USA Winter Tire Package

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jadnashuanh

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2014
Messages
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Location
Nashua, NH USA
BMW will release the first batch of winter tire/wheel packages for the i3 next week (24 September) at a retail cost of $431.76 with the 427 wheel (at least for now, the only wheel but in other markets, they also offer the 428 wheel with the winter package). This info was accurate as of this afternoon as far as I can tell.

It was interesting...I asked them the price of a wheel alone as a replacement, and it was over $500...more than the winter tire package which includes a tire, TPMS, and mounting and balancing...hard to understand the pricing structure. Keep that in mind if you damage one of those wheels - just order a winter tire package and get a spare tire and TPMS along with your wheel at a decent discount.
 
Most people probably know this, but if you bought your i3 with the 20" wheels, as far as I can tell, those are NOT all-season tires, so if you live where there's snow or it regularly gets colder than say 40F, you really want to consider winter tire/wheel package since the only winter tires that fit the i3 are 19" (and a square install, i.e., not the larger 5.5" wheel in the back). IOW, you cannot get 20" winter tires (as of now) for the i3, and you are very likely to be disappointed, and maybe unsafe, with the performance in the cold and/or snowy winter season with your OEM 20" set.
 
Doodie said:
Where are you getting this information.....
Click to expand...
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?tireIndex=1&autoMake=BMW&autoYear=2014&autoModel=i3&autoModClar=Mega+World&frontWidth=155%2F&frontRatio=60&frontDiameter=20&frontSortCode=59832&rearWidth=175%2F&rearRatio=55&rearDiameter=20&rearSortCode=59842&tab=OE&filterType=oe
The only 20" tires for the i3 are summer performance tires.

The Dealer pricing on the winter tire package came from my local BMW USA dealer and Bridgestone only makes them in 19". Prices can change, and the dealer can set their own prices, but the numbers are the suggested list as of the date I wrote the OP.

If you have 20" tires/wheels on your vehicle...unless something is strange, I'd bet they do not say all-season on them anywhere and are Bridgestone Ecopia EP500's (a summer performance tire - they are listed on the BMW website as a performance option). If you have the 'stock' 19" tires/wheels, you have Bridgestone Ecopia EP600's, which are an all-season tire grand touring tire.
 
I mentioned this to my dealer, whom has made several attempts to research this for me, but they cannot locate such package at the price you listed. I called the other dealer in my area as well, they also were unable to get any information... Do you have any part#s etc as I am sure we here in Utah would love this option.
 
36-11-2-357-088 Retail $437.76 i3 winter tire/complete with 427 wheel/TPMS/center cap/tire as of about 10-days ago. I literally showed up that day in the parts listing on-line. Availability date - 25 September 2014. This was at a dealer in NH.
 
My tires/wheels arrived at the dealer's...I'll probably pick them up tomorrow, so they are actually shipping them. There was a delay, I don't know if it was that they couldn't meet their original shipping date (25 Sep), or that first lot sold out before my order got in, but they definitely are out there.
 
I went to pick up my winter tire package this afternoon and checked things out before putting them in the car to go home...

The winter tires are directional, and all four tires delivered, were mounted to fit on the left side of the car! So, I left two of them (out of their boxes, it appears all four would have fit in the rear of the i3) for the dealer to fix. BMW should know better! The boxes should be labeled, something like L or R, or A or B, and a 'set' includes two of each. No idea if some other shop got four right tires, and will have the same problem, or whomever installed them in the first place just didn't know or didn't care. Many of today's higher performing tires are directional, and how they are mounted DOES make a difference.

I wonder how many people just never really look? Do yourself a favor, and check - the difference in performance is measurable, and you want all that you paid for.

I figure that I've got at least a few more weeks before it's cold enough or the risk of our first snow hits, so wasn't in a great rush, other than to ensure things didn't run out. I have no idea how many of the 3000+ i3's sold so far in the USA have the 20" wheel option (summer performance tires) or how many of them live where it's cold or snowy, but all of them are going to want these after driving in their first really cold or snowy day, and those with all-seasons, if they get a lot of snow, or it's really cold, should consider them, too. The 427 wheel looks better in person than it does in a picture but I would have preferred the 428, but not for a significant increase in cost.
 
Mine showed up in 2 days - and I got a $100 discount from the dealer from a "welcome to BMW" voucher. The dealer took the tires out of the box and labeled them left/right for me .. and four (count 'em) employees (2 service, 2 sales) came outside to check them out. The were also very interested in learning how the car handled here in Syracuse snow country (150 inches/year) - hoping for the best I would imagine....

I expected the tread to be deeper - I must say. Also, I usually run Michelin in the winter as the soft rubber runs through the entire tread -- for [traditional] blizzzaks the soft rubber only ran about 50% of the tread. Anyone know how the i3 tires are designed?

First time I had seen the 427s..I agree that they look nicer in real life...
 
As part of my original sales purchase contract, I'd negotiated the winter tires at dealer cost, so did a bit better than a $100 discount, but compared to most things, these are not marked up much, and if you compare the price to TireRack, even at list, they're cheaper at BMW. As I said earlier, buying a spare wheel costs more than they are selling the entire winter wheel/tire/TPMS package for. If you happen to need a 427 wheel...just buy a winter tire package and then you can sell the tire and TPMS and save even more money!
 
jadnashuanh said:
As part of my original sales purchase contract, I'd negotiated the winter tires at dealer cost, so did a bit better than a $100 discount, but compared to most things, these are not marked up much, and if you compare the price to TireRack, even at list, they're cheaper at BMW. As I said earlier, buying a spare wheel costs more than they are selling the entire winter wheel/tire/TPMS package for. If you happen to need a 427 wheel...just buy a winter tire package and then you can sell the tire and TPMS and save even more money!
Click to expand...

