Winter Tyres vs Wheels

[gbM3uk]

Hi there,

I got my M3 SR+ end of September, am delighted, and have started reading all about winter tyres; As others, never had to have winter tyres, always drove all-season on an AWD car. So now I've decided I need some, mostly as we plan to drive to the Alps in the winter. But not clear to me whether better to buy tyres and have them swap every 6 months, or get wheels + tyres?

As far as I've been able to see:
- wheels cost in the range of £1,000 more than just tyres ($1,800 with Tesla vs. ~200 per tyre online)
- looks like there is not much cost difference between having a garage swap the tyres and swap the wheels (in the range of $10-20 per wheel / tyre)?
- the wheels I could swap on my own, but quite a lot of materials to buy (jack, wrenches, etc. I found a youtube video that would have me buy for over $400 in total to get equipped), and finding out about torquing issues, etc. that I'm not familiar with
- read I think about issues with the sensors when having tyres swapped?

So cost-wise looks like it's a better choice to just buy the tyres and have them swapped vs. the wheels? Or did I get something wrong?

Lastly has anyone yet experienced driving with winter tyres on snow/ice with the SR+? Curious if you may need chains on top of winter tyres?

Thanks!

 

[LukeT]

Logically one would not expect the cost of labour to swap them to be the same. I have tended to bung £20 to a garage for the swap of all four wheels on other cars.

 

[MrBadger]

Wear and tear on the wheels (and possibly TPMS - I don't know enough about these to know why some people need to change TPMS when changing tyres). I recently ceramic coated my winter wheels prior to fitting so got up and personal. They were already showing some effects of tyre fitting, and that was just one tyre fitting and not twice a year remove/fit,

A full off season set will also give an emergency spare and time to sort out any rim rash

But as you say, the cost of a full set of wheels probably adds £1k to the initial outlay. But its also a job that I can do and myself if need be.

 

[Avendit]

On my previous car I swapped tyres back and fore and overall I wasn't super happy with it. Nothing was ever quite balanced as well as a new set of tyres on a new set of wheels from a dealer, and I had lots of different places try. I don't think it was great for the tyres and it definitely wasn't good for the rims. No idea how the whole TPMS interfaces with this (on a non TPMS wheel you are supposed to replace the valve each time, do you still do that at £25/corner??).

I'd much rather get a winter set for swapping (or ideall a 19" set for summer!), but ouch thats ££££ suddenly. So current plan is try not to get stuck and drive carefully. Might get some snow socks for proper snowed in emergencies. I know I should, but this year there are other things for the ££££.

None of this is helped by the last couple of winters not really delivering on a requirement for snow tires for me. Just chance, but its sitting there in my head that even the tire swap £120/year has been a bit of a waste recently :/

 

[Adopado]

None of this is helped by the last couple of winters not really delivering on a requirement for snow tires for me. Just chance, but its sitting there in my head that even the tire swap £120/year has been a bit of a waste recently :/

There's a risk here of equating winter tyres with snow tyres, and that the reason for winter tyres is primarily to do with snow. Winter tyres are a benefit in snow but they are also a huge benefit in all cold conditions whether wet, dry, muddy, or snow.

 

[roadcred]

I have gone for a new set of wheels + winter tyres. I did price comparisons and for the small amount of extra cash involved have gone for the Tesla option - £1800. Changing tyres every season is not a real option...it just f**ks the tyres. I would not have gone for winters at all but the Michelins on the summers are 150% summer. also good to have a spare in any case.

 

[Avendit]

There's a risk here of equating winter tyres with snow tyres, and that the reason for winter tyres is primarily to do with snow. Winter tyres are a benefit in snow but they are also a huge benefit in all cold conditions whether wet, dry, muddy, or snow.

I know I know I know I know . But 2k! I think I was at £650 or 700 for my leon (18", 40 profile) just tyres and they were very worth that (and have lasted ages as generally drive a little more sensibly in the winter). But going the 'right' answer of new wheels with tyres is just too much just now.

 

[Adopado]

I know I know I know I know . But 2k! I think I was at £650 or 700 for my leon (18", 40 profile) just tyres and they were very worth that (and have lasted ages as generally drive a little more sensibly in the winter). But going the 'right' answer of new wheels with tyres is just too much just now.

Yes, I went with tyres only so the only overall increase in cost is the future changeovers.

 

[MaDProFF]

My 18" wheels and Nokian tyres total was about £1300.00, but I have a Performance, so it was a no brainer removing the 20" wheels.
Most garages now want £15-00 per wheel to swap

 

[Avendit]

My 18" wheels and Nokian tyres total was about £1300.00, but I have a Performance, so it was a no brainer removing the 20" wheels.
Most garages now want £15-00 per wheel to swap

That's not so bad... what wheels did you end up getting? Did you bother with TPS?

