Bama M3
12-08-2007, 03:57 PM
Today I installed the winter wheel & tire package I received from Gary at Tirerack. Here's the package I went with:
-205/50VR17 Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D Tires
-17x7.5 Sport Edition A7 Silver (w/20 mm offset)
-TPMS Sensors
-BMW Center Caps
Everything went on without a hitch. A few thoughts/observations:
- The car is very low, and some floor jacks may not be able to fit under the jacking points. I have a low-profile jack, so it worked out OK.
- As others have pointed out, the jacking points are plastic squares. I fabricated some wood blocks that fit into the jacking points, and that seemed to work really well.
- A wheel pin is a must. It made the job so much easier. Perhaps you could use a screwdriver or something, but the wheel pin was the perfect tool for the job.
- Although I ordered Sport Edition A7 wheels, the wheels were clearly stamped with the ASA logo followed by "JH3" on the back side. The wheels came with Sport Edition center caps, and were stamped "Made in China". I think Gary explained in another post that the Sport Edition wheels are sold as ASA wheels in some non-US markets. Interesting.
- I gave the original tires & wheels a good cleaning front & back, and hung them on the wall in the garage on some heavy duty 8" brackets I got from Sears. I covered the brackets with some foam pipe insulation to ensure the wheels would not get scratched.
- Since the Dunlop 3Ds are not runflats, I threw one of the original front tires/wheels in the trunk for emergencies. And since I don't have a jack in the car, I'll probably just call BMW Assist to mount the spare if I have a flat while I'm running the winter tires (roughly mid-Dec thru early Mar).
- After putting a few miles on the new tires, I believe the car rides just a little smoother than it did with the original tires. I assume this is because the original 18" runflats have stiffer & smaller sidewalls than the 17" non-runflat winter tires.
- I think the BMW center caps make the wheels look more like original equipment. And more importantly, they add 5 extra HP--per wheel (OK, that might not be true, but it is theoretically possible ;))
And now, some photos:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j209/bamahemi/08%20BMW%20335i/BMW335i8Dec07004.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j209/bamahemi/08%20BMW%20335i/BMW335i8Dec07022.jpg
Thanks to Gary for his help and expertise!
-205/50VR17 Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D Tires
-17x7.5 Sport Edition A7 Silver (w/20 mm offset)
-TPMS Sensors
-BMW Center Caps
Everything went on without a hitch. A few thoughts/observations:
- The car is very low, and some floor jacks may not be able to fit under the jacking points. I have a low-profile jack, so it worked out OK.
- As others have pointed out, the jacking points are plastic squares. I fabricated some wood blocks that fit into the jacking points, and that seemed to work really well.
- A wheel pin is a must. It made the job so much easier. Perhaps you could use a screwdriver or something, but the wheel pin was the perfect tool for the job.
- Although I ordered Sport Edition A7 wheels, the wheels were clearly stamped with the ASA logo followed by "JH3" on the back side. The wheels came with Sport Edition center caps, and were stamped "Made in China". I think Gary explained in another post that the Sport Edition wheels are sold as ASA wheels in some non-US markets. Interesting.
- I gave the original tires & wheels a good cleaning front & back, and hung them on the wall in the garage on some heavy duty 8" brackets I got from Sears. I covered the brackets with some foam pipe insulation to ensure the wheels would not get scratched.
- Since the Dunlop 3Ds are not runflats, I threw one of the original front tires/wheels in the trunk for emergencies. And since I don't have a jack in the car, I'll probably just call BMW Assist to mount the spare if I have a flat while I'm running the winter tires (roughly mid-Dec thru early Mar).
- After putting a few miles on the new tires, I believe the car rides just a little smoother than it did with the original tires. I assume this is because the original 18" runflats have stiffer & smaller sidewalls than the 17" non-runflat winter tires.
- I think the BMW center caps make the wheels look more like original equipment. And more importantly, they add 5 extra HP--per wheel (OK, that might not be true, but it is theoretically possible ;))
And now, some photos:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j209/bamahemi/08%20BMW%20335i/BMW335i8Dec07004.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j209/bamahemi/08%20BMW%20335i/BMW335i8Dec07022.jpg
Thanks to Gary for his help and expertise!
