ah.. the best way to avoid rock chips is to not drive too close to the person in front of you.
clear bra would help a lot here since they are constantly putting sand down during the winter to avoid skidding. i used to have an older bmw which had all seasons tires on them and it worked fine, if you want to get snow tires the studded ones are the best and works great, maybe you should have gotten an XI?!? if it snows that bad you shouldn't be driving in it anways, which has happend a few times last year.