KEF,

You're right (again). I had just completed my research on that particular tire on other web sites and decided that it'll be just fine for me. Thanks for the TireRack link --- I hadn't seen that.

I guess if I lived a LOT further north, I might want the "Studless Ice and Snow"...

. . . . Brian

I'am sorry for the confusion. :confused: Every winter tire is a M + S tire. But not every M + S tire is a good winter tire. Because all weather-tires are also M + S labeled and they are not a good choice for severe winter conditions. All weather or all season-tires don't have a good profile for grip in snow and the rubbermix is too hard. In cold conditions you need a soft rubbermix, which stays soft in low temperatures. This is only guaranteed with winter tires.

So Dunlop Grandtrek WT, Pirelli Scorpion Ice + snow or Bridgestone Blizzak are all premium winter tires. :thumbup:

Greetings
Gary

agree with Gary. here in Europe M+S can be printed on any kind of tire like so called all seasons but symbol with montain and snowflakes is allowed on tires with real winter ability only. thats including softer rubber mixture and real snowprofile. i also use Dunlop Granteks M3 which are premium wintertires and good enough even for heavy winterconditions.

as Gry said: xdrive is good for uphill driving, accelerating and cornering ability but in downhill driving and braking you just have a car weighting 2,3 tons and nearly no difference to a 7series.

greetings from rainy Hamburg
Jan

Do you guys use DTC on a roadway (winter and snow covered) for speeds say up and around 40-60 MPH? I did that and it scared me a bit. I hit a snow bank around a corner and the car was wondering side to side

Absolutely not. Why would you not want the benefits of DSC when moving?

The only time I would use DTC is if I was stuck in a snowbank and wanted to spin the tires to chew my way out. DTC will allow more wheelspin than DSC. As soon as I was moving I would re-engage DSC.

The biggest confusion with DTC is that some people think it is traction control (which it is), but don't realize that DSC (which is already on) is stability control + traction control. Engaging DTC turns off the stability control, in addition to allowing a little more wheelspin before engaging the brakes on the spinning wheel.

Pirelli Scorpion Ice&Snow was good on E53 and I put it on my E70, too. We don't have real snow yet, I can't comment handling of E70 on snow.

Hey, when you are driving 60 mph on a snow covered street you don't need any assistance by your car, you need assistance from a higher level.... :yikes: !! Imagine a deer or anything else appears on the street. No chance to brake or pass it. We have good SAV, but even for us bimmerdrivers there are some physical limits .. ;) !

Greetings form Switzerland
Gary

we have divided roadways/ secondary highways in Canada that are not often plowed with posted speed limit of around 100km or 60MPH, i was going about 70-75 km/h (around 45mph) on a divided 4 lane roadway with snow in between tire tracks but while cornering the car gettered a bit. I hear about the slowing down but really on a highway up here I do reach 60 mph often in the winter. (Especially in Alberta ;) )

So 20" rims with good winter tires will do the trick or would I still be better
something smaller with winter tires.

(in Belgium it snows twice a year so nothing like Canada, Switzerland, Iowa, and Colarado)

tks

Sam

High Sam

Not the size of the rims is the key. The tire width is important. On snow covered streets you have the best performance with thin tires like 255's. As widther they are as worser is the traction of these tires. A good wheel combination for winter is 255/50 R19 107 H. You can use for example the bmw rim 177 19'. That looks good on your E70. If you desire a tougher look with fat tires, you can choose winter tires on 20' rims in the dimension 275/40 R20! They are fat but in severe conditions the traction is worser than with 255. And you can't use snow chains with these tires.

Your choice!

Greetings from Switzerland :thumbup:
Gary