Winter wheel and tire sizes for the M5

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by JST

“A car is not a horse, and it doesn't need a barn,” opined FLW

Ha! Had not seen this.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by FC

Well, I found a US seller that has the nicer, staggered 705M wheels in excellent condition (with used summer tires) and I have a tentative deal.

I'm not counting on the remaining life of those summer tires, but they could be fun for exploring the limits of the car with whatever thread they have left.

Now my question... Michelin sells Pilot Alpin 5 tires in the OEM-fitted sizes (265 & 285). However, the 265 tires are meant to fit wheels from 9 to 10.5, and the rear wheels are 10.5, so I could technically install 265's all round despite the staggered wheel size.

Would you go with 265's all around or buy the "proper" 265F & 285R tires?

Either way I am not doing this until next fall.

285 rear. It’s not going to make a difference in snow performance, unless you need clearance for chains. And I can’t imagine you putting chains on.

[JST]

Yeah I agree, 285 rear makes sense. If you got the square setup to u could rotate the tires, in theory, but you’d have to get them re-mounted and it’s probably not worth it.

[FC]

Ok, cool. I thought the same, just wanted confirmation.

[equ]

Originally Posted by FC

Well, I would not want to rotate the staggered wheels. Also, the tires are unidirectional. I’m also not expecting to use the car on situations with accumulated snow, mostly cold and wet conditions.

Do you have to have staggered wheels? I missed that part. I would use a staggered winter set on a 911/boxster/cayman but not on a 50/50-ish bmw.

I think more and more I'm out of touch with this board. I say square 265, everyone goes 285 rear.

[FC]

Originally Posted by equ

Do you have to have staggered wheels? I missed that part. I would use a staggered winter set on a 911/boxster/cayman but not on a 50/50-ish bmw.

I think more and more I'm out of touch with this board. I say square 265, everyone goes 285 rear.

Back in the ZHP days, I did that. I bought a used set of 68M wheels (meant for 225F/245R) but installed 225s all round. That said, I never rotated those wheels front to back.

But to be fair, I did drive that car in real snow. It was my only car for two winters. That will not be the case with the M5 because I can WFH in bad weather and have other options even for mediocre weather.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by JST

My takeaway from that video is a bit different, I guess. The truly awful performance of the summer tires kind of overshadows just how big a difference there is between the all seasons and the winter tires, but a 20 second gap on a 1 minute course is immense.

This video suggests to me that if you’ve got an AWD car in a place where it only snows occasionally (like DC), you can probably get away with the Michelin all seasons all year round.

But if you’re going to the trouble and expense of buying a whole separate set of wheels and tires for when it snows and you live somewhere that it snows routinely, I would definitely get the snow tires. And yeah I hear you about not meaning to drive the car when it snows a lot, but again if you’re spending the money and effort why not get the specialized tools that actually work? That way you don’t have to stress if you get caught in a storm somewhere, and you have more flexibility if you need to use the car.

I’m going to disagree a bit here.

The Pilot Sport All Seasons give you something a lot like the steering feel of a summer tire and usable snow performance. For the cold months, they genuinely feel pretty great. If you deliberately are trying to limit grip, they’re not a bad all year tire.

Now, FC in Boston gets more snow than we do, but I’m very happy with my all seasons for the winter choice on the E90.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

I’m going to disagree a bit here.

The Pilot Sport All Seasons give you something a lot like the steering feel of a summer tire and usable snow performance. For the cold months, they genuinely feel pretty great. If you deliberately are trying to limit grip, they’re not a bad all year tire.

Now, FC in Boston gets more snow than we do, but I’m very happy with my all seasons for the winter choice on the E90.

They are perfect for my purposes and climate, but I would want something more capable up in Boston. If only to get home from the airport after a winter business trip. Even in DC, there were times I was really happy to have the winters when I was stuck downtown for events I could not miss.

[Alan]

I’ve been through some really bad snow storms with the M550 with the all season tires and never felt the need for snow tires, same with my 540, my previous 550, 535, my A6’s, etc.

I agree with Nick that all seasons will get you through anything especially combined with AWD.

I was going to mention to FC I don’t see any reason why he isn’t driving the M5 with the P Zero’s, I drove through 4 winters with them on the R8 and multiple winters with the 911 (both cars had 295 width tires on the rear) before I got winter tires on the 911. I’m not saying he should not get another set, I think he should since his car will see snow where the R8 and 911 were driven between storms but he could still enjoy the car on days like today.

Today I drove the C8 with the all seasons and they were great in this crazy cold weather and no tire chatter when making a tight turn.

The downside with winter tires are in March you get some warm weather here and there and the winter tires turn to mush but otherwise they are great,

[FC]

Alan, the M5 is not on P7's. It's on P-Zeros max performance summers.

Frankly, I am more inclined to consider all seasons because of the shoulder seasons. Especially in the last ~10 years I just don't know what to expect in November and December and March and April. I don't want to ride on winter tires at 50-60F, but now I am concerned about driving the P-Zeros at <45F.