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[itrocks4u]

Hi,

I wanted to know. Going with 19s look nice for sure (ignoring the car needs to be lowered comment) but is one also compensating that with lower performance than compared to 18 inch wheels?

I don\'t plan to track the car, so I don\'t want race track type performance. So is it better to go with 18 or 19 inch wheels?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of going with 19s over 18s except for more money?

I have the 2011 e90 328xi if that makes a difference.

[AllydNYC]

Advantage of going with 19's:

Fills up the wheel wells better.


Disadvantages:
If you plan on lowering your car and are going with an aggressive offset for 19" you can rub.

Heavier than 19" + Acceleration will decrease just because of the increased size even if the weight is the same as stock wheels and in my opinion will also slow down a 328xi's acceleration since they lack some power. I have a 328xi myself and when I take my 17's off and put on 19's I can feel a difference.

You will feel pot holes more with them because of having to run a thinner tire.



I still like my 19's though.

[itrocks4u]

Originally Posted by AllydNYC

Advantage of going with 19's:

Fills up the wheel wells better.


Disadvantages:
If you plan on lowering your car and are going with an aggressive offset for 19" you can rub.

Heavier than 19" + Acceleration will decrease just because of the increased size even if the weight is the same as stock wheels and in my opinion will also slow down a 328xi's acceleration since they lack some power. I have a 328xi myself and when I take my 17's off and put on 19's I can feel a difference.

You will feel pot holes more with them because of having to run a thinner tire.



I still like my 19's though.

So based on your last statement, you'd still recommend 19s instead of 18s? Did you lower yours on the 19s?

[gaza01]

for me its 19's all the way...the down sides of the 19's i'm happy to live with cause they look so cool imo.

[Glim]

19"'s sidewall are very thin which isn't great for potholes or bad roads but absorb bumps better than OEM 18"'s and very little flex around corners.

18"'s OEM rft are very hard and transfer every bump straight to your spine and give the car a go-cart feel.

I am running 17" high performance winter tires right now and they absorb all bumps and take potholes without issue.

Tire rack compared similar tires and rims and found the lightest weight tire and rim combination gave the fastest 0-60 and best fuel economy, 15" was up by 2.2 mpg over a 19" and 15" beat a 19" in 0-60 by 0.3 sec.

I use 17" for winter, 18" oem rft for spring and fall and 19" for summer.

[AllydNYC]

Originally Posted by itrocks4u

So based on your last statement, you'd still recommend 19s instead of 18s? Did you lower yours on the 19s?

Yes me e90 is lowered, no problems. If you're not tracking the car or worrying about 0-60 times go with 19's they look a lot better.

[hipnotic]

go with 19 and you will see the difference right away

[bmw325i]

I'm happy with 19's I wouldn't mind stepping up to 20's if I found some wheels I really wanted in that size. The rides not bad and I'm not paranoid about damaging a rim with every bump in the road. There is a slight difference in acceleration (I have a 325i) after a few weeks driving around you get used to it and dont really notice a difference at all.

[VMRWheels]

OP - There are definitely benefits to both setups. Whether one outweighs the other though is completely up to you. 19s will fill up the wheel wells more which looks better in my opinion, but the smaller sidewall doesn't provide as much protection against road hazards. Additionally you may get more feedback from the road because of the smaller sidewalls. That's not to say that you'll have problems with 19s though.

18s will be a bit more comfortable to drive with, and provide more sidewall protection, but can look a bit small depending on the wheel design.

Hope that helps a bit!

Here are a couple picture examples:

18"




19"

[itrocks4u]

wow thanks for the pictures, that really helped.

I need to confirm something though... If I have E90 LCI 328XI on 19s, not lowered, do I need to worry about the rims getting damaged if I hit a pothole? I'm just not sure how much the risk is with the 19s and why is it so high with the 19s than the 18s.

[VMRWheels]

It's impossible to say whether or not your wheels will get damaged. It depends on how deep the hole is, how wide, how long, what speed you're traveling, etc.

With that said though, 18s will definitely have more cushion for bad roads.

[itrocks4u]

Originally Posted by VMRWheels

It's impossible to say whether or not your wheels will get damaged. It depends on how deep the hole is, how wide, how long, what speed you're traveling, etc.

With that said though, 18s will definitely have more cushion for bad roads.

Would you recommend 18s or 19s, keeping what you said in mind?

[#Tee]

18s are very cute

[Projekt_BooGie]

19s if you are not tracking. Keep in mind you could always get a little more side wall by changing tire sizes (width) you will get a little more side wall to drive on.

Ex.
instead of going
235/30/19, which gives you approx 2.77" of side wall

go 245/30/19, which gives you approx 2.89" of side wall.

**these are for comparison only, since I don't think you can run 245 series tires up front** if any of that made since.

[ttbmer]

I had 19" they looked good but I wanna to give 18" a try so I got rif of the 19" and order 18".

I'm very happy with my decision. I order PSS 255/35/18 front and 275/35/18 rear and it looks aggressive as hell, the tires help a lot because it runs very big and it looks meaty.

[itrocks4u]

Originally Posted by ttbmer

I had 19" they looked good but I wanna to give 18" a try so I got rif of the 19" and order 18".

I'm very happy with my decision. I order PSS 255/35/18 front and 275/35/18 rear and it looks aggressive as hell, the tires help a lot because it runs very big and it looks meaty.

Have any pictures here?

[VMRWheels]

Originally Posted by itrocks4u

Would you recommend 18s or 19s, keeping what you said in mind?

It totally depends on the roads around your area. If your roads look pretty nasty, 18s are probably for you. If you live in a nice area where the roads are kept well, 19s would probably be just fine. In reality if you are careful with where you are driving you will greatly reduce the chance of damaging a wheel. That being said though, a pothole could bend any wheel.

[FiremanLU706]

Originally Posted by itrocks4u

Have any pictures here?

^^^^ What he asked!!

[BOSSBMW]

Originally Posted by FiremanLU706

^^^^ What he asked!!

Do yourself a favor go 18". Potholes will pinch the sidewall of your tires if you hit them hard and puncture them. Very expensive lesson learned here.

[itrocks4u]

Originally Posted by beneliezer

Do yourself a favor go 18". Potholes will pinch the sidewall of your tires if you hit them hard and puncture them. Very expensive lesson learned here.

But you have 19" per your signature?

[zeenon53]

I have 19s on my car and sometimes regret not getting 18s. I am not lowered and the 19s definitely raise the height of the car a bit. Plus the 19s area good amount stiffer than 18s. I run 245/35 up front and 275/30 in the rear.

[itrocks4u]

Originally Posted by zeenon53

I have 19s on my car and sometimes regret not getting 18s. I am not lowered and the 19s definitely raise the height of the car a bit. Plus the 19s area good amount stiffer than 18s. I run 245/35 up front and 275/30 in the rear.

Hmmm I think from the looks of it,it's all comes down to personal preference. As much as I'd want 19s being a DD, I think 18 would make more sense. Esp cause my wife already hates the stress of parking away from all the other cars and driving very careful. I don't think she'll enjoy the added stress of avoiding the potholes haha.