Car or wheels???

[WelshBoltonBen]

Hi all, after some opinions- Am in the fortunate situation of owning a couple of cars- one which is used for daily commute. Now, being quite specialist (BMW i3s) it needs a specific alloy size and tyre size for winter tyres. These cost approx £1600. The winter alloys for my i8 are much less expensive but I don’t want to use that to commute regularly.
So, my question is, should I buy a £1600 set of winter alloys and tyres, or spend £1000-1500 on a car for winter commuting and be able to put a much cheaper set of winter tyres on. Appreciating of course I lose the benefits of less cost for commuting by buying an ICE car and there will be other costs to factor in, but could recoup some of the costs after the winter by selling on?
Any thoughts?
Thanks!

Edited by WelshBoltonBen on Tuesday 1st October 11:37

Edited by WelshBoltonBen on Tuesday 1st October 11:38

[Summit_Detailing]

Could you not just buy winter tyres and get them swapped over on existing alloys - about now, then swap them back around March/April.
The other alternative (if available in i3 tyre size) would be an all season like Michelin Cross Climates and run them all year round.

Cheers,

Chris

[Dave.]

What's special about the i3 wheels, just the size?

Might be worth getting in touch with a steel wheel manufacturer and see if they have anything or would be interested in doing some.

They'll certainly be less than £1600.

JBW or Weller spring to mind.

[HustleRussell]

i3 tyres are really skinny. I bet you could deal with the average winter on summer tyres without too much difficulty. Maybe select an all-season tyre or a summer tyre with a performance bias towards wet weather such as the Uniroyal.

[WelshBoltonBen]

Thanks for replies. Can’t swap tyres as i3s has 20” alloys, and only 19” tyres are made! Weird sizes too, so purchase is necessary. Can’t buy the standard i3 alloys either as offset/ spacer size is different

[TheAlastair34]

WelshBoltonBen said:

Thanks for replies. Can’t swap tyres as i3s has 20” alloys, and only 19” tyres are made! Weird sizes too, so purchase is necessary. Can’t buy the standard i3 alloys either as offset/ spacer size is different

you will be able to use stock wheels from any i3 just run a hubcentric spacer if you really want it to sit the same in the arch

[Big_Dan]

None you can import from Germany? Compulsory in most regions over there

[The_Nugget]

You could just run the tyres currently on it and save the money. 95% of the population do and most of those don’t end up wrapped round a tree.

[ZX10R NIN]

+1 to the above.

[Coilspring]

What advantage will £1600 of wheels (includes tyres or extra ?) give you ?

If you are that worried about staying on the road buy an old banger for use in the severe weather.

If it is to just keep you moving, then it is more than a wheel/tyre issue.

Up to you what you spend your money on, its just my view.

[CubanPete]

I am sure there will be a stel wheel option without buying new alloys?

One of the great bonuses off EVs is the winter preconditioning...

[TXG399]

I've got an i3 with the 20 inch wheels and to be honest I found the winter traction absolutely fantastic. My work carpark was snowed over and I was able to drive on it without issue whilst everyone else struggled, including a Range Rover Sport.

It's got skinny wheels and a lot of weight over the driven wheels so it's a great recipe.