17"s Vs 18"s for Winter Set-up in boston?

[Boston X5 4.4]

Hello all,
Looking for some winter set-up advice. I have 19's with Diamaris on my '04 X5 and will get a winter set of wheels/tires.

I had a 330Ci before the X5 and had dedicated snows for winter - Dunlop winter sport. They were great, especially for a RWD car.

Seeing as the X5 is already 4WD will I really need snow tires or would the stock set-up e.g. 17's with Michelin energy MXV4 tires be sufficient?
( I have been able to find a pretty reasonable 17" set)
I will not be doing a lot of daily driving in snow - live and work in Boston. But may involve some ski-trips to Vermont, New-Hamshire and don't want to be stranded.

Also, I much prefer the look of an 18" winter set-up but think it might be prudent to have the higher tire wall of a 17' set-up given the pot-holes here in Boston in winter?

All comments, experience welcomed.
Thanks

[jditom]

Originally Posted by Boston X5 4.4

Hello all,
Looking for some winter set-up advice. I have 19's with Diamaris on my '04 X5 and will get a winter set of wheels/tires.

I had a 330Ci before the X5 and had dedicated snows for winter - Dunlop winter sport. They were great, especially for a RWD car.

Seeing as the X5 is already 4WD will I really need snow tires or would the stock set-up e.g. 17's with Michelin energy MXV4 tires be sufficient?
( I have been able to find a pretty reasonable 17" set)
I will not be doing a lot of daily driving in snow - live and work in Boston. But may involve some ski-trips to Vermont, New-Hamshire and don't want to be stranded.

Also, I much prefer the look of an 18" winter set-up but think it might be prudent to have the higher tire wall of a 17' set-up given the pot-holes here in Boston in winter?

All comments, experience welcomed.
Thanks

The MXV4 is a poor snow tire. I have used them on other cars in the snow and could not make it up a small incline. AWD won't help. Well worth the extra $ to get a real set of snow tires like you have had before. Tracking, turning, stopping will all be better.
IMHO

[B&DCalgary]

I agree. The MXV's are banana peels. My first experience with them was on my 3 series when I couldn't even back out of my garage after the first snowfall of the year. I put the car back in the garage, went down to the dealer, and picked up a set of winter wheels with Michelin Artic Alpin's. After that (plus a couple of 50 lb bags of sand in the trunk) it was like having a snowmobile.

The best setup is to go with the smaller 17" wheel and choose a narrower profile, higher aspect tire than the normal summer setup (see if you can keep the width down to 215 or narrower). The narrow tires will give you much better bite in the snow versus the wider tires, which will have a tendency to float. Consequently your handling and stopping ability will be much better.

Don't forget, just because you have AWD, you still need good tires appropriate to the conditions. You will get fooled by the X's ability to accelerate and corner (up to a point), but then find you have absolutely no stopping power.... and it's sayonara.

[03Topazbluex5]

I live in montreal so our winters here get pretty bad. I bought a set of scorpions ice and snow they faired ok last winter but for some reason i feel like i'm not getting enough traction out of them! My mom has a set of nokian's on her car and they're freakin amazing, she drives an xc90. In any case i just feel like the maybe the X5 isnt much of a winter car, i had much better control on the snow in my old jeep GC. Then again maybe its just the pirellis! BTW i switch tires on the stock 18" and our streets are big potholes with ppl driving in them so i wouldnt worry about sidewall height unless you buy some cheap azz tires.

[phil47]

The big difference with going to a dedicated snow tire is you also get better performance at lower temperatures. The MXV4's become hard at low temps while snow tires remain flexible and so perform better.

Ideally, going with 17" wheels with hard-core snow tires (like Nokians, Blizzaks or Arctic Alpins) is the safest bet. I am going the intermediate route which is 18" BMW Type 74 wheels (vs the 19's on my '05 4.4 w/sport) and Pirelli Scorpian Ice and Snow tires. In Calgary you often get dry pavement...maybe with a few icy patches...for long stretches in the Winter. I didn't want to compromise the handling of this SAV too much under those conditions, even though I know it won't be as good as it can get when the snow and slush is deep...

[DinanX5]

Originally Posted by phil47

I am going the intermediate route which is 18" BMW Type 74 wheels (vs the 19's on my '05 4.4 w/sport) and Pirelli Scorpian Ice and Snow tires. In Calgary you often get dry pavement...maybe with a few icy patches...for long stretches in the Winter. I didn't want to compromise the handling of this SAV too much under those conditions, even though I know it won't be as good as it can get when the snow and slush is deep...

This is the setup I was thinking of as well - using my 18" #74's and getting the Pirellis... But I'm thinking of going for Nokians instead (assuming they come in this size ) since I hear so many rave reviews about them.

[B&DCalgary]

The Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 is another highly rated tire to consider, at a good price, and they perform quietly and well when the pavement's dry too.

[jditom]

Originally Posted by DinanX5

This is the setup I was thinking of as well - using my 18" #74's and getting the Pirellis... But I'm thinking of going for Nokians instead (assuming they come in this size ) since I hear so many rave reviews about them.

I am also using some 18's with Nokian's. I am sure they will be $$ but they are tops!

Nokian, search under BMW truck to find X5!

I am going with the Hakkapeliitta SUV and you can get them with or without studs.


Hakkapeliitta SUV

I would check around since they can be hard to find and expensive! America's tires carries them and Meadow Creek (see WWW)

Meadow Creek

Let me know if anyone has a better source!