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Handling on the 17" wheels?

Specific discussion about the E89 2009 Z4 (sDrive35is, sDrive35i, sDrive30i, sDrive23i)
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Handling on the 17" wheels?

Post by Visionist » Mon Oct 20, 2014 10:58 am

What's the car like on the seventeens? I ask because they feature 225 tyres front and rear instead of 225/255. Does this promote oversteer & wheelspin?

If so, Good :)

They'll be more comfortable as well, although ditching run-flats (the plan regardless of wheel size) will make the car corner badly on 17s; I'm told there is such a thing as too much sidewall...
2011 35i "Il Cammello" - Orion Metallic / Pure White Design - Almost Fully Loaded

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Re: Handling on the 17" wheels?

Post by A1GSS » Mon Oct 20, 2014 11:29 am

The 17's on my E89 are different front and rear....
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Re: Handling on the 17" wheels?

Post by Visionist » Mon Oct 20, 2014 12:45 pm

Are they this design?

http://www.autoscout24.eu/details.aspx? ... =255723233

I think they're different front and rear but the tyres are the same? What tyre sizes are you running A1GSS?
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Re: Handling on the 17" wheels?

Post by sars » Mon Oct 20, 2014 1:08 pm

Standards size on the 2.3 and 3.0 was 225/R17 on an 8" rim all round, the 3.5 (non MSport) came with 17" but are staggered, all 18" & 19" are staggered. Ride on 18" non RFT was about the same as 17" RFT. If you go 17" non RFT the sidewalls will indeed be less rigid. When I upgraded to 18" I kept them 225's as traction wasn't really an issue and the 255's are more prone to tram-lining (IMO) especially on RFT's, my e85 on 255's RFT's were horrendous and noisy.
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Re: Handling on the 17" wheels?

Post by Visionist » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:49 pm

So the 35i actually came with 17" wheels as standard (at least in the UK)? Interesting. Checking the rim widths it's hard to imagine the rear 8.5" rims wearing 255 rubber, although I've been wrong before... The 19" wheels and one 17" design comes with 9" wide rears, which sounds more plausible.

http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/bmw/292

So what do you reckon to the tyres on the Melbourne 35i I posted? The rears (are those Sessantas? How perfect is that! They don't come as runflats do they...) don't look very wide to me... Might they be 225 like the fronts?
2011 35i "Il Cammello" - Orion Metallic / Pure White Design - Almost Fully Loaded

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