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      11-24-2012, 02:12 AM   #1
rjm98119
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Drives: 2016 M235i
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Seattle, Washington, USA

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Thinking of DOWN-sizing from 19" to 18"... is that just dumb?

Been trolling your board for a while, figured maybe get an opinion on this from folks around here .

I'm in 2013 535 xDrive M-Sport for a couple of weeks now. Coming from my 2010 535i xDrive (and before it from a 2008 335), even after growing more used to it, this car stills feels a bit... heavy and a tad lumbering.

Thinking to perk it up (having gone from rft to non- in my older 335 with positive results), not only do I want to go non-RFT, I also looked at http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com, and, according to it, my stock 351 rims weigh about 32 lbs. (14.53kg).

If that's true, There are a bunch of quality 18 and 19 rims out there which would easily shave 7-10+ lbs off each corner. However, trying to balance the budget, it's quite a bit cheaper to go 18's b/c the tires cost less (and less prone to damage) which makes me lean towards an 18.

I don't push any hard limits with this car, nor my E60 before it. I just want it to feel more crisp and, dare I say, "sprightly". It'll never be a 335, but I test drove several 2013 Audi A6's and they have us beat in that dept as far as stock setups go, but we can't have that, and surely there's some modest cost tweaks to iron this out (hell, the 535 x is only like 100 lbs heavier than the A6, isn't it?).


I know the prevailing trend is to go up in rim size, but all factors considered, does this seem like a "reasonable" approach to get what I want, or am I thinking about this the wrong way? Does anybody with experience think it'll make any real difference?

Also, has anyone noticed any adverse performance/ride-quality issues going with significantly lighter wheel/tire setup on these cars?

Sorry for the novella and thanks in advance for any opinions...
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