Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Yes. But also great.

I drove our Volvo v90 to the Swiss alps last year with standard tires. Zero issues. Admittedly it’s front wheel drive but you could have driven an M4 up to our chalet without much bother. Roads were cleared very well.

Looks like this year is the first year that it's a legal requirement to have winter tyres in the French Alps.

2 trips to Morzine last winter in my 340i . Winter tyres work.
Practice putting your chains on , nothing worse than kneeling on the road in the snow at night trying work out how they go on...
Snow socks on the front if you want to be double safe but watch out they shred quickly on any bit of tarmac.
In reality only needed chains once in all the years I have driven and that was to get to Ste Foy after a big dump.
A lot depends on where you going , eg Morzine is low and the roads will nearly always be clear unless you are arriving v.late at night in a storm , then a small risk the snow ploughs haven’t been out. On the other hand the road up to Avoriaz when it’s dumping can be completely different.

"winter tyres or snow chains"

I'd be taking chains either way anyway

We're going to les menuires - I've been to 3 valleys loads but always stayed in Meribel or Val Thorens. Any idea what the road there is like?

Fair enough. I've got winter tyres so it's an easy choice for me, it's expensive to get a whole spare wheelset. FWIW I bought my winters for exactly what you are suggesting - driving to Morzine. As it goes, I'm flying out on the 28th of December so all I need the car to do is get me to Heathrow this year, but it's nice to have the option.

Drove to saint Martin years ago which is lower down . I think you will be fine . If it’s dumping they will be clearing the road as they need tourists to get up . I’ve always tried to arrive in daytime as then more likely road will be cleared and easier to drive than at night - that’s just my opinion and sure someone will say why worry , I drove up the Matterhorn on racing slicks at night....

If you can afford it , get winter tyres. I bought a set that the tyre place store for me over summer and then replace in November. I drive every year now and plan not to change the car so it’s cost effective.

What size wheels have you got? I e got a set of lightly used winters from my old 130i you could have cheeeeeeap.

So, the "immaculate" WRX i went to look at with the intention to buy was mechanically decent with history, but basically every panel apart from the roof was either heavily dented, scratched or had been badly repaired.

I wouldn't mind, but it was a 5hr round trip

Les Menuires is literally down the lane from Val T. Will be clear unless you time with a dump in the night. They get the tractors out first light anyhoe on the main drags. Winter tyres fine imo.

£25k

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CLASSIC-1971-PORSCHE-911T-Lhd-has-uk-v5-signal-orange-USA-import/113922592337?hash=item1a8650ce51:g:7VAAAOSwJ0Fdox17

Rims are 17". Will have to check the width.

The problem for me isnt buying winters (though obviously I'd rather not spend if I don't have to) - it's storing them. I live in a 1 bed flat with no outside storage.

I don't know about BMW, but if you bought winter wheels from Volvo then they store them for you, and change them over and then store the summer wheels.

Ah. I think kwikfit etc do the same, for a price obviously

Ended up with the 325i

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Lovely. Looks in good nick

Ah. I think kwikfit etc do the same, for a price obviously

My winter tyres are a different size to the summer tyres, and are therefore on a different set of rims - which is a bit of a bugger for storage as I don't know anywhere that'll stash them other than traditional storage places.

Woo. N53? I’m contemplating the roof box lyfe for mine atm, but first need to work how low profile I can go with the roof bars without fouling the sunroof.

I put roof racks on the golf this week. Noisy!

What kind? Thule? I’ve been looking at Whispbar cos they’re apparently super quiet but honestly never noticed any noise from the OEM square ones on the Volvo so I’m confused about how much science needs to be thrown at the problem.

N52b25, i don't think budget was going to stretch to facelift. We've always lived the roof box life because of the dog taking up the entire boot. It's very useful, but we've never had sunroofs on any of our cars.

I can recommend the Thule Wingbars that I have, but with the caveat that I've not had others - so a zero context recommendation.

£££ on the tax! They swapped engines before they facelifted them so there’s a few crossovers. I couldn’t find any LCIs for sensible cash so gave up. Yours at least will sound like a normal car at idle; the diesel-ness of mine when it’s just sitting there makes me sad.

£340 a year or something like that? That's peanuts compared to what it'll cost me when i move home to Ireland. Pre-08 cars are taxed on engine size, and for 2.4-2.5 litres, it's €1,080 a year...