[City_Blue]

Hello,

I’ve been following this board for over a year, but this is the first thread I’ve started. This is a great board, with tons of useful information. I’m glad to be a member now.

Apologies if this has been discussed before (I searched and found threads on various winter tires and wheel combos, but none on this topic). In short, I’m trying to figure out whether to buy a second set of winter-only wheels for my winter tires, or whether I should just swap my winter and summer tires onto the same set of wheels as the season changes.

With my 335 I have two sets of wheels because the winter wheels / tires are 1 inch smaller than the summers (17s vs. 18s), which I gather improves traction. But that’s not possible with a US-spec M2C because the break calipers don’t allow a smaller rim. If that’s the case, are there really reasons to have dedicated winter wheels that are worth the significant cost? Can someone explain this to me?

Thanks to all on this board for a very useful discussion on all things M2C-related.

— 2020 HS 6MT (in 2 weeks!)

[detroitm2]

1) OEM Wheels are expensive, and you're much more likely to get some curb rash during the winter months. A "Cheap" set of winter wheels is good insurance so you do not have to pay thousands replacing one (or more)

2) Swapping tires off of rims runs the risk of damaging the tires, particularly with lower profile tires. (A quality shop can lessen this chance, but it still exists)

[Anthony1s]

Benefit for smaller wheels:
- Tires are also cheaper when you go smaller. I understand this isn't an option on M2C but wanted to mention it anyway.

Benefits for two sets of wheels:
- Save time and money by not having to mount and balance twice a year. You do it once until you need new tires.
- Save time and money because you just have to swap on your spare wheels/tires each season, which you can do yourself.
- Save your wheels from winter damage.
- Save wheels from possibility of damage during mounting.
- Having two sets of wheels lets you thoroughly and easily clean/wax the wheels that are currently off the car.
- No continuous building up sticky residue from the balancing weights that have to be removed and reapplied every time tires are mounted. Just by nature of not having to balance so often, and by having a set off that you can thoroughly clean each season.
- If you have curb rash or damage, you can get them repaired during the off season, leading to no down time waiting for the repair.

[Tag]

Originally Posted by detroitm2

1) OEM Wheels are expensive, and you're much more likely to get some curb rash during the winter months. A "Cheap" set of winter wheels is good insurance so you do not have to pay thousands replacing one (or more)

2) Swapping tires off of rims runs the risk of damaging the tires, particularly with lower profile tires. (A quality shop can lessen this chance, but it still exists)

This.

In addition, you don't want to swap out tires twice a year and run the risk of the shop scratching your wheels. Tires are not meant to be swapped out all the time.

[2PUTT]

i always have at least 2 sets for all my vehicles - Winter, Summer, and some even have dedicated track wheels/tires. makes swaps easy and quick. less exposure to wheel mounting machines...

[City_Blue]

Thanks to all who replied. I had thought about the argument that said: protect your summer wheels from the salt, curb rash, pot holes, etc that are a fact of winter life here in New England... but then I wondered why people seemed to be buying other nice, OEM wheels (or other expensive wheels) for their winter tires.

The arguments about saving your wheels and tires from repeated exposure to wheel mounting machines makes sense to me.

Darn it. I was hoping to spend that extra $$ on other goodies for the car, but it sounds like I should first shell out some cash for dedicated winter wheels.

Thanks to all —

[Anthony1s]

Originally Posted by City_Blue

Thanks to all who replied. I had thought about the argument that said: protect your summer wheels from the salt, curb rash, pot holes, etc that are a fact of winter life here in New England... but then I wondered why people seemed to be buying other nice, OEM wheels (or other expensive wheels) for their winter tires.

The arguments about saving your wheels and tires from repeated exposure to wheel mounting machines makes sense to me.

Darn it. I was hoping to spend that extra $$ on other goodies for the car, but it sounds like I should first shell out some cash for dedicated winter wheels.

Thanks to all —

Winter isn't likely to come for a while. Maybe you can put it on hold for a bit to buy other stuff?

[Tag]

Originally Posted by City_Blue

Thanks to all who replied. I had thought about the argument that said: protect your summer wheels from the salt, curb rash, pot holes, etc that are a fact of winter life here in New England... but then I wondered why people seemed to be buying other nice, OEM wheels (or other expensive wheels) for their winter tires.

The arguments about saving your wheels and tires from repeated exposure to wheel mounting machines makes sense to me.

Darn it. I was hoping to spend that extra $$ on other goodies for the car, but it sounds like I should first shell out some cash for dedicated winter wheels.

Thanks to all —

It all evens out in the end since you're not paying twice a year to have tires removed and mounted. Not to mention all the hassle.

[Kankles]

Apex Arc8 for winter wheels (M2c In 19s of course). Price, quality, weight and looks