mtosca

I am considering buying a set of rims for my soon to be purchased winter tires.

I was looking around for a set of style 124 rims

Should I buy OEM wheels - maybe from someone who decided to take their original rims off? or from relaoem.com for about $1200?

I searched ebay and found a vendor selling replicas for $599

http://www.wheelsandcaps.com/wheels/euro/bmw/59475.html

Has anyone ever heard of this company?

thanks for any advise
Michael

AC_S5

Dude, 124 for winter tires? I don't think is good, you will be stuck in the snow with such a big and wide tire.

tachyon

mtosca,

do you have 124s now on your 545 sport? why not just put winter rubber on those and get some cool 19" wheels with nice summer rubber next spring?

also, where do you live? If you need to fight through lot's of snow, it may work better to get all four wheels at 8" width for winter instead of the staggered stock set-up on the Sport.

otherwise, if you want winter rubber because you will sometimes face snow, slush, rain, and certainly cold temps, then it may not be a big deal to use the 9" rear wheel width.

mtosca

I have 124's now, I want the same look for summer too and don't want to mount and unmount the winter tires every year.

BTW - I live in Boston, MA.

Do you think that a really good set of winter tires on the 9" wide rims would suck?

- Michael

wolverine

No, they'll be fine. I drove in snow on the OEM sport 19" rims with Michelin M/S tires and they were OK. If you get some top-notch snow tires, you'll be in great shape. Blizzaks are some of the best. You just want to make sure to get a relatively narrow tire. I'd call Tirerack and ask them.

tachyon

I've had Blizzak LM22s on my 7 series for 2 winters now and they are fantistic.

AC_S5

If you have 124 now than get some winter tires for that and than get a nice set of 19" 172M if you want original BMW rims, is way better than having two identical set of the rims. Well just my 2 cents....

Blizzaks are very nice , I used to have them on my E46 in Canada.

SergeyM

I would get them just for the consistent look. You may want to get 17s from the same vendor. More rubber is better for the winter and they are cheaper. Tirerack sells a set of 17s mounted and balanced for about $1,200. They look somewhat like 124s. I may go with Tirerack just for less trouble. No mounting expense, scratched wheels and so on.

Piloti

I was going to order winter tires next month and mount them on my present wheels until yesterday!
I was driving south on the infamous Rte 3 when I hit a storm drain. Five miles later I got the FLAT TIRE! message from iDrive. I drove it home (~10 miles). The side wall of the Bridgestone Potenza RF was cut at the rim on both passengers side tires.
I called the dealer who was going to get me replacement RFTs for $300 a piece. I passed on that idea.
I checked out the web for a winter wheel and found Lakeshore Wheel & Tire. I have no experience with this vendor. I decided to order the reproduction #166 style wheel.

I would have had to wait a week for the Dunlop Winter Sport M3 tires from Lakeshore, so ordered them from TireRack, who I have used before with excellent results.
I will post pictures of the wheels and installation once everything is done.

tachyon

Welcom aboard Piloti.

Excellent choice on the wheels.

I've used both Lakeshore (formerly AAA Rims) and TireRack and they both are excellent. Very knowledgeable and helpful.

Make sure to give us a first-impression review of the ride and handling feel of the Dunlop winter tires ... looks like a good choice.