[jt2]

Originally Posted by Radioactive

I don't believe CHP allows anything but chains when "chains required" is posted. Does not matter what setup your car has. Never forget driving from Mammoth to Bishop with chains and a wiseass in a red corvette doing about 45 mph went flying by us. We saw him in Bishop with his fenders shredded.

Yeah, chains are not magical.

I've never seen them require chains on a 4WD with snow tires. Technically, I believe that means actual snow tires with the Severe Snow Service rating, but I think they're generally pretty lax on that, especially on plowed highways.

CHP will likely just close the road long before they'd start checking tire ratings.

From what I've seen in Sierra winter driving, it is all about the tire. On poorly plowed or ice-packed roads more than a few times in my snow-tire shod Silverado I've had to go around nearly incapacitated SUVs with chains on top of all seasons.

And not all "all season" tires are made the same. Changing the generic A/S tires on a Forester XT to Conti Extreme Contacts turned it into an unstoppable beast in snow or ice.

The bottom line is that the LS2 should be fine on a plowed highway on the way to Mammoth. Just throw a set of chains in the back seat so you can show them at a checkpoint. In 25 years of driving to the mountains in CA, I've never seen them require chain mounting on a 4WD.

That being said, based on the reviews, I'll likely bin the LS2s in favor of some Contis before heading to the mountains in winter in the X3.

[teegee]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

The X3 Manual section related to chains is quoted below:

Snow chains
Fine-link snow chains
Only certain types of fine-link snow chains have
been tested by the manufacturer of your vehicle,
classified as road-safe and recommended.
Consult your service center for more information.
Use
Use only in pairs on the rear wheels, equipped
with the tires of the following size:
▷ 205/65 R 17.
▷ 225/60 R 17.
▷ 245/50 R 18.

No snow chains with tires of size 245/45 R19
Do not mount snow chains on tires of size
245/45 R 19; otherwise, the vehicle can become
damaged.◀

BMW Japan sells RUD-matic disc snow chains specifically for 245/45 R19, so I guess you can use those... They are like Maggi Trak / Spikes Spider that fit 'on top' of the tyre & don't go round the back...

[sard]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

[Vintage]

the all seasons are probably fine for 75% of the snow and ice you would encounter as reflected by these pictures in our X5 at Rocky Mountain National Park - but if serious mountain driving on tons of ice and snow, winter/snow tires would do the trick for sure; I can't imagine chains ever being needed but I am a Texan/city slicker that actually drives well on snow and ice:

[Radioactive]

As a native Californian who has lived in NJ, WI, MA, IN and GA. California laws for snow requirements are different than a lot of other states. I've been made to put on chains here with a 4x4 and MS tires.

Again, one should check with the CHP for requirements then decide what one would do.

[TarHeelFan]

Per my earlier post and the situation I was in...The roads had compacted snow and a lot of other cars had chains on but I did not need them. The CHP had a roadblock and asked if I had chains in case it got worse. (If I didn't have chains they would not have let me through.) The snow got worse - a lot worse - and I couldn't negotiate the roads safely without putting on the cable chains. I was able to get to my destination but it was with white-knuckle driving. The road conditions and snow got to the point that the CHP closed the road completely. It didn't matter what tires, chains or vehicle you were driving - they did not let anyone through. TWO DAYS later before they let anyone out - and it was only in caravans of 10 cars at a time and chains were 100% required - it didn't matter what tires you had.

All of this occured on a weekend that had no snow predicted. I live and drive 99.9% of the time in the CA (Silicon Valley) so putting on snow tires just seems a bit excessive. Someone suggested the cable chains and said if I wanted to get them for peace of mind then go ahead. Even thinking I would never use the cable chains, just having them eased my mind. Having them when I saw the snow start to fall really made life easier.

[skier219]

Originally Posted by sard

Did you ever need chains also with this setup?

Nope, just blizzaks.

[utcadman]

Another Sierra Storm!

No chains... AWD no prob....

Does get much worse. Wind in excess of 70mph and thats when things get nasty!

[sard]

Nice!!

[Lotus7]

On Feb. 2, 2011, one week before I received a new X3, parts of the Chicago metropolitan area received 32 inches of snow in less than 24 hours accompanied by wind gusts of 50 mph. My everyday driver then was a Suby Legacy GT turbo with Blizzaks and on roads with as much as 10 inches of snow I had no problems at all with no chains in sight.

When the X3 arrived (with All-Seasons P7's installed), I drove it on roads with as much as 5 inches of new snowfall. At 1 to 2 inches the P7's were acceptable, but with 4 or 5 inches they were just barely usable even with the X3's excellent X-Drive system. They had nowhere near the acceleration or braking capability of the Blizzaks.

Here's a shot from my garage on 2/02/2011. The highest drifts were even with the middle of the windscreen of my Lotus Seven (on the right under the cover) which I didn't drive that day.

Needed to use an 11hp snowthower to clear the driveway! Bet you don't see many of those in Southern California!

