Hey everyone....I'm here in Denver for school (Freshman year at Regis) and wanted to know how our Bimmers are holding up in winter. I know that washing is required especially after snowfall where salt is put on the roads.

What does everyone do when they drive their bimmer outside. Mine will stay outside during the winter :( :bawl , but I want to know what precautions I need to take to avoid corrosion and help keep the car lasting forever basically. Any help would be great guys. Thanks

first thing is make sure your car has some good snow tires. if you have summer or sport tires on good luck trying to get anywhere, I got some pirelli p7000s that are supposedly M+S rated but when the temperature drops they are slippery has hell even with no snow.

How about taking care of the car itself...in terms of washing it and stuff

that depends on how anal you are about your car being clean, maybe once every two week or so, the car wil probably be dirty after 1 or 2 days depending on the weather in the winter time, sorta not practical to wash it everytime it gets dirty. It seems like everytime I wash the car it freaking snows the next day and I can never keep it clean. You should get some heavy duty rubber mats too so your carpet doesn't get all fuked up because of the snow and dirt, they are pretty cheap like at autozone, 20 bucks or so, but they'll keep your carpet nice and clean.

good call. thanks

Yah its pretty pointless trying to wash your car. The snow melts and water stays on the street for days... Make sure you have wiper fluid... Poor Bimmer... I gotta fix my Jeep...:(

Originally posted by Bayerisch_323
I know that washing is required especially after snowfall where salt is put on the roads.

This area uses sand and cinders, not salt.

Still doesn't hurt to wash it whenever you can, just like the rest of the year :-)

Winters aren't that bad here. It could snow overnight and be melted by mid-day. They keep the roads cleared too. I don't think they use salt, they use gravel. So kiss your windshield goodbye. I usually have to fix or replace a windshield once a year.

I keep the same high preformance tires on and don't really have a problem. Just drive safe. My wife drives an Audi A6 Quattro, so maybe twice during the winter I have to use her car.

Originally posted by DenverM3
So kiss your windshield goodbye. And paint...dont forget paint...

Stongard or the like is a good investment.

1. Put a very thick coat of wax on your baby
2. Go out and buy Some Michelin pilot Alpin or BLIZZAK tires
I would go with the blizzaks
3. Put a lighter weight of oil, so it doesn't have a hard time sarting
4. Winter style windsheild cleaner the kind that deices. Its either green or pink.
5.Go have your windsheild lightly tinted. The film willmake it stronger. take my word for it.

*Wash your car when you can. Denver uses a deicer that is called magnesium chloride and it will eat your paint*

Last go to church and pray that its a lite winter

Or do like did and go out and buy a cheap jeep

for those without snow tires, how about a GB for them?

by GB you mean Group buy right. If thats what you mean Then it might be possible for me to get a deal let me know.

yeah, group buy

How many people want to buy snow tires?

how much for 205/60/15?

What brand of tire are you looking for? BLizzak,Michilen, hakapelta

I'd be interested in a group buy.
Blizzaks or Hakapalita (sp?) in 205/60/15

ok all I need to know is how many people want tires and which ones they want.

I need a set of tires for my A6, but I would rather have all weather than snow tires. It gets a lot of highway driving and with its Quattro, regular tires work fine.

i guess brand doesn't matter, just best bang for the buck

steve

Originally posted by DenverM3
It gets a lot of highway driving and with its Quattro, regular tires work fine.

Damn Quattro:complain ! Ok I will look Into what I can do for you guys. Just so Im not leaving you guys in the dark I will be going through coys wheel and tire. I know the owner and he has always gotten me the best deal on all of my wheels and tires on both the Escalade on 24' zenik zm1's and my m3 with 19' ch's oh and not to forget on the Viper. So im sure he wil love to throw us some good deals our way.

I'd be interested in snow tires as well. I was looking at Blizzaks, Donlop M3 or Pirelli 210/240.

Originally posted by DenverM3
I need a set of tires for my A6, but I would rather have all weather than snow tires. It gets a lot of highway driving and with its Quattro, regular tires work fine.

When I had AWD vehicles (a 1985 Subaru station wagon, later a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan) I found that the AWD feature helped some with driving forward, but not with braking or turning. Acceleration is useful for getting into trouble, and sometimes for getting out of trouble (e.g. crawling out of the ditch), but braking and turning are what you need for avoiding trouble.

I have found "all-season" compromise tires to be unsatisfying on dry pavement, and ineffective in the icky stuff. So in my experience, "all-season" really means "no-season".

