wheel set for track days - anything for £500?

[wioifoiee]

hi,
can anyone recommend brands/places to buy for a set of wheels;

- 18" all round
-purely for track day use
- maybe one track day every 2 months, will probably do 6-8 this year
- really don't care about weight - just something as cheap as possible but will be safe and last

i have a 440i, took it around bedford last year as a hurray send off to the tyres before MOT - this time round i want to have a set just for track use only.
Car as standard is 19" staggered, 225/40 front, 255/35 rear.
Was looking for a square 18" set purely for cost, cheaper to be able to buy 18" sets of tyres.

i been looking on ebay for a cheap used set of OEM's, they range from £350-£450, most come with tyres - but if i could buy a new set for £500 i'd have some peace of mind.
is it possible for my budget?

EDIT: also realised something else - if i swap to different size/tyre combo for the track day, would i have to do wheel alignment every time as well?
if yes then probably easier/cheaper for me to find the same size....

Edited by wioifoiee on Sunday 17th May 17:50

[E-bmw]

ebay all day every day, just look out for similar to oe ones, not necessarily exactly what you have, you won't get anything new in those sizes for anything like the price point you are looking at.

Edit. No.

[nickfrog]

Yes I agree with OE on ebay. Have you checked if there is an official 18' wheel for your car, even perhaps a winter wheel? That would make life easier from a compatibility / insurance POV.

There might even be a square winter set up for your car.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was 235 40 18, which would open up the AD08Rs option too...

[veehexx]

same situation as you at the end of last year. I decided i'm going seperate road & track rubber. track wheels will swap between winter & track rubber.
OEM is 19", but 18" fit over the civics brembos and tyres a lot cheaper too with a lot more options as well. I'm actually looking to buy Nankang AR1's today.

originally i went with winter-only wheels - riva DTM 18". but after the decision to go track tyres i didnt have faith the riva's were suitable. Decided to flog those and go with used team dynamic prorace 1.3's from ebay in 8.5x18 size. pretty defacto wheel in track usage and tons for sale on ebay so easy to get a replacement if anything happens. As long as they were straight i didnt care about cosmetics or colour.