Summer tires?

[Ken7]

I’m expecting delivery of a new i5 xdr40 within the next few days (coming from an i4 e40). However I’m unsure of which tires the car is coming with as it’s being trucked in from another dealer. However I’ve seen the possibility of the car coming with summer tires as shown in the build section of BMW’s website. I can’t imagine delivering cars with summer tires in the NE with winter around the corner. To be honest, I’m not even sure what summer tires are as BMW’s website doesn’t even list it in the tire description section. That seems odd as they list so many iterations of the i5 with summer tires. They describe all-season, performance & winter tires, but no summer tires.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to what I should do if the car arrives with summer tires? The dealer is not amenable to swapping tires.

[wtwo3]

buy yourself some winter rubber and swap em out for the season.

Or, if you hate the idea of swapping tires twice a year - sell the summers and just buy yourself some all-seasons.

Best option is to swap Summers & Winters twice a year. Convenient option is to just purchase all seasons.

[NervoS]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

Convenient option is to just purchase all seasons.

...or, rather, "all weather" - new "all season" with better winter/snow performance. For example, Pirelli WeatherActive or Michelin CrossClimate.

[tturedraider]

Performance tires and summer tires are synonymous. I assume you have the VIN? Even though the car is new the odds are pretty high it will show up on either www.bimmer.work or www.mdecoder.com . If it shows option 840 High Speed Synchronization then it has staggered summer/performance tires. That’s what I have on my rwd 340i here in Chicago and I have a dedicated set of winter wheels and tires that I swap out twice a year. My winter tires with rwd do better than other folks xDrive with all seasons.

[Elderado82]

I understand your concern about receiving summer tires with winter approaching.

If the car arrives with summer tires and the dealer won't swap them, you have a couple of options:

Purchase Winter Tires with a Cheap Set of Wheels: Buy a set of winter tires and wheels and swap them out when the weather gets colder. This is a common practice for many drivers in regions with harsh winters.

All-Season Tires: Sell the summer tires and consider getting all-season tires, which can handle a variety of conditions and eliminate the need to swap tires twice a year.

I live in Nebraska and previously had a 2013 135i, a rear-wheel-drive car, which I swapped seasonally with winter and summer tires. I absolutely loved the setup. However, with the M340i xDrive system, I've found that all-season tires work perfectly fine for NE winters. Even with our winter last year, when we got 7-8 inches in a day, the car performed very well.

It's definitely worth discussing your concerns with the dealer again or seeking a second opinion from another dealership. Good luck!

[Ken7]

Thanks guys. We went to see the car yesterday and it turns out I got lucky in the tire lottery (at least IMO). The car has Pirelli all season tires. I’ve got those on my i4 as well as my Lucid Air Pure. So we’re pretty happy.

[NYG]

I don't think a NY delivery i50 would have summer tires.

[Ken7]

Originally Posted by NYG

I don't think a NY delivery i50 would have summer tires.

You would think, but actually the dealer had quite a few including one on the showroom floor with summer tires.

[NYG]

Originally Posted by Ken7

You would think, but actually the dealer had quite a few including one on the showroom floor with summer tires.

Didn't see your reply. Looks like you're good to go.

I think at most they'll use PS4S here which IS a summer tire but it's completely capable of handling most tristate winter weather excluding ice/snow. I never take my PS4S off in the winter but I also don't daily those cars - I'd change them if I did.

[Hadden14]

Originally Posted by NYG

Didn't see your reply. Looks like you're good to go.

I think at most they'll use PS4S here which IS a summer tire but it's completely capable of handling most tristate winter weather excluding ice/snow. I never take my PS4S off in the winter but I also don't daily those cars - I'd change them if I did.

Just be cautious when temps drop below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Would hate to ruin a set of nice tires.

[Pauldunlop13]

I got mine delivered in Colorado - March - with full summer tires

I have a full set of winter wheels and tires
the wheels are staggered - but the tire size is the same - so I can get them rotated on the wheels

(wheel stagger is only 1/2")

Continental Viking Contact 7
Winter Wheels. 640M
Front. 19x8.5 et 27
Rear. 19x9 et 29
Winter Tire size
Front and Rear 255/35/19


I have been changing my tires twice yearly for the last 30 years
I run the best tires for the summer
and run the best tires for the winter

RWD - no issues in the last 6 years of CO snow and cold

[chowser51]

Guess it depends on how it was specced?

