Winter tire choice
 

Would have liked to pick up another set of Dunlop Wintersport M3s for the S (had 'em on my M3 and they were superb), but they don't come in the proper sizing. So I went with the Blizzak LM-60s...not as good dry road performance as the Dunlops, and less deep snow/ice performance than the WS Blizzaks, but I'm hoping it's a livable compromise. I seriously considered getting a set of winter wheels, but couldn't bring myself to buy something cheap and ugly, so decided to put stock-sized 17" winters on the OEM wheels and figure out what summer wheel/tire combo to buy once the snow's gone. Like every other set of tires I've bought in the last dozen years, the Tire Rack price (including shipping, duty, brokerage fee, etc.) was WAY less than the best prices I could get locally, and about $100 cheaper all in than Canada's answer to mail order tires, 1010tires.com in Vancouver. The LM-60s were new in 2009...anyone here have 'em?

I had LM22's on mine and I would say they are very similar to the M3's. Decent enough in the snow/ice and suprisingly/shockingly good on dry pavement. I think the replacement now is the LM25. Or maybe that's what the LM60's are?? Dunno.

Where do you get the tires from Tire Rack mounted locally? I need rear winters.

Apparently, LM-25s are now discontinued. My tires haven't arrived yet...probably Wednesday. Have had mounting done over the past few years at KalTire on 42nd SW, Harpers Tire and Tunerworks. In my experience, mounting is a hit-and-miss proposition...how well it's done seems to have more to do with the person doing it than the shop or their equipment. Will probably use KalTire as it's close to home and I'll be moving all 4 tires back and forth in the S with the top down. (Yes, living in a highrise condo with parking space for one vehicle has some downside.)

So...got the tires on the S literally THE DAY before the snow arrived. For the first couple of days I was thinking "holy c**p...these tires suck...no traction at all." Must be the same situation with snows as summers: takes a few miles for the lubricant they use to release the tires from the mold to wear off. A week later, the tires are working pretty much as expected...decent enough overall grip on snow, but lacking a bit of stickiness on ice compared to a WS-60. Because it started snowing within a few hours of getting home with the Blizzaks on the S, the jury is still out on whether the LM-60s will perform nearly as well in the dry as the Dunlop M3's I had on my previous car (I'm thinking not).