Mag Wheels - suggestions please

[bezzal 1]

Paul, I've got Toyo T1-S's on my 535i, seem to be a good tyre. Nice compromise between ride and rigidity. Mine are 45 profile and still are not too bad comfort wise. 245/45/16's

I'm a bit under geared though at that size for cruising at highway speeds. 17's would be much better. I've done nearly 5000k's in my car since I've had it and the rubber still seems to be looking pretty good. Not a very scientific longevity account for sure but an indication for you. Seem to be good in the wet. Takes quite a bit to get them to let go and then you have to be trying very hard. They would seem to be good $ vs. value.

Wheels...I would love some Alpina 17's. Personal thing though the wheel choice.

Slight Deviation: On my Lancia I had Yokohama A520's. You could see them disappear every time I drove it, they stuck well though. The shoulders were so rigid in them it transformed the car in corners!

Edited December 6, 2005 by bezzal

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

Thanks bezzal

Paul

[cainchapman 0]

In the wet, mine will spin the tyres from 2nd to 3rd also Paul. TC catches the slide quickly.

Not much you can do about, outside of getting wets (and then having them wear quickly). I can vouch for the Yoko A048R as a dry tyre, very good for anything up to standing water (ask Milan about our drive to Vilagrads in the wet). It was pouring and we still managed most corners ay 100kph.

Noisy though, sounds like a 747 taking off at speed, at 200kph the noise is deafening.

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

Hi guys,

I got my new wheels and tyres before Xmas and have since done about 2,000Ks on them. I'll post a message on details of what I got along with a photo sometime soon.

Cheers

Paul

[E30stz 0]

looks at watch

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

OK, despite E30stz's suggestion that the M5 replica wheel might not be the way to go without also doing a body kit (see the second message in this thread), I decided on the Ruotecompany Replica R624, and got Toyo directional tyres fitted.

I got 5 wheels and 4 tyres, the idea being that when the tyres are due to be replaced I'll put the best one in the spare and then have a matching set of 5. In the meantime I'll just use one of the original metric wheels as the spare.

I am happy with the appearance and while I noticed a different feel in the car afterwards, I can't say if the handling is any different or not. That's because you have to really push the car to get a feel for that and to do that means risking a speeding ticket by way too much... and my wife has been in the car with me all the time too so speeding is a no no when she is with me.

I got the wheels from Mag Warehouse/Tremaine Tyres PN (http://www.magwarehouse.co.nz and www.tremaine-tyres.co.nz). The guys there are great to deal with (the best of all the outlets I went to) and I even got a nice free chiller bag full of Macquire's car cleaning products. They also offer a free tyre rotation service every 5,000Ks, including taking the tyresw off the rims to swap side-to-side when needed (because the tyres are directional). The wheels cost me $300 each (I negotiated the price down from $309ea to get that), but that was the cheapest price of anyone. One other outlet offered them at the same price but their tyres were quite a lot more expensive - that was Tony's Tyre Service. The guys at Mag Warehouse commented on the good choice after fitting them and they took photos of my car.

Mag and Turbo (http://www.magandturbo.co.nz) opened a new shop in Palmerston North for the first time ever then too, so I went in there since they were advertising "great opening specials". Their directional Nankang tyres were slightly cheaper than the Toyos I went for, but their price for the same wheels was way too expensive... the most expensive of all outlets by a long way. I was very surprised at that, but I said nothing about it to them and they missed out on any chance of ever having me as a customer. The guy was OK to deal with though, but price does count... especially when there is a big difference.

BTW, the young guys at Mayhem Performance (www.mayhemperformance.co.nz) were very good to deal with too, and the wheels they had were quite nice. If I was looking again I'd give them another go at getting my business.

Mag and Tyre Direct (www.magandtyredirect.co.nz) were so so. Average service (the guy was not very enthusiastic) and the range they had in stock looked a bit 'cheap' to me.

On holiday over Xmas I spotted a similar vintage 7-series in Rotorua (at Blue Lake Motor Camp) with the exact same wheels as mine, as well as one or two other cars around... including a 318 (but with genuine BMW wheels though) in the PN Beamer dealership.

Well, that's all I can tell you really. But I am a happy camper, and these wheels were one of the cheaper options too! I think they make the car look very smart, but the colour of the car helps. Not outrageous looking and not conservative either, just middle-of-the-road and quite stylish. If my car was a lighter colour I think some other wheel would probably suit better though.

So thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.

Cheers

Paul

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

a pic

[Guest Andrew]

looks good

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

looks good

Thanks Andrew