[fiveightandten]

This will be an excessive amount of photos/info on these wheels. But I had a hard time finding much F22-related info on them when I placed my order, so I hope this helps some people out.

Car:
2016 M235i, Estoril Blau on factory suspension

Tire/Wheel setup:
Apex ML-10RT wheels in race silver with polished lip, F and R are Profile 1
Front - 18" x 8.5" ET40 with 225/40/18 Conti Sport 02
Rear - 18" x 9.5" ET58 with 255/35/18 Conti Sport 02

Note that the entire wheel has clear coat sprayed on it, so the polished lip has protection.

Wheel impressions:
I bought these ML-10RT blind without being able to see photos of them on an F22 before purchase. Obviously style and fitment is very subjective, and this was a bit of a gamble. But I think these wheels suit the F22 chassis well, and look good on the car.

This is my 3rd set of Apex wheels and the ML-10RT are like the others, high quality, machined with tight tolerances, and lighter than factory with sufficient strength and good looks. My other Apex wheels have held up well against impacts (no bends). Time will tell how this structure and finish holds up. Note that these wheels have metal carved out at strategic points around the spokes to minimize weight. It makes for a cool look and keeps the weight down. But plan on them being hard to clean. It takes some time to get into all the nooks, and tight getting a brush into the barrel. It's just the price you pay for this look.

The 9.5" rears with 255s feel more substantial than the factory rear sizing and the car looks and drives better with some more meat back there. I love the wheels and I'm very happy with the look, the fitment, and the driving feel.

Fitment notes:
Apex's fitment guide advises that this setup will fit without modifications. I found that my right rear tire was slightly rubbing on the wheel well liner, where it covers the fuel filler neck.

I used a razor to make 2 small slits in the liner, and ran a zip tie through to secure it to the fuel filler neck mounting bracket. This was enough to pull the liner in a bit and stop the rubbing. YYMV.

TPMS Info:
Apex says all of their wheels "accept OEM TPMS sensors". While this is technically true, the OEM sensors (36106881890), do not sit flush against the ML-10RT barrel, as they do from the factory with stock wheels. The barrel profile is just completely different.

I went back and forth with Apex about this, first being told that the sensor would seat properly when torqued to spec, then later being told that they're aware the sensors float away from the barrel and that it's not an issue. Just be aware of this. My tire installer initially refused the install because of it, as it deviates from the Huf/Factory install procedure and notes. Apex advised me that people are tracking these wheels with the sensors floating, and they haven't had any issues reported.

On to some photos...

[Expert@ApexWheels]

Thanks for picking up a set of these wheels! I'm our main BMW guy at Apex.

The car looks great, and it's great to see some profile 1 content. We generally don't sample a profile 1 wheel as it only fits on certain BMW models (1 and 2 series). We'd love to add your photos to our gallery pages to share the images with other 1 and 2 series guys. We're happy to include any social media credits if you'd like to be tagged.

An interesting fact about your wheels: all of these ML-10RTs used the same depth lip across the line. So even a profile 1 wheel like yours has the same lip depth as my rear ML-10RT on my Z4M coupe (18x10 ET25 profile 3). This design is one of the few lipped wheels that equalizes lip depth and relies instead on spoke concavity changes to correct for the desired offset/backspacing. Wheel nerd stuff, but I think it's cool, especially for chassis like the 1 and 2 series that might otherwise have a super tiny lip.

The note about the clear coat is a great point too. I tried to mention this to quite a few customers on release, but it's a great feature that prevents oxidation of the machined surface. We should talk about it more on our site.

Regarding fitment, I'm surprised the 255/35-18 is rubbing in the rear as I've seen that exact Continental in that size be a direct fit on other customers' 2 series with the ET58 without spacers. Clearance is always tight, especially around the filler neck tube so I'm not surprised that was the pain point, but it is odd that your car has this issue. Your solution was a good one, but if we continue to see this replicated in the future, I may update the guide.

