[OzzieH]

I'm contemplating a 228i, sportline, MT order. I've not had a good experience with ultra low profile wheels/tires in the past--bent a few. I saw a posting on the other 2-series website where the poster had already had to replace 2 front Pilot Super Sports and had bent wheels already in less than a year. He was from Mississippi and described really bad roads. Roads here in Boise area are not that bad, but not perfect. We will see some potholes soon. I'd really like to dispense with the trauma of ruining tires and wheels. I do grant that might not actually happen. I'm very doubtful that BMW would build a Sportline and then put the 17 inch wheel/tire package on there, but I'm going to ask when I get close to ordering. If I purchase this car, I do plan a 17 inch set for winter. This car would be my daily driver--looking for something sporty which handles nicely, but I don't track/race so I think for me 205/50/17 tires would be fine. I'm sure sure I would even notice much difference other than perhaps a bit better ride quality. Open to opinions.

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by OzzieH

I'm contemplating a 228i, sportline, MT order. I've not had a good experience with ultra low profile wheels/tires in the past--bent a few. I saw a posting on the other 2-series website where the poster had already had to replace 2 front Pilot Super Sports and had bent wheels already in less than a year. He was from Mississippi and described really bad roads. Roads here in Boise area are not that bad, but not perfect. We will see some potholes soon. I'd really like to dispense with the trauma of ruining tires and wheels. I do grant that might not actually happen. I'm very doubtful that BMW would build a Sportline and then put the 17 inch wheel/tire package on there, but I'm going to ask when I get close to ordering. If I purchase this car, I do plan a 17 inch set for winter. This car would be my daily driver--looking for something sporty which handles nicely, but I don't track/race so I think for me 205/50/17 tires would be fine. I'm sure sure I would even notice much difference other than perhaps a bit better ride quality. Open to opinions.

A kindred spirit! Just sold my 18" Track Package wheels and PSS tires to a fortunate forum member in Florida who can enjoy them...yes, I'm jealous of where he gets to live/drive. I am buying 225/45-17 Michelin AS3 on very attractive 17x7.5" BBS rims from Tire Rack, which actually will benefit me in all dynamic ways due to lower wheel mass. They do clear the blue calipers in case you have MSport brakes. Roads here are also awful and bent rims and bumping along broken asphalt/concrete are constant.

I think the 205/50-17 make a great size for your winter tires when narrower is better. But, no reason not to enjoy the non-winter handling benefits of a BMW on 225/45-17 the rest of the year, which will still improve impact harshness and protect rims more than on 18s. I also don't track or race, but particularly enjoy BMW for the chassis dynamics!

This all presumes willingness to possibly replace new wheels and tires to get what you really want. The resale market does take a chunk out of original pricing. But, from a driving/technical point, you are thinking in the right direction. The only real argument for 18 or 19 over 17 is for those for whom the aesthetics override all the other factors, which doesn't seem to apply to you or me.

[Icy J]

mine on 17's as stock...can't say I liked the look at all...lol

looked slightly better after dropping it, still kind of awkward though

[scrape1]

I would have preferred a 45 series tire myself. The 225/40/18 and 245/35/18 are borderline impractical for a car that actually gets driven around here. I've given up on driving it into NYC and take my X3 instead. After a single trip I concluded that it was only a matter of time before I hit a hole in the ground big enough to break something.

[huma]

What is the stock 17" wheel size? Is it squared or staggered?

Do the M-Sports come staggered stock?

Would it be okay to switch to stock 17's? on a M Sport?

[Hops128i]

I think the 17"'s looks great.

[Regardless]

Originally Posted by Icy J

mine on 17's as stock...can't say I liked the look at all...lol

looked slightly better after dropping it, still kind of awkward though

As a lover of massive wheels and low profile tires of past...

strangely enough, your 17's do not look bad at all.

Proportionately looks good..

[midwest 340xi 6sp]

As sportstick points out, you'll have an easier time selling your 17's down the road vs the stock 18's your car will come with...Someone will want the 17's for winter wheels.

So if your willing to live with that financial reality, go for the 17's. I personally don't think they look that bad. Practical, not sexy imo. Kinda like "mom jeans"

[moldcad]

Originally Posted by Icy J

mine on 17's as stock...can't say I liked the look at all...lol

looked slightly better after dropping it, still kind of awkward though

Are those really 17"? They look excellent - in fact, much better than the stock 18" ones that come with the M235i...

[335BOY]

Originally Posted by moldcad

Are those really 17"? They look excellent - in fact, much better than the stock 18" ones that come with the M235i...

I agree 100%. Looks great a little lower and wider.

[Icy J]

Originally Posted by Hops128i

I think the 17"'s looks great.

Originally Posted by Regardless

As a lover of massive wheels and low profile tires of past...

strangely enough, your 17's do not look bad at all.

Proportionately looks good..

Originally Posted by 335BOY

I agree 100%. Looks great a little lower and wider.

