Quote:
Originally Posted by XB101
Lotus, do you have separate rims for the Wintersports? The stock Pirelli P7 or P Zero not sufficient for Illinois winters? I think the vehicle comes with P7 but I have seen P Zero. What comes on the 19" MSport upgrade?
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Yes, I have a set of winter tires mounted on a set of 18'' wheels complete with TPM sensors. The tires delivered on my X3 were indeed Pirelli P7 "All-Seasons Run-Flats" (which are a very different tire than the P7 "Summer" - different rubber compound and different tread pattern). I did get to drive the car in light snow a few times (1 to 2 inches) and the P7's were fine. However, we do occasionally get deeper snowfalls, last winter we had one that was 11 inches in 18 hours, so a real winter tire is occasionally worth having.
I figure that the winter tires help handling and especially braking enough in severe weather to be worth the investment, and they do prolong the life of the "summer" tires since they are off the car for approximately 5 months each year, so somewhat pay for themselves. In addition, I use the twice-annual tire change to inspect the suspension and brakes carefully when I do the changeover.
You might want to look at the thread about changing tires/wheels on the X3 to see my winter tires/wheels.
http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showth...nging+tires+X3
see the last pic I posted in that thread.