I am considering the M45 Sport but changing the stock summer tires to the all season tires which come with the standard M45 and the M35. I live on Long Island and am concerned with how this car will handle in snow / ice condiditons. Would love to hear any comments regarding this and from any previous BMW owners who now drive this car. I currently drive a 545i.

thanksTony

AMassaro wrote:I am considering the M45 Sport but changing the stock summer tires to the all season tires which come with the standard M45 and the M35. I live on Long Island and am concerned with how this car will handle in snow / ice condiditons. Would love to hear any comments regarding this and from any previous BMW owners who now drive this car. I currently drive a 545i.

Hi, Tony, and welcome to NICO!

There are a few problem with all-season tires. In general, they neither work as well as good summer tires (in summer) nor as well as good winter tires (in winter). Using all-season in snow/ice is actually fairly useless as far as I am concerned ... I drove rear-wheel cars in snow in Massachusetts and New Hampshire for many years and can attest to that!

My recommendation, echoed by many people at NICO, is to get a cheap set of steel wheels (check out http://www.tirerack.com) and use true winter tires on them for the few months where it matters - this should be a relatively short while on Long Island! Then, switch back to the good wheels and good summer tires when the snow has gone.

Given the modern implementations of anti-slip on our cars, driving RWD cars in snow is way less scary than it once used to be.

Z

The goodyear RSA All Season suck. (the stock all season with the non sport versions)Suggest you look at another brand/model

I purchased Dunlop M3 winters (suggest stickign with winter and summer only versions also)

I drove all season on all sort sof other cars with front wheel drive with no issue. I have ALl-wheel on my M, but find the all season dont perform well; The Dunlops I have perform very good in winter snow/ice; I will geta pick test yere on Thursday, should be -20 and tons of snow.

Slush is where the good years had super big issues with. Hard snow also, but slush was its downfall! if your weather has spikes like mine does (-20 one day, +10 the next) this will ne an issue.

tk

tkeskic wrote:The Goodyear RSA All Season suck.

Absolutely agreed!!!

They are over-priced, grossly under-performing tires. I have no idea why so many car mftrs (including Nissan and Infiniti) insist on using these tires as OEM tires. The only thing going for them is some quietness compared to other tires, but everything else about them is worthless.

Z

Thanks Z and the others for the comments. I did check out the Tirerack and the Dunlop makes a winter tire (M3) to fit the stock rim, just as tk suggested. That being the case, what is the reason why you suggest purchasing an additional set of rims?

thankstony

AMassaro wrote:Thanks Z and the others for the comments. I did check out the Tirerack and the Dunlop makes a winter tire (M3) to fit the stock rim, just as tk suggested. That being the case, what is the reason why you suggest purchasing an additional set of rims?

A small variety of reasons ...

First and foremost, it is easier to simply jack up your car at home and change out the wheels and tires (use a torque wrench to set the lug nuts to about 83 to 85 ft-lbs, btw!). This is cheaper than spending money to go somewhere and dismount/remount and rebalance the tires twice a year. Do this twice and the cost of the second set of wheels is almost paid for!

Also, the inconvenience factor of doing this at a tire place means that you may put it off ("no time right now", "will do it tomorrow" ), and then get caught in an unexpected snow-storm with summer tires on. Years ago, I messed up my 1985 Nissan 300ZX fender with this attitude once - slid off a hill going home in an unexpected slushy snow-storm in New Hampshire, that started to freeze into ice by the time I left work. I should have had a second set of rims ... like I used to for my previous 1980 Mazda RX-7, which did great in snow with snow tires on!

Second (though this may not be true much anymore inre the salt), I hated the idea of having all that rock salt and gravel, that is put down for snow/ice, mess up my nice rims in the winter!

Z

Zpoints well taken. based on that, do you suggest staying with the same size wheel for the winter, or going to a narrower size and if so, what size. thanks for your patience and help. i should tell the salesman to give you a cut of his fee!

tony

AMassaro wrote:points well taken. based on that, do you suggest staying with the same size wheel for the winter, or going to a narrower size and if so, what size.

Different schools of thought here ... yes, some people believe that using a narrow and taller tire "cuts" through the snow better. I just do not know the answer for sure.

My experience was limited to using what made sense for my cars, and I found that just putting the snow tires on made an extreme difference, so I never bothered to try a different size wheel or tire.

I'd suggest reading through the articles at http://www.tirerack.com and see if they say anything about it.

Whatever you do, though, please make sure that the load index of the tire meets the minimum needs of the car - at least 94 or 95. This availability may dictate the choice of wheel and tire more than anything else!

AMassaro wrote:thanks for your patience and help. i should tell the salesman to give you a cut of his fee!

Thanks! We are always glad to help if and when we can. That is what NICO is all about.

By the way, if you look at our General Chat forum (a bit of a wild and woolly area for all topics, so be warned ) and look at these posts: zerothread?id=212582 as well as this post zerothread?id=212582 by gniknave, you can ask him some questions inre the sales process.