I couldn't stand them, made the car look like an SUV



Too small and too many spokes imo, a pain in the ass to clean. Way too much tyre for my liking, you might argue that it has a bit of a 'racecar' feel to it but not with the oem style and offsets, plus I dislike the high profile tyre look, too much of a 'stock car' feel. 17s look like the bare minimum to clear the M Sport brakes.

The only two photos I have where it looks mildly decent:




Should also note that the ride on these tyres (oem RFTs), which were 40 or 45 profile, was worse than on my current 30/35 PSS lol

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by Icy J

I couldn't stand them, made the car look like an SUV


Should also note that the ride on these tyres (oem RFTs), which were 40 or 45 profile, was worse than on my current 30/35 PSS lol

SUV? Quite extreme and over-the-top reaction! It's just a half-inch of rubber on each side! If someone puts chrome lug nuts on it, does it change the whole car to a Cadillac?

Yes, of course RFT will ride more poorly than non RFT! The direct comparison with two variables changing, aspect ratio and RFT, is not a valid measure of ride quality's relationship to tire sidewall size.

[gaijin]

I have the 17" Pilot A/S on my Z4 and recommend their ride/performance.

[Monoblock]

Originally Posted by Icy J

mine on 17's as stock...can't say I liked the look at all...lol

You don't like those? I think they're cool. A sort of classic BBS look to them.

[Monoblock]

I dislike the high profile tyre look

It's funny how quickly everything went to uber low-profile. I don't consider 17" on this car high profile at all.

In fact when the E46 first came out, 17" was the size that came on the 328i with the sport package. 16" came on the 323i with sport package. And 15" were standard non-sport. Later the E46 M3 came out initially with 18" - only 1" from what you have now.

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by Monoblock

It's funny how quickly everything went to uber low-profile. I don't consider 17" on this car high profile at all.

In fact when the E46 first came out, 17" was the size that came on the 328i with the sport package. 16" came on the 323i with sport package. And 15" were standard non-sport. Later the E46 M3 came out initially with 18" - only 1" from what you have now.

As I said on another thread, designers are loving every moment of this while engineers are frustrated at the dynamic downsides As a prior product planner, organizationally in-between those two groups, I've listened to the arguments during product approval meetings. Adding rotating mass with a larger wheel is wrong in every performance measurement, but it helps bring in showroom traffic if it makes the car look "cooler" to the kinds of folks who respond to such appeals. Marketing usually sides with the designers.

[scrape1]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

As I said on another thread, designers are loving every moment of this while engineers are frustrated at the dynamic downsides As a prior product planner, organizationally in-between those two groups, I've listened to the arguments during product approval meetings. Adding rotating mass with a larger wheel is wrong in every performance measurement, but it helps bring in showroom traffic if it makes the car look "cooler" to the kinds of folks who respond to such appeals. Marketing usually sides with the designers.

Practical considerations aside, it almost looks like some people have developed some kind of big wheel/low profile tire fetish where bigger is always better. Some of the wheels I see on car these days just look ridiculous to me. Huge wheels with tires that look like rubber bands. They look as cartoonish as Kim Kardashian's photoshopped ass.

[Icy J]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

SUV? Quite extreme and over-the-top reaction! It's just a half-inch of rubber on each side! If someone puts chrome lug nuts on it, does it change the whole car to a Cadillac?

Yes, of course RFT will ride more poorly than non RFT! The direct comparison with two variables changing, aspect ratio and RFT, is not a valid measure of ride quality's relationship to tire sidewall size.

Originally Posted by Sportstick

As I said on another thread, designers are loving every moment of this while engineers are frustrated at the dynamic downsides As a prior product planner, organizationally in-between those two groups, I've listened to the arguments during product approval meetings. Adding rotating mass with a larger wheel is wrong in every performance measurement, but it helps bring in showroom traffic if it makes the car look "cooler" to the kinds of folks who respond to such appeals. Marketing usually sides with the designers.

SUV is probably a bit extreme, yes my point was mainly that such an appearance is more commonplace on such cars, or 'normal' cars in general, as opposed to what you might expect from a sports car of any kind. In one of my earlier photos, my car is parked behind a Merc R Class - I don't want my coupé/sports car to have wheels that look like they could have come off a 7 seater like that. Wheels can make or break the overall look of a car IMO - personal preference of course.

With regard to the comment about style, that's just how current design trends are. People on the street are hardly extracting 100% from their cars all the time (nor should you be, really...) - I personally am happy to give up whatever tiny bit of performance I might have gained by running 17s or 18s instead of 19s. Road quality, on the other hand, is a different matter, although I still think 17s really are on the small side...

Keep in mind I'm 19 so my tastes are likely to differ lol, but almost everyone I know, regardless of age (except for my parents haha) kept trolling my wheels while I was still waiting for my aftermarket ones

Originally Posted by Monoblock

You don't like those? I think they're cool. A sort of classic BBS look to them.

