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[Donia330i]

Would 18" wheels make that big of difference over the 19" wheels in performance? Better handling? Acceleration? Breaking? Faster off the line? I have 19's now but I've been thinking of switching to 18's if it would yield better performance results. I know 19's look better but I'm more concerned with GO right now. Also how do 19" BMW performance wheels compare? Are they lighter than normal 19's? Lastly what about the 219m wheels, how do they compare weight and performance wise? Thoughts? Opinions? Concerns? Would love to hear them all! Thanks

[BlackedOutBimmer]

Originally Posted by Donia330i

Would 18" wheels make that big of difference over the 19" wheels in performance? Better handling? Acceleration? Breaking? Faster off the line? I have 19's now but I've been thinking of switching to 18's if it would yield better performance results. I know 19's look better but I'm more concerned with GO right now. Also how do 19" BMW performance wheels compare? Are they lighter than normal 19's? Lastly what about the 219m wheels, how do they compare weight and performance wise? Thoughts? Opinions? Concerns? Would love to hear them all! Thanks

I don't know how much size has to do with performance, it would seem that the wheel weight would matter more. A lighter 19" wheel will perform better than an 18" wheel.

If you want to sell your 19"s, post a pic, I'm looking for some 19s

[speedfan]

Originally Posted by Donia330i

Would 18" wheels make that big of difference over the 19" wheels in performance? Better handling? Acceleration? Breaking? Faster off the line? I have 19's now but I've been thinking of switching to 18's if it would yield better performance results. I know 19's look better but I'm more concerned with GO right now. Also how do 19" BMW performance wheels compare? Are they lighter than normal 19's? Lastly what about the 219m wheels, how do they compare weight and performance wise? Thoughts? Opinions? Concerns? Would love to hear them all! Thanks

IMO, for the exact style & procedures of construction from a same wheel company, the 18" will be always lighter than the 19".

If you're speaking from an extreme point of view, i.e. for motorsports, a team is gonna choose the lighter wheel, smaller wheel, but big enough to clear the BBK.

Running with 18" will surely save them a lot of money on tires comparing to 19"

My guess is that If the engineers decide on a certain thickness of tire sidewall, the 18" wheel (wheel + tire) is smaller in overall diameter comparing to 19" wheel, hence the 18" gives better weight saving, gas mileage, acceleration & gearing.
For the e9x, the sweet spot is 18" big (or small), light & wide enough for grip.

correct me if i'm wrong, the M3 GT ALMS runs 18".

For street, spirited driving & light track use, I doubt that we can notice the marginal difference in acceleration, turn-in, & overall laptime if you drop or up a couple of pounds per corner.

If you drop 8-10 lbs per corner, then Im sure you'll notice the difference but not a couple of pounds.

not sure if this's a good reference

[VMRWheels]

If you are really concerned with performance, I would suggest going with 18" for additional side wall, larger selection in Max Performance Summer Tires, as well as weight reduction.

-Charles@VMRWheels

[HighlandPete]

A good example of 18" vs. 19" would be the standard setup E46 M3. Quite a bit of documentation/tests which show the 18" wheel set works better and makes the best of the factory chassis. 19" blunt the car's performance on road and track use.

The VW Golf scene also have a lot of experience on wheel sizes getting too big and blunting performance and economy.

HighlandPete

[Ghoti]

The biggest performance different is the weight savings w/ the 18s, but you'd need to drop probably >5 lbs per corner to feel any difference. Try checking TireRack ... you can sort their rims available for your car by weight. OEM rims are ~30 lbs, so you can easily save 10 lbs per corner with light ones. There are also other treads on e90Post that discuss rim weights...

e.g., http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243069

[j&g bimmas]

18s performance 19s looks. Although is your car gonna spend most of the time on the race track or are the streets gonna be your racetrack?

[NiVeDh]

Get some light 18's. I am slowly putting together a set of Apex ARC-8 wheels. I have the two fronts so far.

[Donia330i]

My car will never see a track. I just want it to perform better on the road while still looking good. With that in mind would I even notice the difference on the road in the real world? Another thing I keep thinking of, is why does BMW use 19" performance wheels? Lastly 19's just fill the wheel wells so much better.

[flip4335]

Originally Posted by Donia330i

Lastly what about the 219m wheels, how do they compare weight and performance wise? Thoughts? Opinions? Concerns? Would love to hear them all! Thanks

I have 219M wheels mounted on my SGM e90. They look like my West Coast brudda's ride:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=520950

Best of all, they are 18-inch.

Check out this site. 219M wheels listed (page 10) but no weight. I will assume they are similar to 260M (page 12), which are 24.9 lb front/23 lb rear. BBS makes both of them.

http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/

I LOVE them...Mounted Hankooks (235/40/28F/265/35/18R) on them and the non-RFTs look and feel great on them. I don't track, but I do like the performance and handling because I have added .5 inch F/1.0 inch R more tread patch to the asphalt and I can't get the nanny controls to blink when I try...hahaha

Why 18s? Four reasons:
1. Cheaper tires at that size and more available sizes from diff brands
2. Crappy roads in the area so I appreciate more sidewall
3. Gunmetal on my SGM look Hawt!!!, but even the new satin finish looks cool
4. If these are good enough for the M3, then they're good enough for my e9x

Why Hankooks?
1. Inexpensive alternative to Michelins (see review)
2. Great summer tire with wet traction capabilities
3. Good looking non-RFT alternative

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....lar=&tab=Tests

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...12_evo_page_10

[Donia330i]

Originally Posted by flip4335

I have 219M wheels mounted on my SGM e90. They look like my West Coast brudda's ride:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=520950

Best of all, they are 18-inch.

Check out this site. 219M wheels listed (page 10) but no weight. I will assume they are similar to 260M (page 12), which are 24.9 lb front/23 lb rear. BBS makes both of them.

http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/

I LOVE them...Mounted Hankooks (235/40/28F/265/35/18R) on them and the non-RFTs look and feel great on them. I don't track, but I do like the performance and handling because I have added .5 inch F/1.0 inch R more tread patch to the asphalt and I can't get the nanny controls to blink when I try...hahaha

Why 18s? Four reasons:
1. Cheaper tires at that size and more available sizes from diff brands
2. Crappy roads in the area so I appreciate more sidewall
3. Gunmetal on my SGM look Hawt!!!, but even the new satin finish looks cool
4. If these are good enough for the M3, then they're good enough for my e9x

Why Hankooks?
1. Inexpensive alternative to Michelins (see review)
2. Great summer tire with wet traction capabilities
3. Good looking non-RFT alternative

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....lar=&tab=Tests

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...12_evo_page_10

Could you post some pics of your car. I dont like how he left the balloon sized tires on his. Cant get the right feel for them. Also I have the hankooks now but how would like to see them the 40 series profile. I'm also already on after market wheels but with the same width as the 219ms (8.5/9.5) but with 245/275 set up. So would the 18's even make a difference?