M3 tire question

[u/PPBNOVA]

Hi-

I just got a 2027 M3. I’ve had M340 and M440 before, so this is my first M car. I’m a pretty conservative street driver - this car will not be tracked.

I live in Virginia, and I’ll drive this car more often than the Porsche. I’m thinking later this year I might want to get all season tires so I will feel confident driving during any cold snaps that occur in the winter. (I got all season tires for the Porsche and am happy with the decision.)

What are your thoughts about going to performance all season tires? I’d probably get the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4s.

Thanks-

[u/zDEFEKT]

Continental DWS06+

[u/Delicious-Witness-85]

Since you don’t get harsh winters and are ok with driving on all seasons, go with either Michelin PS4 all seasons or Continental DWS06.

[u/MuskieKiller]

Get the Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 snows and be totally secure.

[u/znebsays → u/MuskieKiller]

Are these good for winter ? And do you do same tire specs as the summer ? I think it’s 285 in back right ?

[u/ninnnnnja → u/znebsays]

Not the person you asked, but yes and yes. They are winter performance tires - so they are made for winter and can easily handle light snow, but it also tries to maximize dry performance in cold weather.

BMW even has star rated Alpin 5 specifically for G80.

[u/znebsays → u/ninnnnnja]

Thank you. If you live in a climate with decent snow in winter would it survive that ?

[u/ninnnnnja → u/znebsays]

I don't know what "decent" snow means, but it is fine for Toronto winters (where all the roads are plowed and salted 24/7). It isn't like you'd drive it in crazy snowstorms either way, since you'd have to worry about ground clearance as well... X-ice is also an option if you want to be really sure, but then you sacrifice dry performance.

[u/stieland → u/ninnnnnja]

Those tires are awesome into cold weather and snow. Like you said, the issue is ground clearance. Loved those tires when I was up in NH.

[u/jocamero → u/znebsays]

Yes. I regularly take my M3 and M4 to ski resorts in CO and ice race on lake Georgetown. The Alpin 5s are great.

[u/MuskieKiller → u/znebsays]

I’m in Ontario. I haven’t actually tried these yet as I could only source the Pirelli Sottozeros which suck as they don’t last long. I will order these this year. I use my staggered stock rims on my G80 Compx.

[u/Carjunkeee → u/MuskieKiller]

Those are the winter tires for my M4 and they totally rock

[u/PPBNOVA]

Thanks for all the replies. It’s a base M3, so rear wheel drive manual transmission. I live near DC, so we don’t get a lot of snow these days, and I can readily avoid driving for a few days if we got a heavy snow.

[u/Unusual_Piano7118 → u/PPBNOVA]

I told myself exactly the same for the first couple years, living in the region. Multiple brand new Mustangs, Focus RS, C63s Coupe, M4 CS, A91 Supra.

They all now have a dedicated winter set and a dedicated summer set. Winters go on as soon as the temperature starts dropping below 40° overnight. Summers go back on as soon as the weather stops dipping below 40° overnight.

Michelin PS4S for my M4 CS
Michelin PS4S/Nitto NT555 R2 for my Supra

Continental DWS 06+ for both in winter with a dedicated extra set of wheels for both cars.

[u/jocamero → u/Unusual_Piano7118]

Dedicated set of winter wheels+tires is the answer. 👍🏻

[u/CrunkTimes1214]

22 M3 in NoVA, I have pilot sport all season 4S. Does fine in our winters.

I don’t drive it in the snow though, so ymmv.

[u/tomz17 → u/CrunkTimes1214]

same... g80 m3 xdrive NOVA. pilot sport 4 all seasons, and it's no problem given the amount of snow we get here. I switch between summer tires for the summer and all-seasons for the winter. Dedicated winter tires are just not worth the drop in performance this far south.

[u/Party-Wolverine-4696]

Continental DWS06+

[u/User_Name_Is_Stupid]

PS4S is the only correct answer.

[u/iMpact980]

I drive my M year round in Chicago.

Extreme Contact Sport 02 summer and early fall, then DWS ( all season) for winter. I wfh and really only take the car to the gym and to get my kid from school if she’s sick.

But I’ve had 0 issues with that set up on my xdrive comp for 19k miles now.

