18 or 19 inch wheels

I just took delivery on my new sdrive35is with 19 inch wheels and just love it. It has 640 miles on it now and i have not pushed it real hard ---not had it over 80 mph yet. What a machine---i love the double clutch tranny, as my wife cannot handle a manual shift.

Congrats on the car. Enjoy.

Admit I'm puzzled by the title of the thread though...

Ditto

Why was the header....'18 or 19 inch wheels'.

I wanted to find out what the difference would be

Originally Posted by BROWNBEAR58

I wanted to find out what the difference would be

1 inch

Very original

Congrats on the new ride! Let's see some pics!

1 inch or 2.54 Centimeter ... oh and yes 19 inch tires are harder to find and do cost more

Originally Posted by Mr Breeze

Congrats on the new ride! Let's see some pics!

This is the poster who said he had a new iS on the 8th of last month and who never posted pics

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=467626

Originally Posted by Rimmer

This is the poster who said he had a new iS on the 8th of last month and who never posted pics

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=467626

Thanks for the heads up.

Some people are....

.. I think you're going to have to post pics Bear.. otherwise it appears that you manufactured an imaginairy car to go with your imaginary wife....

classic....

Originally Posted by Wraith.

.. I think you're going to have to post pics Bear.. otherwise it appears that you manufactured an imaginairy car to go with your imaginary wife....

He could only come up with BMW's configurator photo last time

Some say, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

lol u guys are harsh on this side

... just calling it like we see it....

Any idiot knows the measurement is 1 inch. I was trying to find out if there is a difference in ride or handling or performance

Originally Posted by lux good

1 inch

+1

Originally Posted by BROWNBEAR58

Any idiot knows the measurement is 1 inch. I was trying to find out if there is a difference in ride or handling or performance

The lower profile tire (19) will likely have better dry weather handling due to the reduced carcass flex, but worse wet weather handling for the same reason, as well as a slightly harsher ride, and a noisier ride. But for an auto car, I wouldn't even worry about it. You gotta teach her to drive a stick so you can get a sports car with a sports cart tranny, which will make way more difference than 1 inch of tire flesh.., LOL..

I tried to teach her on a 1966 porsche 911 and you should have seen the jerking and stalling. It was comical. She said no more of this and to this day has refused to drive any of my cars that have a manual tranny

Originally Posted by supremeart

The lower profile tire (19) will likely have better dry weather handling due to the reduced carcass flex, but worse wet weather handling for the same reason, as well as a slightly harsher ride, and a noisier ride. But for an auto car, I wouldn't even worry about it. You gotta teach her to drive a stick so you can get a sports car with a sports cart tranny, which will make way more difference than 1 inch of tire flesh.., LOL..

If you look at Edmunds objective performance testing of the 35i with 18s versus the 35is with the 19s the advantage goes to the 18s.

The 35is really took a hit in the slalom.

Here is an interesting test by Car and Driver with a different car where they did testing of different size wheels. Pretty cool.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...sted-tech_dept

Thanks for the link to the Car and Driver test of the effects of different wheel sizes on performance. Most of what I have read in this forum and elsewhere was opinion about what should be true in comparing 18 versus 19 inch wheels. Here we finally have data that counters much of the speculation, and it has convinced me to stay with the 18 inch wheels for the Z4 35is I have on order. I was tempted to switch to the 19 inch wheels just for the cool look, but loss in performance and harsher ride seem to be a big price to pay for an inch of cool.

Originally Posted by BROWNBEAR58

I wanted to find out what the difference would be

BMW 19s ride worse and are heavier. The extra weight harms handling. Some people think the 19s look better.

Some of the BMW 19" rims are prone to cracking.