Hi Gary!! Advice needed! Snow tires

[kashrahman]

Hi Gary, I know you have been asked this a million times (and I did search the old postings), but my questions are:
For 2004 530i with 17 inch wheels,
1) What snow tire do you recommend? This is for general, in town driving in semi-rural Indiana. I've had the Goodyear snow tire (forget the name, way too much road noise, only decent snow and ice traction) as well as the BLizzaks (WS-50?) for 3 cars (odyssey, gr voyager, diamante). The Blizzaks were wonderful -- mild road noise, awesome ice and snow traction. My instinct is to just get a set of those for the 530i. Thoughts?

2) Rims. I like the idea of dedicated rims for the snow tires, but I've heard that aftermarket rims require spacers. What exactly is a spacer? I saw the snow and tire packages at tirerack.com for the 530i; do they include or need spacers? Further, I'd like to get a set of OEM rims if I could for the snow tires (I did so for the Diamante, and to me it looks cool, like keeping it stock when really you've improved it. ) I saw replica rims on ebay -- any thoughts? anyone? I'd like to not spend a fortune, but I don't want to be a replica if it is of poor quality. Example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7922397007&category=43957

thanks in advance for your help, Kash

[Gary@Tirerack]

Hi Gary, I know you have been asked this a million times (and I did search the old postings), but my questions are:
For 2004 530i with 17 inch wheels,
1) What snow tire do you recommend? This is for general, in town driving in semi-rural Indiana. I've had the Goodyear snow tire (forget the name, way too much road noise, only decent snow and ice traction) as well as the BLizzaks (WS-50?) for 3 cars (odyssey, gr voyager, diamante). The Blizzaks were wonderful -- mild road noise, awesome ice and snow traction. My instinct is to just get a set of those for the 530i. Thoughts?

2) Rims. I like the idea of dedicated rims for the snow tires, but I've heard that aftermarket rims require spacers. What exactly is a spacer? I saw the snow and tire packages at tirerack.com for the 530i; do they include or need spacers? Further, I'd like to get a set of OEM rims if I could for the snow tires (I did so for the Diamante, and to me it looks cool, like keeping it stock when really you've improved it. ) I saw replica rims on ebay -- any thoughts? anyone? I'd like to not spend a fortune, but I don't want to be a replica if it is of poor quality. Example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7922397007&category=43957

thanks in advance for your help, Kash

1. I am certainly a fan of the Blizzak WS-50 if you're looking for the best snow capability and are okay with giving up some dry traction and cornering to get it.

2. None of our wheels that I see available for this car require spacers to correct the offset. Winter wheel choice in this case will be a mostly a choice of cosmetics versus price.

View the wheels we have available to fit at : Winter http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AB2&url=/winter/index.jsp

[kashrahman]

thanks Gary!!! So, follow-up question: what are your thoughts about replica bmw rims versus the aftermarket rims with different designs? Basically, I want a good quality rim, but would also prefer something that looks OEM. But when I see BMW replica rims on ebay for $500/4 rims, it makes me wonder if they are of poor quality. thoughts?

I will also need snow tires for my upcoming 05 G35X (sorry for asking an Infiniti question!); any idea if the current rims for the 04s will fit? thanks, Kash

[Gary@Tirerack]

thanks Gary!!! So, follow-up question: what are your thoughts about replica bmw rims versus the aftermarket rims with different designs? Basically, I want a good quality rim, but would also prefer something that looks OEM. But when I see BMW replica rims on ebay for $500/4 rims, it makes me wonder if they are of poor quality. thoughts?

I will also need snow tires for my upcoming 05 G35X (sorry for asking an Infiniti question!); any idea if the current rims for the 04s will fit? thanks, Kash

Unfortunately I have no experience with replica wheels and their quality, so perhaps some other members will chime in and offer some assistance here.

Although I don't have a cross compatibility charge for OE infinity wheels, I would be surprised if they did not fit.

http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AB2&url=/winter/index.jsp

[Ace]

thanks Gary!!! So, follow-up question: what are your thoughts about replica bmw rims versus the aftermarket rims with different designs? Basically, I want a good quality rim, but would also prefer something that looks OEM. But when I see BMW replica rims on ebay for $500/4 rims, it makes me wonder if they are of poor quality. thoughts?

I will also need snow tires for my upcoming 05 G35X (sorry for asking an Infiniti question!); any idea if the current rims for the 04s will fit? thanks, Kash


you need to be careful when buying replica rims...the oem rims are forged and extremely strong due to this type of manufacturing process....in general replica rims are not forged and tend to be weaker....so they are more susceptible to damage and bending.....in my opinion replica rims are not worth it.....if you want to keep the stock look then try to find someone selling their used OE rims....otherwise go with steel...but that's just me!

[Grant@Tire Rack]

All of the wheels we sell on our website are going to be O.E. quality or better. They will also be matched up based on the required load ratings for the vehicle etc.. There are no standard established to produce and sell wheels here in the U.S. market. That's why we only deal with O.E. suppliers on our wheels.