With What Everyone Knows About The 19" Rims Why Do People Keep Getting Them???

I really don't get it. The problems with the RFT are almost completely related to these rims and the low profile RFT's that come with them. People with the 18" rims have reported virtually no problems whatsoever.

Unless you live in an area of the country with glass smooth roads, why would anyone subject themselves to the vagaries of these horrible 19" rims with the GY LS2 tires?

Please someone help me better understand this.

Those mostly xdrive right? Cause I have Dunlop on mine and those are just as crappy

Any sport package brings with it the 19" wheels, then with xDrive it brings the all season 245/40-19 Goodyear LS2's with all their problems - BMW does not give the choice to pick and choose individual options.

Originally Posted by PsychDoc1

I really don't get it. The problems with the RFT are almost completely related to these rims and the low profile RFT's that come with them. People with the 18" rims have reported virtually no problems whatsoever.

Unless you live in an area of the country with glass smooth roads, why would anyone subject themselves to the vagaries of these horrible 19" rims with the GY LS2 tires?

Please someone help me better understand this.

If you want the sport package you get the 19's. In 2011 if you wanted adaptive drive you had to get the sport package which included 19" wheels. They should have made 19" wheels an option.
For 2012 you can order adaptive drive as a separate option but the sports package still includes 19" wheels and includes other nice options that can not be ordered separately.
Part of the problem is the 19" wheels and a big problem is the fragile nature of the Goodyear LS2 tires.
I had the same size 19" tires (Michelin's) on my Audi S5 and didn't have a problem.

The problem is not the rims but the Goodyear LS2s.

So we buy 19s because they look better, the M-Sport car dramatically better, and we're not all mugs driving around on rubbish OEM tires.

Every new car I buy the first thing I do is change the tires. The Tires are the most important performance component of a car, and anyone who is prepared to own a premium car should be prepared to own premium tires.

There is only one OEM tire which i think is not worth replacing (if you are a casual driver) and that is the Michelin Primacy HP ZP on the RWD Sport package cars. And for performance drivers even those won't cut it. All the other OEM tires are rubbish - especially the GY LS2.

The 19's look better, and the 20's look even better than the 19's. I'm shallow, I care how the car looks, and nothing has a more dramatic effect on looks than tire/rim combination.

I agree - the problem is definitely not the rims but the lousy tires. I am pushing up my purchase of 18" rims and Michelin Alpins so as not to fall victim to the Garbage Goodyears. I've also heard that Goodyear makes Dunlop, which is just enough to sway me away from Dunlop Wintersports and towards the Michelins. Irrational? definitely. However, I see no reason to indirectly support a brand that turns out such garbage yet doesn't correct it at the source when there is obviously such a major problem. Hopefully it won't take a blowout, someone getting injured and filing a lawsuit against Goodyear for providing an "unacceptably risky" tire.

Originally Posted by RH512

Any sport package brings with it the 19" wheels, then with xDrive it brings the all season 245/40-19 Goodyear LS2's with all their problems - BMW does not give the choice to pick and choose individual options.

This is the correct answer! You have to accept the tires if you want the other goodies. If I had hindsight, that was a big mistake on my part. A Goodyear representative suggested to me today that it is possibly the interaction of the dynamic suspension with the tires rather than the tires themselves. It's a possibility, but a stretch IMHO. I can configure an X-drive with Dynamic Drive on the German website with 18" tires.

I was speaking to the owner of the Risi racing team about a year ago - they race ferraris in a number of series - and he told me that they switched to Michelin because they felt that Michelin was the only OEM with the manufacturing consistency to support a championship battle without tire consistency becoming a factor. He also said that they would not bring Pirelli racing regardless of what the F1 team does. I thought that was quite telling. Personally I would not use any other brand than Michelin although my experience suggests Bridgestone make some solid tires too.

I still don't understand despite of these many problems, why would BMW still use those crappy tires???!!!! some body should be big time moron for not rectifying the issue yet.

Originally Posted by DreamCar

I still don't understand despite of these many problems, why would BMW still use those crappy tires???!!!! some body should be big time moron for not rectifying the issue yet.

I think the issue is equal parts fiscal and short-term thinking. One puts out RFQ's based on a specification, and the supplier that can best meet price, timing, and production level requirements gets the contract. If the OEM has previous negative experience with the supplier, that's added to the mix too.

I would like BMW offer a premium tire option where you are guaranteed a particular tire for a small additional price (maybe $500 option). Or they could bundle it as a wheel and tire package.

So for instance a package that might be 20" forged wheels with Pilot Super Sports. I would pay an extra $1200 for that which is good margin for them since the cost is the same.

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

I would like BMW offer a premium tire option where you are guaranteed a particular tire for a small additional price (maybe $500 option). Or they could bundle it as a wheel and tire package.

So for instance a package that might be 20" forged wheels with Pilot Super Sports. I would pay an extra $1200 for that which is good margin for them since the cost is the same.