Can you just confirm the total cost of the full set of winter tires that you managed to negotiate?
The cheapest I've seen is $1600 for the set.
 
The dealer cost on the tires is (or was, it could have changed) $367 each, not counting shipping. So, I doubt you'd find anyone selling them from much less than $400 each. There is very little markup from BMW on their winter tire package for the i3. Just buying the same wheel alone lists for over $500, and at a suggested list of $434 (don't remember the exact amount now, but that's close) where you get not only the wheel, but the tire, the TPMS, and center cap, it's a steal!

TireRack only has one wheel right now (last I looked, and it should be in stock in a week or so), and a tire/wheel from them without the TPMS costs more than BMW's price with it.

Many parts from BMW are pretty expensive, but wheel/tire packages seem to be a major exception. You can often buy a wheel/tire for less than buying them separately, often by a huge margin.
 
I bought my BEV from dealer stock, and although I don't care a lot about wheel styles, was disappointed to learn that the performance tires on the BEV were not rated for winter driving. I've made the mistake of driving on summer tires here in Ohio; you may as well put runners on the car. Since there was no way to buy the car without the wheels, and it was deeply enough discounted to make simply ordering precisely what I needed more expensive than simply eating the 2nd set of wheels, I bought the second set. My dealer sold me the set for $1485, which was reasonable, agreed to store whichever set wasn't currently on my i3, and will install the first changeover for free. I like this dealer almost as much as I like this car. Oddly, it was not a car I was looking for; we were there to buy my daughter a used Mini...
 
Has anyone tried to get this set:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=1Z21&mospid=56088&btnr=36_1826&hg=36&fg=95&hl=1
It seems to be the same set but has different pat # and seems to be cheaper judging by these online quotes:
http://parts.bmwconcord.com/p/BMW_2...winter--light-alloy/50947480/36112349580.html
http://www.sweeneyautoparts.com/oemparts/bmw-113/36112349580.html
This latter one is one of my local dealers and I've bought from them on numerous occasions. Not planning to get a winter set though until next winter.
 
BMW uses two different ways to determine tire pressure for the warning system...in-tire TMPS senders (in the USA and some other markets), and just computer logic and the anti-lock sensors to detect wheel spin rates (as I understand it, the i3 uses that method in Canadian markets). Therefore, BMW probably offers the winter tires with and without the TPMS in the wheels. In the USA, you MUST have them if you want the car to be federally legal, and if you have state inspections, to pass those. That could easily account for more than several hundred dollars of difference in the package pricing. You'd have to read the specs very carefully to see what's in the package.
 
jadnashuanh said:
I went to pick up my winter tire package this afternoon and checked things out before putting them in the car to go home...

The winter tires are directional, and all four tires delivered, were mounted to fit on the left side of the car! So, I left two of them (out of their boxes, it appears all four would have fit in the rear of the i3) for the dealer to fix. BMW should know better! The boxes should be labeled, something like L or R, or A or B, and a 'set' includes two of each. No idea if some other shop got four right tires, and will have the same problem, or whomever installed them in the first place just didn't know or didn't care. Many of today's higher performing tires are directional, and how they are mounted DOES make a difference.

I wonder how many people just never really look? Do yourself a favor, and check - the difference in performance is measurable, and you want all that you paid for.

I figure that I've got at least a few more weeks before it's cold enough or the risk of our first snow hits, so wasn't in a great rush, other than to ensure things didn't run out. I have no idea how many of the 3000+ i3's sold so far in the USA have the 20" wheel option (summer performance tires) or how many of them live where it's cold or snowy, but all of them are going to want these after driving in their first really cold or snowy day, and those with all-seasons, if they get a lot of snow, or it's really cold, should consider them, too. The 427 wheel looks better in person than it does in a picture but I would have preferred the 428, but not for a significant increase in cost.
Click to expand...

ONE of mine was mounted backwards from the "factory". The dealer caught it, apologized and didn't charge me any labor for wheel switching on top of the 5% parts "loyal customer" discount.
 
jadnashuanh said:
BMW uses two different ways to determine tire pressure for the warning system...in-tire TMPS senders (in the USA and some other markets), and just computer logic and the anti-lock sensors to detect wheel spin rates (as I understand it, the i3 uses that method in Canadian markets). Therefore, BMW probably offers the winter tires with and without the TPMS in the wheels. In the USA, you MUST have them if you want the car to be federally legal, and if you have state inspections, to pass those. That could easily account for more than several hundred dollars of difference in the package pricing. You'd have to read the specs very carefully to see what's in the package.
Click to expand...

And then, you must recalculate your monitored pressures, as mine uniformly read about 2.5# LOW (checked against BMW electronic and good brass tire gauges).
 
My OEM winter tires/wheels/TPM kit was $1,800 out the door, including tax and shipping. I drove home with the 20" sports wheels/tires in the trunk. I consider the winter tires a bargain, and they bring peace of mind in a RWD car in <45°F weather.
 
I've bought winter tires for each car I've ever owned except for one, which had a weird metric sized rim, and winter tires weren't available for it. Where I was living at the time, it didn't get all that cold or snow, so I wasn't worried, but in the end, I didn't have it all that long, either. I consider it good insurance, at least when you live where it does get cold...snow and ice is just a secondary kicker...especially compared to summer performance tires, winter ones perform so much better in an emergency situation when it's cold out. ANd, in the snow, it's day and night.
 

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