Is there any reason that I could not or should not put a set of 16" wheels with 215/60 Blizzaks on my 2005 6MT Sedan?

Tirerack will not allow me to search 16"s on a 2005 Sedan but if I select a 2003 it will. I am not aware of any significant change in lugs or offsets between the 03 and 05.

I priced out a cheap set of 16" wheels, "Sport Edition D5" for $78 each and Blizzak WS-50's for $92 for a total of $680 before shipping and tax. I want to jump on this before demand hits in the fall.

Cofirmation that this setup will work would be greatly appreciated. If it will work, your opinions on the tires. I know the wheels are weak, but so is driving in the snow

thanks in advance,

 

Won't fit an 05. the only model of 05 that will accept 16"ers is the G35X cause it has smaller brakes than the other 05 sedan models. I run the 16"ers with Blizzaks on my X. You will have to go with 17" minimum to clear.

 

ah poop! the calipers. should have thought of it ;-( thanks for your reply. do you know if 17" will fit or am i going to have to pony up big time and buy another set of 18" for my winter tires?

my better half is going to shoot me

 

You can go with the 17" wheels with your snows.

 

thanks for the info GEE35X, guess my dreams of a spare set for under $800 are gone

thanks again for your quick response.

 

I priced out a cheaper set, and it looks like 1200.00 is about average. I'm going to have to do the same thing, but I think I'll wait until the end of Sept.

 

Just an FYI. I put WS-50's on my '04 5AT last winter and HATED THEM. Will be replacing them w/ a high-performance Winter tire this year. Handled like crap, and at times were downright scary. Additionally, I was not impressed w/their snow traction. Found myself sideways on a snow-covered road (I was only going about 30-35).

 

Wow , I am really shocked that you don't like them. But they are not a performance tire and must be driven accordingly. All I have heard are pluses for them for winter conditions. If you just get occassional snow and ice conditions then a performance winter tire would definitely be the way to go. Many of my friends in my area run the WS-50 tires and love them, thats why I originally purchased them. I would get them again.

 

OK, this is begging to be asked, mabe it should be a poll. Who has which snow tires?

Bridgestone, Dunlop, Pirelli, or other?

 

I used Toyo Garit HT high perf snows last winter.
I was very pleased with them on both snow & ice.

Added benefit was they were not too squirmy on dry roads.
Noise level was good too.

 

You've already seen my opinion of the WS-50's. I had Michelin Arctic Alpins on my 325i - similar in feel to WS-50's (soft) but worked very well. Also had Pilot Alpins on my 528i - definitely better non-snow performance, and never had any issues (once made a K-turn in stopped traffic on the side of a hill in a snow storm w/o a problem). Ran Nordfrost II's on my 9-5 w/o incident. Now have Eagle Ultra Grip GW-2's and they seem to be the best overall (also a great deal on close out at $85 each).

 

i think a poll would be a great idea! can you include both "model" and "satified or not" to the poll?