[TW]Fox;30190984 said:
The trouble is that by going the second set of wheels route unless you go for tiny little things and make the car look crap, the cost is absolutely enormous. And if you don't care about your car looking crap for 5 months of the year why spend the extra money on your AMG SPORT S-LINE BLACK EDITION M SPORTZZZZ in the first place?
I bought a set of original Cooper 15's for the Mini and fitted a set of Goodyear Ultragrip 8's for 45 quid each. The wheels were virtually new and were 350 for the set and the tyres were cheap as chips. Plus they look ok on the car. We've had them 3 years now and although they've seen only 30 minutes of snow in their entire life they were cheap enough that it was worth the bother.
But it's not often possible to do that.
Look at your F11 for example - you paid extra for an M Sport with M Sport Plus and then spent half the year rolling around on those awful 18's
If you didn't care about the looks the 19's offered why spec them in the first place
Really then unless you live in the Peak District or the Highlands the best option is a set of 4 decent UHP tyres with excellent wet weather performance. It'll take 99% of what a British winter throws at you with ease and safety, without needing to make massive compromises elsewhere - be that in looks, or reduced performance in other conditions All Seasons, etc.
Well, for my F11, I wasn't initially going to go for the 19's, as I didn't really care about what wheels were on it, as I had a view to put winter tyres on the original wheels, and buying bigger ones for summer use. But I WAS going for the tints and HK stereo, so for the extra £500 I figured I'd just go for the 19's too, rather than the £1k+ for them, or whatever the difference was because of the pack.
The 18's were hardly hideous, and, in fact, were much nicer than the 18's that come standard on the M-Sport anyway. And they were at a reasonable enough price that I could get on board.
The point is though, that the wheels, if bought second hand, and looked after, will be worth close to the purchase price anyway. Regardless if they cost £300 or £1,000. And, as I did with the Alhambra, and will do with the ED30, buy better summer wheels, and demote the original wheels to winters.
Sure, it is an extra expense, but depending on the vehicle, new wheels can be cheap enough. I was £350 for the 18's on my Alhambra (B8 A4 S-Line 18's), and they came with winter tyres, which I sold for £100. I doubt very much I wouldn't get that £250 back if I sold them. Meaning there is a zero cost for the wheels. And the tyres, well they wear whether summer or winter tyres, so the net cost there, is also "zero".
Since we are here though (tyre thread), and I am looking for tyres for the 16's for the Alhambra, has anyone ever heard anything about the new Avon WT7 Snow's? I am considering trying them out, mostly because they are new and cheap. Although I have generally run Conti winters, and they are very good, they are roughly twice the price.
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