[CamJam_F87]

Hey y'all,
This is my first year with the M2 and I am looking for the best winter wheel and tire setup.

Right now I'm looking at a set of Enkeis 18x8.5 +35
I was going to pair them with squared 245/40/18 winters

Does anyone have any better recommendations on sizing or tire? I'm unsure which tire brand I wanna go with, I went with Michelin pa4s 2 years for my other car but I've seen people say I should get better winters for a RWD car, and honestly I'm down to pass on Michelins pricing.

Any help or photos would be great. Still trying to get an idea on wheel and tire I want and really just need concrete evidence on a size that works!

[Brokenbones]

How much snow driving do you see yourself doing?

Worked in hospital so needed to get to work with my rwd daily driver in snow sleet all winter. Got to work on days many suvs on all seasons didn’t.

I ran reasonably aggressive conti Vikings last 8-9 years between s2000 and m2. Reasonably priced in past, dunno after Covid supply BS though.

narrow 215 on s200 and 235 on m2 gave great traction on snow until they started wearing out at around 3 seasons and 8k miles. Probably could’ve done tire off rotation to extend life? Dry and wet traction wasn’t great…

Buddy ran pirelli performance winters on his 996, they were much better in dry and did decent enough in snow

[billypopo]

Had Nokian r3 235/45/18 if I recall correctly which is the only size that fits the M2 (in Nokian's lineup). Loved them. The M2 was my daily and I live in a nasty winter condition area (Qc - Canada).

I'm now on pa4 19'' on my M2C because well, that's pretty much the only tires that fit. I wish I could run Nokians again, that said the pa4 are much better when roads are dry.

[Fred Conoway]

Originally Posted by billypopo

Had Nokian r3 235/45/18 if I recall correctly which is the only size that fits the M2 (in Nokian's lineup). Loved them. The M2 was my daily and I live in a nasty winter condition area (Qc - Canada).

I'm now on pa4 19'' on my M2C because well, that's pretty much the only tires that fit. I wish I could run Nokians again, that said the pa4 are much better when roads are dry.

In the same boat here. Had some hakkas on my E60 535i and they were beastly. Would buy them in a heartbeat if they had them in 19s!!!

[Reddevils7]

Originally Posted by billypopo

Had Nokian r3 235/45/18 if I recall correctly which is the only size that fits the M2 (in Nokian's lineup). Loved them. The M2 was my daily and I live in a nasty winter condition area (Qc - Canada).

I'm now on pa4 19'' on my M2C because well, that's pretty much the only tires that fit. I wish I could run Nokians again, that said the pa4 are much better when roads are dry.

What size are you running on the 19s. I had bought a fresh set of pa4/5 in 255/275 35/19 for my m4 last winter. Planning on using it on the m2cs after selling the f82 in the summer

[CamJam_F87]

Originally Posted by billypopo

Had Nokian r3 235/45/18 if I recall correctly which is the only size that fits the M2 (in Nokian's lineup). Loved them. The M2 was my daily and I live in a nasty winter condition area (Qc - Canada).

I'm now on pa4 19'' on my M2C because well, that's pretty much the only tires that fit. I wish I could run Nokians again, that said the pa4 are much better when roads are dry.

Yeah I'm looking for an 18 in setup, my 19s are for summers. I know m2 comps struggle to get 18s that fit

[M Fifty]

The North Remembers...

[ZPrime]

I took delivery of my LCI in October 2017, and almost immediately had to throw a winter setup on it. It is my first RWD car, and I live in Cleveland, which has lake-effect snow. For those who aren't familiar, this means that if the wind sets up the right way, we can get an inch per hour or more, in specific areas. Plows can't keep up with this, and it turns driving into a crapshoot.

So yeah, I was worried about snow and ice myself.

I went down to 18x8s all around, and put 225/45R18, Michelin XIce3 on them. I would've preferred Nokian Hakkapeliitta, but I wanted to order a wheel + tire package from TireRack and they don't carry Nokian. The Xice3 was highly rated for snow & ice use, so that's what I went for.

In the 5 winters I've used them, I've only gotten stuck twice, and both of those were mostly my fault. At one point, I watched a Honda Civic get stuck in an intersection in the middle of a blizzard, while I was able to drive around him and keep going.

The narrower tire really does help with deep snow and ice.

But man, that setup kinda sucked in the non-snow days, like dry & cold or damp and cold. The turn-in is actually more sensitive than stock (I guess due to the narrower front), but it also feels more vague due to the taller sidewalls and thick winter tread pattern. The super narrow rear wheels mean dry power is compromised too.

