Hi,
From the newly released press kit looks like I have to get the sports package to get SMG (which I really want). The sport package comes with 18" wheels. What are the pros and cons of having 18" wheels? Of course I think it looks cool but i hear so many things about bigger wheels leading to problems with pot holes and bent wheels.... i really don't have too much money on my hands to keep fixing wheels so what should I do? just get the sport package and also get a set of wheels?
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| Reply » are bigger wheels good? |
at this particular moment for my market (Eastern Europe) there isnt option SMG gear box! Probably in the future there will be..
About the tyres - the 18" tyres are with 235/40/18 front and 255/35/18 rear runflat tyres! 18" comes with Michelin Pilot Sport or Bridgestone Potenza .. (  you got me for the model), so there isn't spare wheel. The good thing is that with runflat tyres you can drive for about 250/300 using 80km/h or less if your car is heavy loaded.
Last summer I was driving a 645Ci Copue and with about 160/170km/h I pass a big hole so the wheel just gone .. a big piece of it was missing, I can't find the picture, but you can put your fist inside the tyre. It was front right tyre, I just can't believe how stable was the car, actually I can't make the diffrence between normal and flat tyre, only the "flat tyre" light comes on the control instrument. That was amazing.
The 18" are Ellipsoid Spoke 162 and you can't get it with some pack, unfortunately they are specific for my market so you can be sure they are different in yours!
About low tyres - yes it is hard to keep the rims, in my country the roads are really poor, but I got used with them so it is not a problem to keep wheels and rims ok. It deserves to have 18" rims - they are most beautiful and the car looks really nice!
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| Reply » are bigger wheels good? |
Pros-looks
Cons- can be heavier increasing unsprung weight, harsher on bumpy road surfaces, easier to curb, easier to bend in potholes
I'm getting ZSP mainly for the sport seats and suspension. The ZSP 18's look great but I'm not too thrilled with the cons I'll inherit using them.
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| Reply » are bigger wheels good? |
Quote: Pros-looks
Cons- can be heavier increasing unsprung weight, harsher on bumpy road surfaces, easier to curb, easier to bend in potholes
I'm getting ZSP mainly for the sport seats and suspension. The ZSP 18's look great but I'm not too thrilled with the cons I'll inherit using them. | Yea, I know. I may get the 325 just to be able to get the sport suspension and seats, but to stay with 17's on the wheels. Will wait to drive the 325 in order to check out the engine performance then make the decsion.
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| Reply » are bigger wheels good? |
Another PRO to larger wheels:
Bigger wheels / thinner tires are *generally* better handling due to the thinner sidewall which flexes during a turn.
The ride is also generally more responsive, which is a nice way of saying it's a rougher ride.
A couple more CONs:
Low profile tires are usually much more expensive to replace.
They can be a real b__ch to mount properly and many shops don't have the equipment to do it (although I'm guessing all BMW services centers can do a fine job).
You can damage both a rim and tire much easier with low-profile tires than without so definitely be careful. Don't swerve to hit every pothole you see and try to stay a respectful distance away from all those evil curb-gnomes trying to ruin your ride.
With that said there's one PRO that trumps all the CONs out there:
Big wheels with low profile tires look way way better than small wheels / fat tires. Aftermarket manufacturers figured out long ago that people like looking at pretty wheels more than ugly black tires so they started making more wheel to look at and less tire to look at.
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| Reply » are bigger wheels good? |
Also bigger wheels provide the room neccessary for bigger brakes.
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are bigger wheels good?