Replace 245/50r18 with 235/55r18

[ILoveGumbo]

Hi all. Has anyone put 235/55r18 tires on their M? I'm not real happy with the wet and snow handling of the Michelin Primacy MXM4 on my M37x. Looking at what's out there in 245/50r18, I'm not finding anything that I like. Looking to go with a set of Continental ExtremeContact DWS in 235/55r18. I've had the DWS on several of my cars and have been very pleased with them overall. The sidewall on the older generation DWS was really soft, but I've heard the DWS 06 has improved that.

Wanted to see if anyone had any positive or negative issues going with a slightly taller, but narrower tire.

Thanks in advance.

[centralcoaster33]

Hi there and welcome to NICO Club!

I like how narrower tires cut into the snow better. Of course, having the proper tread pattern and rubber composition are really important. I'm not a big fan of changing the overall height of a tire (that has a bit of ripple effect). I would suggest looking into the tire you like at a size of 225/55 r18. At nearly the exact same diameter as your intended size, they'll take about 0.6 inches off of the width. The size you mention takes it down merely 0.3 inches, which I'd say is darn near the same tire, just kind of the difference between manufacturers or even tread patterns. So, you have a tried and true tire make and model and I say go for that, but do the narrower 225 size to maintain the the same diameter.

[ILoveGumbo]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, the DWS06 doesn't come in 225/55r18. Talking with Tirerack this afternoon, their recommendation was to go with the 235/55r18. The speedometer will be off by roughly 1 mph, but otherwise it should be safe for the car. Here's hoping. I really dig this car.

[ILoveGumbo]

Hmm. It looks like the DWS06 does come in 235/50R18. That's the same height, but only slightly narrower. That should work nicely.

[centralcoaster33]

Bummer about the 225, I thought that would be a perfect size. Your second size sounds good, the 235/50r18. Did you look at an online tire calculator?