TPMS: Always a fun subject. I think I know the reason behind your mixed feedback. Our most common issue with TPMS by far is customers or certain installers not realizing that the HUF sensors we sell have a plastic locking ring inside the outer stem that has to be broken via tightening before the stem will seat against the wheel lip on the outer edge and barrel on the inner edge. This ring is what creates the airtight seal, but it must be broken first which weirds customers and installers out. As a result, we'll commonly recommend that someone torque the sensor stem mounting nuts to spec in order to get them to seat as a first step for any TPMS conversation.

Your sensor is a completely different situation, and my guess is either myself (I'm still occasionally on the phones) or one of my colleagues didn't realize this and told you to torque the stem down as a first step.

With that being said, the sensor floating in space as shown in your photo is not an issue. I've reached out to our TPMS supplier who is one of the largest distributors of various brands of TPMS products about this in the past as it's not the first time someone has asked this question. His words:

The Huf sensor or any sensor, including the OEM sensor, will not always sit flat on the barrel of wheel. Where the valve stem hole is drilled & the barrels of the wheel will vary by size, design & manufacturer.

This is why the Huf sensor is an adjustable style. The sensor can be angled to where it comes as close to the barrel as possible. Most OEM sensors are a fixed angle.

This offers a challenge to tire shops when installing tires on wheels with TPMS. They need to always be extra careful when installing the tire, no matter the brand of sensor.

The sensors we sell have adjustability built into them via the set screw that ties the sensor body to the valve stem. Your shop could have angled the sensor inwards slightly towards the barrel of the wheel by loosening the set screw. But the only benefit that would have provided is making the sensor slightly less likely to be damaged by a tire technician making a mistake. Most OEM sensors do not have this adjustability as our supplier noted and are more likely to float in space even with OE wheels. Your particular stock wheels might place the sensor flush the barrel, but this isn't required for the TPMS to function and the notes about folks tracking and driving on sensors free floating without issues are correct.

I hope this makes sense. Enjoy the wheels!

-Tom

[fiveightandten]

Originally Posted by Expert@ApexWheels

Thanks for picking up a set of these wheels! I'm our main BMW guy at Apex.

The car looks great, and it's great to see some profile 1 content. We generally don't sample a profile 1 wheel as it only fits on certain BMW models (1 and 2 series). We'd love to add your photos to our gallery pages to share the images with other 1 and 2 series guys. We're happy to include any social media credits if you'd like to be tagged.

Thanks Tom! We've likely spoken on the phone as I called Apex a number of times during ML-10 development to badger you about making F22 fitment. Then again to obsess about what color to order The wheels were worth the wait. E82/F22 rear fitment isn't easy come by and it's great Apex has options like this.

I'm happy to contribute to the gallery pages and I can send you higher res copies of whatever photos you'd like if that helps.

Originally Posted by Expert@ApexWheels

An interesting fact about your wheels: all of these ML-10RTs used the same depth lip across the line. So even a profile 1 wheel like yours has the same lip depth as my rear ML-10RT on my Z4M coupe (18x10 ET25 profile 3). This design is one of the few lipped wheels that equalizes lip depth and relies instead on spoke concavity changes to correct for the desired offset/backspacing. Wheel nerd stuff, but I think it's cool, especially for chassis like the 1 and 2 series that might otherwise have a super tiny lip.

The note about the clear coat is a great point too. I tried to mention this to quite a few customers on release, but it's a great feature that prevents oxidation of the machined surface. We should talk about it more on our site.

That is indeed a good point to make. The concavity of the lower offsets is nice, but the lip on the ML-10 gives a nice depth to the wheels in any profile/offset. I was apprehensive about how they'd look, as many designs don't translate to these high offset fitments well, but you guys got this bang on.

