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[beauderek]

So my area is supposed to get some more snow and I want to change my stock all season runflats to winter tires. We're supposed to get hit on Sunday. The dealership is closed and the owners manual says to have the dealer do your tires.
So can I buy tires at a place like Discount Tire and have them mount and balance them? Could that void the warranty? Should I get runflats? Will they know how to install runflats on the BMW properly? Does anyone have a couple tire suggestions?
Sorry for the stupid questions but I don't have much experience in this situation. Thanks for any help.

[montreal_bimmer]

buy yourself good winter tires, preferably mounted on steelies, its really hard to get the run flats off your stock wheels and they charge you extra for it. mount them yourself. no need to go to bmw for this.

excellent winter tires for your car are Toyo Garit's, Good Year Ultra Grip GW3, Bridgestone Blizzak's, any Pirelli winter's, Dunlop M3's, and Yokohama AVS V901.

[beauderek]

Originally Posted by montreal_bimmer

buy yourself good winter tires, preferably mounted on steelies, its really hard to get the run flats off your stock wheels and they charge you extra for it. mount them yourself. no need to go to bmw for this.

excellent winter tires for your car are Toyo Garit's, Good Year Ultra Grip GW3, Bridgestone Blizzak's, any Pirelli winter's, Dunlop M3's, and Yokohama AVS V901.

Thanks for the info. I have style 17" 158 wheels that came on my xi. I was hoping to put winters on those and then buy a summer wheel (probably csl rep) and tire. Could I go to a local tire store and have them put something like Blizzaks on my 158's?

[montreal_bimmer]

yes of course no problem at all.... you can bring it anywhere ou want

[beauderek]

Originally Posted by montreal_bimmer

yes of course no problem at all.... you can bring it anywhere ou want

Yeah, but is that recommended?

[P2]

Originally Posted by beauderek

Yeah, but is that recommended?

BMW recommends you do everything with one of their dealers. I would recommend you do many things there but not everything is necessary or even desired. Tires/wheels are easily done elsewhere, and if done properly, won't void any factory warranty. It's hard to image a situation where a new tire/wheel combo will void a new car warranty, although I suppose it's possible. It's possible Lake Michigan will rise an flood all of Chicago also. Seriously though, tire at the dealer will be out of control expensive and you will have limited choices. Frankly when I checked into winters last fall, they did not even seem that interested in wasting their time. I go Blizzak LM22 RFT mounted on 156's. LM22's are pretty good and generally quiet for a snow. There better then the all seasons but I would not stay home just because I had the all seasons on. But I'm a seasoned snow driver and learned to drive during the winter at 16. I won't mention the place because I will not do business with them again, nor will I recommend anyone to them. Tire Rack ( I suggest using the link on e90 post) has a lot of options. Good wheels and tires balanced on a Hunter road force and you will be good to go.

Body work is another item. BMW recommends one of their certified shops. Here is a link as to how they certify.

http://www.wagnercertifiedcollision....rt_program.pdf

I went to my closest center (30 miles away) and while I might end up there, I found one equal and one way better closer to me. I'm just not all that impressed with the guys I have seen or talked to there to date. The best place is more of a craft place and is a bit more difficult to work with because they don't work with insurance much. My point is I used the info on the certified program pdf to ask a lot of questions and find a shop that could do equal or better work. BMW work necessary? NO

[Jaws]

To the OP, please search this forum as this discussion has been beaten to death. But to help you out, the choice to use or not use runflats is yours. There are many opinions on this topic. In my case, I decided to go without RFTs and put a mobility kit in the truck. Going with aftermarket rims will not void your warranty in any way (unless you purchased the tire warranty from the dealer at time of purchase). I would use the OEM rims as your winter rims (as you suggested) and use the CSL reps for summer tires. Any good tire shop in a metro area should already have some experience in dealing with RFTs.

[Lucid4000]

This is what I did. I use my 162's as my winter setup than I have my summer setup. I use Bridgestone Blizzak's which are probably one of the best all around winter tire you can get. But all the others mentioned above are also good.

Also, I only go to BMW for scheduled services. If I can avoid going to them I do. They over charge for work and really there is no other reason to go there.

[beauderek]

Good information, everyone. Thanks. I know the topic's been covered, but I wanted some fresh and possible local thoughts. I appreciate all the help. I'll probably buy online at Tire Rack.