Fitted my 17" 335i narrow/wides this afternoon!!

Philip Foglar

///Member
Hi guys,

Okay, finally fitted! Cleaned them as best I could, but going to need a bit more of an intensive clean to remove the neglected brake dust and muck inside the wheels. Apart from the one that was refurbished they all seem to be in fair condition, just not well looked after in terms of being regularly cleaned, so some brake dust that has embedded itself into the finish. Just need to quickly check the tyre pressures and go for a drive! Will then be able to say how the tyres feel. But I think they'll need to be replaced fairly soon due to their wear and the fact that the left and right fronts are at different wear levels.

But here we go, 335i 17" narrow/wides - offset on the rear makes the car look a bit more agro. Still keen to eventually get the 18" Ellipsoids, but for the moment these are perfect, and in fact very hard to find! From the agents you get them new for only R23k! :confused:

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Edit:

Just as well I checked the tyre pressures! The left front which is the one that needed to be refurbished was pumped up to something like 4.5 bar!!! All the others were sitting around 2 bar, so adjusted them to the correct pressures and initialised the pressure monitor.

Absolutely pleasantly surprised with how the car feels with these used tyres! Was expecting a slight pull or vibration or noise, but instead it runs smooth and true, and better than those freaking horrible Continentals! Took the car along Wellington Road in Durbanville which is fairly rutted and as such my car would usually tramline - seemed to be immune to this with the Bridgestones! Then went down Durban Road also fine on a decently smooth piece of road, then onto the N1. Took it up to 140 km/h and perfectly smooth the whole time and absolutely stable! The Continentals weren't too bad on a good piece of freeway, but since they were balanced the last time and rotated, there has been a minor vibration and on harder acceleration at freeway speeds it almost felt like there was a slight shudder (ever so slight, but noticeable and of course disconcerting).

So I reckon for now these tyres are perfectly fine, just don't like the difference in wear that the front tyres have, also the left front which is the more worn of the two seems to have a slightly rounded contact patch, almost as if it was not pumped up to the correct pressure and a bit too soft. All the tyres have a fair degree of shoulder feathering, and I can see that the 335i that it came off of was DRIVEN, some of the rubber on the front tyres has some tell-tail signs of sharp high speed cornering!

I must say, now with this experience, it's those damn Continentals that's been the curse of my tramlining problems!
 

Twinz

Forum - Support
Staff member
Good work. Those rims suit the car. Not worth going 18s. Rather consider spacers...cheaper and you will achieve more with it than with the 18s...:idea:
 

Philip Foglar

///Member
Thanks! Yep, I was really keen to go for the 18" Ellipsoids and specifically wanted to go for Pirelli P Zero RFT's - had some doubts still about the Bridgestones, but from the way these ones feel I would have no problem fitting them on the Ellipsoids. Apart from heavy price for 18" RFT's generally, what stopped me from buying the Ellipsoids is simply the fact that they are so popular and common - and as such you see many cars with them fitted that are not very well looked after and the wheels look grubby with loads of curb rashes etc. The original wheels that my car has are very nice but only narrows, and these 335i Coupe wheels have always been on my "wish" list, so when I saw them advertised I phoned immediately - was actually a sale's person from SMG Century City that had placed the advert. It came off a 335i Coupe that he was busy selling and the new owner wanted different wheels fitted.

So I am very chuffed! :rollsmile:

moranor said:
i think you should space it a bit at the back and lower it slightly :rollsmile:

Yep, still something I might do so day (after out of motorplan) - not terribly keen on spacers, but I suppose a 10 or so mm spacer on the rear can't hurt!
 

Karthik

New member
Looking good , and Bridgestones are always good news its just the pricing but with RFT dad prefers them over anything else . Good choice on rims
 

Philip Foglar

///Member
Thanks! Yep, was pretty lucky to find these!! They not very common so like with most other OEM wheels, they are stupidly expensive from the agents! These wheels were advertised on Gumtree earlier the day that I decided to just browse the latest offerings, and immediately I phoned to enquire about them (bare in mind that I have already burnt fingers a few times trying to buy used wheels through Gumtree), anyway, guy says that he is actually a salesman from SMG Century City and that the wheels come off a 335i Coupe that he is busy selling to a guy that wanted other wheels fitted. And what a coincidence! My car was at SMG Century City for some things that they needed to sort out after the car had been in for a service - so went to take a look at the wheels/collect my car the following day.

But honestly, considering the overall condition/wear of these tyres, I am very impressed with the way the car feels compared to newer and more well cared for Continentals!

Caught myself looking at reflections in shop windows earlier today when I went for a drive - like what I saw!!! :inlove:
 

Sankekur

///Member
Looking good :rollsmile:


R23k from the dealers, that's a lot even by dealer standards :nonono: e46 18's go for closer to 17k from the dealers, still a lot, but better than 23k.
 

Philip Foglar

///Member
Thanks! Yep, I think since they are not all too common they either don't have many in stock or not at all, whereas the Ellipsoids and 17" M Sport wheels are plentiful and fairly affordable...
 
What style are these? They look great:thumbs:

I wanted to go first with Msport wheels, but decided against it, cause I wanted a wheel to compliment the Exclusive look. Hence I ordered the style285.
 
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