Originally Posted by Expert@ApexWheels

Regarding fitment, I'm surprised the 255/35-18 is rubbing in the rear as I've seen that exact Continental in that size be a direct fit on other customers' 2 series with the ET58 without spacers. Clearance is always tight, especially around the filler neck tube so I'm not surprised that was the pain point, but it is odd that your car has this issue. Your solution was a good one, but if we continue to see this replicated in the future, I may update the guide.

The rubbing was just on the inner side fender liner. It's possible there's some variance in the liner fitment from car to car, but it was an easy adjustment and I'm quite happy with the tires sizing and overall fitment. I can grab a photo if you feel it would be of value.

Originally Posted by Expert@ApexWheels

TPMS: Always a fun subject. I think I know the reason behind your mixed feedback. Our most common issue with TPMS by far is customers or certain installers not realizing that the HUF sensors we sell have a plastic locking ring inside the outer stem that has to be broken via tightening before the stem will seat against the wheel lip on the outer edge and barrel on the inner edge. This ring is what creates the airtight seal, but it must be broken first which weirds customers and installers out. As a result, we'll commonly recommend that someone torque the sensor stem mounting nuts to spec in order to get them to seat as a first step for any TPMS conversation.

Your sensor is a completely different situation, and my guess is either myself (I'm still occasionally on the phones) or one of my colleagues didn't realize this and told you to torque the stem down as a first step.

With that being said, the sensor floating in space as shown in your photo is not an issue. I've reached out to our TPMS supplier who is one of the largest distributors of various brands of TPMS products about this in the past as it's not the first time someone has asked this question. His words:

The Huf sensor or any sensor, including the OEM sensor, will not always sit flat on the barrel of wheel. Where the valve stem hole is drilled & the barrels of the wheel will vary by size, design & manufacturer.

This is why the Huf sensor is an adjustable style. The sensor can be angled to where it comes as close to the barrel as possible. Most OEM sensors are a fixed angle.

This offers a challenge to tire shops when installing tires on wheels with TPMS. They need to always be extra careful when installing the tire, no matter the brand of sensor.

The sensors we sell have adjustability built into them via the set screw that ties the sensor body to the valve stem. Your shop could have angled the sensor inwards slightly towards the barrel of the wheel by loosening the set screw. But the only benefit that would have provided is making the sensor slightly less likely to be damaged by a tire technician making a mistake. Most OEM sensors do not have this adjustability as our supplier noted and are more likely to float in space even with OE wheels. Your particular stock wheels might place the sensor flush the barrel, but this isn't required for the TPMS to function and the notes about folks tracking and driving on sensors free floating without issues are correct.

I hope this makes sense. Enjoy the wheels!

-Tom

Thanks for the additional info on the sensors. I tend to scrutinize deviations from design, particularly where large amounts of mechanical force are present. But in the end my installer was fine with it and I appreciate the data points Apex provided for some reassurance.

I just felt that it's worth mentioning, as it did lead to an install refusal for me, so hopefully others can understand and verify the fitment contingencies prior to stuffing a set of wheels and tires into their car and driving to get them installed. Haha.

You've provided some good info here, so I'm sure it will help others be prepared for install.

[Expert@ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by fiveightandten

Thanks Tom! We've likely spoken on the phone as I called Apex a number of times during ML-10 development to badger you about making F22 fitment. Then again to obsess about what color to order The wheels were worth the wait. E82/F22 rear fitment isn't easy come by and it's great Apex has options like this.

I'm happy to contribute to the gallery pages and I can send you higher res copies of whatever photos you'd like if that helps.

These shots are already solid, but if you want to send more in, you can shoot them to expert@apexwheels.com.

Originally Posted by fiveightandten

The rubbing was just on the inner side fender liner. It's possible there's some variance in the liner fitment from car to car, but it was an easy adjustment and I'm quite happy with the tires sizing and overall fitment. I can grab a photo if you feel it would be of value.

No need for inner clearance photos, I'm very familiar with this area in general.

-Tom