jet190rs

Accesories (not options) are dealer-installed items. For example, say I were buying a brand new 550 Sport...I can tell my dealer that I want to buy 166's or 167's and I want them to take off the stock 124's and put the M5/M6 wheels on, before I take delivery.

Wheels that come as part of an option package are installed stock from the factory, such as 123's on a 530 Sport or 124's on a 550 Sport. (I'm not sure about the circumstance of your xi though). So if you get a 530 sport or 550 sport, you're gonna get those 18" wheels if you don't do anything else, and you can't revert back to the 17" wheels because that wouldn't work with the Sport pack.

But let's say you're ordering a 550 Sport, and instead of 124's, you want another 18" or 19" wheel that's suitable for the sport package (for example 101's, 89's, 125's, 128's 184's, 166's, 167's, etc). You can tell the dealer that you want one of these wheels as an accessory. That means when the car arrives at the dealer, they take the 124's off and put on the wheels you want. This would be a dealer-installed accessory, along the same lines as illuminated door sills, M-Kit, etc.

To illustrate my point, go to "Build Your Car" on bmwusa.com. After 'Options', you can choose 'Accessories', such as M-Kit and additional wheels. The wheels shown here are installed by your dealer, and there are plenty of wheels your dealer can install for you that are not shown here.

Now, the only thing I can think of, is that this is an xi only issue, where the choices of wheels are limited by the xi's unique offset. But what I've described above is definately applicable to the rwd models.

3threesfirst5er

Thanks for the help! Just for clarification, when I ordered the car I ordered the 17"'s, which my sales representative said were on the car when it was shipped from Germany. Where I stand after calling today - my sales representative, who did not mention any "additional inventory" or allude to a "dealer installed option suggested that I call the sales manager, with whom I left a detailed message about my dilemma. Part of me thinks I'm making more of big deal of this than I should. They're just wheels. Nonetheless, I just get the sinking feeling that if I drive the car off the lot without the wheels I want that's all I'll think about. One more option that was mentioned - reorder the car - now this really makes no sense to me.

C's Bimmer

How about this...Keep the 17's and use them for winter wheels (You'll have to get winter tires). Get the 123 or 124 18" wheels from Garry Romani at BMW of Newport for 25% off, since you're an E60.net member and use these as your summer wheels (You'll of course need summer tires too).

Problem solved!

monacobmw

As I mentioned, there are lots of people who want to upgrade their 18" wheels, and you can probably find a spare set for a good price.

I would feel the same way that you are feeling. I hated the 17" wheels, and I still do. When my 19" replica wheels failed, I put the 17" wheels back, but the car was never the same.
Finally, I just bought some OEM 166s. Problem solved. Sure, I did not like spending more money (especially on a leased car), but the new wheels are really cool.

If this is a critical issue (and wheels are), maybe you should reorder the car (or threaten the dealer that you will reorder unless they help).
If this is simply changing the wheels, maybe they can order a new set ahead of time from Germany and they can send your wheels back. You should offer to pay for the shipping costs (e.g., $200).

If I were a dealer, I would try to act reasonably to solve this issue. The easiest thing to do is call the regional director and try to get them to deal with German to swap wheels at the dealer.

If this reorder relates to a particular package, you may have more problems.

3threesfirst5er

I reached the end of the proverbial road today - had a phone conversation, went face-to-face, - all diplomatically of course, to no avail. Even called a close friend to ensure I wasn't crazy - these are just wheels. His comment, "I can't believe you're even considering rollin' on donuts!" My last conversation, today - "I've been nice, and given you every opportunity to work this out, and no I'm not purchasing the wheels and tires separately. Furthermore, I don't have a dime sunk into this transaction to date; therefore I'm walking away unless you get me what I want. I can?t sink this much money into something and not feel satisfied". Saw the car subsequent to the face-to-face conversation a couple of days ago and was sucked in emotionally of course - silver/gray, black leather, 6-speed, nav, logic 7, satellite radio, cold weather, sports package, premium package - it looked hot! Scrolled down to the 17"s - like kissin' my sister. No way! I want my 18??s!