19" 545i knock off wheels installed! Pictures!
03-23-2004, 07:50 PM
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The wheels are exact copies of the #124 BMW factory wheel that comes standard on the 545i 6-speed or sport. The main difference is the price and the availability of nineteen?s; eighteens are just too small for this size car. Even a tiny Z4 has eighteens. The set of 4 was only $995. The wheels are made in Italy and come in 17?, 18? and 19? and the widths come in 8? & 9?. The standard setup is to get 19x8 with 245/35?s in the front and 19x9 with 275/30?s in the back. This basically achieves the same tire diameter and width as the factory 545i. I decided to go with more of a 530i setup. I got 19x8 with 245/35?s all the way around. I did it to cut back on the weight and tire price, plus it gives me the option to rotate my tires from front to back. For tires I chose Falken Azenis ST-115 and I?m very happy with my choice. I was going for a compromise between wear, noise and of course handling. I wanted a tire that would hopefully last my lease term, not requiring me to purchase another set. With these tires the jump from stock 16?s to 19?s is virtually unnoticeable and the noise level is even lower than stock!
I purchased the wheels with the tires mounted and ready to go from www.aaarims.com for under $2000 including shipping and everything. Each wheel and tire was packed very well in its own box! The wheels come with lugs and wheel centers that were such a good match I couldn?t tell if they were factory or not. I ended up using the wheel centers from my stock wheels because the fit was perfect. I also used my factory lugs because the only difference was the color and I wanted to stick with the factory black lug. www.aaarims.com was great to deal with. Their communication and help was great, they shipped within hours, the mounting was excellent, the packaging was fantastic and the replication was prefect! The only problems are that they are sometimes hard to get a hold of and the wheels aren?t 100% perfect if you look closely they have some blemishes under the paint, but nothing you would notice from a normal distance.
My tint is www.solargard.com. Medium on the sides for a consistent look and dark on the back window
I purchased the wheels with the tires mounted and ready to go from www.aaarims.com for under $2000 including shipping and everything. Each wheel and tire was packed very well in its own box! The wheels come with lugs and wheel centers that were such a good match I couldn?t tell if they were factory or not. I ended up using the wheel centers from my stock wheels because the fit was perfect. I also used my factory lugs because the only difference was the color and I wanted to stick with the factory black lug. www.aaarims.com was great to deal with. Their communication and help was great, they shipped within hours, the mounting was excellent, the packaging was fantastic and the replication was prefect! The only problems are that they are sometimes hard to get a hold of and the wheels aren?t 100% perfect if you look closely they have some blemishes under the paint, but nothing you would notice from a normal distance.
My tint is www.solargard.com. Medium on the sides for a consistent look and dark on the back window
03-23-2004, 08:40 PM
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I ordered the exact same rims 2 days ago, thanks for posting. I'm probably going to with with a fatter tire, though. Something looks strange about the photo. It may look completely different in person, but it looks like you need to lower the car.
03-23-2004, 09:37 PM
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Yea, the car isn't a sport which I believe adds about 1/2" to the height. I would love the look of lowering it an inch, but I just can't justify messing with the perfect ride and the cost for a leased vehicle. I only had the wheels on for about 1/4 mile when I took the picture, it might settle more.
This is the only area I feel BMW could have done a better job. There is just too much space around the front and rear tires in the wheel wells. Even compaired to the tired 3 series which does a great job of filling up the wheel wells. I would love to see a 7 series wheel and tire setup on the E60. It seems like BMW intended on using the 7 series setup but changed to the current smaller size for some reason.
This is the only area I feel BMW could have done a better job. There is just too much space around the front and rear tires in the wheel wells. Even compaired to the tired 3 series which does a great job of filling up the wheel wells. I would love to see a 7 series wheel and tire setup on the E60. It seems like BMW intended on using the 7 series setup but changed to the current smaller size for some reason.
