[MarcoZandrini]

With the winter approaching I decided to bite the bullet and order snows for my car. I researched snow tires and ended up buying 4 225/40-18 Vredestein Wintrac Pro Xl tires mounted on Enkei wheels from TireRack. These are "W" rated snows. They are replacing staggered Michelin PSS tires. My wife has Vredestein tires on her appliance, err Accord, and they're great.

TireRack shipped them with 34psi inflation in all tires which I increased to 35psi front and 37psi rear. The lug bolts are torques to 105ft-lbs, per factory requirements. I know that new tires have the remnants of chemicals that allow the tire to be easily removed from the tire molds. This is typically worn off after 50 miles of driving. Obviously, these are not PSS tires, but the car wanders at highway speeds.

Anyone want to chime in as to possible solutions?

[John in VA]

Perhaps they will "break in" for you, but some tires are just more prone than others to tramlining. Have you spoken to Tire Rack about it?
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret....jsp?techid=47

[MarcoZandrini]

Originally Posted by John in VA

Perhaps they will "break in" for you, but some tires are just more prone than others to tramlining. Have you spoken to Tire Rack about it?
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret....jsp?techid=47

John, thanks for getting back to me. I notice it on 395 n/s. It's not tramling but a wandering. I'll call TR tomorrow.

[John in VA]

Try reducing the pressure to see if that affects the wandering. I hope we miss the white stuff later this week! I didn't think to have my sons help me swap my winter set on at Thanksgiving - will do it over the holidays. The winters are just so loud after the Pilots!

[TrboMike]

Hows your alignment?

[freakystyly]

Winters will be loud, knobby tires usually are.

I'd give them more time to break in personally. My winters behaved strangely for a few miles this year after putting them on and they weren't even new.

[nazali]

I've never had winter tries (3 different makes) which have done that, yes they can be a bit slippery, so you may need to be light on the brake, you need to keep the PSI at what the door jamb says.

winters can tramline, I find more on highways where there is a pronounced camber or grooves

try on a perfectly level (as best you can ) and then see, I would check the alignment

doesnt sound like a tire fault to me

another reason on the 2 series I only got what was supposed to come or be put on by OEM (Pirelli's) on mine no issues

[MarcoZandrini]

Originally Posted by TrboMike

Hows your alignment?

The alignment is fine. The car tracks fine.

[MarcoZandrini]

Well, I decreased the inflation by 1 psi and the handling seems to have improved markedly. I think the wandering is a combination of new tires (tire mold release agent wearing off) and too high inflation. I'm running 34.5psi in the front and 35.5psi in the rear.

[MarcoZandrini]

Wi9fe and I made a quick run it VA Beach for the holiday. The tires are sitting at 34psi front and 35psi rear. I'm not fully satisficed with the steadiness at higher speed.

[msej449]

I thought that the BMW standard winter for the M-Lites was 7.5Jx17 carrying 225/45-17 tires? But that might be for the M235i. What does your Owners Manual / door sticker say? Not saying this is an issue but it might be if the wheel+tyre combination isn't standard.

[MarcoZandrini]

Originally Posted by msej449

I thought that the BMW standard winter for the M-Lites was 7.5Jx17 carrying 225/45-17 tires? But that might be for the M235i. What does your Owners Manual / door sticker say? Not saying this is an issue but it might be if the wheel+tyre combination isn't standard.

17" wheels won't clear the calipers.

[msej449]

My Alutec 7.5Jx17 wheels clear the callipers on my M235i - but perhaps the M240i brakes are different? BMW as well as independents do calliper-clearing 17” wheels, although with the latter, you do have to be sure the cross-section is suitable. Both my local independent wheel shop and the manufacturer were well-aware of the M Performance brake size issue and the former said they always fit a tire-less wheel on a car first, just in case, and only fit tires to the new wheels once it’s confirmed as suitable.

[aerobod]

Some BMW and aftermarket wheels will clear the calipers, the brakes are the same on the M240i and M235i. The rear brakes are the ones that are most likely to touch the wheel barrel due to the small damping weights on the rear pads that stick out, but some people just remove the weights to use 17" wheels for track purposes if that is the only thing stopping those wheels from fitting.

[elliswyatt]

Had similar issue with exact same tire and Enkei wheels:https://www.2addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1780059

[MAMSport]

Marco and Ellis,

Did the tires perform more as expected with additional miles, instead of wandering around? Are the tires particularly sensitive to the air pressure?

[elliswyatt]

Originally Posted by MAMSport

Marco and Ellis,

Did the tires perform more as expected with additional miles, instead of wandering around? Are the tires particularly sensitive to the air pressure?

Yes, I'm now two seasons into these and they have been great. The initial greasiness went away after awhile, maybe a few hundred miles.

[MAMSport]

That is good. I'm no longer a fan of Pirelli winters. I had Sotto Zero Serie 2 on an '02 M3 with no issues, and they were ok at end of life on my 128i w/ LSD. When they were replaced, I went with the 3rd generation on my 128i, but they were definitely not confidence-inspiring. Going up a lengthy incline, the back end wanted to go right. I was not trying to 'race' up the hill, either.

[MarcoZandrini]

Ok, I've increased tire pressures to about 36psi front and 37psi rear and the car seems to steadier. I'll report back.

Reporting back: Those pressures seem to have done the trick. The "wandering" seems to have disappeared.