Snow tires are finally here!!!

[mousecrab]

Had a tough time finding snow tires locally then finally decided to order it from tire rack. Notice I'm in Canada so first of all snow tire is almost a MUST for winter driving and yes tire rack is good but as many Canadian like myself is worry about how hard custom would hit us when importing stuffs from the States.
I got mixed answers from different sources, some say it reasonable some say it's carzy. So would like to share my experience with other Canadians.
It actually took much less time than I thought, the tires were shipped last Friday and I got them today (Tuesday)!! This is great especially given it's holiday season. And in terms of the most importand concern that I always had. Duty and all the extra cost was all as expected (unless I receive another invoice later) and it's not bad at all! So for any other Canadian out there who might have the same concern; duty on tires is 7% and rim is 6% if made outside of US and duty free if made in USA. Add 15% on top of that or the normal sales tax depending on your province. UPS will also charge clearance/brokage; call UPS to find out. End of day it's not too bad and not only I'm able to find a set of snow tire in time, best of all it's the only 16 inch package that will fit a 330 and it's not available in Canada!!!

 

[Layton]

I got my winter tires from Tiretrends.com in BC - Their price beat BMW in Halifax by $600 including shipping and tax. (Shipping was $80) They were delivered mounted and balanced and even had BMW wheel covers attached! I bought a torque wrench from Napa for $85 and installed them myself in under an hour.

Mike

Had a tough time finding snow tires locally then finally decided to order it from tire rack. Notice I'm in Canada so first of all snow tire is almost a MUST for winter driving and yes tire rack is good but as many Canadian like myself is worry about how hard custom would hit us when importing stuffs from the States.
I got mixed answers from different sources, some say it reasonable some say it's carzy. So would like to share my experience with other Canadians.
It actually took much less time than I thought, the tires were shipped last Friday and I got them today (Tuesday)!! This is great especially given it's holiday season. And in terms of the most importand concern that I always had. Duty and all the extra cost was all as expected (unless I receive another invoice later) and it's not bad at all! So for any other Canadian out there who might have the same concern; duty on tires is 7% and rim is 6% if made outside of US and duty free if made in USA. Add 15% on top of that or the normal sales tax depending on your province. UPS will also charge clearance/brokage; call UPS to find out. End of day it's not too bad and not only I'm able to find a set of snow tire in time, best of all it's the only 16 inch package that will fit a 330 and it's not available in Canada!!!

 

[Average Jae]

cool tim, now you can show off your new 3er w/out having second thought on the tires holding up. pretty cold lately eh? prolly was a better deal for you now, with the canandian dollar being so strong agains ours.. no visit to canada for me for a while..

 

[corn fed bimmer]

I was able to purchase four new 16" BMW steel wheel takeoffs from a bmw dealer in Canada.
Total cost about 160 US, that even included shipping. Ebay is a great thing.
I was able to locate another almost new set of dunlop m2 snow tires for 135 US. Ebay again.

 

[mousecrab]

steel 16" won't work for 330, that why it caused so much trouble. the snow tires are great! haven't got too much snow yet but at least i wouldn't have to be watching the weather so closly every day before taking the car out. I'm not too crazy about big rims, i like light rims instead. The AT Italia type 5 looks ok to me and they are way lighter than the stock M68 17". Didn't weight them but can tell the difference when I put them in my car. the 16" was relatively easy but the 17"...