[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by Argo

Yeah I've seen some cars got delivered with SportContact 6 tires, but I understand they're not a step up from the (somewhat aging) Pilot SuperSports.

IIRC, the Michelin Pilot SS has a higher rating on the Tire Rack site. I am extremely pleased with both their dry and especially their wet performance considering how much rain we get in south Florida.

[bacampbe]

I went with the 19 inch. My reasoning was that the 19 inch looks cool, and that the vast majority of the cars BMW provided to reviewers had the 19 inch wheels. (At least where the review mentioned the wheels). So I had to wonder if BMW saw some advantage. I know that reasoning is a stretch :-)

I'm certainly hoping for the Michelins.

[StanDiego]

Originally Posted by Argo

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but what did you end up going with? I imagine given the date of the original post that you've yet not gotten your order, but it's probably past the last point where you can make changes.

Ultimately though, I don't expect there's any meaningful performance difference between both for most applications.

FWIW, you're not going to see any appreciable weight difference between 18s and 19s. Though the 18" wheels might be a a couple of pounds lighter (hard to say because 18 is a different design than 19), the 18" tires are actually heavier (2 lbs front, 1 pound rear). You're probably going to be somewhere around 53 lbs front, 58 lbs rear for the tire/wheel combo regardless (unless the standard 18" is actually heavier than the optional 19' wheels).

I can't find any info on the weight of the 18" wheels but following is info on the 19" 799 style wheels:

Front: wheel 30 lbs, tire 23 lbs, total 53 lbs
Rear: wheel 32 lbs, tire 26 lbs, total 58 lbs

18" tires are 25 lbs front, 27 lbs rear

Tire weights were obtained from tirerack.com specs. Wheel weight was obtained by actually weighing the wheels (without TPMS installed) after replacing with aftermarket wheels.

[rikwynnpa]

This a sports car. Give it the Michelin performance tires it deserves on 19" wheels. Simple.

Originally Posted by bacampbe

I just ordered an M40i (PB, Cognac, most boxes checked). I'm still in the window where I can make changes.

I've currently specced the 18 inch wheels. Is there any real advantage to the 19 inch other than cosmetic? My understanding is the 18 inch wheels should ride better due to lower weight and more rubber. Do people get a noticeable handling benefit with the 19?

Along those lines, does the Z4 have the usual BMW dice-roll on which tires you get?

[Balr14]

I had 17" and 18" wheels for my 335i. The 17" wheels definitely had a smoother ride. I will mention again our road quality is generally poor. Seriously, I averaged $2000 a year in damage to wheels, tires and suspension commuting to work. I always chose the smallest wheels with the tallest sidewall I could find. If I hadn't retired, I would have had to give up and buy a 4 door pickup truck like everyone with more sense drives around here.