+200... with out good tires/wheels there is no point of having a performance car like BMW

I am probably going to be the odd man out here, but I actually like the LS2s (granted, I have them on the 18" wheels). For an all-season tire, they stick pretty well. I threw the 535 pretty hard into a hairpin freeway onramp yesterday, and they handled it no problem.

However, if they start to bubble on me, I will regret this post.

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

I would like BMW offer a premium tire option where you are guaranteed a particular tire for a small additional price (maybe $500 option). Or they could bundle it as a wheel and tire package.

So for instance a package that might be 20" forged wheels with Pilot Super Sports. I would pay an extra $1200 for that which is good margin for them since the cost is the same.

I would pay an extra $6,000. Oh wait a minute, I did.

BMW's cast (& cement-like) wheels definitely cost less to manufacture than forged wheels.

Originally Posted by dunderhi

I would pay an extra $6,000. Oh wait a minute, I did.

BMW's cast (& cement-like) wheels definitely cost less to manufacture than forged wheels.

Not much less at scale, and the higher cost of the wheels is offset by the fact that the PSS is about $600 less per set than the run flats.

Also I reckon forged may not really cost more. The cost is in tooling, but the material and distribution cost is lower because the wheel uses less material and is lighter for shipping. The tooling costs can be recovered on a large volume of wheels. The reason forged wheels usually cost more is because of the capital is amortized across low volumes. As an example Lexus MSRP is $100 more for the cast 18" sport wheels than the forged 19" F-Sport wheels.

I have 19" with no runflats and still got a bubble....

I had 19" wheels and Bridgestone 19" Potenza RE050A RFTs on my 650i for 5 years and never had a problem. My "bubbleishis" GY Eagle LS2s are being replaced free of charge by by Goodyear with the Bridgestones this Friday morning at my BMW dealer. It's not the 19" wheels it's the tires. I have to have dedicated winter tires as well but I would need them anyway. BMW approved the use of the Bridgestones on my 550i xDrive as they were OE on the 650i and are a BMW approved tire.

Originally Posted by RH512

Any sport package brings with it the 19" wheels,

Not quite true. The 528i comes with 17" wheels standard, and the sport package for it comes with 18" wheels. For me, 18" vs 19" wheels was one key determining factor in getting a 528i over a 535i.

There are plenty of bubbles with low profile tires regardless of GY RFT's. If you get the insurance for $900 then its a no brainer. I drove a nonsport 18" 535i RWD for 2 weeks waiting for a part and the thin steering wheel, combined with the steering being not as tight and the extra play with the extra sidewall almost made me vomit. Thank god I got the spt pkg and the 19' wheels.

I bought a rim for $70 from tirerack and bought 4 Conti DWS's for the winter and run the RFt's in the summer. I always have a spare and I'm covered by the insurance. 5 bubbles - 2 goodyears and 3 DWS's. Three covered by Auto Knight and two covered by Conti all covered by an extra $27 a month on the lease.

The insurance in NY went up to $1900 and Auto Knight will not do BMW's on the east coast anymore so that poses a problem for my next car. I may buy one in NJ through Global Leasing and do multiple Sec deposit and get cheaper ins also. I have no loyalty to these dealers anymore, they are all out for themselves. If you take it up the arse it's all good, as soon as you complain then there's a problem. Oneway street.

Originally Posted by TJPark01

The 19's look better, and the 20's look even better than the 19's. I'm shallow, I care how the car looks, and nothing has a more dramatic effect on looks than tire/rim combination.

I'm with TJPark, he's shallow and I'm vain. It's purely for the looks and if I have to cringe each time I go over a pothole, then so be it! But I will look darn awesome while doing so

Originally Posted by PsychDoc1

I really don't get it. The problems with the RFT are almost completely related to these rims and the low profile RFT's that come with them. People with the 18" rims have reported virtually no problems whatsoever.

Unless you live in an area of the country with glass smooth roads, why would anyone subject themselves to the vagaries of these horrible 19" rims with the GY LS2 tires?

Please someone help me better understand this.

Because
#1) they are damn sexy
#2) not everyone is driving an xi.

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

I have 19" with no runflats and still got a bubble....

That's just unusual bad luck. I have been driving 40 profile tires on rough streets for years and never had a bubble.

Originally Posted by Stealth.Pilot

That's just unusual bad luck. I have been driving 40 profile tires on rough streets for years and never had a bubble.

That was also a pretty big pothole as I remember. Heck, I've even had a complete flat on a big pothole on the first car I owned, with higher profile 14".

And regarding the issue that PsychDoc1 mentioned, that is exactly why I went with RWD over the xDrive. Didn't want to deal with the hassle of the LS2. And even if I had a replacement tire lined up, I still had to get home from SC, and I could have experienced a bubble on that trip based on the experiences posted here.

I pull up next to an F10 with 18" wheels and think: wow that sure is ugly.
The driver of that F10 is probably looking at my 19" wheels thinking: wow that sure is stupid.