Is it worth getting a set of winter tires/wheels?

I'm trying to figure out whether it's worth spending the money (~$400) on getting a set of tires & wheels for my E46 convertible for the cooler winter months. A year ago I got a set of Kuhho Ecsta PS31 summer tires that replaced the horribly mismatched tires that I'd had on the car since I got it, and essentially didn't drive the car over the winter. I've been having a graet time driving it over the warmer months, but with it cooling off am uncertain whether or not I should pick up a set of wheels and tires to put on it for the months of cooler weather. 

As many of you know, the E46 isn't my only vehicle- I have a 2001 Infiniti QX4 that gets used in bad weather and for hauling around stuff, so regardless of what tires I have on it would only be driven when it's snowy/icy under extreme circumstances (i.e., the QX4 is out of commission and I can't use my wife's Colorado). However, since our weather is kind of unpredictable and can warm up enough to be decent to drive the with the top down (I have no problems driving with the top down and a coat, hat, and gloves on, I would like to be able to drive the car through the cooler months when the roads are clear and dry. 

Is it generally worth having both a set of summer performance tires & a set of all-seasons?

I've been unimpressed the few times I've had to drive on all-seasons in anything wintery. If you decide to go for it, I'd look into the all-weather options that have the three-peak symbol but aren't full-on snow tires - the tests I've seen suggest they're pretty capable.

I have a set of nice summers ans a set of the "winter" tires for all 4 of our cars.  In my opinion you get the best of both worlds, good performance when the roads are dry and when they are crappy.  As a side benifit the 3 season tires should last a bit longer since they are not on the vehical all year around.

So you'll drive this on nice days, and something else on nasty days. It mostly sounds like you're worried about colder temps. In that case, it basically all depends how you plan on handling those days, and are there enough of them to make it worth your while to buy, store, and change out a second set of tires. If there are enough variable and/or unpredictable days and/or you would feel compelled to still drive it regularly through that, then get them. If there's few enough and/or you're ok foregoing it on those days, don't bother.

In reply to Driven5 :

I wouldn't be planning on swapping between tires- if I get a set of tires for the 'winter' the plan would be to put them on the car and leave them on until it started to be consistently warmer in the spring. Honestly though, I'm unlikely to be driving the car when it's below freezing at all (since it's ill-advised to have the top be folding when it's that cold).

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

You'd still be swapping them out twice a year, and always storing one set or the other. While not a major inconvenience, you may (or may not) still end up finding it's more trouble than its worth for the the amount you actually drive it in conditions that warrant them.

I've gotten salt on my cayman on summer tires. Good summer tires work just fine at or below freezing as long as the roads are dry. If you won't ever *need* to drive it in ice or snow, I wouldn't bother. But whenever those summer tires die I'd consider replacing them with some performance all seasons that sound better suited to your use case.

In reply to Driven5 :

True. While I do have a convenient place to store the ones not in use (on the rack with my as-yet-unused AX tires....) I do also use that for other things. I suppose that it may just make sense to leave the PS31's on it and see how they do over the colder months and save the money for something else.

I have a set of 3-peak snow-biased tires (kept on the stock wheels) that I put on the 86 outside of racing season, the car similarly stays parked all winter unless there's an emergency. The main reasons I have these are that I don't have to worry about winter use at all for my summer tires, and I don't have to worry about my summer tires getting destroyed by winter temperatures - if the car were exposed to -7C or below temperatures on the PS4Ses, they could crack, and certainly would if I were to try driving on them.

They're also handy because they're also a set of full-size spares I can slap on immediately if I have a flat or want to drop my summer wheel set at a constantly-overbooked shop for a tire swap.

yes

If you're not seeing snow/ice I wouldn't go for a winter/snow tire. I swap to snows before the first snowfall but until then I keep my all-seasons. They work great in non-icy 20° weather. They're way better than summers in a dusting of snow too.

Normally I'd say yes. But in your situation I think a good all season is the ticket. 

Thanks for all the input! I'm thinking that what I'm going to do for now is just keep the current wheels & tires on it with the plan down the line when they need to be replaced to get some nicer all-seasons to put on it, and to just not drive it when it's under 45 or so out until then.

I've never had much use for snow/mud tires and always go for snow tires on our car that sees the most winter use. We mount them on a set of steel rims bought for that purpose so it is easy to swap back and forth in Fall and Spring. 

We live in a coastal climate where the coast is usually pretty mild but the interior gets much more snow. I run high performance summer tires on my sports cars and end up parking them maybe a week or two a years if we get a brief bout of snow and/or ice, but otherwise drive them year round.