[Dazvanman]

Hi there folks!



Like many others no doubt, its that time of the year where the temperature in the UK drops a little, so I'm contemplating winter tyres for my car. I'm weighing up if to purchase some winter tyres and wheels for my 2016 F25 BMW X3 mSport 2L Diesel. My way of thinking is that the xDrive system with winter tyres should allow the wife reassurance when it comes to snow, ice and slush this coming winter. My logic is, xDrive + winter tyres = a very grippy car! Not to mention the rubber reacts better in temperatures lower the 7 degrees.



This said, I've been advised by my local BMW parts dept & Master Technician, that even though there is a set available for my vin number/car type there is no need to alter the standard setup as the xDrive system is very intelligent and the car should get us out of a pickle come the bad weather even with the Pirelli summer tyres which are stock on the car anyway.

I'd love to know peoples thoughts on this and if people have ventured down the route of fitting winter wheels/tyres previously to an X3 or even an X5? I have a best mate who swears by winter tyres on BMW's, however this was on his rear wheel drive 3 Series convertible.

The only option available for my car, are the V-Spoke 304 17" alloy wheels with the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D tyre (225/60/R17 99H). No steel wheels are available.

The other thing I can't quite get my head around is that my stock alloys are the 20" 310 type alloys running Pirelli P-Zeros front - 245/40/R20 and 275/35/R20 on the rear. If I were to purchase the option available to me from BMW parts, would going down 3 sizes in wheel diameter harm the setup of the car and put the diff/transfer box under any undue wear and tear?

Also, with my stock 310 type alloys being diamond cut and polished, taking these off the car in the winter months may be beneficial to prevent salt/grit damage, hence why I've ruled out buying cross climate/all season tyres for my 20" wheels.

Appreciate any feedback! Many thanks.

[richardodn]

I'm not sure what conditions you face in winter. Here in Denver, CO we typically see anything from warm(ish) sunny days all the way to full on blizzard conditions. Once the snow passes, we get rapid snow melt that tends to freeze back up at night leaving ice on the roads. And if you ever head up into the mountains, you're even more likely to be dealing with snow conditions.

With all that said, I highly recommend winter tires. If you were running all-seasons now and rarely see snow or ice, you could probably get away with them for the winter too. If they are summer performance tires, I'd swap them.

I assume you're looking at all 4 wheels. You are absolutely fine with any stock fitments as long as they clear the brakes. They all have the same rolling diameter. I don't believe the M Sport or any other options require additional brake clearance. You may want to confirm that. As an added bonus, the additional sidewall height with the 17" wheels helps to absorb the impact from potholes and such.

Personally, I run 17" Rial X10 wheels and Blizzak WS90 (non-runflat) snows on my '12 X3 35ix and it can get around in most any weather. One of the things I really like about the Rial wheel is that they come with the correct hub centerbore (no adapter needed) and accept the BMW center caps.

[Opie55]

I guess because of the influence of the Gulf Stream current I have always assumed it does not snow all that much in most of England. How much do you actually get? I would not drive in winter on summer tires even without snow, but I have never owned dedicated winter tires either. I just use all-season tires year round and it snows here. There are a small handful of days I cannot drive my 650 convertible, and it's very rare that I cannot drive the X3. As for sizes, it is size difference between wheels or axles that stress the xDrive system, not overall diameter. If the tires are the same size you are ok, but your speedometer may be slightly inaccurate.

[Dazvanman]

Originally Posted by richardodn

I'm not sure what conditions you face in winter. Here in Denver, CO we typically see anything from warm(ish) sunny days all the way to full on blizzard conditions. Once the snow passes, we get rapid snow melt that tends to freeze back up at night leaving ice on the roads. And if you ever head up into the mountains, you're even more likely to be dealing with snow conditions.

With all that said, I highly recommend winter tires. If you were running all-seasons now and rarely see snow or ice, you could probably get away with them for the winter too. If they are summer performance tires, I'd swap them.

I assume you're looking at all 4 wheels. You are absolutely fine with any stock fitments as long as they clear the brakes. They all have the same rolling diameter. I don't believe the M Sport or any other options require additional brake clearance. You may want to confirm that. As an added bonus, the additional sidewall height with the 17" wheels helps to absorb the impact from potholes and such.

Personally, I run 17" Rial X10 wheels and Blizzak WS90 (non-runflat) snows on my '12 X3 35ix and it can get around in most any weather. One of the things I really like about the Rial wheel is that they come with the correct hub centerbore (no adapter needed) and accept the BMW center caps.

