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[Snap0rz]

Good morning,

I just picked up a 2011 135i on Dec. 31st of last year and I am looking to get a new set of rims and have a few questions. A lot of the threads here have some great information but I wanted to make my own and be sure about what all I can do.

The 2011 has 18x7.5 front and 18x8.5 rear. I have noticed a lot of popular wheels, VMR for instance, do not come in the 18x7.5. I will be running the stock RFT's 215/40 front and 245/35 rear.

My question regarding wheels then, is, can I run 18x8.5 on all 4? If yes, is there any sort of negative regarding performance, handling, turning, fit, etc. with doing so? As such, would the 215/40 fit properly on 18x8.5?

I also have one other question regarding snow tires. I see a lot of people run 17" rims for their snow tires. Can I use the stock 264's with some Blizzak's and be fine regarding fit, etc? I have not yet picked out any tires for comparison regarding size, but I would imagine 215/40/18 and 245/35/18 would again be best for front/rear?

Thank you so much for your help!

[SV Concepts III]

You can swap the factory tires to the 18x8.5 sizing, the fronts will be a tad stretched but will work just fine. You can even do an 18x9.5 rear to maintain the staggered setup.

[Snap0rz]

Are there any downsides to the "stretching"? Perhaps I am just overly concerned with warranties and all that stuff being affected by slapping wider rims on factory tires. I have the Tire & Warranty Protection Plan, hence my desire to stay with what is covered.

It just seems like a real pain in the ass to find 18x7.5's. I haven't come across any yet that also come in 18x8.5, whereas 18x8.5 seems to be the standard.

Going with 18x8.5 front and 9.5rear sounds pretty damn cool but I guess I want to be overly confident that handling and performance will stay the same.

[UdubBadger]

Originally Posted by Snap0rz

Good morning,

I just picked up a 2011 135i on Dec. 31st of last year and I am looking to get a new set of rims and have a few questions. A lot of the threads here have some great information but I wanted to make my own and be sure about what all I can do.

The 2011 has 18x7.5 front and 18x8.5 rear. I have noticed a lot of popular wheels, VMR for instance, do not come in the 18x7.5. I will be running the stock RFT's 215/40 front and 245/35 rear.

My question regarding wheels then, is, can I run 18x8.5 on all 4? If yes, is there any sort of negative regarding performance, handling, turning, fit, etc. with doing so? As such, would the 215/40 fit properly on 18x8.5?

I also have one other question regarding snow tires. I see a lot of people run 17" rims for their snow tires. Can I use the stock 264's with some Blizzak's and be fine regarding fit, etc? I have not yet picked out any tires for comparison regarding size, but I would imagine 215/40/18 and 245/35/18 would again be best for front/rear?

Thank you so much for your help!

Congrats on the purchase.

I run 18x8.5 in the front and 18x9.5 in the back and don't have any problem. You will probably still need to run the stock tire sizes though, I tried to go up and it wasn't successful but also depends on the offset of your wheels I suppose.

As for winter, I go snowboarding often and use my 135 on blizzaks, 225/45/18 on the OEM Msport wheels and it works great. 17's would be good if you get a lot of deep constant snow like up in Buffalo or something but I don't think you see any more that we do in Chicago out there in VA. You should be fine with some 18's.

If you need any help, I can personally recommend Dave, Julius and Johan over at WSTO (They are vendors on here but their website is WheelSTO.com). They are not only incredibly knowledgeable on wheels (especially 1 series as Johan has one himself) but they go to the ends of the earth for their customers. They'll take care of you for sure, even if its just answering your questions.

[UdubBadger]

Originally Posted by Snap0rz

Are there any downsides to the "stretching"? Perhaps I am just overly concerned with warranties and all that stuff being affected by slapping wider rims on factory tires. I have the Tire & Warranty Protection Plan, hence my desire to stay with what is covered.

It just seems like a real pain in the ass to find 18x7.5's. I haven't come across any yet that also come in 18x8.5, whereas 18x8.5 seems to be the standard.

Going with 18x8.5 front and 9.5rear sounds pretty damn cool but I guess I want to be overly confident that handling and performance will stay the same.

18x9.5 rear is fine, handles the same if not a touch better since you have more rubber on the pavement.

[Snap0rz]

Fantastic. Thank you for your reply. My primary concern was the stock tires fitting the wider rim if I went with 18x8.5 in front and 18x9.5 in rear and having the same performance, etc.

Thank you very much for your reply.

[UdubBadger]

any time bud, thats what this site is for right?

[VMRWheels]

18x8.5 +45 all around is not a problem. You are more then welcome to do so if you are looking to keep those stock 215/245 tire sizes. 215's will give off a stretch on 215 tire.

-Charles@VMRWheels

[RoundelM3]

I've got a 2011 128i Convertible M-Sport coming in March for my wife and want to upgrade the wheels and tires to 18" (something CSL-style). I'd like to go wider than 215 in the front and 225 in the rear. What would be a good recommendation for a no-interference fit with the stock sport suspension on this car? Would 225/40 in the front and 245-35 in the rear work ok? What widths/offset would I need?

Thanks,
Roundel335

[VMRWheels]

Originally Posted by roundel335

I've got a 2011 128i Convertible M-Sport coming in March for my wife and want to upgrade the wheels and tires to 18" (something CSL-style). I'd like to go wider than 215 in the front and 225 in the rear. What would be a good recommendation for a no-interference fit with the stock sport suspension on this car? Would 225/40 in the front and 245-35 in the rear work ok? What widths/offset would I need?

Thanks,
Roundel335

Since I don't want to get off topic from the OP's thread, ill go ahead and shoot you over a PM.

-Charles@VMRWheels

[Eddy@ApexWheels]

I'm sorry, but I would NOT mount the OEM 215 run flat on an 8.5" wheel. It's already stretching on the 7.5" factory wheel.

8" and 9" would be a more reasonable compromise if that was a must, but I'm just not a believer in stretching an already narrow run-flat that much for the sake of mounting an aftermarket wheel. It will be very prone to bending, it will ride harsh, and quite frankly, it will look like shit on a car at OEM hight.

As a wheel distributor, I couldn't in my best judgement recommend you do that.

my recommendations:

1. select a narrower wheel that would better fit your OEM tires 7.5-8" front 8.5-9" rear
2. replace all your tires with new sizes that better fits your new wheels
3. replace only the fronts with a new size like 225/40 or 235/40, and you can keep the 245's and mount them on an 8.5-9" wheel no problem

[Snap0rz]

If I did decide to go with 18x8.5 front and 18x9.5 rear for the wheels, would 225/40R18 (front) and 255/40R18 (rear) Bridgestone Potenza RE 050A RFT fit with no problems on stock suspension? I don't want rubbing, etc with the bumpers and other pieces.

[VMRWheels]

Originally Posted by Snap0rz

If I did decide to go with 18x8.5 front and 18x9.5 rear for the wheels, would 225/40R18 (front) and 255/40R18 (rear) Bridgestone Potenza RE 050A RFT fit with no problems on stock suspension? I don't want rubbing, etc with the bumpers and other pieces.

8.5 +45 and 9.5 +50 VMR V710's can work with 225 front and 255 rears should work fine at stock height. If you plan on lowering down the road, the rears may need a slight fender roll.

-Charles@VMRWheels