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

[Fathertom74FR]

yes, i think like you !

 

[Andreapitt]

Naive question to everybody:
would a 215/45R-20 winter tires mount on the OM rear rims 195/50-20 of my 2018 13s?
I was thinking these tire:
https://simpletire.com/nokian-215-45r20-t429421-tires?stmodel=hakkapeliitta-r2&stcategory=winter&sttype=light-truck&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-JXiBRCpARIsAGqF8wVUe7BG60U6JKCa__yBJ0r85eS3OFd6GlNs5MCT263zqrzJJ7OXFgUaAjuWEALw_wcB

If yes can I just mount the rear winter and leave the OM 175/55-20 all season in the front?

Thanks
Andrea

 

[jadnashuanh]

It's never a good idea to have mismatched tread on tires. While more traction in the rear might get you started, keep in mind that most of the steering and stopping (when using brakes) is at the front because of the weight transfer. IOW, it will likely make the car unstable.

 

[PBNB]

That tire has a width of 8.47". You probably need a rim with a minimum width of 7.5" That could fit but expect a few inches of tire to stick out past the fender. Your car will get very dirty with all the mud flying!

If you search and test fit some wheels, you might find some Audi wheels or Mercedes wheels that could bolt right up. The end result should be: an overall diameter of: 27.54" which is the OEM value so you want to make sure that your new tires are very close to this number to keep your speedometer accurate.

 

[Andreapitt]

PBNB, the OM tire is 195mm wide or 7.68 inches the 215mm wide tire is 8.46 inches. the difference is only 0.78 inch which I thought is only O.39 inch each side. The question is can this tire be mounted on to the OM rim?

 

[PBNB]

You are correct, the size appears to be closer. If the i3s wheels are 6" wide, you might be able to get it to work. Do you have a tire shop willing to try a test fit? I always gone with the ideal width of the tire and found rims to match. I am always concerned about pulling the sideway inwards and losing seal at the bead.

If you can get these to fit, you will have discovered a long awaited 20" winter tire alternative for the i3s and even the i3.

 

[PBNB]

I was looking at some wider wheels and came up with a future option for my 2015 REX. I would use a Michelin Pilot AS3+ in 19 inch with a similar outside diameter, then find a wheel that is about 7.5 to 8" max width. Since our i3's share the similar bolt pattern and center bore with some Audis and Mercedes, there would be a lot to chose from. Then pick the offset at near et50 or so depending on how close I want to get to the inner fender/suspension parts. The Michelin's would be about 1.5" wider than the new Ecopias for the i3s but the tire is amazing. I have them on my VW TDI and they are a great tire that will actually last. Higher density rubber should make them last for 50k miles. Should also help mileage with lower rolling resistance, but worse due to the wider contact patch, maybe it would be a wash! Then there is the added weight to deal with.

I was wondering what the inside of the i3s fender well looks like. I am trying to visualize the inner clearance created by adding the flare or is it more for appearance sake?

I was looking on realoem.com and can't seem to find anything that shows different fenders for the i3 and i3s. If the flares just bolt on to the i3 fenders then there would be no gain as far as clearance inside the flare for the wider tires to fit. The benefit to the flares would be to cut down in splatter and spray coming off the tires and messing up the sides of the car. Also makes it easy to tell that the car is an "S".

 

[jadnashuanh]

Tires that sit outside of the fender well may be illegal in many places...they can create a hazard for those behind you if they pick up and throw debris, not counting what it might do to your own paint job. That doesn't mean that it's enforced, though. Going overboard can put unexpected loads on the suspension and require alignment changes to compensate assuming the other critical clearances are still good. You certainly don't want to jam the tire into the fender on a good jolt or to tear it up in a tight turn, either throughout the suspension travel. Something a casual, static inspection may not catch. It's not all that easy to compress the car down to the bump stop manually, and a driving test could be dangerous if it did destroy the tire under that stress condition while in motion.

 

[CharonPDX]

Tires that sit outside of the fender well may be illegal in many places...they can create a hazard for those behind you if they pick up and throw debris, not counting what it might do to your own paint job. That doesn't mean that it's enforced, though.

It's illegal where I am, but essentially never enforced - I see vehicles (mostly pickups) with wheels/tires that extend far beyond the fender regularly.

One thing that I have seen is the unintended consequence of it on low-riding vehicles - the wider tire may "bounce" up and hit the fender if you go over particularly nasty bumps/potholes! I've seen more than one vehicle with a destroyed fender from just that happening. (Damaged one of my own cars that way - the tire was *JUST* even with the very outermost edge of the fender, and hit a big pothole, and it put a nasty scrape on both the sidewall of my tire and the bottom edge of the fender!)

 

[PBNB]

I think the idea of this would be that the tires would still be inside the fender. If the i3s fenders are wider or the little plastic flare provides more room, then one may be able to stick a wider tire but the offsets would have to be played with to get it to fit. It looks like there is some extra space between tire and the suspension that could be used up to fit the wider tires.

There are a lot of wheel options when the width grows a bit. Going from 6.0" to 7.0" or 7.5" isn't really a big stretch, especially if you can push more of that to the inside.

 

[jadnashuanh]

One reason the efficiency of the i3s is lower than a regular i3 is the wider tires have more drag. They felt some people wouldn't care, but it is a factor. Everything has its pros and cons...you need to pick which ones are important to you.

