[Tunbridge]

I’ve now had the new wheels on the car for a month or so and racked up over 1000 miles so here are some photos and a few words about them.

After much deliberation and advice from here I decided on the CSL replicas that a few other members also have from Mark at BMautosport. I was tempted by a set of second hand 225 style wheels but was put off by the cost and the cracking issues.

I went for the staggered CSL’s in hyper silver as follows:

Fronts 8.5” ET38 fitted with Nankang NS2 235/35/19
Rear 9.5” ET35 fitted with Nankang NS2 265/30/19

Cost £1039 delivered

Overall I’m very pleased with the look, I think it’s really transformed the car.

I decided to play it safe and stick with the ET35 rear rather than the ET27 and I’m more than happy with the way it looks, helped by a nice amount of concave on the rears. I could always add spacers later but to be honest I’ll probably leave it as it is.

The tyres seem very good (for the price), I’ve ran these before on my E60 530i and they were fine then and seem fine now. One thing is for sure, the ride has been dramatically improved, even the Mrs noticed commenting “it’s like driving on a pillow now”. Not exactly how I’d have described it but the ride is much less crashy over pot holes and there doesn’t seem to be any noticeable loss of crispness on turn in that other people have mentioned.

Some of the concerns I did have were over the quality and weight of the wheels with them not being genuine BMW. The quality seems fine, the finish isn’t quite BMW standard but I wasn’t expecting it to be and for the price its spot on. As for the weight, here is a comparison:

Old Front Wheel / TyreFactory BMW 8.5” MV3 fitted with almost new (only 500 miles wear) 225/35/18 Continental RunFlats
Weight = 24kg

New Front Wheel / TyreReplica CSL 8.5” fitted with brand new Nankang Sport NS2 235/35/19
Weight = 23kG

The new rears weighed in at 25kg but it wouldn’t have been fair to compare them to the factory BMW wheels as the tyres fitted to them were down to 2mm of tread. As you can see the overall weight is less, I suspect the wheel is heavier but the tyres significantly lighter. Either way a saving of 1kg of unsprung weight at each corner can only help.

The final thing was what to do if I got a puncture so I’ve invested in a can of tyreweld and a compressor, fingers crossed I won’t need it.

[willhollin]

Very nice!

[MEGA]

Great choice of wheel and good quality reps from Mark who is a top guy

Well done. Car is looking tidy..

[cr55]

Hi turnbridge,

I bought these on the group buy also, and also have the "cheap" Nangkang tyres but have noticed considerable increase in road noise,

at one point I thought i had a problem with wheel bearings as it is a constant drone,, but having switched back to the 313m's the noise has went away, thus no issues with bearings, thankfully as the car is only 10 months old,,,,

Question, what tyre pressures are you running as not sure if this is a factor given i am running them on the same pressures as the run flats,,

Noise aside, wheel quality is in keeping with the circa £500 cost,

For note, mines is a convertible ???

[MEGA]

36 psi all round would be a good bet on those..

[Tunbridge]

Hi CR55,

Can't say the road noise has been significantly worse than the set up I was running before, admittidly you get what you pay for with tyres but the run flats were far from quite. Incidently I'm running all my pressures at 34psi, difficault to say what the right tyre pressure is for this set up as BMW don't have any recommendations but needless to say I've had no issues at 34psi. I recently drove over 300 miles in it and checked the tyre temperatures at a couple of coffee stops and they weren't overly hot given that I was driving at motorway speeds fully loaded up, suggesting that they certainly aren't too low.

One final thing I will say is that if I was running 313's on my convertable I wouldn't have taken them off!

[cr55]

Cheers,,, will try at 34 and 36 as suggested,, currently at 2.6

[cr55]

Hit sent there before I had finished,,,,,

Was saying I am currently at 2.6 and 2.8 bar as per the sticker on the door check, not sure what this equates to in psi but will check,,,

I hit a pot hole in feb and buckled the front drivers wheel the stealers wanted £850 for a new alloy and tyre and as I had 4new nangkangs in the garage I decided to get four new wheels for the price of 1 OEM 313,,, cheapest option, putting the tyres to good use and a visual change into the bargain,

Sine then I have had a payout from BEAR Scotland for the £850 estimate for wheel and tyre replacement I got from Douglas Park BMW :

Problem now is that as I am a tight Scotsman I am reluctant to part with it as it is a wrench for just the one corner

Also I like the CSL's and it is a bit different to the norm and other lci's around and about.

[Tunbridge]

That would explain it, I would have loved some genuine 19" BMW alloys but just couldn't take the risk of cracking them. I was living in Aberdeen for a while and I know what the roads are like up there, it was like driving across the surface of the moon at times.

It does look like the pressures you were running where a little high (2.6 - 2.8 bar is 38 - 41 psi), I assume these pressures are high as thats what the run flats require. I'm not an expert on tyres but I wouldn't have thought that dropping 5 psi would make things much quiter. Worth a go though.

[scooby-tc]

very nice choice of wheel,i have the same in hyper black (albeit with a deeper concave) they really suit the car well.Looks like a great example there

[Tunbridge]

Was tempted by the black myself, might get them done in black next year once the wife has bounced this set of a few kerbs!