Deposit left on E89 30i - 19" Alloys Questions

G

gwatson

Senior member
 Aberdeenshire
After missing out on a beautiful manual 35i, I found a bargain 30i fairly local to me and left a deposit yesterday, with collection in the new year. This will be my 3rd Z4, I had previously had a supercharged E85 3.0 and Z4M. Already have a few "enhancements" planned for this one.

It's a purchase with the head, rather than heart, but we agreed on a value only just into 5 figures which I feel is a bargain. Car is a 2010, 33k miles, full BMW service history, new brakes all round (genuine BMW), new tyres about 6k miles go and serviced a few months back. He's even had a few minor dents removed and alloys reconditioned by BMW. So receipts must total almost £2.5k in the last year. Should make for cheap motoring, only downside is it's white, but black wheels and gloss black grills will man it up a little. Which leads me onto my question.....

The car has the dreaded 19" 326M alloys. I couldn't to see any cracks and the ride wasn't as crashy as I expected, so in a bit of a conundrum on what to do:
1) Do I sell them (reconditioned recently and fairly new Bridgestone run flats) and buy a used set of 18" 325M, paint them black and fit Michelin PS4's. I've always been a fan of smaller wheels.
or
2) Paint the 326M's black and fit 19" PS4's. Still worried the about the ride.

Option 1 would be the cheapest by a mile (sell for £900??) and guarantees a much better ride. New wheels £400, tyres £500 and recondition £250. So lets say £250 all in. (after writing that I think I know the answer).

Option 2 would look better, but cost £1k for new tyres and power coating. Still risk a poor ride. Any value in used run flat tyres to offset some of the difference?

So I guess the question is, is the ride on 19" tyres with non run flats tolerable on bumpy B roads?

Here's a few pictures of the car to be:

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Hi, the ride will be much better on normal tyres, but if you’ve got potholes around your way these 326 wheels will crack sooner than later imho.
I had a set on my car which cracked after 19k miles, had them repaired & they cracked again a year later :evil:
They look beautiful but seem to be made of eggshells, better off with 18’s or 19’s made by a different manufacturer.
Rob
 
Thanks for that. You confirmed my thoughts.

Did yours crack again even on non flats fitted?

Difficulty will be sourcing a set of 18" 325's. I'm not one for aftermarket rims.
 
Nice car , to me the 89s need 19s to fill the arches & no reason why you should have a bad ride if the right size/brand tyres are fitted .
A set of 9 yr old 33k 326s id beamazed if at least one of the rears hadn't been repaired or replaced , some repairs are very good & you need a keen eye to spot without the car being on a ramp .
 
I normally always say go for the 19’s, and I think 18’s look a bit crap on both the E85/6 and E89. In saying that if you’re going to paint them black I’d be tempted to go 18 as you can’t see the wheels anyway.
 
gwatson said:
The car has the dreaded 19" 326M alloys. I couldn't to see any cracks and the ride wasn't as crashy as I expected, so in a bit of a conundrum on what to do:
1) Do I sell them (reconditioned recently and fairly new Bridgestone run flats) and buy a used set of 18" 325M, paint them black and fit Michelin PS4's. I've always been a fan of smaller wheels.
or
2) Paint the 326M's black and fit 19" PS4's. Still worried the about the ride.
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Cracks make Option 2 a non-starter. So, go for Option 1 ... but not black. White cars look much sharper on silver.

p.s. The car sounds like a very good buy.
 
OP, I think the fact you've always been a fan of smaller wheels makes Option 1 the only way to go!

Looks like you've found a good Z4 BTW. :thumbsup:
 
326s look perfect on the e89. Why not just leaves things are they are (especially if the wheels were recently reconditioned and have fairly new Bridgestone run flats) and deal with any issues when (if) they arise?
 
All down to personal preference really, but I don't like silver wheels on a light coloured car and certainly don't want to be riding about on run flats. That's the first thing I've changed on all my Beemers.
 
18" vs 19" always a personal preference... I've no experience of the E89 on run flats, but the bridgestone run flat tyre is shockingly bad.

My Z4 (E85) on Michelin PS2 ZP was a revellation vs the OEM Bridgestone fitment...

My MINI JCW came with Dunlop Sport MAXX RT run flat tyres and the ride is very good (18"), not crashy at all. We changed mrs gannet's MINI from bridgestone to the that same Dunlop's (in 17") and it transformed the car - much more compliant to drive.

Colourwise - contrast is good - on a white car black can work very nicely :D
 
Or keep the 326’s ditch the run flats and go up one on the profile, 225/40/19 and 255/35/19, that’s what I did 4 years ago, I have a 30i on standard suspension with 296’s which are worse than 326’s for cracking I believe!
It makes the ride so much more civilised and before I did this I had 3 cracked rims in the space of a year and none since I changed, also the larger profile fills up the arch gap nicely and the speedo reads accurately instead of over reading by about 5-6 mph. On the e89’s I think 18’s look to small personally that’s why I stuck it out early on when I first got the car as 3 cracked rims in a year was frustrating one of the rims I had welded and is still on now with no further issues :thumbsup:
Oh and leave them as they are, don’t go black I think it looks spot on as it is :D
 
I love the look on e89s on 326s and think 19s suit the arches perfectly. I've been running mine for over 50k without a single crack - even took them off not long ago to inspect just in case.

DSC_0293-picsay.JPG

Just need to bin off the run flats, go up a rear profile and don't take it off roading and it's literally no worry at all.

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Certainly makes sense. However, the problem with going up a size is the car becomes even taller geared, which I really don't like and ultimately makes it slower acceleration wise as you're changing the final gearing by 4%.

On the plus side, the PS4's are cheaper :) :)
 
gwatson said:
Certainly makes sense. However, the problem with going up a size is the car becomes even taller geared, which I really don't like and ultimately makes it slower acceleration wise as you're changing the final gearing by 4%.

On the plus side, the PS4's are cheaper :) :)
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If ride quality's your primary concern goodyear f1 might be a better option than the ps4 as the sidewalls are slightly softer so give a slightly comfier ride. They're a fair bit cheaper too.
I'm not well up on the various diff ratios available on the E89 but I've changed the diff on my E85 to compensate for the M spec tyres I've fitted. In fact I've actually gone a little further and fitted a diff from a pre face lift 2.5i auto giving me the same overall gearing of 3.0SI coupe/M. Its got to be up there as one of the best mods I've made, its really livened things up without been too extreme and only cost £100. Is a similar diff change an option on the E89 for not too much outlay?
 
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