The BMW 1 Series. It’s been with us for a few years now, long enough to have a facelift! So with our partner Tyremen, let’s look at the winter wheel and tyre options for the baby of the BMW range.

So we will start with the older models and work our way up to the 2012 onwards facelift models.

We love the 1 series but we also understand how they can be a challenge to manoeuvre during the winter months! They are so problematic because for one, they are rear wheel drive, but also they are just so light. If you have owned one these during the last couple of winters and have not invested in some winter tyres then you really should. They make an unusable car 100% better and safer.

But which winter tyres should you fit to your 1 series?

We would personally suggest a 16″ wheel and tyre package. Tyremen offer steel wheels or a nice little alloy wheel that is fitted with a 205/55R16 winter tyre, prices start from a little over £700 a set. If you feel that steel wheels is the way to go, then sets start at £518 for a post 2012 model and £585 for earlier cars. Alloy wheels and steel wheels are both stock and ready to go for winter 2014/15.

Many 1 series owners opt for non-runflat tyre as many of the latest 1-Series no longer have these fitted as standard. A lot of 1 Series do not come with a spare wheel as standard so BMW provide a puncture repair kit which will get you home if your tyre becomes punctured. If your car is on run-flats then we can provide such a kit – Continental comfort kit.

If you want to go for winter runflat tyres then we can offer these and our partner Tyremen will stock Bridgestone, Continental, Hankook, Vredestein & Yokohama for the 2014/15 season.

Tyremen also offer alloy wheels in 17″ which can be customised with a number of tyre options, the full range of Continental, Vredestein & Yokohama and are available for 2014/15 in the runflat option.

Any of the winter wheel & tyre packages offer great convenience as there are no tyres to swap around each season and if you are keeping the vehicle for a few years then it will prove to be a cost effective way of setting up your car for winter driving.

If you are looking to just change the tyres then Tyremen have various offerings depending on your budget.

Starting with the small sizes, many of the base models use 195/55R16, in this size the Hankook W310 i-cept is looking like a great option. Hankook are a well respected manufacturer that make original equipment tyres for Audi, Ford & Mini. The Vredestein Snowtrac 3 is also a great product and consistently one of our best sellers.

In 16″ you may find that your vehicle is on 205/55R16 runflats, as above some Continental TS850 P winter are available and the Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme’s are a fantastic option and available. However we know of many 1 Series owners that have opted for the Vredestein Snowtrac 3 in a non-runflat and again order the repair kits and they work really well. Vredestein are a great winter tyre manufacturer and the Snowtrac 3 is a multi award winning product.

And finally what if your 1 Series came on 17″ as standard?, if it did it’s also likely that it came with runflats. The best option here if you don’t want to reduce the wheel size is go like for like. Continental make the TS810 S in 205/50R17 and in 225/45R17. You will need to check your tyre size on both the front and rear before purchasing as some use 205/50R17 on both axles while others have the larger size on the rear.

So 2012 has brought about the new 1-series F20, so what implications does this have to our advice above? Well actually very little. The F20 still use 16″ as standard on many of the vehicles with size 205/55R16. We are no longer seeing the 195/55 being used so Tyremen’s winter packages use a 205 in order to emulate the BMW winter packages. A new steel wheel has been produced which is specifically for the new 1 series and although the spec is slightly different there isn’t much in it. The alloys that are recommended for the older vehicles are still fine for the F20.

If you have bought a new vehicle and have a winter package from an older 1-series then it will still be fine to use. Even if your old winters are 195/55R16 I wouldn’t be too concerned about using these on an F20. The 195 tyre is less than 2% smaller than the 205 and well within the vehicles tolerance.

Versions on 17″ still have the 225/45R17 so nothing has changed here. The new sport versions fitted with 18″ use a rather unusual sized tyre on the rear so you should really consider a 17″ package for winter.

New for the 2014/15 winter season Tyremen are rather excited to be able to offer genuine BMW alloy wheels for their winter wheel & tyre packages. These are perfect for winter, they are what we call ‘take off wheels’. Essentially we deal with a European BMW importer, who regularly upgrade their vehicles onto larger, flasher wheels. This leaves a surplus of smaller wheels which are as new, they have just done factory mileage. The wheels are 16″ and suitable for both old & new 1 series with the exception of 123d & 135i which have larger brakes and require a 17″ wheel. The wheels are genuine BMW, they are not supplied with caps but should take your originals.

These also have the benefit of having great residual value, if you come to move away from BMW then you would have no issues selling these on.

If you have any questions feel free to get in touch, speak to the experts at Tyremen on 08456 807808.

Have you used winter tyres on the 1 series? Leave your experiences below to help others.

Thanks

The Winter Tyre Reviews Team