[Dabozo]

Originally Posted by vugz10

https://www.facebook.com/RichmondLearnstoPark/

Winner.

Hilarious that there is a Facebook page to report these people

[Dabozo]

Any of you belong to a BMW Canada club?

I just joined the trillium one for Ontario (I assume) so that I can get discounts on parts and any future vehicle purchases and to perhaps participate in some of their driver events etc but to my surprise there is VERY little activity in their forums.
Did I join the right club??
Ps There was also no mention of parts discounts-only 2% off msrp direct from BMW (must be a member for min 1 year to qualify).

[Twix]

Originally Posted by Dabozo

Any of you belong to a BMW Canada club?

I just joined the trillium one for Ontario (I assume) so that I can get discounts on parts and any future vehicle purchases and to perhaps participate in some of their driver events etc but to my surprise there is VERY little activity in their forums.
Did I join the right club??
Ps There was also no mention of parts discounts-only 2% off msrp direct from BMW (must be a member for min 1 year to qualify).

I'm part of the BMW Club of Southern Alberta. I get discounts at the dealer, just show your card... or if you're like me and everybody knows your name, grab a stool at the bar and collect the discount. The club has other local benefits as well, tint, detailing and indy shops sometimes give discounts too, talk to the guys in your club.

BMWCSA is pretty active, we do stuff every month. Usually the same 30 or so people, but still can be good fun.

[Dabozo]

Originally Posted by Twix

I'm part of the BMW Club of Southern Alberta. I get discounts at the dealer, just show your card... or if you're like me and everybody knows your name, grab a stool at the bar and collect the discount. The club has other local benefits as well, tint, detailing and indy shops sometimes give discounts too, talk to the guys in your club.

BMWCSA is pretty active, we do stuff every month. Usually the same 30 or so people, but still can be good fun.

thanks twix.

[twboy1999]

Originally Posted by Dabozo

Any of you belong to a BMW Canada club?

I just joined the trillium one for Ontario (I assume) so that I can get discounts on parts and any future vehicle purchases and to perhaps participate in some of their driver events etc but to my surprise there is VERY little activity in their forums.
Did I join the right club??
Ps There was also no mention of parts discounts-only 2% off msrp direct from BMW (must be a member for min 1 year to qualify).

there are a few dealerships in the GTA offer parts discount without having to be part of trillium bmw club.

Just mention maxbimmer forum, they will give you discount. Usually around 20%

[Dabozo]

Originally Posted by twboy1999

there are a few dealerships in the GTA offer parts discount without having to be part of trillium bmw club.

Just mention maxbimmer forum, they will give you discount. Usually around 20%

Thanks! Good to know...

[tux2005]

Policaro, Endras and Maranello have MaxBimmer discounts, it's a free-to-join forum and I don't think they do much to verify you're a member.

Pfaff doesn't do the MaxBimmer discount, they have discounts for BMW True North members (I think there is a fee for that one).

I think the BMW Trillium Chapter of the BMW Car Club only gives discounts on the cars, I don't know about discounts for parts or the like. They do also run driver training events and the like. I've joined, hoping that I might be able to take advantage of the 2% discount next year (BMW CC have explicitly excluded M2 and M4 GTS from the 2% discount for this year).

[Benzima]

Bump...

[gthal]

TEASER ALERT

Given we are all in Canada, I thought I'd post a quick picture of my winter wheels that arrived this week. I'm putting them on the car next week to take some pictures and will post a dedicated thread then with more info and thoughts...

These are VMR 710FF in matte graphite. 19x9.5 ET3e and will run a square 255/35-19 tire for easy rotation. The offsets and wheels should leave effectively OEM fender clearance all around and only be 9mm closer to the suspension in the front... i.e. no fitment issue. If the front is too close to the suspension, I'll throw a 5mm spacer on it but it should be fine. I'm putting my Hakka R2 winters on them... BEST winter tire I have ever owned for real winter conditions!!!!!

They are flow formed and pretty light at 22.6lbs each which is great for a winter wheel and not that different than the OEM 19's. Plus, I think they look great! MSRP is $1,360 for the set which is better than pretty much anything OEM and lighter than traditionally cast wheels (including most BMW OEM options). Plus certifications include JWL, VIA & ISO-9001:2000 so they are pretty well made for the price.

P.S. Way better concavity than the pictures illustrate too

[gmzanatta]

Nice! Mind PM'ng me ordering details? Thanks!

PS: have you A/B the tires with any others? Been curious about these for a while and never had a chance to try them out. Would appreciate a quick overview.

[Ex-MINI]

Thanks for posting this. I was actually looking at VMR wheels on the Bimmian site...good price and located in Canada! Wasn't sure what the exact fitment was, so thanks for confirming

[Shindo]

Originally Posted by gthal

TEASER ALERT

Given we are all in Canada, I thought I'd post a quick picture of my winter wheels that arrived this week. I'm putting them on the car next week to take some pictures and will post a dedicated thread then with more info and thoughts...

