Great discussion. Thanks. OP here. I just picked up my xice3 michelin tires from DT. They were all DOT code 3017 (end of July 2017). DT had just gotten hundreds of michelin winter tires a little more than a week ago. Before that, they had trouble getting 2017 xice3 tires (they ordered 2 sets and all 8 were early 2016, but then the huge shipment came in with plenty of 2017s).
So I now have some very new michelin winter tires (for the same price as the early 2016 tires that were available earlier).
So I now have some very new michelin winter tires (for the same price as the early 2016 tires that were available earlier).