[sard]

Haha, only at the resorts. Thanks for sharing!

[Harplayr]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

On Feb. 2, 2011, one week before I received a new X3, parts of the Chicago metropolitan area received 32 inches of snow in less than 24 hours accompanied by wind gusts of 50 mph. My everyday driver then was a Suby Legacy GT turbo with Blizzaks and on roads with as much as 10 inches of snow I had no problems at all with no chains in sight.

When the X3 arrived (with All-Seasons P7's installed), I drove it on roads with as much as 5 inches of new snowfall. At 1 to 2 inches the P7's were acceptable, but with 4 or 5 inches they were just barely usable even with the X3's excellent X-Drive system. They had nowhere near the acceleration or braking capability of the Blizzaks.

Here's a shot from my garage on 2/02/2011. The highest drifts were even with the middle of the windscreen of my Lotus Seven (on the right under the cover) which I didn't drive that day.

Needed to use an 11hp snowthower to clear the driveway! Bet you don't see many of those in Southern California!

I’m still aching from clearing my driveway from that storm!

At that time I had a 2010 (first generation) X3 with Blizzaks and it did exceptionally well. I expect the F-25 to be just as good or better.
Snow tires VS all seasons do make a difference.

[sard]

Would you recommend the Blizzak LM 25 or LM 60? RFT or non? I think it might be a good idea to throw in a spare full size wheel in the trunk in case of a flat for a long distance trip. If you have a puncture flat with the RFT and you use that emergency goop repair kit, your tire is no more good after right?

[utcadman]

I am going with the LM60. Will consider the rtf. I have tried several different snow tires and the blizzaks are the best IMO. They just gave me more confidence and were incredibly predictable. Also the LM60s are available for the 19" size if I can't find a set of 307 wheels.

[sard]

I'm trying to decide on 18 or 19" wheels.

[utcadman]

Many more option with 18" in terms of tire choice. 18 would be better in snow. If i cant find a deal on 18s I will just switch my 19s out.

[sard]

Still debating this one. Getting a new rim + winter tire is too expensive of an option for me at this point given the amount of times I go up to the ski resorts maybe once a month or every other month. Plus from what I've read, a 4x4 with All Season tires + one set of snow chains on is "better" than a 4x4 with all winter tires. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I was examining the rear wheels of the X3 and there seems to be plenty of room all around the tire wheels, inside and out. Only concern is if the wheels ever compress more than 4 inches, a snow chain might come into contact with the wheel arch/fender or hit the inside wheel well depending how much the wheels travel medially. I wanted to drive the suv up a ramp on one wheel to see how much it compresses and the angle at which it does to see how much clearance I have, but it's raining outside and I just barely detailed it.

I'm looking at the Thule XG 12 snow chains which has a 12mm link width. Another option would be the SCC cables which have a 6mm clearance requirement. Gaah, anyone try chains/cables on their 19's yet??

[02420X3]

I bit the bullet last week. Tirerack came through with some aftermarket wheels and the same Pirellis that my dealer quoted for a total price which is about 56% of what the dealer quoted. (including TPS, valve stems, and Hunter Road Force Balancing). I have an appointment at 9AM tomorrow for the tire/wheel changeover, and hotel and dinner reservation in NH's White Mountains in a few days.

It's easy to price options out on Tirerack's website, but some of the more popular wheels are sold out for the season. If the Tirerack tire/wheel pricing doesn't work for you then what about just buying winter tires, and having them mounted on your current OEM wheels?

As to the snow chains, note that the manual recommends a max speed of 30MPH with chains mounted.

[sard]

Originally Posted by 02420X3

I bit the bullet last week. Tirerack came through with some aftermarket wheels and the same Pirellis that my dealer quoted for a total price which is about 56% of what the dealer quoted. (including TPS, valve stems, and Hunter Road Force Balancing). I have an appointment at 9AM tomorrow for the tire/wheel changeover, and hotel and dinner reservation in NH's White Mountains in a few days.

It's easy to price options out on Tirerack's website, but some of the more popular wheels are sold out for the season. If the Tirerack tire/wheel pricing doesn't work for you then what about just buying winter tires, and having them mounted on your current OEM wheels?

As to the snow chains, note that the manual recommends a max speed of 30MPH with chains mounted.

I specced out some non RFT blizzaks and the total with TPMs is $1600. If worse comes to worse I'll have to go this route .... ugh.. I hate clutter in the garage. I already built a ceiling shelf in the garage to hold my stock M3 rims. Did you get RFT's? Which wheels did you get?

[02420X3]

I went with the Elbrus 108 wheels (Anthracite mach w/ Ice Coating) and Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero Serie II RFT. I stuck with the stock (for my X3) 18" wheel size. The Pirellis are 245/50R18.

Some would prefer a -1 on the wheel size, a narrower tire, and a higher sidewall. I chose to stick with the OEM wheel and tire sizes.