Last year, we picked up our beater Chevy Impala, and one of the first things I did with it was get a set of Continental VikingContact7. Yes, this is a FWD vehicle, versus the RWD BMW that you have, but I suspect it would work similarly.
These tires turned the Impala into a force to be reckoned with on ice and deep snow (so long as it wasn't so deep that the undercarriage is resting on packed snow), very difficult to get it to lose traction.
This has been my experience with the Continental group's winter tires (many now replaced my newer models):
I can't say the same about Michelin, though - extremely underwhelming.
These tires turned the Impala into a force to be reckoned with on ice and deep snow (so long as it wasn't so deep that the undercarriage is resting on packed snow), very difficult to get it to lose traction.
This has been my experience with the Continental group's winter tires (many now replaced my newer models):
- Continental ExtremeWinterContact - on my (now gone) Sienna, just as good as the new VikingContact7
- General Altimax Arctic - on my Sienna, again, very close behind the ExtremeWinterContact
- General Altimax Arctic 12 - on several service loaners, even closer to the ExtremeWinterContact / VikingContact 7 level than the original Altimax Arctic
- Various Gislaved Nordfrost Models - again on service loaners with performance as good as the Altimax Arctic 12 or better
I can't say the same about Michelin, though - extremely underwhelming.