I’m not too bothered about the steering response etc, just want the car to stop and steer correctly for the wife when out in the cold conditions. We don’t tend to get heavy snow in the UK but what we do get is icy slushy roads where winter tyres would be a lot better than the wide P-Zeros that are on now. Also when it does snow, it tends to snow on top of ice and slush. We’ve all been there and seen it where when it snows on the M’way lane 3 is always left empty as snow has fallen onto slushy Tarmac and the Traffic Officers/Police always seem to just drive on through it in their big X5’s. This I’m assuming as they have good quality winter rubber shoes on. My only concern is if the smaller diameter wheel (17”) will put mechanical pressures or wear and tear on the xDrive system as the car is setup and manufactured to work on my stock 20” wheels. BMW assure me, albeit the parts team, that the 17” wheels will fit my car and will go over the brakes. They also come complete with the tyre pressure sensors etc in the new wheels as a complete set. So basically other than the 3” size difference in wheel diameter they will fit. I’m just panicking that the transfer case or diff may wear with smaller size wheels on? Thanks for all the responses.

[n55david]

Originally Posted by Dazvanman

I'm not too bothered about the steering response etc, just want the car to stop and steer correctly for the wife when out in the cold conditions. We don't tend to get heavy snow in the UK but what we do get is icy slushy roads where winter tyres would be a lot better than the wide P-Zeros that are on now. Also when it does snow, it tends to snow on top of ice and slush. We've all been there and seen it where when it snows on the M'way lane 3 is always left empty as snow has fallen onto slushy Tarmac and the Traffic Officers/Police always seem to just drive on through it in their big X5's. This I'm assuming as they have good quality winter rubber shoes on. My only concern is if the smaller diameter wheel (17") will put mechanical pressures or wear and tear on the xDrive system as the car is setup and manufactured to work on my stock 20" wheels. BMW assure me, albeit the parts team, that the 17" wheels will fit my car and will go over the brakes. They also come complete with the tyre pressure sensors etc in the new wheels as a complete set. So basically other than the 3" size difference in wheel diameter they will fit. I'm just panicking that the transfer case or diff may wear with smaller size wheels on? Thanks for all the responses.

wheel size doesn't matter at all. over all tire diameter is all the matters. there are different tire sizes for a reason as you change wheel diameter you can get different tires with different diameters to compensate. the x3 comes with more than just 1 wheel size, you're fine. your x3 is engineered for 20" wheels at all. it's engineered for what ever wheel you want and fits the bolt pattern, hub size, offset and clears any other parts, tire size is all that really.matter beyond that.

btw, the smaller the wheel the lighter overall your setup will be so that will actually put less stress on driveline parts, though overall handing will suffer. the ride itself will be better to with more sidewall to absorb bumps.

[RickG]

highly recommend these links, Ones a calculator that shows the difference when you change tires and rim sizes (total diameter of wheel is what matters mostly)

https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc...5r19-335-20r22
https://www.wheel-size.com/size/bmw/x3/2016/

They either only have that option or only want to sell you that option.
the 17inch 225/60 are the most recommended for winter driving. Thinner wheel= better winter performance for the most part.

I've just spent the last 5 days studying and creating a shortlist... I still haven't fully chosen what setup or rims I'm going to go with girlfriends not happy but eh after all these hours I think I'm pretty proficient at understanding Wheel fitments

[RickG]

If you decide to go aftermarket just keep an eye on the offsets as well as bore size also.

Tip if your buying used or off a shop and don't know the offsets of the rim. The inside of the rim will show the offset number engraved with the letters "ET" ex 35ET or some rims have "IS" instead of "ET" because he went home.

[green_ember]

I have the new Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2 (not runflat) in a 225/60-17 on my '16 X3 M-Sport and they're fantastic so far. My mother also has a '16 X3 (not M-Sport) and I fitted hers with the Bridgestone Blizzak LM-50 Runflats. Both are excellent tires for winter conditions.

In previous seasons I have had the LM-50s, WS-60s, WS-70s, and WS-80s, all very capable winter tires. The difference in traction vs the normal all-seasons is immediately noticeable. I never go a winter without swapping on my Blizzaks.

The rims on both are some generic aluminums that were literally the cheapest ones that would clear the calipers

[okayr]

I have the 18" 307s and tbh they are not a nice enough wheel for me to worry about changing over to a different wheel for winter. In your case, especially with such a large rim, I would switch over for sure. Biggest rule is keeping the diameter closest to stock as possible.
This will be the first time this car is out in the snow (and salt ) and I got a great deal on Blizzak WS90s. It was recommended to go w/ a 235/50 instead of stock 245/50 so we'll see how it does. I'm excited!

[Vikingstaff]

Do a search in this forum. I advise getting them, particularly if you are on summer tires. If you had all season…then maybe you could forgo it based on how you described your winer weather.

There are a few winter tire threads for the X3 in the forums, as well as some “Best winter tire” online reviews. I did A LOT of research and consideration last fall for adding winter tires on our 2017 X3 28i xdrive.

I was worried about my smaller and lighter X3 handling winter conditions well. I came from 25 years of 2 GMC Yukon’s and 1 Cadillac Escalade - Large full size SUV’s. I was not sure how a smaller X3 would do. I wanted to insure the X3 would handle our harsh winters without concern for safety.

