F11 winter wheels
Discussion
I will be honest I would not get excessively focused on the design, bar is it easy to clean. I dropped my 640 down to 17's from 20's in Summer.
When I look now the cost between 17's and 18's is minimal, but tyres are still cheaper. For Winter you are better having a narrower tyre with higher profile. The ride on 17's does amuse me though!
When I look now the cost between 17's and 18's is minimal, but tyres are still cheaper. For Winter you are better having a narrower tyre with higher profile. The ride on 17's does amuse me though!
I went for a set of 18" borbet twin 5 spoke wheels plus Dunlop Winter Sport 5 100V 245/45 R18 tyres. I added the OEM TPMS sensors aswell which came to around £1k iirc.
This was from mr winter wheels last october.
This is on a 640d GC, going from 20" summer wheels, they suit the car well being not too small and being black, also masks the dirt.
Mr Winter wheels have sporadic deals which I think I went for and got a further 10% off, or something, at the time.
I hunted about for rims, tyres and the TPMS, then looked at getting them fitted. I could have saved around £50 but the hassle just wasn't worth it. These turned up within a day or two and were fitted by me on the drive.
This was from mr winter wheels last october.
This is on a 640d GC, going from 20" summer wheels, they suit the car well being not too small and being black, also masks the dirt.
Mr Winter wheels have sporadic deals which I think I went for and got a further 10% off, or something, at the time.
I hunted about for rims, tyres and the TPMS, then looked at getting them fitted. I could have saved around £50 but the hassle just wasn't worth it. These turned up within a day or two and were fitted by me on the drive.
I've ordered design 413, 17" with Blizzak LM001 from my local BMW dealer here in Switzerland which will be fit in October (though we've had snow down in the village already on a couple of occasions).
Since the summer we live in St. Moritz so I expect up to 6 months of snow. The BMW dealer in the village steered me away from the 18" options to 17" and he'll swap the wheels and store them through the summer (plus look after the summer wheels). BMW Switzerland is doing discounts on complete sets until the end of September (15%?) so it might be worth asking BMW UK for the same . For me snow performance and to a latter degree cleaning were the priorities but I guess you're in the UK you might feel getting the 18" would be a better compromise.
Here about 50% of folks use after market wheels. There are a lots available with TüV accreditation and I guess you can get them in the UK.
I've got a 340 xdrive but I believe the options are the same as for the F11.
Since the summer we live in St. Moritz so I expect up to 6 months of snow. The BMW dealer in the village steered me away from the 18" options to 17" and he'll swap the wheels and store them through the summer (plus look after the summer wheels). BMW Switzerland is doing discounts on complete sets until the end of September (15%?) so it might be worth asking BMW UK for the same . For me snow performance and to a latter degree cleaning were the priorities but I guess you're in the UK you might feel getting the 18" would be a better compromise.
Here about 50% of folks use after market wheels. There are a lots available with TüV accreditation and I guess you can get them in the UK.
I've got a 340 xdrive but I believe the options are the same as for the F11.
Thanks for the info, ill give my insurance company a call and see what they say about aftermarket wheels. It's annoying as BMW do a number of winter wheel packages, that are actually cheaper to buy with the tyres than they are if you just buy the wheels, however all the ones I like seem to have been discontinued.
Got my eye on eBay as a couple of dealerships are selling off new sets of old stock, sadly the ones on there at present are up north and won't post.
Got my eye on eBay as a couple of dealerships are selling off new sets of old stock, sadly the ones on there at present are up north and won't post.
When I bought my 530d 3.5 years ago, albeit with 18" wheels, I also bought a set of winters on 17" rims.
I swap them over myself, October/March and take the opportunity to measure up the pads and discs, just in case someone tries to sell me new ones prematurely (!)
FWIW the ride on the winters is not noticeably different, they are reassuringly grippy in heavy rain, low temps and, after three skiing trips the car's never been a worry as far as traction is concerned. The snow chains remain unused!
I swap them over myself, October/March and take the opportunity to measure up the pads and discs, just in case someone tries to sell me new ones prematurely (!)
FWIW the ride on the winters is not noticeably different, they are reassuringly grippy in heavy rain, low temps and, after three skiing trips the car's never been a worry as far as traction is concerned. The snow chains remain unused!
F355GTS said:
+1I went for 17 inch Borbet wheels in black with 225/50 R17 Goodyear Ultra Grip Performance Gen 1 98V tyres and OEM BMW TPMS Valve Kit a couple of years ago (Oct 2015), delivered next day and TPMS works fine with car.
Summer wheels are standard 19 inch on run flats.
Car is a 430d Gran Coupe.
REALIST123 said:
When I bought my 530d 3.5 years ago, albeit with 18" wheels, I also bought a set of winters on 17" rims.
I swap them over myself, October/March and take the opportunity to measure up the pads and discs, just in case someone tries to sell me new ones prematurely (!)
FWIW the ride on the winters is not noticeably different, they are reassuringly grippy in heavy rain, low temps and, after three skiing trips the car's never been a worry as far as traction is concerned. The snow chains remain unused!
Far more noticeable for those stepping down from 20's to 17's...like me the ride is like a magic carpet on 17's. Only downside is the slightly spongey feeling you get from the Winter tyres.I swap them over myself, October/March and take the opportunity to measure up the pads and discs, just in case someone tries to sell me new ones prematurely (!)
FWIW the ride on the winters is not noticeably different, they are reassuringly grippy in heavy rain, low temps and, after three skiing trips the car's never been a worry as far as traction is concerned. The snow chains remain unused!
Ninja59 said:
Far more noticeable for those stepping down from 20's to 17's...like me the ride is like a magic carpet on 17's. Only downside is the slightly spongey feeling you get from the Winter tyres.
I'm sure it is. My car was specified for comfort; Luxury, full comfort pack, adaptive drive and 18" wheels. Each to their own.
Ninja59 said:
Far more noticeable for those stepping down from 20's to 17's...like me the ride is like a magic carpet on 17's. Only downside is the slightly spongey feeling you get from the Winter tyres.
Alpinas 3s and 5s are on 20s ....and the ride is supposed to be perfect if they can do it why cant BMW? Non Runflats help of course I guessFox- said:
Use a set of used M Sport 18's from an F11 - cheapish tyres and unlike 17's you don't have to put up with the car looking crap for half the year.
If you didn't care how it looked you'd not have bought an M Sport in the first place...
If you didn't care how it looked you'd not have bought an M Sport in the first place...
As one can't see the wheels most of the time, I'm assuming you mean how the car looks to others.
Most people wouldn't know the difference and don't care anyway. Buy bigger wheels and tyres, where appropriate, for performance reasons but not just to, supposedly, impress others.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 25th September 19:07
This is useful reference - lists both whether notification and payment is required for winter tyres for different insurers -
https://www.abi.org.uk/globalassets/sitecore/files...
https://www.abi.org.uk/globalassets/sitecore/files...
Bought a set of 18's from Mr winter wheels. Pretty pleased with them, they have a similar look to the standard 351's that the car came with. Once fitted with a BMW centre cap I'm thinking they'll suit the car quite well.
They came with a set of wheel bolts that are quite a bit longer than the originals, have others used these or just used what was already on the car? I'd rather not have to fork out for another set of locking bolts if I can use the ones I have.
They came with a set of wheel bolts that are quite a bit longer than the originals, have others used these or just used what was already on the car? I'd rather not have to fork out for another set of locking bolts if I can use the ones I have.
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