[cruvon]

Hi, moving from 16" to 19" wheels and maybe upgrading to sports suspension to lower the car. Do either of these require me notifying insurance(I have comprehensive insurance) and would there be a big increase in premiums?

Thanks

[johnnydad]

Yes, you must notify the insurer. There may be a premium increase which may vary from one insurer to the next so if it is a silly amount, shop around.

[suff]

Originally Posted by cruvon

Hi, moving from 16" to 19" wheels and maybe upgrading to sports suspension to lower the car. Do either of these require me notifying insurance(I have comprehensive insurance) and would there be a big increase in premiums?

Thanks

You will quite possibly find that you wont be able to get insurance without an engineers certificate.. in WA the maximum permissible increase in rim diameter is 2", as you are going up by 3" you will need the certification.. obviously you will need to check this with the local authorities but something you definitely want to be aware of as if you have not notified your insurer and they find that the wheels contributed to the accident, say bye bye to any payout

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by suff

You will quite possibly find that you wont be able to get insurance without an engineers certificate.. in WA the maximum permissible increase in rim diameter is 2", as you are going up by 3" you will need the certification.. obviously you will need to check this with the local authorities but something you definitely want to be aware of as if you have not notified your insurer and they find that the wheels contributed to the accident, say bye bye to any payout

Thanks suff, any idea who issues that certificate? Didn't strike me that could be such a rule

[xcuzme]

an rta approved engineer

if your car could come with that wheel as an option, you can get away with it being factory equipment.

have a look on your tyre placard on the drivers side door jamb and see what the largest size tyre is.
if its a 19" one, you wont even need an engineers cert.

in fact even if an 18" one is listed, you dont need a cert for a 19" as its an owner certifiable upgrade

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by xcuzme

an rta approved engineer

if your car could come with that wheel as an option, you can get away with it being factory equipment.

have a look on your tyre placard on the drivers side door jamb and see what the largest size tyre is.
if its a 19" one, you wont even need an engineers cert.

in fact even if an 18" one is listed, you dont need a cert for a 19" as its an owner certifiable upgrade

oky, am looking at putting OEM 230's on the e90 from 16's...will have to check what my placard says, thanks

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by johnnydad

Yes, you must notify the insurer. There may be a premium increase which may vary from one insurer to the next so if it is a silly amount, shop around.

thanks, will check what they say but a bit surprised by the 16" to 19" restriction mentioned by some here that would need a special certificate

[Ninjaoz]

Originally Posted by cruvon

oky, am looking at putting OEM 230's on the e90 from 16's...will have to check what my placard says, thanks

very nice mate. dont forget to post pics once you have them fitted!

doubt you'll need to obtain engineer certificate, just tell them you have a E90 with sport suspensions with 19".

[cruvon]

spoke to the insurance company and they don't have an issue with the wheels or the suspension and the premiums won't change(for the wheels)...for suspension they said they need a copy of the suspension lowering carried out so that is within guidelines and they would then quote but the catchword is it should be road legal for the wheels and suspension to be covered...so need to find out if 16" to 19" requires anything special like an engineers cert to be done.

[xcuzme]

you are allowed one inch larger than what is the largest optional equipment.

on my e90 335i (09 model though) 19" is listed

[suff]

Originally Posted by xcuzme

you are allowed one inch larger than what is the largest optional equipment.

on my e90 335i (09 model though) 19" is listed

I think you will find its X" larger than the largest size listed on your placard, otherwise it would be too hard to police by the police on the road (ie how could they verify what optional wheels where available at the time of sale etc)..

this can be further validated by the fact there is a significant market for fake tyre placards on Ebay so people with commodores/falcons can use the placard that from a higher spec car to get away with fitting 19's to their base model car (which comes with 16" steelies)

[Dec540]

I'm unsure what the rulings are for NSW but the whole "you can only go X inches bigger than standard" is a bullsh!t myth! It has nothing to do with inches larger than standard up here and i'm fairly sure its a similar ruling Australia wide. How do you think some 4wd's can legally run 24" wheels?

