Downsizing from 19" to 18" F31 330d - Where to source 18"

[ChasW]

I have recently replaced our 2014 F31 330d SE with a 2015 F31 330d Luxury, partly due to ULEZ. The old car had 17" RFTs. It was comfortable and quiet but a bit too soft and wallowy. The replacement car has really nice looking BMW Individual alloys (439 l) with newish Goodyear RFTs but I am already finding the ride a bit firm and road noise intrusive. I believe dropping down a size, to 18", should help on both counts. I have read on here that others have changed wheel size for various reasons. What I am keeen to understand is where do people source replacement alloys from? I see ads on ebay sellling used sets. Is this the best place to look?

[JakeT]

I’d go eBay, or contact Quarry Motors.

[Liamjrhodes]

as said ebay or facebook market place would be where I would be looking

[d_a_n1979]

ChasW said:

I have recently replaced our 2014 F31 330d SE with a 2015 F31 330d Luxury, partly due to ULEZ. The old car had 17" RFTs. It was comfortable and quiet but a bit too soft and wallowy. The replacement car has really nice looking BMW Individual alloys (439 l) with newish Goodyear RFTs but I am already finding the ride a bit firm and road noise intrusive. I believe dropping down a size, to 18", should help on both counts. I have read on here that others have changed wheel size for various reasons. What I am keeen to understand is where do people source replacement alloys from? I see ads on ebay sellling used sets. Is this the best place to look?

Join these forums; there are a few sets of 18" F3x wheels for sale on the classifieds section also:

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/forumdisplay.php...

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/forumdisplay.php...

I dropped from 19" 403Ms to 18" 405Ms (which are forged) on my F31 and it was the best thing I could have done; I run a set of 397s too for winters

You can pick up Style 397s/398s etc for c£50-£100 a corner on eBay; plenty of car breakers on there that sell them; just get them refurbished in the colour of your choice and fit whichever tyres you want

I run straight set alloys (so 18x8 all round) with 235/45/18 tyres - makes for a better ride all round; quieter/smoother and better handling as well

[E63eeeeee...]

Find some styles you like that will fit on one of the BMW alloy websites like http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/ and then as mentioned look them up on eBay or Facebook/gumtree. Original fit ones for the same generation will be the easiest but you can also work out offsets etc and branch out more widely. For a 3 series you can potentially fit anything from 1-4 series cars but you'll need to check offsets and sizes to make sure. 5+ series wheels mostly won't fit. Also be aware that the G generation cars have different bolt patterns so definitely won't fit.

You can also just search for "bmw 18in wheels" and wade through all the ones where sellers couldn't be bothered to find out what they're selling. This can be very tedious but can also end up being cheaper.

[ChasW]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I feel re-assured and confident about next steps. I am hoping that once change over I get a decent price for the existing 19s. If only they were 18 to start with as they are a good like design and suit the car.

[d_a_n1979]

ChasW said:

Thanks for all the suggestions. I feel re-assured and confident about next steps. I am hoping that once change over I get a decent price for the existing 19s. If only they were 18 to start with as they are a good like design and suit the car.

The 403Ms I had sold within 3 days on eBay; only 2 decent tyres but they sold easy enough

What colour is your F31?

Mine went from gloss black 403Ms:



To 18" 400Ms with winter tyres:



To 18" 405Ms with Goodyear Assym6 for my summers:



And it's now on 18" 397s with Goodyear all-seasons on for the winter period:

[ChasW]

The car is question is in Champagne Quartz Individual with fairly decent spec. Its predecessor was Imperial Blue.

[d_a_n1979]

That's a superb colour

I'd deffo stick with silver alloys for that colour car

ALL BMW F3X wheels are here on this website with their full specs (sizes/weights/tyre sizes etc):

https://www.auto-treff.com/wcf/index.php?tagged/34...

If you use Chrome it'll automatically translate it into English for you

398s would look well IMO

https://www.auto-treff.com/wcf/index.php?article/3...

As would 397s:

https://www.auto-treff.com/wcf/index.php?article/3...

I got x4 397s via eBay for £50 each FYI and had them fully powdercoated/refurbed for £180

They suit a solid colour better than diamond cut IMO; they'd look superb in a bright silver on your car I reckon

[ChasW]

Thanks. I think we have similar tastes!

