[J-Pizzle]

I purchased the BMW recommended OEM winter setup for my X3M Base and thought I give you my impressions based on 1 week of driving on them. These are my unqualified thoughts and YMMV. I went with this OEM setup because 1) I'm a novice to non-OEM mods 2) guaranteed fitment and 3) a great price I got with talking down the parts guy plus my BMWCCA discount. Here is the link for reference: https://www.shopbmwusa.com/product/8...4M,-ORBIT-GREY

TBH, I wasn't super excited the way they looked on-line in that pic they have describing the wheel. But after receiving them, I thought they looked really nice and the Orbit grey is better in person. It does have a nice contrast with the Donnington Gray exterior I have and even my son said "pretty cool look".

Previously I had the 21" 765M OEM wheels with PS4S summer tires. These tires in the 40-50 degree weather in my part of the country were almost unusable. When they got up to the temp they were somewhat manageable, but in the cold morning and in rain they would chatter and felt rock hard going over road imperfections.

Fast forward to the 20" winter setup with the Pirelli Scorpion Winter tires. These are way more compliant and the extra inch of rubber makes it a more forgiving ride over the road imperfections and speed bumps. Even the wife noticed it as "smoother" which I attribute to the rubber being more suited for the outside temps. I took it up twice to go skiing and the traction on snow/slush/compact snow is really good and gave me more confidence in driving it up to the slopes. High speed driving (70-80mph) in rain had no issues and fully confident in their capability. I pushed it in some turns I was making to get a feel for them and thought they responded well for being a winter tire.

For reference, I am running 33psi up front and 45 psi in the rears (came delivered with those pressures), but will adjust that to probably a 37/42 psi setup. I'm not planning to go over 100mph in them (at least not intentionally). I expect a bit better handling once I adjust the pressures.


Overall, I really liked the overall look and happy with the ride and traction I get for my winter activities. I would recommend these to anyone looking for a winter setup but understand for those out there that want a more custom look (non-OEM). Happy driving!

Pics below for reference.

[pluckydks]

I got these last year and liked them as well. I did unintentionally go over 100 mph on the Autobahn when it was wet and it got a tad bit squirrely at times. I'm fairly certain I had it set at whatever the dashboard told me the recommended was for less than 100mph.

[Kevin_The_Clean1]

My X3 M base came stock with these 20" wheels & they look much better in the solid orbit gray color...

[Transfer]

Is this set really only $2000? That's a bargain. I went aftermarket and my "cheap" setup was more than that for same tires and specs. Man if that's the price I really missed the boat on these.

[evo-mike]

Originally Posted by Transfer

Is this set really only $2000? That's a bargain. I went aftermarket and my "cheap" setup was more than that for same tires and specs. Man if that's the price I really missed the boat on these.

Nope, it's 1900 for each axle. So 3800ish

[pluckydks]

Originally Posted by Transfer

Is this set really only $2000? That's a bargain. I went aftermarket and my "cheap" setup was more than that for same tires and specs. Man if that's the price I really missed the boat on these.

They're sold in pairs (axle) because the fronts are narrower than the rears, despite the tires being square. I bought these when I was in Germany and I think it came out around $3500 or so for the set of four after Euro to Dollar conversion.

[spuntyb]

Says this isn't compatible with the 2021 models. Wonder why. Looks good though. It's what all the YouTube review cars have been on during winter.

[J-Pizzle]

Originally Posted by evo-mike

Nope, it's 1900 for each axle. So 3800ish

Don't pay the on-line price. Talk to your local parts guy and hopefully you can get a decent discount. Especially if you bought your vehicle at the dealership where you get your parts. I paid 3750 for the set but that includes taxes which in Washington state is 10%.

[hamy]

I couldn't agree more with your assessment. We've been getting killed over the last 3 days here in the Philly area. My commute to work has been nearly as much fun as it is in the summer. I have complete confidence in this setup even in deep snow. I'm amazed at how I can do 100+ in dry cold temps, and have control over the SAV in deep (12" +) snow on unplowed roads.