The law in QLD when it comes to wheels is all in regards to Rolling diameter. Up here you and not able to increase the rolling diameter by more than 15mm or decrease it by more than 26mm of the largest or smallest size on the tire placard. What this basically means is that if you increase the size of the rim you need to decrease the size of the tire. The bigger your rolling diameter the more in-accurate your speedo becomes which is why you are only able to increase it by 15mm. Some cars come standard with 15" wheels and massive tires but the overall size is the equivalent of 19" wheels with rubber bands for tires.

The reason that people always say 2" is because its easy and people think that it works. Obviously if you shrink your tires then yes 2" will work a lot of the time but its far from idiot proof.

If you want to check the rolling diameters and the differences it will make to your speedo read outs then view this site.

EDIT: Tire placards will always show every wheel size that was offered for that particular vehicle. So if your car was offered with 16's, 17's and 18's you don't need to worry if your car was only optioned with the 16's

[xcuzme]

in nsw the rolling diameter rule applies as well.

but the hard and fast rule, and the one the cops check first is the one inch up and one inch across.

if they look at your placard and you have only gone an inch up, they will let you go.

[Dec540]

Originally Posted by xcuzme

in nsw the rolling diameter rule applies as well.

but the hard and fast rule, and the one the cops check first is the one inch up and one inch across.

if they look at your placard and you have only gone an inch up, they will let you go.

Never the less rules are rules. If you get a fine for being more than 1" larger when your rolling diameter is within regulations its incredibly easy to get out of it.

[suff]

Originally Posted by Dec540

I'm unsure what the rulings are for NSW but the whole "you can only go X inches bigger than standard" is a bullsh!t myth! It has nothing to do with inches larger than standard up here and i'm fairly sure its a similar ruling Australia wide.

The law in QLD when it comes to wheels is all in regards to Rolling diameter. Up here you and not able to increase the rolling diameter by more than 15mm or decrease it by more than 26mm of the largest or smallest size on the tire placard. What this basically means is that if you increase the size of the rim you need to decrease the size of the tire. The bigger your rolling diameter the more in-accurate your speedo becomes which is why you are only able to increase it by 15mm. Some cars come standard with 15" wheels and massive tires but the overall size is the equivalent of 19" wheels with rubber bands for tires.

The reason that people always say 2" is because its easy and people think that it works. Obviously if you shrink your tires then yes 2" will work a lot of the time but its far from idiot proof.

Didnt know that, and it makes perfect sense (and is verified for VIC regs here:http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/NR/rd...340/0/VSI8.pdf )


I've spent some time reading through the WA vehicle standard & regulations act (2002) and wheel size barely warrants a mention, so I will be quizzing Transport Department on that point tomorrow

Originally Posted by Dec540

EDIT: Tire placards will always show every wheel size that was offered for that particular vehicle. So if your car was offered with 16's, 17's and 18's you don't need to worry if your car was only optioned with the 16's

This however is wrong, my 335 does list 17-19 wheels and tyres associated, however many other cars do not (ie the Falon BFII Wagon we have sitting in the driveway, placard states 16" only, even though at the time of purchase a 17" mag was optional)

And lastly, no matter what, call your local Transport authority and ask what the "reg" and the "rule" is.. as others have mentioned, the 2"up or 1"up "rules" are clearly just a policeman's way of make an on the spot call.. they may be wrong, but irrespective, you will still have to go over the pits (in WA) and you will still have to pay the inspection fees & go through the PIA process, even if you do argue your way out of the fine!

Good call Dec540

[Dec540]

Originally Posted by suff

Didnt know that, and it makes perfect sense (and is verified for VIC regs here:http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/NR/rd...340/0/VSI8.pdf )
as others have mentioned, the 2"up or 1"up "rules" are clearly just a policeman's way of make an on the spot call.. they may be wrong, but irrespective, you will still have to go over the pits (in WA) and you will still have to pay the inspection fees & go through the PIA process, even if you do argue your way out of the fine!

Good call Dec540

Not good enough, police can't just hand you out a fine because they think your car is defective. Thats like saying, here is a fine for bald tires because i think they are bald but i cbf bending over to check the tread wear indicators.

