Just as the title states: what winter tire do you all prefer and do you retain the staggered or square we up? I’m trying to decide between really good all seasons vs dedicated winter tire set up. I live in New England, so I’d likely need winters. Tire Rack is definitely lacking staggered tire options. Does anyone else have a preferred retailer they go through?

Thanks in advance.

Square setup due to nature of the factory 19” offering.

winter tire - conti 850p. No complaints. Fairly good for winter traction and perform well on dry pavement. Going into 4th winter season and likely it’s last as it is near at the wear bar.

squared with Dunlop 3D winter..... will go anywhere until you run out of ground clearance.

Squared with Bridgestone Blizzak

square setup
19x8.5 ET32
265/40/19 michelin pilot alpin PA5
new lugs

same diameter as stock, better ride, more sidewall and plenty of cold weather grip.

I'm in rural New England, with a GLC 63. I second a square setup with Michelin Pilot Alpin 5's. I dropped to 20" rims from the stock 21s. These are MO1 (OEM) tires, purchased from TIre Rack. They are far better than the Pirelli Scorpion Winters I previously used.

Interesting that all responses so far have been in favor of square setup. Anyone know then, why the OEM winter wheel and tire package is supplied with 265/40-19 front and 295/35-19 rear?

the staggered factory 19" winter setup became available starting 2021 model year (or maybe as early as 2020 model year). Namely, the rear is 10 inch wide, instead of 9.5 inch (which have been around since 2017/2018)

Has to do with the rear biased 4MATIC+ (mostly during the times drift mode isn't on) I believe... but I don't personally think you sacrifice a lot by going squared especially for winter tires. Not to mention, square setup allows you to do full tire rotations instead of the half- tire rotation restricted by staggered setups.

for square setup, you cannot simply just swap front to rear due to the different offsets. You will need to remove the tires completely off rims and then reinstall the tires by moving the front ones to back and likewise.

You can as long as the set has a common offset. In my case ET32 fits both front and rear.

here is my favorite

























never mind, i live in california

My plan is to do 255/40/19 squared Michelin X-Ice Snow. 255 19" squared worked great on our X5 M and was the suggested setup by BMW for the E70 X5 M (down from 275 front and 315 rear on summers stock). The BMW OEM winter wheels for the X5 M were 19'' and barely cleared the front brakes. The ceramic rotors on the E 63 S are apparently even bigger than the steels on the X5 M. I know the Mercedes OEM 19'' winter wheels clear the ceramics. I don't know how hard it is to get a 19'' aftermarket wheel to clear the ceramics.

Skinny tires are definitely the way to go in snow and ice.

I have owned a BMW i3 for commuting with 155/70/19 winter tires. Nothing I have driven has had better high speed deep snow stability. The way it would cut though the snow that builds up between lanes was next-level stability.

Just fitted.
O.Z. LEGGERA HLT
19x8.5
Offset: 30mm
Continental VikingContact 7
255/40/R19
The Michelin X Ice Snow are unavailable in 255/40/19.
The VikingContact 7 has won the extensive Vi Bilägare/motor.no tire test every year since the VikingContact 7 launch in 2018. The VikingContact 7 has won almost every winter tire test it has been entered in. These tires have even beat some studded winter tires in testing. We have not tried these tires personally on snow yet. The tires are definitely quiet on dry pavement.


(The suspension was not settled in the photo)

This is what I went with. I really like the staggered set up instead of the squares set up despite all the benefits of the square set up. They came wrapped in Michelin Alpin PA4s and the price was actually a lot more reasonable than I was expecting.

Currently running staggered setup on the OEM cross forged 20" wheels. Pirelli Sotozero Series III winter tires. I ran these last winter as well, 245/35/20 Front and 275/30/20 Rear. Zero problems in blizzard conditions, and when it's dry out they perform and handle like a performance tire. Win win.

The 19" square setups look horrible on these cars, I couldn't do it.

Same wheel/tire set up here as well.

I like your moves here, gonna copy this. Sotto's are really great, wife and I both love them.

For my GLC63s I have a square set up with HEAVY AF wheels (made in China - Eurotech crap) with tubes running on pretty good tyres, which are the Yokohama Iceguard G075. Need...no, MUST replace the wheels for both a lighter set that are forged and tubless. I gym 4 days a week and just lifting one of these monstrosities is an effort!!!! Imagine the rotational weight on these badboys lol, yikes.

Alas, my wife bought them as a Christmas gift from the actual dealership so all I can do is suck up the fuel costs in winter, which is alarmingly high. Damn car drinks more fuel than anything I have ever seen. Spam the the fun peddle around the corner and down the street and I swear you can see the fuel gauge move down a notch...! Would'nt change a thing! Well, except the wheels though. Anyone have any cost effective yet nice 20" options to throw forth?



Yokohama Iceguard G075 265/ 45 R20 Square set up.

New member here. Just got a 2019 E53 Cabrio with Pirelli PZero summer run flat tires. My salesman and manager both say forget winter or all seasons, just lower your tire pressure in the winter. I’ve been around a bit and never heard this and don’t like the idea of it. Anyone else heard this? Also I bought wheel and tire insurance which will only only cover me with the existing wheels so thinking of just doing the 20 in Sottozeros.

Depends where you live. If it is ANYWHERE that has snow and or is extremely cold then no, I would not do that ever...period! If you are somewhere that gets very cold yet not enough for black ice/ ice/ snow etc etc then all seasons are safer.

Your ID says New Jersey or Jersey, as I am not an American and know nothing about what winter in Jersey is like other than doing basic google searches and shallow research on the topic, that said as above _^_ so below_v_.

Are these from Tire Rack?

Your sales guy is a complete idiot. Lowering the tire pressure does not benefit your traction ability. Summer tires rubber compound will become hard as the temperature drops below freezing, your braking ability (esp. in emergency situation) will be compromised. I sure hope you have no family members riding in your chariot if this happens. If you are a safety minded individual, spend that extra $ for a set of winter tires.

Michelin Alpin PA4’s on a second set of 20” OEM wheels in OEM sizing. They’re great. 👍🏻

This is my set up and love it. Going on this weekend - time to get the sleigh ready!