M3 in Canadian winter is above average for the category.

[Franken///M]

Over the last week or so in europe I have been able to see how the M3 has held up in some pretty cold weather. It has started up just fine in my unheated garage which has been around 25F. I show up to work around 6am and the car sits until about noon, and then again until about 1700. Temps have been as low as 8-9F and as high as 15-18F. Everytime it starts up just fine. I don't plan on making a habit of driving the car in the winter, in fact this will be the only winter I drive it since my wife is picking up her new car this weeekend, but I have been very impressed with the M3 in light snow, slush, ice and bitter cold.

I am running 18in rims with conti DWS that I picked up from tirerack. Very impressed with the tire and no issues up to 130-140 mph.

[epiphone3]

Originally Posted by Franken///M

Over the last week or so in europe I have been able to see how the M3 has held up in some pretty cold weather. It has started up just fine in my unheated garage which has been around 25F. I show up to work around 6am and the car sits until about noon, and then again until about 1700. Temps have been as low as 8-9F and as high as 15-18F. Everytime it starts up just fine. I don't plan on making a habit of driving the car in the winter, in fact this will be the only winter I drive it since my wife is picking up her new car this weeekend, but I have been very impressed with the M3 in light snow, slush, ice and bitter cold.

I am running 18in rims with conti DWS that I picked up from tirerack. Very impressed with the tire and no issues up to 130-140 mph.

interesting... I am still very curious about the extreme cold, especially with the 10W60 engine oil.

[Franken///M]

Originally Posted by epiphone3

interesting... I am still very curious about the extreme cold, especially with the 10W60 engine oil.

I have one blackstone report, and I am going to get another report done after the winter. So far I haven't had any issues.

[apecush]

the car does not appreciate starts below -20C...If you were planning on using the car regularly and didn't want to go with an oil pan heater, stepping down to a 0w40 oil for winter might be a good idea. FWIW, our oil shears to a 40wt fairly quickly anyhow.

[epiphone3]

Originally Posted by apecush

the car does not appreciate starts below -20C...If you were planning on using the car regularly and didn't want to go with an oil pan heater, stepping down to a 0w40 oil for winter might be a good idea. FWIW, our oil shears to a 40wt fairly quickly anyhow.

Regarding the shearing... I am sure it does shear to 40-weight in not much time.

Regarding the oil, that is what I hoped BMW would state for winter conditions for the M3... that it would be possible to use, say, 5W50 oil for the winter only and to change back to 10W60 for summer. However, they have so far said that the 10W60 is the only oil usable in the M3.

I don't know if bad things happend if you don't use the 10W60, but my engineering education say that probably not unless you really thrashing on the thing in hot conditions.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by username11

Good to know. Now we need a thread regarding the M3's above average towing capacity.

but worth it

My buddy's set-up to drive to the track

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by epiphone3

Quesiton for you: would you park a "regular" E90 (not M3) outside for 10 hours in extreme cold without a plug heater or does your aversion only apply to the M3?

My car is always parked outside as we don't have an indoor garage at home. Our winter nights get pretty darn cold here in Quebec. The M starts up every morning on the first turn of the crank. No block heater either. It's her fourth winter and still running the original battery. Pretty good stuff IMO .

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

but worth it

My buddy's set-up to drive to the track

Whatever does your buddy tow in this trailer? ... I saw a few fellows at the track towing e28 ///M5 cars in trailers they however used trucks for towing.

[CanAutM3]

He packs his is track wheels, tool box, compressed air, tent, chairs, etc... in his trailer.

I fit everything in the trunk and back seat. His set-up is a bit on the extreme side, however he was able to keep his interior in a much more pristine condition than mine

[epiphone3]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

My car is always parked outside as we don't have an indoor garage at home. Our winter nights get pretty darn cold here in Quebec. The M starts up every morning on the first turn of the crank. No block heater either. It's her fourth winter and still running the original battery. Pretty good stuff IMO .

nice! I've been to MTL a bunch of times but never in the winter. You must have seen plenty of nights around -20 C... any nights in the -30 degrees C range?

It sounds more and more like this won't be a worry for me. My car is garaged at night but I am more worried about the days where it stays around -30 outside and I park at the train station. Those days aren't often but they do happen.

EDIT: I love your picture of the M3, by the way!

[apecush]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

My car is always parked outside as we don't have an indoor garage at home. Our winter nights get pretty darn cold here in Quebec. The M starts up every morning on the first turn of the crank. No block heater either. It's her fourth winter and still running the original battery. Pretty good stuff IMO .

I think Alberta might get a tad colder than Quebec in the winter...

Last year, we had over a month where the highs didn't seem to top -20. Nighttime lows were -35 on average, dropping below -40 occasionally.

My previous daily driver was fine at -20, but rather upset at -40. As my car seems pretty pissed at -20, -40 might just kill it.

[epiphone3]

Originally Posted by apecush

I think Alberta might get a tad colder than Quebec in the winter...

Last year, we had over a month where the highs didn't seem to top -20. Nighttime lows were -35 on average, dropping below -40 occasionally.

My previous daily driver was fine at -20, but rather upset at -40. As my car seems pretty pissed at -20, -40 might just kill it.

Yeah... I'm just thinking of those occasional days where the high is like -30 to -25 range. My concern is will it start reliably. I think the answer is "yes."

Just as a note, my 323i definately doesn't "like" starting at -30, but it does so realiably. Of course, I need to let warm up a bit and get over making the noises, etc. that it makes but it has always does fine with it. Obviously, if I had a choice, I'd never have to start it in those conditions but that's life. My question continues to be about if the M3 will start reliably. At night, I park in my insolated garage so it would only be a concern for working days where it is very cold as a high temp for the day.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by epiphone3

nice! I've been to MTL a bunch of times but never in the winter. You must have seen plenty of nights around -20 C... any nights in the -30 degrees C range?

