peet

I drove the 120 miles one way to Tire Rack today. Was greeted by a fantastic bunch of folks.

Met with their engineer who measured every possible aspect of the car - in some very high tech ways. I asked if I could take pix to share with you all, but they are considering this a competitive advantage. Having witnessed it, yea, I'd say they're light years ahead.

So, the info you've all been waiting for....

We take the 18" fitment from the E63. The E is slightly more restrictive in that there is a strut that sticks into the tire area a bit, but overall it's the same.

I'm told the C63 will be on the Tire Rack website within the next two weeks. However, you should feel confident in going with an E63 tire/wheel package.

Hi praise to my rep Gavin - folks, please ask for him as he knows the setup now and can help you get something ordered.

Oh - one more thing to note, our cars need a heavy duty load tire due to the torque - so keep that in mind when ordering rubber which is 18x225-40.

Let me know if you have other questions.

Peet

Oh yea, in case you're curious our OEM wheels in the US are made by Borbet.

NORTH 44 C63

You mean "Winter Wheels" don't you....just kidding.

The guys a TR are really pretty good at what they do!!

Thanks for the effort but the selection is a little slim on their site. Hopefully it is updated when the list the C63.

tglickamg

Hey guys

This is an important issue to me as I live in Chicago and do want to drive the car a good amount in the winter. Here are my questions:

1) Can I use my existing stock 18" wheels for the winter tires?

2) So what winter tires should I use? Or will this information not yet available?

3) Does road / tire noise increase with winter tires? Will the car feel slower?

4) Can anyone give me some type of price estimate?

Sorry about the 'novice' like questions - just want to make sure I have my bases covered and choose the right tires!

peet

Slim selection? There were 48 wheels to choose from (and yea - heh - meant wheel).

But basically any 18" or bigger E63 wheel will work.

A for TG's questions...

1) yes you can use your existing wheels - but having a staggered setup sucks in this case... 9" wide rears are really a bad idea in snow.

2) there are only 3 tires available from TR - Michelin PA3, Blizzak and some other... I went with the Blizzaks. Although there are a ton of tires available for snow - our car requires - DEMANDS - the heavy duty load. You go with standard and they'll likely shred.

3) sometimes and no -- it's dependent on what wheels you put on - if you put on heavy wheels, then it may feel slower.

4) between $800 for just tires to the sky depending on rims. I'm out 2100. But I bought wheels, TP sensors etc along with the tires.

gravedgr

This is just another one of those times when I'm glad I live in the southern U.S. No winter tires here, although some nice aftermarket wheels might be nice. Most of the sites have very poor navigation for knowing exactly what will fit your car and exactly how much it will cost. The whole "advertise in the forum and then 'PM me for price'" crap sucks, frankly.

tglickamg

Can someone clarify the answer to question 1? Why is sticking with the staggered stock set up a bad idea? Why is are 9" rears a bad idea in snow? I guess my point is that I was planning on just throwing on some snow tires on my stock wheels for the wintertime. Is this not good for the car? Why would this be a problem? Can someone clarify this please?

peet

From everything I've read, it's not so much the staggared but the fact that the rears are 9". 8" is bad enough, 7" would be ideal... basically in dry, the bigger the contact patch the better. In snow, the smaller the better as the weight is more concentrated on a smaller area and it acts as a push knife of sorts.

Now depending on where in Chicago you live, the 9" backs may be just fine... if you're in the city forget it. They take too long to clear the snow. If you're in the burbs like me where the snow is on the ground for like two hours while falling and then gone - the 9"s would be fine most likely.

I too toyed with the idea of going with the stocker wheels and snows on them - but then I'd need to buy new "nice" rims and summer tires later and the prospect of $2k for snows or $6k for nice wheels later made me cringe. It's a bad idea to swap rubber every season change - you'll damage the rims, possibly damage the pressure sensors and you'll potentially damage the tires with all the stretching over the lip.

Hope this helps with your decision!

bizguy4u

Going with the same size wheel all round from TR makes it easier for them, but from experience I would rather find the matching wheel size for the rears and the front.

Matched my BBS wheels on the 335 with exact size and tires and never had a problem last winter in New England.

Tire Rack are great in every way but going with the same size wheel & tire all round I disagree on!

451/443=EW

It's a bad idea to swap rubber every season change

I agree with everything you said but the last statment is
Any pro will tell you get a different tire for every season. Granted this is costly and most wont do it, including me. But you really should put on winters EVERY winter if you live in snowy climates.

I would rather risk damage to my rim or tire than risk damage to my hole car or ME, oh and someone else. Besides they damage your rim they pay to fix it.
As for the sensors damage...same thing they fix it and who really cares about the sensor's. Is it really that cave man to just look at your tire and say. "Hey I need air". Like I said I agree fully with everything else.

gravedgr

I think he meant it was a bad idea to keep putting tires on/off the same set of wheels. In other words, if you're going to have winter tires keep them on a set of winter wheels instead of swapping them on and off one set of wheels.

At least, that's how I read it.

peet

Yep - I meant off the same set of rims.

You won't get an argument from me about summer and winter tire sets. No sirrree.