New i3s (with pics) now what winter wheels/tires?

Recently picked up the i3s in the pictures and am loving it so far! So fun to zip around town and getting really good range with it so far. The giga interior is beautiful and I love the design differences in the i3s over the standard i3.

So now that I have a fun first year car with custom summer wheels/tires designed specifically for it, I have the fun of trying to figure out what winter wheels/tires will actually fit on this car. I believe the offset is different than the standard i3, but if I'm not mistaken even the standard i3 only has winter tires in 19" wheels. Does anyone know if the i3 winter wheel/tire package will fit the i3s?

Looks excellent in blue. Congratulations and good luck!

Some winter wheel/tire info in the comments section of this review:

https://insideevs.com/2018-bmw-i3s-six-month-update/

The i3s might take the OEM 19" diameter 5" wide wheels, but you'd be narrowing the track, and there'd be a bigger difference in driving characteristics, so the spacers can make up the difference, up to a point.

hi,

i am in france, near Geneva Swisstherland.
I have a bmw i3s.
and i work on this subject, the winter pack !

For i3s it's very hard to understand but i've got it !

So on i3s, in summer it's 20" , no problem.
But in winter, it's 19" only!
Because currently there is no tire in 20"....

So in 19" you have 2 solution, go to bmw shop and take their winter pack ou build your package !

For BMW shop the package is tire blizzak with charge index 88. font and rear with 155/70/19.
The offset of this rims is 28., it's very good to know this value becaus if you want to buold your package you must know this.

For your solution if you want to build a package.
Winter tire, many manufacture , bridg, nokian and other !
The nokian WR A4 in 155/70/19 have good perf, a good noise, i want to tell it create less noise that the brig and have a good perf about raining condition, go to web site and compare perf ... and it's cheapest !!
rims 19" , it's now that you need and use the offset 28 !
i find Rial X10 and Mak Watt for bmw i3
offset 43 for the both, so you must use spacer (15millimeter) to go to offset 28 to offset 43 if you want to have the same configuration that the pack's bmw.
Don't forget to buy bolt longest the standard ... 15millimeter more.

here some link.

https://www.makwheels.it/en-ww/mak-watt-the-new-mak-wheel-dedicated-to-bmw-i3.aspx

https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=runWheelSearch&autoMake=BMW&autoModel=i3+with+Range+Extender&autoYear=2014&autoModClar=Mega+World&wheelMake=Rial&wheelModel=X10-I&initialPartNumber=X1050943W645B&selectedRear=X1050943W645B&wheelFinish=Black+Painted

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-parts/ecs-15mm-wheel-spacer-kit-ecs-conical-seat-bolt-kit/002411ecskt17/

have fun !

Sorry for my english's level ...

Ah thank you all! So it sounds like the standard 19" i3 wheels will fit, but if I want to maintain the sporty feel I need the spacer so the offset remains the same.

I also discovered that if you go to tirerack and type in wheels for a 2018 i3 or i3s there are no results, but if you go back to prior years there are. That was definitely causing a lot of confusion. Anyone know if the wheels on the standard i3 are any different in 18 vs prior years? I'm guessing not, but just curious.

Thanks again this has been very helpful!

Did ppl notice the Off-road type of tires , on the BMW recent video with the on-board AC out inverter ?

If I were going to go with a Nokian winter tire, I'd opt for their R3 which was new earlier this year. It's a green, low rolling resistance tire that (hopefully) works well. I just bought a set for my other car and will consider them for my i3 when the current Blizzaks wear out or age out. Nokian winter tires usually win comparison tests. It's just that they aren't as widely available, there's less competition, and they sometimes (not always) end up a bit more expensive. On an EV, low rolling resistance means more range. They claim about 5% improvement over previous designs.

Bluei3s said:

Ah thank you all! So it sounds like the standard 19" i3 wheels will fit, but if I want to maintain the sporty feel I need the spacer so the offset remains the same.

Click to expand...

I believe that I read that tires on standard 19" wheels interfere with an i3S' suspension unless spacers are installed.

Bluei3s said:

Anyone know if the wheels on the standard i3 are any different in 18 vs prior years?

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Realoem lists the same wheel part numbers for all i3's excluding the i3S.

Update - Apparently BMW released a winter tire/wheel package for the i3S. Details are below, however it looks like they're the standard 19" 428 style wheels painted black and the Bridgestone Blizzak LM500 tires. They're basically $600 more due to the black color than the standard i3 winter wheels. The standard i3 winter set aren't 428's, but they're the same size.