As an aside it's not often that one drives near identical cars back to back. The new one has 48k compared to my old one with 97k. Everything is more taut on the newer one though the engine on the older one was definitely smoother.

[Dazdot]

ChasW said:

I have recently replaced our 2014 F31 330d SE with a 2015 F31 330d Luxury, partly due to ULEZ. The old car had 17" RFTs. It was comfortable and quiet but a bit too soft and wallowy. The replacement car has really nice looking BMW Individual alloys (439 l) with newish Goodyear RFTs but I am already finding the ride a bit firm and road noise intrusive. I believe dropping down a size, to 18", should help on both counts. I have read on here that others have changed wheel size for various reasons. What I am keeen to understand is where do people source replacement alloys from? I see ads on ebay sellling used sets. Is this the best place to look?

I have some for sale on the Wheels and Tyres section of the forum. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[d_a_n1979]

Dazdot said:

ChasW said:

I have recently replaced our 2014 F31 330d SE with a 2015 F31 330d Luxury, partly due to ULEZ. The old car had 17" RFTs. It was comfortable and quiet but a bit too soft and wallowy. The replacement car has really nice looking BMW Individual alloys (439 l) with newish Goodyear RFTs but I am already finding the ride a bit firm and road noise intrusive. I believe dropping down a size, to 18", should help on both counts. I have read on here that others have changed wheel size for various reasons. What I am keeen to understand is where do people source replacement alloys from? I see ads on ebay sellling used sets. Is this the best place to look?

I have some for sale on the Wheels and Tyres section of the forum. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

They're 400Ms - so 18x8 fronts and 18x8.5 rears - 225/45 and 255/40 tyres needed

Would suit the OPs car well

[ChasW]

A postscript. A few weeks ago I sourced a set of 5 style 416 wheels (std fit for this model) with decent non-rft Michelin tyres off FB Marketplace for £300. I had them fitted today and it's made all the difference to the ride. Worth the effort.

[d_a_n1979]

ChasW said:

A postscript. A few weeks ago I sourced a set of 5 style 416 wheels (std fit for this model) with decent non-rft Michelin tyres off FB Marketplace for £300. I had them fitted today and it's made all the difference to the ride. Worth the effort.

That's a steal!

Any pics?

[Pica-Pica]

ChasW said:

A postscript. A few weeks ago I sourced a set of 5 style 416 wheels (std fit for this model) with decent non-rft Michelin tyres off FB Marketplace for £300. I had them fitted today and it's made all the difference to the ride. Worth the effort.

A bargain. I downsized from 19” Pirelli runflats to 18” Goodyear EfficientGrip runflats (both sets were staggered). I took time to decide the style. Because the car is a keeper I was happy to pay for new wheels. Cheapest place? BMW main dealer.
These are the 18” 378s on the car, with the 19” 442s (powder-coated in grey metallic) off the car. I keep meaning to sell them, but I am half tempted to put non-runflats on, to see how they ride.

[ChasW]

With the style 416 18" fitted. The only issue, hopefully minor, is that the tyres are 50 profile not 45 which is the standard fit.

[E-bmw]

ChasW said:

With the style 416 18" fitted. The only issue, hopefully minor, is that the tyres are 50 profile not 45 which is the standard fit.

Don't see why that would be an issue, to go down in wheel size you have got to go up in tyre profile to keep the speedo right.

[d_a_n1979]

E-bmw said:

ChasW said:

With the style 416 18" fitted. The only issue, hopefully minor, is that the tyres are 50 profile not 45 which is the standard fit.

Don't see why that would be an issue, to go down in wheel size you have got to go up in tyre profile to keep the speedo right.

OEM sizes are 224/45/18 for the F31 - the 50 tyres are around 3% different, so just outside the ideal 2.5% +/- range. Means the OP will be doing around 29mph when the speedo says he’s doing 30 etc…

All in they’ll be fine really…

The new wheels look spot on OP

[ChasW]

That was my thinking but when I compare the previous 19" against the new 18" the latter is overall larger diameter, noticeably. The car drives OK through there is a whirring sound. The tyre fitter reckons it could be tread pattern from the previous vehicle, a 3 Series GT. The fronts have greater wear than the rears. At the end of the day if it is an issue I'll change all four. When I bought the 18" wheels I did not expect that wahtever tryes were fitted would be of much value.