[scoobdawg]

Looking for Winter Tires for my 535xi - I've been thinking either the Nokian hakkapeliitta r2 or the Michelin ice xi3 - Any thoughts ?

This will be for New England driving - lots of highway - 100 miles each day...

Thanks!

[remmib]

I just got my Nokian hakkapeliitta R2 in 245/40/19, but haven't put them on the car yet.

But since both of those tires are proper snow/ice tires, they're soft and not that good on wet and dry compared to performance snow tires that might suite the highway use better.

What size are you getting, because the Michelin doesn't offer bigger than 18" while Nokian has both 19" and 20".

[scoobdawg]

I'm looking at 18's same size I have now - have a spare set of 18 wheels - we have lots of days when the highways covered in a couple of inches - New Hampshire does a lousy job on its roads - Unless you think a blizzak is better?

[remmib]

Both the R2 and xi3 are two of the absolute best snow/ice tires out there, if you want better, you'll need studded tires.

And with your xdrive, you'll have no problem. The downside of the great snow/ice grip is the performance on wet and dry roads.

What winters have you had before?

[scoobdawg]

Before my 535 I was driving a jeep so no comparison - last year I had the oem Goodyear all weathers

[remmib]

If you were getting by with just the all season tires, I think performance snow tires like the Michelin PA4 or Blizzak LM tires might suite your highway use better.

[HighConcept]

Originally Posted by remmib

If you were getting by with just the all season tires, I think performance snow tires like the Michelin PA4 or Blizzak LM tires might suite your highway use better.

+1

[scoobdawg]

I avoided going out during most of the storms - They don't bother plowing our highway until after Rush Hour and then they are really bad at it - when I lived in buffalo they were so good at plowing a rear wheel drive was fine - here in New Hampshire forget about it -
It's typical for the highways to have a few inches and fairly common for black ice around here - local roads always have a few inches as well - still think the performance tires are a better bet?

Thanks for the advice

[remmib]

I've never had performance snow tires, so I don't now how much "worse" they're on snow and ice than tires like the R2 or xi3.
Here in Norway almost everybody has ice/snow tires or studded tires.

I just know that with a tire like the R2 or xi3 you'll be fine in the snow and ice. The question is how you like the soft feel on wet and dry roads.

[bake]

I had 18" Dunlop Wintersports on my E46 and thought they were a great winter performance tire. Just picked up a set of 19" Blizzaks for my F10 but haven't mounted them on my winter wheels yet. I expect similar performance to the Dunlops.