Evan is an Infiniti (and VW as well) salesperson at a dealership and can answer the typical sales and technical questions for you too.

Z

AMassaro wrote:I am considering the M45 Sport but changing the stock summer tires to the all season tires which come with the standard M45 and the M35. I live on Long Island and am concerned with how this car will handle in snow / ice condiditons. Would love to hear any comments regarding this and from any previous BMW owners who now drive this car. I currently drive a 545i.

thanksTony

For what it's worth, I too live on LI and previously owned a 2003.5 G35; the car was equipped with all season tires. One minor snow storm I drove home and could not make it up my driveway. The driveway is not steep at all, probably at most a 3 degree incline. I had to shut off the VDC to make it up the driveway. I understand you are considering a M45 but I ended up trading in the G35 and getting a M35x. Last snow season I had no problems on the roads or my driveway at all with the stock all weather tires.

All season tire are not designed to function well in snow, just in cool weather...........just above freezing whereas Summer Tires are designed for Hot weather and degrade seriously below 50F.

Tires for snow have the international snow flake symbol on the side wall.

Q45tech wrote:All season tire are not designed to function well in snow, just in cool weather...........just above freezing whereas Summer Tires are designed for Hot weather and degrade seriously below 50F.

Tires for snow have the international snow flake symbol on the side wall.

Point well taken. Fortunately Long Island does not receive that much snow; I guess I was trying to point out that I feel, overall the M35x was a better choice for LI.

thanks for the input. My head says the M35x is the more sensible choice, but my love for a more powerful V8 engine is the problem. if only they made an AWD in the M45. I have been driving a 545i for three years and going to the M35 will be a change. Do you not think the M45 Sport with snow tires on say between December 1st and March 31st would be okay (or just as good as most any non-AWD car) for Long Island weather?

AMassaro wrote:thanks for the input. My head says the M35x is the more sensible choice, but my love for a more powerful V8 engine is the problem. if only they made an AWD in the M45. I have been driving a 545i for three years and going to the M35 will be a change. Do you not think the M45 Sport with snow tires on say between December 1st and March 31st would be okay (or just as good as most any non-AWD car) for Long Island weather?

I have to agree that once you drive the M45, you will be hooked. When I got mine (the older 2003 model), my wife and I had actually gone in to get a G35 ... but they did not have the Coupe in stock, and the test drive in the M45 changed everything for us!

Yes, the AWD is better for snow, but, having owned rear-wheel drive cars with snow tires, you will be completely fine, IMHO! I used to live on one of the highest parts of Southern New Hampshire. My house had a 100+ foot asphalted driveway that climbed up about 15 feet from the road into my garage.

Without snow tires, I used to leave my 300Z at the bottom of the slope when I came home after a snowfall before I used my snowblower to clear off the driveway. With snow tires, I could pull into the garage and then go out with my snowblower!

Z

SilverShadow wrote:Point well taken. Fortunately Long Island does not receive that much snow; I guess I was trying to point out that I feel, overall the M35x was a better choice for LI.

I agree that the AWD probably does pretty darn well in slushy/snowy conditions! But, a good RWD with snow tires will probably do almost as well (particularly in "similar-to-LI" snow level conditions ...).

Of course, snow tires on your M35X would be better yet.

Z

I too was inclined to the M45 but then I kept thinking about that snow storm. Yes putting snow tires on it will probably fix that problem but I really did not want to go through the procedure of changing tires twice a year.One other point as a Long Islander, I think you will notice there are no G35 sedan to be had, only G35x, I was told that the reason is that the x had a better trade, resale value on the island.

Are you happy with the performance of the G35x? I test drove one on Monday and it is a peppy car. It's just that i test drove the M45 on Sunday and there is a difference. But i do know that they make a good 6 cylinder engine. Is it the same one that is in the Maxima and I35?

The current Nissan V-6's are variants of the same base VQ35 engine, yes. The I35 was also 3.5 liter, albeit an earlier version and did not make as much power as the current G35 or M35.

Different degrees of noise suppression material, tuned mufflers, intake manifolds, etc., are done to the VQ35 in the various Nissan and Infiniti models. These modifications result in horsepower and torque and sound differences.

Z

You are correct is saying there is a difference, going from a G35 to the M35x I noticed a difference but not that much that I could warrant the M45. Actually the other reason I opted for the M35x was the G was too quick, I felt that sooner or later I would get in trouble.

I would say the the M35x has plenty of power for 95% of the driving I do. Yes I would like more power but if you look through this and other forums it always seems that people are looking for more power.

I cannot speak for the current VK engine but it seems there is a concern about oil consumption on earlier versions.

One last point, the VK MUST use at least 91 octane, the VQ does not. As you well know the price of gas on LI is ridiculous an the $0.20+ more per gallon might be the clincher.