It really comes down to a balancing act. How much do you need to drive the car when it's terrible outside? (How terrible does it get in Illinois? If you're by the lake I imagine it's worse than further away...) How much do you mind it having somewhat sucky performance in the dry in order to be able to get through snow more easily?

My snows are basically shot, so I'm struggling with this whole thing again myself. The easy (and relatively cheap) route is to do Xice Snow (the replacement for Xi3) in the same size again, it's a devil I know. But realistically, the vast majority of the winter, I wasn't seeing that much snow or ice. So it would be kinda nice to have a little bit more performance... I'm thinking about moving up to a Pilot Alpin 5 in 235/40 all around. Little bit wider, more performance-oriented tread and compound... but I'm worried one or both of these things will bite me in the ass. Once again, I'd like to get Nokians, but they are hard to find around here. I have a Costco like 3 minutes from my house and they have a deal going on Michelin right now, and I've been consistently impressed with their tires, so it's very tempting to use Costco for this.

I'm also gonna need a new set of summer rubber... this is not going to be a cheap year for car expenses.

Thankfully I only have about $2k left on the loan!

[Reddevils7]

Originally Posted by Reddevils7

What size are you running on the 19s. I had bought a fresh set of pa4/5 in 255/275 35/19 for my m4 last winter. Planning on using it on the m2cs after selling the f82 in the summer

For anyone curious, the vmr v710FF I had on the m4 do actually clear the CCBs. Just installed them now. 255/275 35 19. Rears are fine but there's a subtle little rub on the front inner fender where there's cutouts for the radiators. It's like rubbing just a couple mm and only on full lock. It's not leaving any marks or anything and no feedback relayed thru the steering wheel when it happens on turns and bumps. I'm gonna keep it as is and watch the fenders daily to see if there's any real rubbing/damage as a result. Is it possible to bend the fender liner in anymore? Like heat it and push it forward? 2mm more and it wouldn't even be an issue.

Stance looks great with the offset btw

[Swish77]

Just an FYI for M2C owners looking for options for winter/snow tires that fit the stock wheel sizes .... I just got the Continental Viking Contact 7s in 235/35/19 (front) and 255/35/19 (rear).

They're slightly narrower than the stock 245/35/19 and 265/35/19 tire sizes, but they still fit the wheels well, IMHO. And narrower tires are better for winter driving anyway. (These tires are not available in the stock sizes.) I mounted them on my backup BMW wheels, the 19-inch 437ms (9 inches wide in the front; 10 inches wide in the rear, same size as the stock 788 wheels on the M2C.) The four tires cost $1271 with CT tax.

I'll report back how the tires drive and their effectiveness in the nasty cold weather and snow we get here in the Northeast, but the reviews are good. I didn't see a lot of feedback from M2C drivers though, so we'll see. Highs are still into the 60s in CT, but the bad stuff will be here soon enough. I figure I'll get the new tires on the car in a month or so.

[Swish77]

Originally Posted by Swish77

Just an FYI for M2C owners looking for options for winter/snow tires that fit the stock wheel sizes .... I just got the Continental Viking Contact 7s in 235/35/19 (front) and 255/35/19 (rear).

They're slightly narrower than the stock 245/35/19 and 265/35/19 tire sizes, but they still fit the wheels well, IMHO. And narrower tires are better for winter driving anyway. (These tires are not available in the stock sizes.) I mounted them on my backup BMW wheels, the 19-inch 437ms (9 inches wide in the front; 10 inches wide in the rear, same size as the stock 788 wheels on the M2C.) The four tires cost $1271 with CT tax.

I'll report back how the tires drive and their effectiveness in the nasty cold weather and snow we get here in the Northeast, but the reviews are good. I didn't see a lot of feedback from M2C drivers though, so we'll see. Highs are still into the 60s in CT, but the bad stuff will be here soon enough. I figure I'll get the new tires on the car in a month or so.

Quick update .... Literally the day after I installed my new winter wheel/tire set-up, we had an ice storm with some snow here in CT. Big thumbs-up on these Continental Viking Contact 7s. I drove about 40 minutes through the worst of the storm last Tuesday night with great traction and no issues at all, albeit in only about a half-inch of ice and snow on the roads. The stock Michelin summer tires would not have been fun in this kind of weather.

And on dry roads, these Continentals are so much quieter than the stock Michelins. Another advantage is they fit the stock M2C wheel sizes.

[Moloc]

Put winters on the other week just in time for the first snow.