It's a common mistake for a forum member to install Heavy 18" wheels & tires on their Non-M Bimmer. Most guys never think about the consequences of adding 10 to 20% in unsprung weight when they're shopping for their new 18's. Then once their new heavy 18's are installed they wonder why they're Bimmer feels Dull & Under Powered like it just lost 20 HP. This Dull & Sluggish feeling is Especially noticed on the smaller motor chassis like 323, 325, and ALL Xi Bimmers. The key to making your new 18" wheels & tires feel great is to make them lighter than the stock OE wheels & tires that are coming off your Bimmer. In many cases it's possible to achieve a 10 to 15% unsprung weight reduction even when on a budget, this 10 to 15% reduction will yield Great Benefits to the chassis in both handling & acceleration. Another key ingredient is to buy a Square Setup, a square setup means that all your new 18" wheels are exactly the same size & all the new tires are the same size. With a square setup your Bimmer will handle better plus you'll now be able to rotate your tires front to rear to achieve better tire wear.
My "Go To" lightweight tire is the Continental brand, then sometimes Hankook & others when they make a lightweight option. My current three favorite choices are 1) Continental DWS 06 Ultra High Performance All-Season, 2) Hankook Ventus V12 EV02 which is a Max Performance Summer, & 3) Continental DW which is a Max Performance Summer, None of these tires are rated number 1 in their class, but all are considered excellent choices & get very high marks in different tire tests, not to mention that they are highly rated by the customers that purchase them. The main reason I like them so much & recommend them to E46Fanatics members is they're typically the lightest possible tire you can buy, if you were to look at any independent tire test where there's a Top 10 list, the Continental tires are almost always going to be the lightweight tire champ.
The trick to picking your 18" wheels & keeping them light is to Not go to big on the wheel width & tire width. I would recommend keeping your wheel width at 8" & choosing a 215/40-18 tire size. Besides all of the previously mentioned things, a typical 18 x 8" and 215/40-18 can be very cost effective vs their bigger and heavier 18" cousins. Here are 17 decent wheel choices from forum sponsor Tire Rack in a 18 x 8", the price point of these 17 different wheels ranges from $128 to $175 with a weight between roughly ~20 lbs to ~22 lbs.
Tire Rack wheels: (Enter) Diameter = 18", Weight = 19 to 21 lbs, Sort By = Lowest to Highest.
https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/res...Coupe&autoYear=2003&autoModClar=Sport+Package
Now when we add a 215/40-18 XL* Continental DWS 06 (All-Season) at 18.6 lbs, Hankook Ventus V12 EV02 (Summer) at 19 lbs, and the Continental DW (Summer) at 19.4 lbs we get the Amazing Unsprung Weight of ~38.6 lbs to ~41.4 lbs, with an average weight of roughly ~40 lbs per 18" wheel & tire. When you mount & drive 18" wheels & tires that weigh in at roughly 40 lbs, you'll be AMAZED at how Great & Nimble your Bimmer now feels.
Last but not least: Remember that a slightly smaller set of high grip tires like the 215/40-18's I've posted will be equal to OR outperform a larger set of "Less" performance oriented high mileage tires.
Here is a picture of a Non-M E46 running 18 x 8" ET22 with 215/40-18 tires.
Rob43
* When purchasing a 215/40-18, They MUST be an XL Load Range tire to meet your needed load requirements.
My "Go To" lightweight tire is the Continental brand, then sometimes Hankook & others when they make a lightweight option. My current three favorite choices are 1) Continental DWS 06 Ultra High Performance All-Season, 2) Hankook Ventus V12 EV02 which is a Max Performance Summer, & 3) Continental DW which is a Max Performance Summer, None of these tires are rated number 1 in their class, but all are considered excellent choices & get very high marks in different tire tests, not to mention that they are highly rated by the customers that purchase them. The main reason I like them so much & recommend them to E46Fanatics members is they're typically the lightest possible tire you can buy, if you were to look at any independent tire test where there's a Top 10 list, the Continental tires are almost always going to be the lightweight tire champ.
The trick to picking your 18" wheels & keeping them light is to Not go to big on the wheel width & tire width. I would recommend keeping your wheel width at 8" & choosing a 215/40-18 tire size. Besides all of the previously mentioned things, a typical 18 x 8" and 215/40-18 can be very cost effective vs their bigger and heavier 18" cousins. Here are 17 decent wheel choices from forum sponsor Tire Rack in a 18 x 8", the price point of these 17 different wheels ranges from $128 to $175 with a weight between roughly ~20 lbs to ~22 lbs.
Tire Rack wheels: (Enter) Diameter = 18", Weight = 19 to 21 lbs, Sort By = Lowest to Highest.
https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/res...Coupe&autoYear=2003&autoModClar=Sport+Package
Now when we add a 215/40-18 XL* Continental DWS 06 (All-Season) at 18.6 lbs, Hankook Ventus V12 EV02 (Summer) at 19 lbs, and the Continental DW (Summer) at 19.4 lbs we get the Amazing Unsprung Weight of ~38.6 lbs to ~41.4 lbs, with an average weight of roughly ~40 lbs per 18" wheel & tire. When you mount & drive 18" wheels & tires that weigh in at roughly 40 lbs, you'll be AMAZED at how Great & Nimble your Bimmer now feels.
Last but not least: Remember that a slightly smaller set of high grip tires like the 215/40-18's I've posted will be equal to OR outperform a larger set of "Less" performance oriented high mileage tires.
Here is a picture of a Non-M E46 running 18 x 8" ET22 with 215/40-18 tires.
Rob43
* When purchasing a 215/40-18, They MUST be an XL Load Range tire to meet your needed load requirements.