The hands down recommended winners for winter tires on the X3’s came down to two options when I was researching: (1) Blizzaks mentioned above, or Michelin Ice-X. Both are excellent based on everything I looked at, professional reviews, user experience, etc…

Blizzaks were the #1 rated tire for handling snowy conditions and #2 for handling ice.

Ice-X were #1 for handling icy conditions and #2 for handling snowy conditions, and also had a slightly longer tread lifespan.

Other tires seemed to inter into the debate, but these two were consistently in the topic 2-3, and varied as I mentioned above. Neither are run flat, but NO winter RFT remotely compares to them for acceleration, breaking, and handling in snow or ice.

I ended up going with the Michelin Ice-X. We live in Michigan, USA. Travel north in the state constantly to cottage for winter sports and activities. We see lots of snow and ice throughout the winter.

I struggled in making my final decision last November. I eventually leaned into the better icy road ratings/reviews of the ICE-X and it’s slightly longer tread life span.

Last winter the Michelin ICE-X handled everything the harsh Michigan winter threw at them. They are amazing!!! Heavy snow, no problem. Braking, no problem. Icy or slushy conditions, no problem. Thrilled with them, and actually just put them back on the X3 this past week. Ready for winter again.

[tracer bullet]

I bought some dedicated Vredestein's last year, to swap for the all-season Pirelli's that came on the car (bought CPO a few years ago). Huge difference on ice and snow, definitely worth the work to swap them over and back each year. I DIY it, takes an hour or so including filling them and resetting the TPMS on the car itself.

[pungo]

• Summer tires = super sketchy in the snow, even really super cold dry roads have a loss of traction.
• All Season tires = sufficient in snow, the computer intervenes and mostly keeps you out of trouble
• Winter tires = Game changer in the snow/ice, highly recommended for snow belts and worth it if you drive in snow often

[martinisounds]

This hasn't really been mentioned in the comments, but the x3 was sold with several different wheel size options. 20 inch was the top end and went down to 17 inches. Unless you have the m sport which limits you to an 18 inch rim to clear the brake calipers, you have many size options. 245/45/19 235/50/18 are just a couple of sizes that fit without a second thought. As stated above using a diameter calculator will also help if using a size that's a lil different from that.

[pungo]

Originally Posted by martinisounds

This hasn't really been mentioned in the comments, but the x3 was sold with several different wheel size options. 20 inch was the top end and went down to 17 inches. Unless you have the m sport which limits you to an 18 inch rim to clear the brake calipers, you have many size options. 245/45/19 235/50/18 are just a couple of sizes that fit without a second thought.

Are you saying the m sport has larger brakes? I never heard that before, I thought all F25 models used the same brake sizes, regardless of package or engine ,

[TEF]

I live in a snow belt area in the US and find it necessary to install winter tires each year. From my experience, I don't think much is gained in buying the most expensive winter tire as most manufacturers use similar rubber compounds that do well at cold temperatures. My X3 owner's manual suggest a range of tire size including 225/60-17 and narrower tires are recommended for snow-covered roads.

One inexpensive source for wheels (at least here in the US) are BMW styles 57 and 130 that were installed on the older X5(E53). They fit perfectly on an X3d and have the correct offset. Since these are really considered "uncool" by the performance-minded, they sell here for about $50 each (or less). Also, I skip the TPM sensors on my winter tire set.

You may recognize that I seem to be doing things on the cheap, but where I live, vehicles go for weeks without washing so nothing is gained by installing beautiful wheels on a vehicle covered in road salt and dirt.

[Dazvanman]

Hi Folks…

Continuing this link on winter tyres, especially the OEM BMW style 304 17” type for an F25 X3, the ideal recommended tyre size for M+S is 225x60x17 however there are some tyres with some good wheels sized 205x65x17 (square set up). Albeit a bit narrower and the fact, this tyre size is actually stamped as an approved tyre size on the inside of the drivers door, would the 205x65x17 be a good choice for an F25 with XDrive ie rolling circumference etc?

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by Dazvanman

… this tyre size is actually stamped as an approved tyre size on the inside of the drivers door, would the 205x65x17 be a good choice for an F25 with XDrive ie rolling circumference etc?

If that tire sizes is on your tire inflation chart as well as a recommended tire size in your owners manual…then the answer is yes…it is okay.

If that size is NOT listed on your driver’s door label or in your owners manual…then use a tire size calculator (your can google for one or use on like at www.willtheyfit.com ) to determine how far off the rolling circumference/diameter is vs what you already have mounted.

Why would BMW recommend a tire size that doesn’t work?

If you use the site above…you can also compare your original front to the new front…and the original rear to the new rear setup…as well as comparing the set up for front axle vs rear axle.

[bmwPower99]

UK here as well. I went down the route of all seasons with a summer bias. Namely michellin cross climates. Great tyres that last a long time and have great summer and wet grip and good in snow (I only ever get light snow). They do really well in all the tyre tests.