Price is just over $2k

3611245505036112455050

https://www.shopbmwusa.com/PRODUCT/6527/19-INCH-STYLE-428-BLACK-COLD-WEATHER-WHEEL----TIRE-SET?CenterId=23276v

BMW i3s Wheel Set Specifications: Rims: BMW i Style 428 Black Tires: Bridgestone Blizzak LM500* (Non Run-Flat) Rim Dimensions • Front / Rear: 5J x 19 Tire Dimensions • Front / Rear: 155/70R19 88Q XL BMW Cold Weather Wheel & Tire Sets

Update - Apparently BMW released a winter tire/wheel package for the i3S. Details are below, however it looks like they're the standard 19" 428 style wheels painted black and the Bridgestone Blizzak LM500 tires. They're basically $600 more due to the black color than the standard i3 winter wheels. The standard i3 winter set aren't 428's, but they're the same size.

Price is just over $2k

Part #: 3611245505036112455050

https://www.shopbmwusa.com/PRODUCT/6527/19-INCH-STYLE-428-BLACK-COLD-WEATHER-WHEEL----TIRE-SET?CenterId=23276v

BMW i3s Wheel Set Specifications: Rims: BMW i Style 428 Black Tires: Bridgestone Blizzak LM500* (Non Run-Flat) Rim Dimensions • Front / Rear: 5J x 19 Tire Dimensions • Front / Rear: 155/70R19 88Q XL BMW Cold Weather Wheel & Tire Sets

I just got that set. My dealer said the black set was the same price as the silver set? I’m in Canada so maybe pricing is different. I will post pics once they are on the car.

caution !

For bmw i3s, offset of 19" is 28 for the winter pack
for bmw i3, offset of 19" is 43 for the winter pack.

and now, if you take the sport pack on your i3, you have the same config that a i3s, you must take the winter pack from bmw for i3s.

if you take the standard i3 19" for your i3s, it cant be good, there is a blog about it.

https://www.bmwblog.com/2018/02/26/winter-test-drive-with-the-new-2018-bmw-i3s/

Wow that's good to know about the offset. I wish BMW would tell us this, nothing in the description has any information about it.

Here is about 50% more expensive which stinks, Canada has it made!

This is interesting . It seems to me that the i3s has gained it's wider track of 40mm front and rear and it's tires are 20mm wider . The inside of the edge of the tires is in the same place . The outside edge is 20mm out . Hence , the center of the wheel/tire must be 10mm further out than the reg i3 . I'm going to suggest that this is achieved solely by engineering the offset of the i3s wheels . Could this lead to suggesting that 10mm spacers would be appropriate to mount the old wheels onto an i3s . An 'Alignment Technician' could perhaps answer that . I have an extra set of winters and I would like to know if I would be able to use them on an i3s (120Ah) . Otherwise I might sell them .

tman66 said:

I just got that set. My dealer said the black set was the same price as the silver set? I’m in Canada so maybe pricing is different. I will post pics once they are on the car.

Click to expand...

They seem to stick out a bit compared to the 430s? Could just be a visual thing.

yes, with spacer 10mm it's ok.
But if your want to have the same offset, you must take spacer 15mm.
But like the 19" is less large that 20" with 10mm spacer it's enouth.

DISCLAIMER - DO NOT use this information for wheel fitment . Consult a technician for any options that are viable . Thank you

Some calculations suggest that if the centerline of the i3s wheels moves out by 10mm but the wheel is only 1/2" wider (12.7mm) then that would mean that the inner edge of the wheel is actually further out by 3.65mm. Half of 12.7 is 6.35 . The inner half of the wheel is 6.35mm wider but the centerline has moved out by 10mm . Regarding regular i3 wheels for mounting on an i3s , the question would be 'Do we want the centerline or the outside edge of the tire to be in the same place as the original i3s wheels ?' . Spacers would take care of any clearance issues as well . Again , the alignment Tech would answer that . How could it be done without the need to fiddle with alignment specs each time you change winter/summer wheels ? That's for the front . It could be that for the rear , when mounting the 5J on all 4 winters , there's a similar offset for the rear (43reg vs. 39s) but the reg i3 wheels have 8.7mm less backspace and therefore should fit without any clearance issues . Should a 4mm spacer be used on the rears to bring the centerline to the same place or more to bring the outer edge of the tire equal to the original i3s wheel ?

Here's the site with some info on wheel specs
https://www.wheel-size.com/size/bmw/i3/2018/

DISCLAIMER - DO NOT use this information for wheel fitment . Consult a technician for any options that are viable . Thank you

More research suggests that for the front , Scrub Radius is dependant on tire diameter and centerline position (directly related to offset) . With tires having similar diameters (699.6/703) keeping the centerline the same would keep the Scrub Radius relatively the same .

Again , I am not an alignment Technician ! ! ! !

I wanted to avoid spacers so I finally went with the BMW wheels/tires. They actually ended up being cheaper than all the aftermarket options, and they're also lighter weight. I think this is the best option if you want to get winter tires on your i3s. Just be prepared to wait, it took over 2 months to get mine, and I know there were about 100 other people in the US in the same situation.

In case anyone's wondering, they are 19" wheels that are the same size all around, however they are directional so just be careful about mounting. Mounting is also supposed to be done at 101ft lb of torque according to the manual.