Not to mention, this setup looks soooo good. Orbit grey is easy to deal with brake dust wise and I don't mind the 20s. BMW M puts a lot of time into engineering this cars performance at the limit (traction management) in the snow. It really shines with the correct tires. Spend the ~$3,700 on this setup if you're on the fence.

Here's my X3MC from this morning's drive in. The only plowed roads were the parking lot ironically.

[Transfer]

Ohhhh that makes more sense then. I think I paid $2700 for my aftermarket winter set with TPMS. $3800 MSRP is a little steep but it is a nice set and I love OEM.

[J-Pizzle]

I was cleaning up my summer wheels with Michelin PS4S tires, and realized that they don't have a rotation arrow on them. I thought these tires were directional? Does anyone know for sure? I was searching old threads and on the Michelin web site but didn't see specific details if they need to be placed for correct rotation. I know they are a staggered setup, but the only indication on the tire shows an "outside" label. Does that mean they are not directional and it does not matter the direction of the rotation? Thanks for the assistance.

[jjl]

The pic on the shopbmw site is misleading bc it shows the bi-color wheel, not orbit grey, but they look good in the orbit grey. I also wonder why they're not listed as compatible with the '21 model year. I'm considering getting a X3M but would need either all seasons or winters full time, wonder if i could get away with the Scorpion winters year round. would prefer an AS tire. Just starting my research.

[Klazu]

I also wanted to go with the BMW 764M winter set but it is a ridiculous C$6,999 up here in Canada, so I went with aftermarket wheels instead. Half the price and just as good looking.

[spta97]

Those look better than on the website.

I went after market due to the cost but this looks like a good option if you are willing to pay.

[jspiegel]

Purchased the 764m winter wheel package and just had them installed today on my LCI X4MC. I agree, they look much better in person. Now we just need to get some snow in NYC to test these bad boys out.

[bmwmdistrict]

This all looks fantastic and I'm torn. I have a spare 765M 21" wheel set. One is gloss black, one is the polished outer style. I was thinking of using one of those, probably the black for winter use. But part of me wants to either say screw it and run one set year round with all weather tires, or sell the one 21" wheel set and pickup this OEM winter wheel + tire set.

Advantages would be going down an inch in size and having a true winter tire. But Virginia doesn't get much snow so having a dedicated winter wheel set seems kind of stupid.

Don't know what to do

[JB20DGM]

I have these and they're nice, "came" with the car for "free" (I'm sure I gave up something, somewhere for them. lol). It was year-end when I was looking at my X3MC and I told the sales guy and manager that I would just wait till spring so I didn't have to buy a set of winter wheels and tires right away. About a week later they called and offered a set of these with the car, I went in the next day to pick it up.

They are only annoying because you cannot do any kind of tire rotation on them. While the tires are a square setup and the wheels are the same width all around the actual offset of the wheels is different front to back. I want to say the fronts are a +28 and the rears are a +39 (mine are on the car or I'd check). End result is if you try to do a back/front rotation the tire will rub the front strut with the rear wheel installed on the front. Now, you can actually bolt the rear wheel up to the front without issue, but the sidewall will be right up on the strut. At least that's my setup, I would guess if ordered from the dealer as a BMW winter package they would be the same now.

And since the tires are directional, no swapping from side to side either. So that's kind of a bummer. Just have to keep on top of alignments.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by jspiegel

Purchased the 764m winter wheel package and just had them installed today on my LCI X4MC. I agree, they look much better in person. Now we just need to get some snow in NYC to test these bad boys out.

The car looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

[danniexi]

Originally Posted by JB20DGM

They are only annoying because you cannot do any kind of tire rotation on them. While the tires are a square setup and the wheels are the same width all around the actual offset of the wheels is different front to back. I want to say the fronts are a +28 and the rears are a +39 (mine are on the car or I'd check). End result is if you try to do a back/front rotation the tire will rub the front strut with the rear wheel installed on the front. Now, you can actually bolt the rear wheel up to the front without issue, but the sidewall will be right up on the strut. At least that's my setup, I would guess if ordered from the dealer as a BMW winter package they would be the same now.

That's why I personally ordered four sets of the front wheels instead of the "full set" from BMW (which, like you said, have wider wheels with higher offsets), so i can at least rotate the tires front and back to even out the wear.