Winter tire set-up on a 4.6is
 

Does anybody know what a good winter tire set-up for a 4.6is would be ??

have to make my decision on a winter setup myself - have read raves about the Pirelli Scorpion snow & ice - as well as the Nokian Hakkapeliitta SUV - BMW recommends 17" rims if you want to use chains - Pirelli's are rated for 130mph - still have to find out what the Nokians are rated for - as far as I can tell, it's a coin toss between the two

Definitely go with the 17" wheels and a narrower tire (215 is about right) in whatever aspect ratio is appropriate to keep the speedo true.

The narrower tires will give you much better winter performance, plus the cost will be about one third of the cost of winter tires that match the size of your summers.

I have a set of Blizzaks for the snow covered road days , otherwise I am rolling on 315's on black powder coated wheels during the winter :)

Most people have either choose Blizzaks LM22's or Dunlop Sport M2 ,
both are available in 255/55/18 (the recommend size for the 4.6is).

Other have choosen a 19" based wheel setup (using replicas from eBay) but your tire choice might be down to Dunlop and you'd have to get your tires early as they might not stock 19s for a long time.

- Jan

Sound advice for a 3.0i or 4.4i, however the 17" rim will not fit over the larger brake calipers found on the 4.6is and 4.8is. You have to go to an 18" rim setup.

I have an almost new pair of Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 in size P255-55-R18. Tread remaining is 10/32" (New ones have 11/32"). See http://www.xoutpost.com/showthread.php?t=284 for details.

Great snow tires....

Good point. In that case go with the narrowest tire feasible for an 18" wheel and adjust the aspect ratio accordingly to keep the speedo true. Any tire dealer can figure this out for you.

It's important NOT to go wide with winter tires. Going with the same width as your summer set-up will cause you to float and prevent the tires from doing their job. With winter tires, narrower is better so they can bite down through the snow and allow the tread to do what it's supposed to.

What about 8.5 in width for 4.8is?
 

I am getting the 4.8is and need to get winters, I can find lots of great looking 8.5" wide rims with the required bolt pattern, 18" size and 40 offset, however, i cant find many with 8" widths.

My dealer says that 8.5 will be too wide, but i can see how thet are biased as they want me to buy the 8" ones that they have there. CAN ANYONE CONFIRM THE MAX WIDTH FOR ME PLEASE?

I am aware that narrower is better for winter, but .5" i dont imagine can make too much of a difference.

Thanks in advance.

In my opinion this is a very good deal on a set of 4.8is winter rims/tires - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-X...14108447QQrdZ1

Not my auction, so do your own research.

As for width, you could always add spacers if the offset of the 8.5" ones you purchase isn't correct.

Definitely don't worry about the 1/2 inch... depending on the tire you choose, the actual section width will vary a few tenths of an inch on any given width 'measuring wheel' anyway... 8.5 inch wheels will be fine! (As many on this forum will tell you, it's not unusal to find people at the dealers that are inexplicably ignorant of even basic stuff!)