Tire wise I'm still using the factory-equipped Michelin Pilot HX MXM4. These tires have held up pretty well in both spirited summer driving as well as a couple of feet of snow fall in the midwest this and last year. About 2 months after I purchased my car last year we were hit by a storm dumping about 18 inches of snow. At the time I lived about 45 minutes from my work (doing 70). It took me almost 3 hours to get home, but the M and my Michelins managed perfectly. The car never tailed out, braking was efficient (given the conditions) and the VDC never let the car out of control. It was impossible to go above 40, but honestly there was no reason. I saw many SUV's in the ditch, but my M made it all the way like a champ. Great tires. However my next is going to be the Pilot Sport A/S. I had Pilot Sports on my WS6 Trans Am and they were probably one of the best performance upgrades ever.

SilverShadow wrote:You are correct is saying there is a difference, going from a G35 to the M35x I noticed a difference but not that much that I could warrant the M45. Actually the other reason I opted for the M35x was the G was too quick, I felt that sooner or later I would get in trouble.

I agree that the power difference is small and also that for 95+ percent, it will meet needs. Frankly, my M45 is overkill most of the time for me too! Heck, yes, I would be perfectly happy with the new M35 or M35X too!

My reason for picking the M45 back in 2003 (at least when comparing the 2003 G35 to a 2003 M45) was the relatively smoothness with which the power in the M45 was delivered. Just felt like less of a strain. I have a long comparison of these cars from around that time, somewhere in the forum ...

SilverShadow wrote:I cannot speak for the current VK engine but it seems there is a concern about oil consumption on earlier versions.

Point. There have been some reports of oil concerns on the older VQ engines too, but not as bad as the VK in the first release of the M45 and Q45.

SilverShadow wrote:One last point, the VK MUST use at least 91 octane, the VQ does not. As you well know the price of gas on LI is ridiculous an the $0.20+ more per gallon might be the clincher.

Well, here, I might disagree a bit (but my response depends on how much you drive). The difference accounts for about $20 a month in my case - not significant enough to matter. Admittedly, that may make a difference for some, but with such expensive cars, I would think that the typical buyer of an M35 or M45 would not care about that.

Z

szhosain wrote:
Well, here, I might disagree a bit (but my response depends on how much you drive). The difference accounts for about $20 a month in my case - not significant enough to matter. Admittedly, that may make a difference for some, but with such expensive cars, I would think that the typical buyer of an M35 or M45 would not care about that.

Z

You are correct about that, I guess I was pulling at straws. I did hear though that every time the price of gas rises, less people are purchasing premium. This in turn is increases the price of premium when the prices drop and creating a larger gap between regular and premium. By the way, I use premium for the reason you state.

FYI: The current fuel prices by me are Regular Between $2.43 & 2.59, Premium $2.69 & $2.79

are the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 a seasonal tire? sounds like the car handled the snow pretty well.

thanks to the help of everyone here, i finally made my decision and leased a 2007 M45 Sport last night. I am excited, should get the car next week!!!

thanks all

Congratulations

tkeskic wrote:The goodyear RSA All Season suck. (the stock all season with the non sport versions)Suggest you look at another brand/model

tk

Yes they do. I have them on my I30 and they're pretty bad in wet weather.

AMassaro wrote:are the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 a seasonal tire? sounds like the car handled the snow pretty well.

It is a decent average tire, but not spectacular in all conditions (wet, dry or snow). It is definitely much better than the Goodyear Eagle RS-A, but not as good as some other tires that have been mentioned in this thread that are more optimal for specific conditions.

AMassaro wrote:thanks to the help of everyone here, i finally made my decision and leased a 2007 M45 Sport last night. I am excited, should get the car next week!!!

Good Stuff™!! We look forward to pictures ...!

Z

i took pictures, but can't figure out how to post them. Any instructions posted on this site?

I agree with most everyone's advice about buying a dedicated set of cheap wheels to mount winter traction tires on, not all seasons.

My 45 Sport has 17-inch wheels off my Mustang with Les Schwab Toyo Observe winter tires. Not at all like a front drive car, but as others have said, with the M's awesome traction and dynamics control system, it's better than I would have thought. I've driven mine in lots of ice this year and it may be slow, but it's stable and predictable.

Tony

Some comments I have made before:

1) If you want power and AWD, go with an Audi S4 with both summer and winter tires on their own set of wheels for about the same price as a M45.(Also the option of 6MT!)

2) Go with a smaller set of winter tires - 17" rather than 18". Use Tire Rack recommendations.

3) I recently replaced my OEM tires with the Nokian WR tire, which is considered to be all weather, but have good winter driving abilities.

4) I would normally use 2 sets with my M35X and Minnesota, but have no way of carting them back and forth to have them changed like I had with a S4 Avant.

SilverShadow wrote:
One last point, the VK MUST use at least 91 octane, the VQ does not. As you well know the price of gas on LI is ridiculous an the $0.20+ more per gallon might be the clincher.

The gas cap for my VQ says it needs premium.

Talking about the VQ in the M