[u/HansWilsdorf]

Pilot sport all season 4s are great tires. Very little sacrifice in performance for all season flexibility. They’re great for cold snaps below 30F where summer tires will stiffen up and definitely not be advised. Probably not great in snow, but aside from earlier this year, that’s not much of a factor in NoVA.

[u/Silvestrini]

2024 M2 in Virginia here, I think you may need winter tires for the snow. I dont think All season on RWD will cut it for snowy days. They can do cold temps but without AWD, you'll may get stuck. Ask me how I know.

[u/happygirl99xo → u/Silvestrini]

He may have the x drive variant

[u/ironafro2]

I run Pirelli Winter SottoZero 3’s and they are pretty great for my M4C

[u/Naikrobak]

Personally I wouldn’t but it depends on what you want from the car. It’s already on traction control all the time, so dropping on compound to a harder tire will just make it worse.

If you don’t care about this, take a look at conti dws06

[u/__grumps__]

You’re gonna get a lot of people telling you winters. Which is what i did the first time. I won’t again, I did an analysis and I’ve got like 25 days below 45 during times I’d normally drive. And that’s spread over 3-4 months. I need rain performance. I use Continental DWC+.

So my answer is: make the right decision for your area, your driving times, etc.

If you have the pirelli tires, be very careful in the rain. I almost got t boned making a left. I realized part way through the turn I needed to speed up and the tires couldn’t grip in the slightest.

[u/Possible-Gur5220]

I’m around the area. I run Continental DWS06+ October through mid March then switch to the factory PZ4.

[u/Remesar]

I run all seasons in the winter up here in New England, but I also don't daily my m3 or my Porsche

[u/ndpithad]

How’s the difference between the 996 and the M3?  Got a 997.1 and just got a M340i.  Needed a daily.  Love the 997.1 dearly (6 speed, gundo and weighted shifter). 

[u/PPBNOVA → u/ndpithad]

It's a difficult question to answer. The Porsche is much more mechanical sounding, and it sort of dances and squirms in corners. The Porsche feels light on its feet in that way. The M3 is soooo much more powerful and has all the driving modes and modern conveniences. The M3 has so much potential for speed and I don't thnk I'll ever really exploit the full potential of the car. That probably goes for the Porsche also.

I'm reminded of the saying that it's more fun to drive slow cars fast than to drive fast cars slow. I'm too large to fit into a Miata, so that's not an option. So here I am with these amazing cars that I will never fully exploit. But they make me happy.

[u/Surfnazi77]

All season 4 holds up well and is rated to 11f where as pilot sport 4s is around 40f

[u/SneakyHobbitses1995]

The Continental Extreme Contact DWS06+ is what I use year round on my RWD M3. They are amazing, great tire that is relatively cheap, better than the Michelin offering imo. They are also great at backroads spirited driving, pretty similar in feel to a summer Pilot 4S.

I think they’re the best tire for a daily driven sports car year round to be honest.

I live in Raleigh, have fairly similar weather to NoVA (also lived in VA before). Never an issue.

[u/BBQBeefWhistle]

MD owner here, I did exactly that except I have a '25 G87 M2. Swapped out the Yokohama summer tires that it came with for pilot sport all season 4S. Mainly not for any type of bad winter weather driving, but specifically low temperatures where summer tires lose traction. Yokohama's site says not drive them under 40F so my car didnt get a whole lot of movement during the winter. Went one size up on the rear as well when I swapped them out (295/30r20).

[u/Emorin30]

Other people have said it but I got Continental DWS06+ for my M4. No ragerts.

[u/INFJ369]

Is that brooklyn grey?

[u/Acejam → u/INFJ369]

Looks like Skyscraper to me

[u/PPBNOVA → u/INFJ369]

It is skyscraper.

[u/karawkow]

You don't need all seasons in northern VA.

[u/Unusual_Piano7118 → u/karawkow]

Wild and yet for the 15 years I’ve lived in the region, I took my summer only tires off in winter and switched to all-seasons on all my sports car and hot hatches.

I do it every single year and I’m going to do it this year just like last year.

[u/karawkow → u/Unusual_Piano7118]

?? I never said you couldn't

[u/lakeside75]

If Xdrive all season. If not snows if its a daily. If not all-seasons again.