These are VMR 710FF in matte graphite. 19x9.5 ET35 and will run a square 255/35-19 tire for easy rotation. The offsets and wheels should leave OEM fender clearance all around and only be 5mm closer to the suspension in the front... i.e. no fitment issue. I'm putting my Hakka R2 winters on them... BEST winter tire I have ever owned for real winter conditions!!!!!

They are flow formed and pretty light at 22.6lbs each which is great for a winter wheel and not that different than the OEM 19's. Plus, I think they look great! Retail is $1,360 for the set which is better than pretty much anything OEM and lighter than traditionally cast wheels (including most BMW OEM options). Plus certifications include JWL, VIA & ISO-9001:2000 so they are pretty well made for the price.

P.S. Way better concavity than the pictures illustrate too

Thanks for that. Those rims are really nice, black finish is ideal for winter and style is easy to clean. Good value for the price also.

[gthal]

Originally Posted by gmzanatta

Nice! Mind PM'ng me ordering details? Thanks!

PS: have you A/B the tires with any others? Been curious about these for a while and never had a chance to try them out. Would appreciate a quick overview.

Will send a PM a bit later to you

I have owned a large number of winter tires (largely because I change cars a lot). The Hakka R2 are the very best winter tire I have owned for when the weather is poor. They literally allowed me to drive the M4 in some nasty storms... one storm I was on the road for 2 hours in traffic while we had 40cm of snow dumped on us and I got home no problem. The only issue is if the car is snowplowing and, then, nothing is going to save you. They are decent on cold, dry roads. I'd rate the tires I own something like this...

Snow, ice, slush performance:

1. Hakka R2 by a LARGE margin
2. Blizzak LM-60 (which are now the LM-32 and less aggressive so likely not as good).
3. Dunlop 3D
4. Michelin Alpin PA3 (took them off after the 2nd snow fall and sold them... they would have gotten me stuck somewhere and scared me. Dry, powdery snow they were OK. Wet, icy snow and they are dangerous and not much better than an all season).
5. Conti TS810 (I think it was the 810... might have been the 830??)

Cold, dry pavement:

1. Michelin Alpin PA3 (just don't get caught out in ice/snow)
2. Dunlop 3D
3. Conti
4. Hakka R2 = Blizzak LM-60

Those would be the most recent. The Hakka R2 is good enough in the dry weather than it is worth the piece of mind in the poor weather. When I had winter tires that performed well in the dry, I would worry about getting stuck at the office or at a clients if we had lots of snow during the day. With the R2, the only time I don't take my car and take my wife's SUV is if it is so deep I'll snowplow.

If someone only cared about cold, dry performance then I'd get the new Michelin PA4. If they want really good bad weather performance, get the Hakka R2. Anything else in the middle is a compromise IMO.

[Benzima]

Originally Posted by gthal

TEASER ALERT

Given we are all in Canada, I thought I'd post a quick picture of my winter wheels that arrived this week. I'm putting them on the car next week to take some pictures and will post a dedicated thread then with more info and thoughts...

These are VMR 710FF in matte graphite. 19x9.5 ET35 and will run a square 255/35-19 tire for easy rotation. The offsets and wheels should leave OEM fender clearance all around and only be 5mm closer to the suspension in the front... i.e. no fitment issue. I'm putting my Hakka R2 winters on them... BEST winter tire I have ever owned for real winter conditions!!!!!

They are flow formed and pretty light at 22.6lbs each which is great for a winter wheel and not that different than the OEM 19's. Plus, I think they look great! Retail is $1,360 for the set which is better than pretty much anything OEM and lighter than traditionally cast wheels (including most BMW OEM options). Plus certifications include JWL, VIA & ISO-9001:2000 so they are pretty well made for the price.

P.S. Way better concavity than the pictures illustrate too

Nice set! You will run in style this winter!

I run Pirelli Sottozero 240 since 5 winters and really love them.

Hakka are amazing tires. I used to run them in the past, but they do not last very long.

[gthal]

Originally Posted by Benzima

Nice set! You will run in style this winter!

I run Pirelli Sottozero 240 since 5 winters and really love them.

Hakka are amazing tires. I used to run them in the past, but they do not last very long.

They don't last because they are soft to grip ice

It really comes down to someone's need. For me personally, I always will choose the most capable snow/ice tire because I hate the feeling of knowing a storm is coming and worrying about being stuck somewhere. Where I live it is also VERY hilly and that makes it harder (our brothers out west in the Prairies don't know what it's like to drive in snow/ice on real hills ). If I was willing to drive the car only on cold days or when there is a small dusting of snow, I'd pick something else like the Sottozero or Alpin as both are better on dry pavement. It's all about one's priority for use of the car

[gthal]

Originally Posted by Ex-MINI

Thanks for posting this. I was actually looking at VMR wheels on the Bimmian site...good price and located in Canada! Wasn't sure what the exact fitment was, so thanks for confirming

The Bimmian site isn't showing the 710FF. It's only showing the 710 as far as I can see which is a heavier, gravity cast, wheel... cheaper too. I'm sure they could get the V710FF if that's what someone wanted.

