pnoble

I currently have an '02 M5 which I use year round (with 17" wheels/tires in the winter).

Can I do the same with an E55? If so, what wheels/tires do you recommend?

Any input/feedback from those who have made the same M5 > E55 transition?

PS: It's not an easy transition for me after many, many years of BMW ownership, but between my aversion to their new design direction and an E60 M5 availability issue with my current M5 coming off lease in December, I am seriously considering the move and took an E55 for a test drive yesterday.

BoBcanada

Yes it's possible to drive it in the winter with winter tyres, but if you can spent another 4600$ on LSD from kleemann that would be the best solution i belive!

pnoble

I'm new to this board and am not quite sure what you mean? Do you know anyone that is using a new generation E55 year round in the Toronto area?

My experience with my M5 in the snow: unusable with the standard tires and wheels, but extremely manageable with BMW suggested narrower 17" wheels/tires.

Many on the BMWM5 messageboard are European, including Swedish and Finnish, using their M5s year round.

Anyone on this messageboard regularly driving their E55 in the snow?

pnoble

BobCanada,

I'm a bit slow on the uptake re LSD! Got it!! Only problem: I will be leasing this car so special modifications are probably not practical.

Eddie Knopp

No problem in the snow - last year we had a fair amount of snow in the NYC area. In fact the first snowfall early December - I had not put on snow tires and did not get stuck (I was in the city), just lost some traction on the Tri-boro to Bruckner exchange. With snow tires (Dunlop Winter Sports), on 18" wheels (the only size that will clear the Front brakes) - NO problem at all. I had it in winter mode and never felt unconfortable. Obviously you must be familiar with driving in the snow - but no problem. It's my daily ride 365 days.

04E55 AMG

Eddie,

Did you run 245's all around or kept the rears 265's? Since I live in MD, I will taking my 19's off and going with winter tires on my stock 18" rims in a few months. Did you look at any other tire or do you recommend the Winter Sports?

Thanks,
Spero

pnoble

Thanks for the positive feedback, Eddie! That is just what I hoped to hear!!

I was hoping you'd confirm the year round ability of the E55 and this is a relief to me since I need to put in an order now for December delivery. And probably for the tires also since the more exotic types and sizes tend to sell out quickly.

Spero, MB evidently recommends switching to 245/40s snow tires on (stock) 18" wheels all round. Without any specific knowledge of the E55, I would in general strongly suggest sticking to maufacturer recommendations in this respect!

If you go to www.tirerack.com you can see and compare the options which, if you have tire pressure sensors, are: Bridgestone Blizzak MZ-03, Dunlop Graspic DS-1 and Michelin Pilot Alpin. I find their customer survey ratings a good guide, in general, since they tend to have a large sample.

Maybe others on this messageboard have input.

Eddie Knopp

Spero -

Yes it is 245's all around. Luke had recommended the Dunlops. I had used Blizaks on my old CLK also with excellent result. I'm very happy with the Winter Sports - they'll be back on soon.

Eddie

pnoble

According TireRack's survey: the Blizzaks and Michelin Pilot Alpins have an overall identical score: with Blizzaks having stronger traction, the Michelins better ride/noise comfort and wear. I have Winter Dunlop M2's on my M5 and they are terrific, but the only Dunlops listed for the E55 (with TPM) are the Graspic DS-1, which are rated lower than the Blizzaks and Michelins.

04E55 AMG

Guys,

Thanks for all the information. I will have to get use to the new look with 245/40's in the rear on 18" wheels from the 275/30's on the 19" wheels. I ordered my 19" rims and tires from TireRack and was very pleased with the service. They had the new rims/tires mounted and balanced and delivered straight to the dealer.

Spero

pnoble

I have had the same aesthetic problem putting skinny 17" generic wheels/snow tires on my M5, but it makes a tremendous, positive difference.

I agree with you also re TireRack. In their own class.

Henrik

Put as narrow tires as you can on the car. You have to use real winter tyres. The car will then have no problem handling snow.

The best you can get is a tyre designed for the Scandinavian market since we can have some pretty ruff winters here with sudden changes of road conditions.

I have a tyre test from last year in Sweden. The best tyre was Nokian Hakkapeliitta 4.
Other good tyres were Pirelli Wintercarving, Continental Winter Viking 1, Gislaved Nord Frost 3 and Uniroyal Ms Plus Nordic. They are all studded tyres.

Good non-studded in the test: Continental Conti Viking Contact 3, Gislaved Soft Frost 2, Nokian Hakkapeliitta Q.
As a reference the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 compared to these tires was considered more or less worthless and got the stamp "Dangerous" in the test.

Henrik
Sweden

pnoble

Thanks for the feedback, Henrik.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure which if any of these Scandinavian strength snow tires are available here.

Henrik

Well.. that seems to be a problem. A pitty. Because you will get som REAL grip in the snow with those tyres. Driving my fathers old MB 200 -85 (not much power but anyway..) I can floor the throttle in second gear (manual) without getting wheelspin at all in 5 inch snow with 175's Gislaved Nordfrost tyres.

But I would recommend staying away from the Blizzak WS-50 at least.. The tyre was considered worthless on both snow and ice.. and DANGEROUS on asphalt.
It got a - (minus) in the test. Best tyre got 5+. Best non-studed got 2+.

I surfed my way into Tirerack and saw that they sell the WS-50.. but also a couple of other brands, which hopefully are better..

Bikr Boy

I used Nokian Hakkapelita snows on my BMW 540 for 3 years here in Michigan and they were nothing short of spectacular. Went through anything. Got caught one April 1st changing back to Bridgestone "so3" I think, not sure if that's it but I can tell you that BRAND NEW high performance tires on the car and I could not get out of my garage during a small snowfall.

I found the Hakkapelitas in a BMW magazine. A shop in Green Bay Wisconsin shipped them to me and I had them mounted. Will be doing that again for my E55. I love Tire Rack but they dropped the ball on these tires. Maybe it's a quantity issue where they are not produced in the quantity they need.

04E55 AMG

I spoke with Nokian yesterday and they do not have a tire for our cars yet in the states. The largest tire they have in the US market it the 225/40/18 winter tire. They are introducing a new winter tire this year for our market which is the RSI tire. They said that by next year we should have the larger tires and the Hakk 4. The Nokian rep suggested that I go with the Blizzak considering the options that we currently have.

mjoines

I used Winter Sport M2 on 03 E55 last year and was very comfortable driving ,even in extreme winter conditions. I would stay away from the Q or T speed rated winter tires and buy at least an H. Compared to Q and T the H rated Pirelli/Dunlop/Michelin handle dry and wet roads much better, and only give up a little in winter traction. The Winter Sport M2 is discountined in the 245/40-18 but the Winter Sport M3 will be available sometime in Oct.