 

[Avendit]

and presumably if you went with something like 18" Bola B12 Matt Gun Metal Alloy Wheels it would even count as aero slightly? DOn't want to lose any more range than needed in the winter!

 

[FEERSUMENDJIN]

My 18" wheels and Nokian tyres total was about £1300.00, but I have a Performance, so it was a no brainer removing the 20" wheels.
Most garages now want £15-00 per wheel to swap

Hi. It would be great if you could share photos and the specs/brand of the wheels as I want to do the same to my M3P+

 

[Jason71]

The problem with changing tyres is that with the variability in temps these days you can get high temperatures in winter sometimes. winter tyres are horrible at over 15 degrees so I have been known to change the wheels back and forth more than once a season. not very practical with tyres.
the problem with wheels is that unless you fork out a fortune for genuine ones the same as the originals you could be in trouble with your insurer for modifying the car. unless you tell them everytime you switch them back and forth ( and pay an admin fee of course if not an increased premium)
sigh

 

[gbM3uk]

Hey thanks all for chipping in. I've decided to go and fork out the full Tesla package. You convinced me on the wheel vs. tyre thing, and I've looked at alternative wheels and tyre packages, looks like indeed there is up to a £500 difference with other packages on the market (many for a smaller difference though), but not being very well informed, neither having the time I figure then that the Tesla package is the safe option (including insurance considerations).

 

[PilotD99]

Hey thanks all for chipping in. I've decided to go and fork out the full Tesla package. You convinced me on the wheel vs. tyre thing, and I've looked at alternative wheels and tyre packages, looks like indeed there is up to a £500 difference with other packages on the market (many for a smaller difference though), but not being very well informed, neither having the time I figure then that the Tesla package is the safe option (including insurance considerations).

So how long is delivery for Tesla wheels?

 

[holmgang]

The problem with changing tyres is that with the variability in temps these days you can get high temperatures in winter sometimes. winter tyres are horrible at over 15 degrees so I have been known to change the wheels back and forth more than once a season. not very practical with tyres.

you might want to be more specific on winters, because they range from studded nordics to performance-winter variants such as sottozeros, wintersport 3d/4d, etc.

i ran michelin pilot alpin pa4 on a megane RS cup, and a 330hp 1-series, and even on days above 15*, for everyday driving and even a little bit of fun, i challenge anybody behind the wheels to be able to tell they were winters. they were that good, and worked in skiing trips to the alps, and i would say very very good for UK climates where winters are mild. V-speed rating, so they exceed the model 3 top speed

 

[WannabeOwner]

But 2k!

Including rubber?

Apart from the initial capital outlay, having each set on for (say) 6 months doubles the lifetime ... so in the long run the rubber cost is neutral.

For anyone likely to replace the car like-for-like the Winter Rims will be fine for the follow-on car too ... or, if not compatible, will have some resale value.

 

[arg]

Yes, I went with tyres only so the only overall increase in cost is the future changeovers.

Going for wheels isn't a huge overall cost as you can sell the wheels when you sell the car, and indeed buy used wheels to create your winter set in the first place. So it's a mainly a cash-flow issue rather than a net cost. Model S/X wheels are widely available used; Model 3 are a bit thin on the ground so far but there are some around and this will no doubt improve (so if you can't stomach the cost this winter, maybe do it next winter?).

It's also rather late to be thinking of it for this winter - the winter tyres become scarce and/or more expensive the closer to winter you get. Better to buy them in August!

TPMS are hard to account for. They definitely have a limited life (battery powered), though will burn that battery slower when not being driven; probably the separate-wheels option is slightly more expensive on that basis (though depends how long you keep the car), unless there's risk of damage to the TPMS while swapping the tyres. 3rd party TPMS are much cheaper than Tesla originals; I haven't yet any experience of their relative lifetime.

 

[gbM3uk]

So how long is delivery for Tesla wheels?

it took about a week to have someone at tesla to call me back to process the order, but then was delivered in 48hrs

 

[gbM3uk]

OK now I did get the wheels delivered, I started looking around for a place to have them swapped, being new in the UK I don't have a go to garage. I called Halford's here locally (Byfleet in Surrey) and they said they can't do a Tesla unless I provide info on torque parameters and on how to lift the car... I'll keep looking for it, but if anyone has a good address in Surrey, I'd love a recommendation... Thx!