The other option is Apex wheels. I ran their wheels on my track car and they were fantastic and relatively cheap too. They have a PS-7 wheel that is identical to the VMR wheel I bought but they only had silver available and I wanted a darker wheel. That and VMR was slightly less expensive for similar quality.

[Benzima]

Originally Posted by gthal

They don't last because they are soft to grip ice

It really comes down to someone's need. For me personally, I always will choose the most capable snow/ice tire because I hate the feeling of knowing a storm is coming and worrying about being stuck somewhere. Where I live it is also VERY hilly and that makes it harder (our brothers out west in the Prairies don't know what it's like to drive in snow/ice on real hills ). If I was willing to drive the car only on cold days or when there is a small dusting of snow, I'd pick something else like the Sottozero or Alpin as both are better on dry pavement. It's all about one's priority for use of the car

Totally understand since you live in the mini San Francisco of the East.

[Ex-MINI]

Originally Posted by gthal

The Bimmian site isn't showing the 710FF. It's only showing the 710 as far as I can see which is a heavier, gravity cast, wheel... cheaper too. I'm sure they could get the V710FF if that's what someone wanted.

The other option is Apex wheels. I ran their wheels on my track car and they were fantastic and relatively cheap too. They have a PS-7 wheel that is identical to the VMR wheel I bought but they only had silver available and I wanted a darker wheel. That and VMR was slightly less expensive for similar quality.

Ha...I was wondering why the Bimmian wheel had a slightly different offset.

would you mind sending me a pm about the retailer you ordered from?

[AGHand]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Michelin X-Ice3 in this thread about winter tires. Over the last 20 years of being responsible for my own rubber here in Ottawa, the X-Ice series have regularly provided me with the best overall performance in the winter, and have saved my ass a number of times in bad snow. Great on dry cold pavement, and rock solid in snow. I haven't used the R2's, so I can't compare them.

I need to buy new winter rubber for the Mini and X1 this year, and both of them will get the XI3s.

__________________________________________
On Order: F87 M2 MGM 6MT
Current: Mini Cooper R56 5MT, E84 X1 28i
Previous: 2007 F650GS, E46 325i 5MT, E30 325i 5MT

[gmzanatta]

Originally Posted by AGHand

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Michelin X-Ice3 in this thread about winter tires. Over the last 20 years of being responsible for my own rubber here in Ottawa, the X-Ice series have regularly provided me with the best overall performance in the winter, and have saved my ass a number of times in bad snow. Great on dry cold pavement, and rock solid in snow. I haven't used the R2's, so I can't compare them.

I need to buy new winter rubber for the Mini and X1 this year, and both of them will get the XI3s.

I've had them on several of my winter cars - currently what I run on my beater '07 Fusion. I put them on my wife's Elantra GT as well.

Great tires but I would not, under any circumstances, run these in a performance car.

[gthal]

Originally Posted by AGHand

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Michelin X-Ice3 in this thread about winter tires. Over the last 20 years of being responsible for my own rubber here in Ottawa, the X-Ice series have regularly provided me with the best overall performance in the winter, and have saved my ass a number of times in bad snow. Great on dry cold pavement, and rock solid in snow. I haven't used the R2's, so I can't compare them.

I need to buy new winter rubber for the Mini and X1 this year, and both of them will get the XI3s.

The X-Ice are great but not available in sizes that easily accommodate the M2 (or any M car). The selection for tires that will work is far more limited than cars like the Mini and X1. For example, I'm running a 255/35-19 square set up on my M2 and the X-Ice aren't available in that size. Even in 18" wheels, there are limited selections with the right width and profile. The Hakka R2 work in the sizes needed for the M2 and, IMO, are just as good on ice but notably better in deep snow. If you do some research on the R2, they are generally regarded as one of the best, if not THE best, non-studded winter tire in snow and ice. Built for Nordic conditions My wife has owned X-Ice and Blizzak on her Highlander and the R2 are better than both... although the latest Blizzaks are very close IMO overall but wear even faster that the Hakka's.

[Twix]

I have Hakkas on my Disco right now. Worst winter tire I've ever had. They don't clear themselves out the way Blizzaks do. I find that once they get into some milder snow, no matter the depth, they become a slick ice cube and it's rather scary in a 2.25 ton Land Rover.

Best winter tire I've ever had was actually not a winter tire, it was the all terrains I had on my Ranger. They could crawl through any snow condition. While not the best on ice, they still had better bite than any all season.

Next up for my Disco is a set of mud terrains.