 

[davidmoffitt]

Hello, new here but on the way to our second i3 (currently a 2016 REx, picking up a 2019 i3s BEV). Has anyone been able to order JUST the black style 428 ET28 wheels alone (no tires)? I have some almost-new Hakka R2s that I would rather use than the Bridgestone (not to mention not pay twice for tires)? I know I can pick up used earlier model wheels and use 15mm spacers / bolts (are the ECS hubcentric?) but I’m happy to spend a bit more to just get the proper offset rim. Thanks!

 

[jadnashuanh]

Back in 2014 when I bought my i3, I priced the wheels they include with the pre-mounted winter tires, and the wheel package that includes not only the wheel, but the tire, TPMS, mounting and balancing was less money than buying the wheel alone through parts. I haven't priced things recently, so do not know if that still is true. You might be surprised. I'm sure you can buy them through the parts department.

I have R3s on my ICE and found them to be very nice. I have the OEM Bridgestones on my i3, and they're okay. I'd replace them with R3s (or whatever their latest version is) when the time comes, assuming I still have the car.

 

[davidmoffitt]

Yes, the OEM packages are actually incredibly fairly priced - but I had just gotten a deal on 4 almost-new Hakkas so I would have to resell them (and use the meh Bridgestone, I am NOT super impressed with them on our current i3 l, having run Nokian and Dunlop’s in the past, but it was the only option). I mean I could pay to swap the Hakkas and sell the sticker-new Bridgestones but I would likely be hard pressed to even cover the labor to do so.

I may just get some used / takeoff 19s and run a 15mm spacer if BMW wont let you get the S winter wheels separately. Thanks for the input!

 

[jadnashuanh]

How old are the R2s (look at the number molded into the carcass)? They haven't made the R2's for over a year, so that puts them at least that old, and possibly much older. Especially with a winter tire, you don't want anything 5-years or so old (about the time the R2s have been around, I think). Tread depth aside, when they get old, they get stiff and do not perform well.

If I keep my i3 through next winter, I may be looking at replacing them for age, not wear. That's why I replaced the winter tires on my other car...they were getting too old.

 

[davidmoffitt]

They're about 2 years old. Our previous Bridgestones on the 2016 i3 barely lasted 3 winters (we have a lot of mixed weather here, it would be different if we were in Canada or somewhere in the EU where it basically stays snowy several months of the year). Heck, it was in the teens early this week with snow, and expected to be mid 50s Sunday. But an all-season ABSOLUTELY won't cut it, as when we get snow we get SNOW. LOL.

I'm not terribly worried about the age. Appreciate it though.

In an ideal world, BMW would be shipping the darn ET28 19x5s separate from the package, and I could have gotten new R3s mounted... but I've had absolutely ZERO luck speaking with my local parts departments or any other online / out-of-town dealer who will ship parts. Even if I wanted said package it wouldn't arrive until well after winter. And now it looks like our 2019 may arrive in < 10 days and I don't really want to be caught "pants down" by a March snow or ice storm.

Now I'm kind of in a bind as TireRack is out of the Rial (black or silver - black ETA April, Silver ETA May) so I'm trying to source 4x 19s and will get the ECS spacers... ugh.

 

[Bmcons]

Hi everyone,

I have a basically new (driven for less than 1500 miles) OEM set of winter wheels + tires from an i3 lease that I just transferred. (Part # 36110047998, 19 Inch Style 427 Cold Weather Wheel & Tire Set, with the Bridgestone Blizzak). These were bought from BMW directly in end November 2018, and I was told they were new production, so the rubber is fresh.

I’m looking to sell these and am located in New Jersey if anyone here is interested. Send me a private message for more details.

Thank you.

 

[davidmoffitt]

PM sent

 

[Goi3s]

I tried to summarize the info below:

i3s and i3 with sport package:

Since there's a stock 20'' wheel, need to purchase a new 19" wheelset with an offset of 28mm.

[Option #1]: $2k for a BMW set here. Wheel size 5x19, tire is a Bridgestone Blizzak LM500, Front / Rear: 155/70R19 88Q XL includes Tire Pressure Monitoring Sensors (TPMS).

[Option #2]: ~$1.5k from Tiretrack mounted and shipped: RIAL X10-I wheels (19x5 Finish: Black Painted Offset: 43mm, TPMS Kit) and BRIDGESTONE BLIZZAK LM-500 tires. But you'll also need a 10mm spacer in the front and a 15mm spacer in the rear from ECS here, which seem to add ~$150?

[Option #3]: ~$1.5k for a BMW set here that are for the regular i3, though the spacers mentioned above would also be needed because of the difference in offset. Wheel size Front / Rear: 5J x 19, tire is a Bridgestone Blizzak LM500, Front / Rear: 155/70R19 88Q XL includes Tire Pressure Monitoring Sensors.

Summary: most people suggest going with the BMW set for $2k since "using spacers requires different longer lugs and are sometimes tricky to install and torque correctly (link)."

i3:

Uses 19" wheels with a 43mm offset for the winter pack. Could use stock wheels or purchase Option #2 or #3 above and don't need spacers.

Any corrections? Info to add? Thanks all!

 

[rougeetnoir]

I have an i3s and bought a set of Riall German made wheels from Tire rack with the narrow Blizzaks all around. The wheels are described as 43 mm offset. The wheels appear to be the same front and rear and I am in effect putting narrower tires on the rear. So as I understand it I would have even more clearance in rear. Anyone see any problems when I put these on this winter? Thanks