If i ever got a fine for my wheels being too big i would politely ask the officer whether the rule for aftermarket alloy wheels has to do with inches larger than standard or in fact rolling diameter. If they advised me it was inches i would request they verify this with there senior officer before writing out a ticket. If they still proceed to write a ticket out i would take a trip to the officer's station and explain the them my concern, if this didn't work i would send them a letter.

To be honest its rare that scenario would ever end up in a ticket thus making the last 2 steps extremely rare. I would never take my car to the pits and pay fees when i was issued with an incorrect fine.

It's always a good idea to record the conversation if you have an altercation with a police officer including you stating what your tire placard says and the size of your tires.

[suff]

Originally Posted by Dec540

Not good enough, police can't just hand you out a fine because they think your car is defective. Thats like saying, here is a fine for bald tires because i think they are bald but i cbf bending over to check the tread wear indicators.

If i ever got a fine for my wheels being too big i would politely ask the officer whether the rule for aftermarket alloy wheels has to do with inches larger than standard or in fact rolling diameter. If they advised me it was inches i would request they verify this with there senior officer before writing out a ticket. If they still proceed to write a ticket out i would take a trip to the officer's station and explain the them my concern, if this didn't work i would send them a letter.

To be honest its rare that scenario would ever end up in a ticket thus making the last 2 steps extremely rare. I would never take my car to the pits and pay fees when i was issued with an incorrect fine.

It's always a good idea to record the conversation if you have an altercation with a police officer including you stating what your tire placard says and the size of your tires.

And there is the crucial difference.. a fine, no maybe note.. and infringement or defect notice.. yes the most certainly can. And before you even say it, yes you can still go and argue this, but really who CBF doing that?

[cruvon]

Hi, checked my placard, does say supports 19" tyres so I guess that should be fine?

[MFKN3]

You will be fine mate, but will need to notify insurance. I know AAMI don't even care about the tyre speed rating, as long as the tyres are legal.

[cruvon]

Originally Posted by xsboost

You will be fine mate, but will need to notify insurance. I know AAMI don't even care about the tyre speed rating, as long as the tyres are legal.

Thanks, is interesting, new things to learn everyday..The tyres would have a z rating(Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 Tires, sizes 225/35ZR19 fronts, 255/30ZR19 rears ) and there is mention of Z ratings in the attached placard picture though not sure what that load rating thing is(paragraph/sentence at top of table in placard pic)

[Dec540]

Originally Posted by suff

And there is the crucial difference.. a fine, no maybe note.. and infringement or defect notice.. yes the most certainly can. And before you even say it, yes you can still go and argue this, but really who CBF doing that?

Well up here in QLD if you get a defect for wheels it can incur a 1 point loss and you have to take it into the cop shop with legal size wheels on it within a certain time period. At the end of the day if they give you the wrong fine and your car is in fact legal then you can get out of it quite easily. Just asking them before they give you the fine will probably get you out of it.

[VGR00]

You shouldn't have a problem unless you are insured with Allianz. That is the only insurrance company I have experiance with that dont seem to understand. When I advised them I went from 17" factory staggered to 19" aftermarket staggered using the same rim widths as per the specifications on the place card, and keeping to the law by not increasing track width by more than 1", they had no idea what I was talking about.

They asked me to put it in writting (which I did) and then advised me that it was going to be sent to their policy department to make a call. 2 weeks later I received a letter in the mail stating they would not insure me any longer. They gave me 7 days to find alternate insurance and refunded the remaining premium. I had 2 cars insured with them for over 15 years continuios without a single claim. I wrote them a letter stating how ridiculios this was and that they would also loose my second car on renewal. They advised they are a very conservative company when it come to car modifications. No S@#t!!!

I rang Suncorp and AAMI and both understood. Suncorp was slightly more expensive but I still decided to go with them.

At then end of the day, make sure it's noted on your policy especially if fitting staggered wheels regardless of whether your origional wheels were staggered or not. Just remember the onus is on you to disclose everything. They are insuring you in good faith you have disclosed everything. In the event of an accident or claim, they have the right to refuse cover if something was not disclosed.