Best Winter/Snow Tires for e46 ZCP Wheels?

[hsq]

Hi,

Was wondering if anyone had recommendations on good winter/snow tires for the ZCP wheels?

For reference the wheels are

• OEM front wheel 19x8 / ET47
• OEM rear wheel 19x9.5 / ET27

And standard tire sizes are:

Front 225/40/19
Rear 255/35/19

Thanks.

[kermmmit7]

18" square wheels are better . I run Michelin pilot alpin pa4. First I tried Bridgestone blizzak ws80 . Great tires for snow but too soft for active driving .

[dr_011]

I'm running square 18s (245/40-18) with Michelin X-Ice Xi3 which work pretty good for me.

[PetrolM3]

Hi,

Was wondering if anyone had recommendations on good winter/snow tires for the ZCP wheels?

For reference the wheels are

• OEM front wheel 19x8 / ET47
• OEM rear wheel 19x9.5 / ET27

And standard tire sizes are:

Front 225/40/19
Rear 255/35/19

Thanks.

Standard size is what you should use. You shouldn't go any narrower since there is already a lot of stretch. Best advice would be to use 18s - more sidewall and can use narrower tires, both of which are what you should aim for with a winter set up.

[Drewrivera]

So a square set up of fronts with 225/40/18 all around is ideal?! 🤙🏻🤙🏻

[Nuclear Rabbit]

I had continental DWSes on my 19" ZCP rims, running standard size and they were outstanding. More stable at speed than my evo X on actual snow tires.

[hsq]

Thanks for the replies. I'm leaning towards using tires for a set of ZCP rims that I have.

Anyone have experience with Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3?

[hsq]

I had continental DWSes on my 19" ZCP rims, running standard size and they were outstanding. More stable at speed than my evo X on actual snow tires.

Thanks, were these all seasons good in the snow even compared to a "snow rated" tire?

[Nuclear Rabbit]

I live in Denver and they got me through a few winters. I preferred them to actual snow tires, but I think getting off the line actual snow tires could be better. I mostly drove with them on the highway. Never got stuck except one time I high-centered the car (still not the tires fault!)

[01SG]

Good quality snow tires are always going to be better than all-seasons for real winter driving.

This is heresy, though. I will not even drive my car in the rain anymore. That picture above makes me feel ill. Brings on nightmares of what happened to my old e36. Keep an eye on that trim piece between the rocker panel and body.

[Calb]

Good quality snow tires are always going to be better than all-seasons for real winter driving.

This is heresy, though. I will not even drive my car in the rain anymore. That picture above makes me feel ill. Brings on nightmares of what happened to my old e36. Keep an eye on that trim piece between the rocker panel and body.

100% what he said^
Mine has never seen the rain and never will.

[heinzboehmer]

Meh it's fine. E46s are decently well protected against corrosion from the factory. Plus, it's a mass produced 3 series not some low volume special thing. Winter driving won't kill it (note: if you take care of it).

Oh and Colorado doesn't salt their roads as heavily as other parts of the US. Purely anecdotal, but it seemed like only the highways would get salted when there was a lot of ice. Smaller roads and highways when there wasn't that much ice would get dirt/gravel.

Anyway, to answer the OPs question. Stick with stock tire sizes and some good quality snow tires. Michelin has some attractive looking ones. I ran some meh quality yokohamas on mine for a couple seasons and would still constantly drive past AWD cars with (presumably) all seasons that were stuck. Wish I had worn through those tires faster so that I could try out other stuff before moving to a place without snow. Blizzaks seemed to be popular amongst the car crowd in Colorado.

[K-Dawg]

Well you only have one choice in the stock 19" size on Tirerack. They seem to have decent reviews and there's currently a rebate.

But I'm just a FL boy.

[Rkymtnrider]

Meh it's fine. E46s are decently well protected against corrosion from the factory. Plus, it's a mass produced 3 series not some low volume special thing. Winter driving won't kill it (note: if you take care of it).

Oh and Colorado doesn't salt their roads as heavily as other parts of the US. Purely anecdotal, but it seemed like only the highways would get salted when there was a lot of ice. Smaller roads and highways when there wasn't that much ice would get dirt/gravel.

Anyway, to answer the OPs question. Stick with stock tire sizes and some good quality snow tires. Michelin has some attractive looking ones. I ran some meh quality yokohamas on mine for a couple seasons and would still constantly drive past AWD cars with (presumably) all seasons that were stuck. Wish I had worn through those tires faster so that I could try out other stuff before moving to a place without snow. Blizzaks seemed to be popular amongst the car crowd in Colorado.

They dont salt, but they do use mag chloride instead. Not sure what that does to paint. Wash often.

[Rkymtnrider]

Hi,

Was wondering if anyone had recommendations on good winter/snow tires for the ZCP wheels?

For reference the wheels are

• OEM front wheel 19x8 / ET47
• OEM rear wheel 19x9.5 / ET27

And standard tire sizes are:

Front 225/40/19
Rear 255/35/19

Thanks.

kinda depends on where you live and drive. Nokian makes the best winter tires hands down. They have different models depending on your driving conditions and needs. A Finnish company that lives within the artic circle.