I ordered a BMW with all summer wheels with no plans on driving it in the winter.
I usually get all weather or all season tires these days but still get a dedicated set of winters. I'm usually going to work or leaving work before any of the roads are plowed.

I bought my daughter an awd car but also got her a dedicated set of winter wheels/tires. I just ordered her new Pirelli P4 Persist AS Plus, whatever they're called and as soon as she gets a few hundred miles on them, we're putting them in storage and switching her over to her snow setup. Her summer tires are always all season or all weather tires.

in NE Ohio.

[mjr24]

Originally Posted by NYG

Didn't see your reply. Looks like you're good to go.

I think at most they'll use PS4S here which IS a summer tire but it's completely capable of handling most tristate winter weather excluding ice/snow. I never take my PS4S off in the winter but I also don't daily those cars - I'd change them if I did.

You are nuts. Summer tires are hockey pucks in the winter, PS4S included. It’s not at all something you should ever have in snow or ice…that’s what the Pilot Sport A/S are for. Pretty sure if you get in an accident during the winter with summer tires on that they could assign liability to you.

It’s very common for BMW to ship cars with summers. Actually, I don’t know that I’ve ever bought one that didn’t have summers on it….even ones bought during the winter. You just have to switch them out immediately.

[SteVTEC]

The CPO X7 I just picked up had summer tires on it, and worst there's no all-season option at all on the factory 22" staggered setup. So had to quickly find a set of take off 21's, and then picked up Continental A/S tires for it just in the nick of time. Weather got super cold and it was actually snowing a bit the day I got it done.

It's probably not a small number of people that end up driving around in the winter on summer tires on these cars, completely unaware of how dangerous it is.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by mjr24

You are nuts. Summer tires are hockey pucks in the winter, PS4S included. It’s not at all something you should ever have in snow or ice…that’s what the Pilot Sport A/S are for. Pretty sure if you get in an accident during the winter with summer tires on that they could assign liability to you.

It’s very common for BMW to ship cars with summers. Actually, I don’t know that I’ve ever bought one that didn’t have summers on it….even ones bought during the winter. You just have to switch them out immediately.

It used to be much more common than it is now. These days it is MUCH less common. Lots of “sport package” BMWs are ordered with all season tires. I would even go so far as to say most are ordered with all seasons. Prior to the F30 generation if you spec’d the sport package and someone didn’t specifically and intentionally change the tire selection you got staggered summer/performance wheels and tires. With the F30, which is when BMW started pushing xDrive much harder, it started flipping around where the default tires were all seasons, even with a “sport pkg” and you had to specifically choose staggered, performance. There were tons of xDrive M Sport cars that came with all seasons and tons of unsuspecting “enthusiasts” who were shocked and unhappy when they discovered their square setup wheels and tires meant they didn’t have the increased speed limiter.

[dhoggm3]

How cold must the ambient temp before I should get concerned about damage to my summer tires, assuming normal daily driving?

[jzeiler4]

Originally Posted by dhoggm3

How cold must the ambient temp before I should get concerned about damage to my summer tires, assuming normal daily driving?

If they ARE PS4S then they start losing traction at 46 degrees and will crack at 20. This is per the Michelin web site.

[Mavus]

that’s why the orange triangle pops on your screen at 37 deg F … if you have summer tires and there is a bit of water on roads as the temp drops you may fly thru a red light when trying to brake and fail or going down the hill as an example.

I tested conti ecs in snow and did not stop as desired going 30 mph the car slid 50-60ft and front end was almost uncontrollable. This was on a slight decline, smooth surface and about 1/2 in of snow at 25deg. This is a major safety risk. AWD will not help when braking or going down the hill either.

[dhoggm3]

Thanks, mine are Pirellis. I assume they would fare no better. Maybe worse.

I'm making a trip up north from NC soon. No snow, but a couple nights the forecasted nighttime lows are 20 F. It looks as if I'll be driving the wife's older 3-series with all-seasons. Not an 8, but not a huge sacrifice.

[Mavus]

Originally Posted by dhoggm3

Thanks, mine are Pirellis. I assume they would fare no better. Maybe worse.

I'm making a trip up north from NC soon. No snow, but a couple nights the forecasted nighttime lows are 20 F. It looks as if I'll be driving the wife's older 3-series with all-seasons. Not an 8, but not a huge sacrifice.

just couple of evenings ago we had freezing rain around Phl … the worst possible condition with black ice but it did not last long. Summer tires would slide like hockey puck as the rubber gets hard at those temps and there is no stopping. 3 series with all seasons is ok