M Sport Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Southport UK iTrader: (0)	BMW recommend 225/45 R17 94 V tyres so you may be better off selling the wheels you have & going for a 17" square setup for winter.
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08-16-2012, 10:14 AM	#3
a11y First Lieutenant 21 Rep 309 Posts Drives: VW T5 Campervan... Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Central Scotland iTrader: (0) Garage List 2004 VW T5 Campervan [0.00]	I've seen that, I was originally looking for 17" alloys to use for winter (cheaper tyres than 18") but the offer on the 18" I bought was too good to pass up - yup, I got seduced by a bargain 17" all-round isn't the only combo that'll work so I'm keen to hear what others on here have done. Surely others have done 18" winters?
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