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I know many of us wrap our E21's up safely over winter, but not all of us. Perhaps this thread can serve as a discussion point for winter preparation..

My E21 handled winter pretty well last year. The blower takes a while to get going, but that was my only niggle really.. Never had any starting issues, even in minus 10 or so. Pretty good for an old car!

The UK's winters have been pretty bad as of late.. We're woefully underprepared for snow/ice every year it seems. This winter is supposed to be more of the same. I've been driving about on steelies anyway for a couple of years and these fared pretty well in the snow traction wise. However I do live at the top of a very steep hill which doesn't get gritted regularly and I had trouble getting up it on the worst days. I can't really leave it at the bottom of the hill as last time I did that some idiots tried to set it on fire!

So, this year I want to invest in some decent winter tires - does anyone have any recommendations for the standard steelies?

Also, I was going to get some chains or some socks. I'm leaning towards socks as they seem like less hassle to get on and off when your hands are freezing. Again, anyone have any experience?

Get some narrower tyres. 165/70's or so. If it snows there's no way I'm gonna be able to drive MIB as the clutch is way to aggressive. I have to be careful in the rain as it is. Add 888's into the mix and it all gets a bit slippery. Luckily we've got a Pug106 that'll go anywhere come rain or shine.

Then you should go to 165/80 if you want to keep some accuracy on your speedo. A pretty good performer is this tyre:
Firestone FW 930 165/80 R13 83T

But with a winter tyre stock size 185/70 you should be ok as well but I can't seem to find a decent tyre in that size.
Me? I have some 225/45-17 winter boots waiting

And perhaps it is good to make a list of winter preparations as well? Lemme kick off...

Check and if necessary replace spark plugs and intake air filter
Clean up dizzy cap and rotor arm
Make sure coolant and screenwash is pure winter spec, not last years remains with 5 litres of water on top
Check interior heating
Check screenwash nozzles for function, open up using a needle and adjust
Check all lights and belts, spares in the trunk?
Check hoses for cracks and leaks
Top up engine oil
Check brake fluids, pad condition
Windscreen wiper and interior fan working properly? Otherwise lubricate
Inspect wiper blades
Inspect door, sunroof and trunklid seals, use some silicone or ptfe spray to prevent freezing
Check tyres, profile, pressure, don't forget the spare
Make sure to have ice scratcher, hand wiper, perhaps a piece of cloth, a coat, reflecting vest, etc in the car

I'm already running on narrow tyres and they are much better for cutting through snow when compared to the wide things I had on my last car. I was reading an article in Which? where they tested all-year tyres vs. winter tyres and the difference in some tests (stopping on snow, hill traction etc.) was as much as 50%.

Are stock steelies 13"? For some reason I thought they were 15.. Checking those tyres out now Jeroen. They seem pretty affordable at about £45 a corner. Cheers.

Jeroen wrote:Make sure coolant and screenwash is pure winter spec, not last years remains with 5 litres of water on top

+1

On a particularly cold night last year my coolant froze solid. Pretty embarassing!

or.....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dunlop-SP61-1 ... 43aa5c9438

tho not road legal but i dont see as tho that matters....

and two of these for in the boot..... lol. bit of weight over the driving wheels...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sand-Wickes-P ... 1c1fbdaa5c

murran wrote: and two of these for in the boot..... lol. bit of weight over the driving wheels...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sand-Wickes-P ... 1c1fbdaa5c

I told the girlfriend to get in the back once for the same purpose. She wasn't happy.

very interesting this winter tyre realisation in UK!

I went out to lunch today and one of the guys' fathers had just bought an engineering company near Glasgow- fine

But do you know the first thing they did (given the number of BMWs in their company car fleet)?

The new FD arranged snow tyres for all their senior staff- no more "we can't get in this morning rubbish etc"- having done a cost analysis it was cheaper to buy the tyres and wheels than have all these guys off work because they couldn't get in!

Now BMWs are renowned for being the world's most useless cars in anything like snow- and boy have I got some snow stories (at 1200 feet and the same latitude as Archangel!). What british car did BMW design in the 90s?- answer the MG ZT/ Rover 75. I have an MG ZTT (remapped of course on BMW 20 cdti engine etc) it has got to be the worse Front wheel Drive car EVER in snow!! Something to do with masses of torque and auto g box- so have ordered a set of 195 65 15 pirelli Snow tyres together with a set of diddy 15 rims- car usually runs on 18s.

Point here is that on the Continent we all got used to the poor weather- and like Canada it was so cold salt was of no use- so we all had the kit/tyres/expectations/sleeping bag etc and planned and drove accordingly. I think that we in UK have been lulled into a false sense of what the winter weather can be like - because we have had it so mild for so long!

Look out this year!- Do get those snow tyres in on a spare set of rims 14 inch would do with 195 65 14- (can't do the maths for a 13!)- some snow tyre sizes are more common than others!
also be aware that a tyre with 4 mm of tread s-hand has less than 50% of the grip afforded by the 8mm new tyre of same make!

i had these bad ass tyres on the last two years in the snow.

dunlop sp arctic studded 175 13. awesome things.



unfortunatly these and two other wheels/tyres went missing out of my garden this year (6 months ago).