The style itself is alright, but not the size

Originally Posted by Monoblock

It's funny how quickly everything went to uber low-profile. I don't consider 17" on this car high profile at all.

In fact when the E46 first came out, 17" was the size that came on the 328i with the sport package. 16" came on the 323i with sport package. And 15" were standard non-sport. Later the E46 M3 came out initially with 18" - only 1" from what you have now.

Styles change - we're in 2015. 18s fit the style of the E46 M3 (doesn't the CSL have 19s?), but they'd look rather out of place on a street F82 M4 (track is a different matter).

Cars are getting larger and larger, and it only makes sense for wheel sizes to grow as well. Performance is not the only thing that sells a car - the aesthetics are equally important, especially when we're talking about road cars, where (theoretically) you shouldn't really be pushing the car to its limits every time you turn into a corner.

On the other hand, I don't want a Maserati GranTurismo anymore after having the chance to drive one, that thing felt like a boat

[unem3]

My 17" wheels for winter look fine to me. The open 5 spoke helps.

[Monoblock]

Styles change - we're in 2015.

But we're only talking 1" here - and you called that "high profile". I'm just sayin' that I think that opinion is a bit extreme. Just one inch, 17->18, is not high to low profile, IMO.

17" itself is low profile on this car.

Cars are getting larger and larger and it only makes sense for wheel sizes to grow as well

But that's proportional - bigger car gets a bigger wheel, yes, but not necessarily a lower profile tire.

And with our our beloved F22, it's nearly identical in size to the E46 anyways, so that point doesn't matter. In fact the size similarity is one of the things I love about the F22 (being a former E46 driver from 1998-2014).

Performance is not the only thing that sells a car - the aesthetics are equally important

Call me an old-fart, but I'm with the other folks that think that rubber band tires look silly. Combine that with lost performance as a result and it's a no-brainer.

18s fit the style of the E46 M3 (doesn't the CSL have 19s?)

It did, and they sucked - completely ruined the ride for me. I immediately bought 18s. Indeed, most folks who even track their M3s move to 18s.

There's only so far you can go, physics and all that, before your riding on metal. Do we really want this to be the new standard in a couple years:

[Icy J]

Originally Posted by Monoblock

But we're only talking 1" here - and you called that "high profile". I'm just sayin' that I think that opinion is a bit extreme. Just one inch, 17->18, is not high to low profile, IMO.

17" itself is low profile on this car.

TBH, I'm not really that bothered inherently by the size of the wheel itself - it's the thickness of the accompanying tyre, and the proportions to the wheel. To me, the 18s that come stock on most 235s aren't particularly low profile either (we all have different standards) - I find that the 18s look fine, even with a relatively high tyre, since there is more wheel visible, but there's definitely a discernible difference between 17s and 18s. The stock wheels I had just looked really awkward on such a sporty looking car (doesn't help that I added other mods, I guess)

Mind you, if you think my stock 17s are low profile, I'd hate to see what you think is high profile

But that's proportional - bigger car gets a bigger wheel, yes, but not necessarily a lower profile tire.

And with our our beloved F22, it's nearly identical in size to the E46 anyways, so that point doesn't matter. In fact the size similarity is one of the things I love about the F22 (being a former E46 driver from 1998-2014).

Call me an old-fart, but I'm with the other folks that think that rubber band tires look silly. Combine that with lost performance as a result and it's a no-brainer.

It did, and they sucked - completely ruined the ride for me. I immediately bought 18s. Indeed, most folks who even track their M3s move to 18s.

There's only so far you can go, physics and all that, before your riding on metal. Do we really want this to be the new standard in a couple years:

-pic-

Pretty sure you're exaggerating, but no way is that going to be a standard any time in the near future. That's what you call a rubber band of a tyre, not anything that just happens to be thinner than stock.

I think the thing that's mildly bugging me is that you would want to modify the wheels to something smaller and with higher tyres than stock. To me, that's effectively a downgrade, since the 18s look fine as a wheel size, yet still have a considerable tyre height. Winter wheels are a different matter entirely (I don't have experience with these, so I'll stfu about this area), but for summer and street use, I can't fathom why anyone would want 17s over 18s or 19s - the difference in feel/performance, at least to me, isn't enough to justify sacrificing the aesthetics.

IMO, if you want a comfortable car, this isn't the one for you - apparently my mom got carsick when my dad was driving it, even when the wheels/tyres/suspension were bone stock

[OzzieH]

My thoughts about the appearance of low and ultralow profile wheels quickly changed after bending a few, $$$.
I appreciate all the comments. I will likely go with a 228i, Sportline, MT, Track package with the Pilot Super sports and just deal with whatever happens later.
Car & Driver did an experiment with a Volkwagen (GTI I think) with 5 sets of wheels/tires--15, 16, 17, 18, 19. Easy to find with internet search. Acceleration, gas mileage, and handling were worse with the 19s.