Winter tyres - alternatives?

For many i3 owners it is time to start thinking about winter tyres. With the odd dimensions there are not many alternatives.

Bridgestone is the only manufacturer I have found producing the dimension that will fit the i3. Any other?
Please find a summary of what I have learned scanning the options on bmwi3owner.com - Winter tyres

Very expensive tyres!

In UK the summer ones are a little cheaper:

155 / 70R19 84Q

http://www.cranleigh-tyres.co.uk/TyreSearch/Details/10280/Bridgestone+Ecopia+EP500+15570R19

at just over £124 each fitted

Am surprised EP500s in 20" form only rate as "C" on economy though!

At least in the USA, buying a winter package ready to bolt on is quite a bit less expensive than buying it in parts...here, just buying a wheel costs more than a pre-installed tire/rim/TPMS with center cap!

But, BMW only sells the i3 winter tires premounted on the 427 wheel here...if you wanted to use say the 428 wheel, your costs would skyrocket since you'd not be getting the package price, and have to buy the bits separately.

I do not know if this is a BMWUSA thing, or it's available elsewhere...but, see if the local dealer has a special price for a package rather than just the parts.

In the USA, the 427 wheel/tire retails for $431.76 (part number 36-11-2-357-088) as of a few weeks ago, and they just started to ship them in the last week (or at least they said they would be). I should have mine in at most a couple of weeks. I'd have rather had the 428 wheels, but the price difference was not worth it to me at all.

One big supplier of tires in the USA - www.tirerack.com, says they will have a compatible non-oem wheel available later this month, and have had the tires and TPMS available for at least a few weeks. Often, they are the cheapest, but not this time with BMW's package pricing.

FOr those that have the i3 on the optional 20" wheels, those are summer performance tires, and will not stop, corner, nor handle great when the temperature drops compared to the winter tire. If you live where it gets cold...better safe than sorry. THe 19" stock wheels use an all-season, but even then, in the cold and wet, the winter tire package will be safer.

The BMW winter package actually seems like a good deal as it should include the TPMS (judging by the "RDC" in its name - WINTER COMPLETE SET RDC). You can even get it cheaper if you use your BMW CCA member discount or use one of the dealer parts direct web sites (both my local dealers have such, here is one - http://www.sweeneyautoparts.com/oemparts/bmw-113/36112357088.html). Right now TireRack does have a nice wheel in silver or black in that size but if you assemble a package it gets to around $1.6k without the pressure sensors.

Interestingly there is another part # that comes out as a winter tire & wheel package at BMW Concord - Part #36112349580. As far as I can see it seems to be the exact same set but they have it at $392.65 with free shipping coupon code on orders over $100. It also seems to include the TPMS sensor as stated in the description there.
http://parts.bmwconcord.com/p/BMW_2...winter--light-alloy/50947480/36112349580.html

Is this a European version? RealOEM lists it as "I01 i3 Mega City Vehicle, IB1, Europe":
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=1Z21&mospid=56088&btnr=36_1826&hg=36&fg=95&hl=1

Wow, we can actually get it even cheaper - $324.96 at Jake Sweeney:
http://www.sweeneyautoparts.com/oemparts/bmw-113/36112349580.html

i was thinking of buying wheels seperatly, cause i found a coupon for Advance Auto Parts, that gives me 30% off(you can find that coupon at http://couponbox.com) But they dont offer winterpackages like jadnashuanh suggested to buy, I wonder whats the discount of these packages and if i still can get a bargain by buying speratly with this coupon.

ECSTuning recently listed the OEM BMW winter tire package for a bit over $1300 (probably then, plus shipping), but their availability date is late December. For whatever reason, BMW sells tire/wheel packages pretty cheap. You could buy a package ready to mount for less than just replacing a wheel. WHen I checked, the wheel they sell with their package cost about $100 more than the package which contains not only the wheel, but the winter tire, TPMS, and mounting/balancing. Go figure...

I've had mine on now for a couple of weeks, but was out of town, and not driven it much. I find the tire is not noisy, but haven't really given it a good handling performance checkout...it really does take 200-300 miles to wear it in and get rid of the mold layer on the outside to gain full performance. With my driving, that will take a few weeks - I've probably only go 50-miles on them now.

albatross said:

i was thinking of buying wheels seperatly, cause i found a coupon for Advance Auto Parts, that gives me 30% off(you can find that coupon at http://couponbox.com) But they dont offer winterpackages like jadnashuanh suggested to buy, I wonder whats the discount of these packages and if i still can get a bargain by buying speratly with this coupon.

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing this. I also did the same. I used AAP15OFF. coupon code. Found on this site http://www.couponsmonk.us/coupon/advanceautoparts.com/

http://www.nokiantyres.com/winter-tyres/nokian-hakkapeliitta-r2/ Nokian R2 is another choice...low-rolling resistance, embedded diamond dust. Maybe my replacement for the Bridgestone when I wear out my current set.

I found coupons on Advanced Auto Parts that saved me 25% off the cart. I am excited to suggest the same to you

I have the Nokians and will try them this winter and report back.