Instead, I have two sets of street wheels for each vehicle in my fleet: nice alloy wheels with high performance summer tires, and ugly steel wheels with real dedicated snow tires. We run the summer wheels year round, except for two or three days every few weeks, when the snow falls and before the streets are cleared.

Thats how it works in the Romero Fleet. But some cars don't even touch snow or any sor t of cold weather.

Originally posted by bsut

Instead, I have two sets of street wheels for each vehicle in my fleet: nice alloy wheels with high performance summer tires, and ugly steel wheels with real dedicated snow tires. We run the summer wheels year round, except for two or three days every few weeks, when the snow falls and before the streets are cleared.

Yeah, that is really what I should do. I just really looked at my M3's tires for the first time since buying the car earleir this year and I have a really nice set of Blizzak 22-LMs on them. Yes, I have been driving on snow tires all summer and even autocrossed on them yesterday. Am I clueless or what?

Well, since I already have snow tires (slightly worn now) I guess I need high performance now. What do you use for your high performane tires. I looked at my spare tire and I think its a Michellan. Would that be good to stick with?

What tires would you suggest for an Audi A6 Quatro. I would need snow and high performance for that car.

I'm cheap, so I use Yokohama AVS ES-100 on the street in good weather. Maybe you guys who are better drivers with fancy high-performance cars can tell the difference between an $80 tire (Yok ES100 in my sizes) and a $156 tire (Michelin Pilot Sport in my sizes), but for my use I can't find any weakness in the Yokes.

323,

Back to the topic. Do you snowboard and drive to the mountains? What car do you have? I have Hak Q's on my E36 and I BLOW by sport utes in snow storms and they'll make your BMW a BLAST to drive in the snow. Tires are by far the biggest factor for traction in the snow, not AWD, not a truck, not traction control, yada yada, unless your talking about deep snow. Roads are usually plowed pretty well here. A tube of sand in the back is OK if you wish. Absolute confidence in the storms is huge peice of mind. I once flew past 15 cars (15 Chevy Subdivision types) following a snow plow in a major snow storm up Rabbit Ears Pass on the way to Steamboat...see ya! Just like it was a sunny day! I don't know if you are used to the cold, but make sure your anitfreeze is at a 50/50 mix, do that now if you haven't already. If it needs flushing (been two years?) Use genuine BMW stuff or Pentosin as BMW cooling systems are very picky and these brands lack chemicals others contain that will cause problems down the road. The suggestion of a paint protection product (clear bra) is a good one. One road trip to the mountains or highway trip and you'll see chips in your paint, cracked fog lights, pitted windshield, headlight and fog light covers. Denver road maintenance policies are the worst I've ever seen. Their methods beat the crap out of your car's paint, front end, glass and lights. I always thought it would be intesting to start a lobbying group to change the use of gravel on the roads, it's very very frustrating. Lived in the mountains of Switzerland for two years, not a pit or a scratch. What gives with this state? Huhhuh, I guess they all drive them trucks and it don't botherem' none, huh huh.

I might be interested in a group buy on HAK NRW's. Supposedly a Rockin' tire in the snow with good dry handling capabilities. Although the Hak Q's are the best snow I've ever used, they are a bit squirmy in the dry. BTW-don't use studs. Rattle your teeth, ruin the feel of your BMW, snow tire technology has progressed leaps and bounds the last several years making studs unnecessary unless you spend a ton of road time in icy conditions. Most of the major tire companies have sport type snows now like the NRW, I've not tried any of them. Search google on Nokian Hakkapeliita. Check out the tire rack, then go to your local tire store. There are some great ones in Boulder. BTW-Hakkapeliita's are designed in Finland, where ah, it snows a bit. Can you tell I like snow tires? Have fun in the snow!!!

A few more saftey things: if you drive a lot in the snow you should carry an extra jacket, ice/snow scraper, blanket, jumper cables and a tow rope. You never know...I've been here 17 years and used them all, sometimes for me, sometimes for others in a jam...

Is there anything that I can put over my fog light and head light lenses with to protect from chips and cracks?

Sorry its been along time since Ive gotten back to you guys but Ive been very busy, with school. But the guy at coys said that we all need to go in at the same time and just let him know what you want.

DenverM3- Go to a place that does 3M clear bra and ask them if they have any small scraps of film. They might not charge you or if they do it wont be much. It will certainly be cheaper than replaceing those fogs.

Justin you wuld have to mention all of your cars right? You couldn't just say that you get a good deal huh??? LOL :conc: :conc:

Originally posted by owtfcntrl
Justin you wuld have to mention all of your cars right? You couldn't just say that you get a good deal huh??? LOL :conc: :conc:

Now This isn't the OWTFCNTRL that I think it is? Would it.:dunno