I've had these new Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25s on for a few weeks now and just now got to try them in the year's first snow. I decided to put these tires on my 2006 330xi after receiving recommendations from Gary at Tire Rack and the Bimmerfest tire forum. I sized down and picked up four very inexpensive Sport Edition A7 wheels. I thought I'd have to get something truly hideous for smaller winter tires unless I spent a ton of money, but this wasn't the case. Some 17" wheels seem to scream ugly to me, but top these off with BMW factory end caps, and they don't look bad at all. I've got to say, I'm really impressed. I was thinking I'd end up with absolute boulders on my wheels as soon as I saw "winter only" in the Tire Rack checkout page, but these are far from it. Before it snowed, I gave these tires a thorough run through and was happy to see I can get away with a lot more than I originally thought. Dry handling is quite good at and around 30-40 degrees with solid spirited around town and Interstate performance. Did manage to get them to drift a bit on a fast on-ramp, but was also going a good 80mph and still accelerating before I merged--more than acceptable. Hard stop from 40mph or so did trip the ABS slightly at the very end, but stopping stickiness is also more than acceptable. So far snow performance is far better than I though anything without studs could do, too. The city streets were plowed last night and had about .25" this AM when I left. Stopping normally from 30-40 was not a problem at all. Hard stopping in the same conditions yielded only a little ABS pulsing initially. Flooring it from a dead stop around a corner did far more accelerating than spinning and DTS/DTC pulsing. Also christened the office parking lot this AM (as usual) before the plows got to it, which provided me with ample space and varying snow depths to try things out. Up and down, over and out, sharp turns and sudden stops, I really didn't have any problems in the 0-35mph range. The one area I have yet to try is steep(er) inclines, but I'm sure I'll get some of that after the first ski road trip. Now that the day has mostly gone by and the snow melted a bit and is now frozen again in a lot of places, ice traction seems to be what I would expect so far, that being only mild ABS pulsing and some DSC flickers when turning and mashing the gas on local streets. Keep in mind I'm turning and braking a bit aggressively here for testing purposes. I really haven't had a chance to test the car out on a gigantic sheet of ice, but I can expect it would do alright, all things considered. Ice usually isn't much of a problem for me where I drive. The only minor gripe I have with these tires is that they do take a solid 15-20 minutes to warm up. Until then, I can hear and feel them a little bit more than I'd like, especially on the Interstate. Once they're warm, however, they quiet down and feel pretty smooth to the point that I don't notice anything. I'm curious to see if this is more of an issue when the temperature drops down to the sustained 0-10 degree area. Overall, I'd say these tires give me a one up over the everyday when it comes to driving in the winter. My car is AWD, so the combo is hard to beat, I suppose. They're certainly not like my PS2s in the summer, but definitely a solid tire. I'd have no problem recommending these to anyone looking for a city/Interstate/occasional country road winter solution. Take my opinion for what it's worth. This is my first set of winter-only tires. I've had plenty of low end all-season tires as well as Eagle F1s, Michelin Pilot Sports, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s, and Bridgestone Potenza RFTs, not to mention an assortment of SUV tires. My $.02. Rick
I also have Blizzak LM-25's for my winter setup (they are wrapped around BMW OEM 17" wheels, on my 328i). I am also impressed with the quality of these tires. Not only have they offered exceptional grip in a light snow storm, but they perform exceptionally well in dry road conditions as well. Cornering is still precise, and while some feeling at the limit is sacrificed for the higher sidewalls, I am more than happy with these tires. I have Potenzas for the winter tires on my 335xi, so I look forward to a comparison.
lug nut torque? I'll be putting on a set of blizzaks on my '07 328i this weekend. About a week late since we just had our first snow....What is the recommended lug nut torque?
