330xi: are the 18 tires worth it?

Does anyone have an opinion about whether or not the 18" tire/wheels option upgrade on the 330xi would be worth it given the suspension package is not available on the xi?

it comes with the 17 all-season but could the upgrade make up some for the lack of sport suspension?

Originally Posted by eric320

Does anyone have an opinion about whether or not the 18" tire/wheels option upgrade on the 330xi would be worth it given the suspension package is not available on the xi?

Although they look much better, I wouldn't take them. They cannot be used in Winter (which sort of defeats the purpose of buying an AWD car, IMO), and they wear off much faster (thread wear number of 140 vs 300 for the all seasons).

quire a difference in wear and cost.. thx

Another consideration to think about is the conditions of the roads in your area.

Where I live now, I could probably get away with 18s in the summer, but things would be a bit rough. If I was living in Oklahoma City where I first bought my 323i, there is no way I would ever drive in that city on 18's. The roads are so bad I would have bent wheels in 6 months. As it was, the 16s that came with the SP back in '99 were barely adequate in providing enough impact protection and cushion agianst the constant beating suffered by driving around that place