Original 17" to 18" or to 19"

[wanderer]

Apologies for posting so many new topics in a short space of time.
However i am a new Z4 E89 owner (long time viewer of this forum) and i think it would be better to post questions separately in order to assist others.

May i ask, how many of you went from stock 17" alloys to 18" or 19" or even 20" or perhaps did you remain on 17" with a new shape alloy.

 

[enuff_zed]

I bought mine with standard 18s on. Personally I'm happy with that size, but I did get rid of the runflat tyres. I also put spacers on the rears as they looked a bit too tucked in.
Many people prefer the look of 19s, but there is also a lot of anecdotal discussion on ride quality.
It is interesting how many people run 19s in the summer, then put 17s with winter tyres on and say how much more comfortable the ride is.
It becomes a balance between aesthetics and dynamics and only you can decide which you prefer.
There are hundreds of photos of E89s on here with just about every wheel size and design you can imagine.
Have a good search and get some ideas on looks.

 

[Silverstar]

I bought mine with standard 18s on. Personally I'm happy with that size, but I did get rid of the runflat tyres. I also put spacers on the rears as they looked a bit too tucked in.
Many people prefer the look of 19s, but there is also a lot of anecdotal discussion on ride quality.
It is interesting how many people run 19s in the summer, then put 17s with winter tyres on and say how much more comfortable the ride is.
It becomes a balance between aesthetics and dynamics and only you can decide which you prefer.
There are hundreds of photos of E89s on here with just about every wheel size and design you can imagine.
Have a good search and get some ideas on looks.

What size spacers have you used? and have you had any issues using them?

For the OP I too am on 18" running Goodyear F1 Asy 3 non run flat tyres and with this combo the ride quality / handling / grip is just fine. I think the 19" looks better and suits the E89 better in terms of looks but there is the debate about how it affects ride quality, although it has been mentioned changing the tyre size on the rear to 35 profile instead of 30 (at least that's what I remember) and having non run flats solves this issue.

 

[clarker63]

Most people prefer the bigger alloy look, and 18" seem to be the commonly chosen size to stop the original BMW wheels cracking and give ride comfort.

I originally had 17" on my 2.3, but replaced them with 19". Both had run flats. On that car I didn't notice any difference between them in ride quality, harshness or vagueness/tramlining (may be I wasn't pushing the car hard enough to demonstrate that).

I have 19" on my 35is, with non runflats. Comfort wise these are fine! I also have another set of 19" winters which I am using as winters/spares. I would definitely not be pushing the car hard on those in wet/winter conditions, but this is more of a safety first approach rather than a worry about the tyre not performing.

Choosing a style, then making sure it fits is the hard bit I found. despite wanting to move away from 19" 326's I never found another wheel I liked that wasn't going to cost me an arm and a leg to move. I also had fun with spacers - making sure you dont have any vibrations after fitment proved to be a challenge, especially for motorway driving - but once you know how to do it, its ok.

Someone recently posted some pictures of their car on 20" alloy on this forum. this seems to be really pushing the envelope - the 19" profiles on the car are already "thin" enough. I'm not sure I'd want to push it that far.

 

[clarker63]

rear to 35 profile

and they're much cheaper than the 30's. that and additional protection for the wheel/ride quality is why I chose them.

 

[enuff_zed]

What size spacers have you used? and have you had any issues using them?

I bought these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202226706612
No issues at all with them.

I only fitted on the rear as I think the front looks ok and I didn't want to run any risk (however debatable) with affecting the handling.

 

[mr.tourette]

not been on 17s but went from 18 to 19s with no issues, did the usual tyre ratio upsize to 35 on the rear and chose the tyre that was highest rated for comfort on most tyre tests (dunlop sportsmaxx rt2) car rides beautifully tbh, the se suspension does help, if it was msport Id have probably stayed on 18s

 

[Silverstar]

What size spacers have you used? and have you had any issues using them?

I bought these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202226706612
No issues at all with them.

I only fitted on the rear as I think the front looks ok and I didn't want to run any risk (however debatable) with affecting the handling.

Many thanks.

 

[Chris_D]

I'm on an old square set of 16's for my winters. I plastidipped them black to conceal the relative titchyness a bit. The tyres are 50mm profile and by the time they come off around Feb/Mar there's always a tinge of reluctance as the ride quality is super soft compared to the summers.
But then when I throw the stock staggered 18's back on I remmeber how much more confidence-inspiring they are on a 'spirited' drive.
20mm spacers on the rear gives a perfect stance/aesthetic. No spacers on the front.

 

[B21]

I'm on an old square set of 16's for my winters. I plastidipped them black to conceal the relative titchyness a bit. The tyres are 50mm profile and by the time they come off around Feb/Mar there's always a tinge of reluctance as the ride quality is super soft compared to the summers.
But then when I throw the stock staggered 18's back on I remmeber how much more confidence-inspiring they are on a 'spirited' drive.
20mm spacers on the rear gives a perfect stance/aesthetic. No spacers on the front.

IMG_20190123_133103.jpg
IMG_20190423_173957_HDR.jpg

Chap has an E89 so 16" won't work for him..

OP is your E89 an MSport model?

 

[Zedebee]

E86 here. I have several sets of wheels and the best ride by far is on my 17” winter wheels with 225/45 Nokia’s runflats. The steering is also much better (less tramlining), which may be do with the ET30 offset widening the front track slightly.

That said, I don't drive this car hard, so I have no idea what the on-the-limit handling is like.