It sounds more and more like this won't be a worry for me. My car is garaged at night but I am more worried about the days where it stays around -30 outside and I park at the train station. Those days aren't often but they do happen.

EDIT: I love your picture of the M3, by the way!

I agree with apecush, we probably don't have it as bad as you guys in terms of average low temps. However we do get very cold spells. -25 C is not unusual. I remember one morning going to work early, the indicated temp was -34 C. The M3 started just fine on the first turn of the crank. It did make funny noises for the first few minutes after start up though. It also took several minutes of driving to get the selected gears to display in the cluster. But the car ran just fine .

I don't know if other DCT owners have noticed this, but when it is very cold, my DCT won't allow me to shift into 7th gear until the car has warmed up a little.

[epiphone3]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

I agree with apecush, we probably don't have it as bad as you guys in terms of average low temps. However we do get very cold spells. -25 C is not unusual. I remember one morning going to work early, the indicated temp was -34 C. The M3 started just fine on the first turn of the crank. It did make funny noises for the first few minutes after start up though. It also took several minutes of driving to get the selected gears to display in the cluster. But the car ran just fine .

I don't know if other DCT owners have noticed this, but when it is very cold, my DCT won't allow me to shift into 7th gear until the car has warmed up a little.

thanks for posting this! exactly the kind of experience I am trying to hear about.

[anselmw]

I know it is spring but I just picked up my M3 as a new daily and will use it in the winter. I picked up a set of oem 18" wheels to use. My questions is do you need to reset the TP sensors when you swap wheels or do they sense that new ones are there? Also great to see others using their M3's in the winter! Any other winter tips? I already purchased the weather techs for the interior

[Projectile]

I drove on a square set up (235x18) that I got from Tire Rack at a reasonable price. At the time, the e92 was going to be my only winter driver, so I got Blizzak WS-60 tires, which are supposed to be their best for snow and ice grip. They were very good, but after a big snow fall, I did get stuck and my neighbour had to pull me out with his Ford F-150. The problem was snow depth. On that very same day, my buddy also got stuck in his Audi A4 with Quattro and winter tires, so there you go. When it gets that deep , you have to be above it.

While the Blizzak WS60's did have excellent grip on ice and snow, they were horrible on dry roads where it felt like I was driving on marshmallows. Absolutely no fun at all.

So I bought my own Ford F-150, sold my Tire Rack rims, and bought a used set of BMW square OEM 18s with Michelin Pilot Alpin's. These rims are the same as the ones in the above pic of the silver e92 in Mtrl, and I think that they look great - one of the best looking rims for the e9x, IMO.

The Michelins are pretty good on ice and snow, and much better than the Blizzak's on dry roads. Still, its hard to have a lot much fun on dry roads in the winter.

My new e92 is all about fun, and I intend to mod it including lowering it with some new springs. I do intend to drive it in the winter, but I'll be more selective about the days that I take it out. I'll always have the F-150 for the bad days. I'd like to get a staggered winter set up with wider tires in the back. Maybe I'll try the Pirelli's described here - they sound like they're still a bit of fun.

If you get a bunch of snow where you live, and you must be mobile at any given moment, know that while the e9x is great on most days, its not completely reliable on bad days. For that, I suggest getting a cheap, used Jeep (or some other 4x4). That way, you can still focus your e9x on having fun on those (more common) good winter days.

[Projectile]

Originally Posted by anselmw

I know it is spring but I just picked up my M3 as a new daily and will use it in the winter. I picked up a set of oem 18" wheels to use. My questions is do you need to reset the TP sensors when you swap wheels or do they sense that new ones are there? Also great to see others using their M3's in the winter! Any other winter tips? I already purchased the weather techs for the interior

Can't answer, because in Canada, M3's don't have TP sensors. Our cars use the ABS to detect when a tire is running low on air. Its an inferior system, but without the hassle created by TPMS when switching out tries and rims, etc.

If you call Tire Rack, they should be able to give you an answer if you don't find one here. They are very knowledgeable and helpful.

[anselmw]

Thanks for the quick responses. Think I will get the Pilot Alpins and sensors from Tirerack. Hopefully we don't get that much snow in Long Island. Lucky I am used to driving in snow as I am originally from Toronto.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by anselmw

Thanks for the quick responses. Think I will get the Pilot Alpins and sensors from Tirerack. Hopefully we don't get that much snow in Long Island. Lucky I am used to driving in snow as I am originally from Toronto.

Regarding Tire Pressure Monitors there is a slight difference in the US and Canada.

In the US the TPM is part of the wheel (included internally and part of the air valve). You need to have purchased it with your winter wheel set. Then once the winter wheel set is installed the TPM needs to be reset (manual has instructions in your case).

In Canada the system is external to the wheel not part of it. Reset is required oust like yours.

Re: Winter driving, no issues driving this car in the winter time, jut use normal winter weather adjustments.

Meanwhile enjoy the spring/summer and of course your car

[redline9001]

Originally Posted by epiphone3

nice! I've been to MTL a bunch of times but never in the winter. You must have seen plenty of nights around -20 C... any nights in the -30 degrees C range?

It sounds more and more like this won't be a worry for me. My car is garaged at night but I am more worried about the days where it stays around -30 outside and I park at the train station. Those days aren't often but they do happen.

EDIT: I love your picture of the M3, by the way!

I have covered parking in Calgary and my M3 starts no problem sitting outside at -30 while being at work for a day... it is garaged at night...

I would not worry about it too much.