Best tires for i3?

[shoei600]

Thanks for the update. Did they put 195 width tyres on the front too?

 

[m6rk]

I'm in the UK. I have the 2021 i3s with 20" wheels, ought as a BMW approved with only 1200 miles a few months ago, supplied with 175/55/R20 and 195/55/R20 sizes. Its now freezing and will be for sometime and I have noticed a fair amount of minor slips which caused me to investigate the tyres only to find the Bridgestone Ecopia supplied are summer tyres and which would have a significant performance drop off below 7 degrees. There are no 175/55 tyres (all season or winter) available for the this car in the UK.

Encouraged by the posts from M6rk above that says 195/55 can go on all wheels, I spoke with my local BMW dealer to see what BMW's position on this might be. I dont want to put something on and find that should the car be in an accident, somebody will use the larger tyres as a reason to wriggle out of their responsibilities. Conversely I have my kids in the car and if the tyres aren't changed the car is far more likely to be in an accident. I'm somewhat shocked that BMW UK have sold a car, virtually brand new with summer tyres without any warning or note attached. They didn't say to use it only in summer or above 7 degrees either.

It looks like my best option would be to add wheels spacers to ensure 195 tyres on the front remain with sufficient design clearance. I'm assuming that the 20mm increase in tyre width would be 10mm either side so 10mm wheel spacer would bring it out the same, but would put the wheel 20mm further outwards. Will ned to check it remains within the arch and the rear is similarly placed. May have to add spacers to the rear to make sure it doesnt look odd.

I'm keen to hear what have others done for winter/all season in the UK please? Sounds like the US have more options, is there an importer and would they be legal in the UK?

Thanks.

Hi Shoei600,

Are you sure that your rear tires are 195/55? They should be 195/50.

You don't need any spacers for 195/55R20 tires for stock 20" i3 rims. The clearance is fully safe for all 4 wheels. I had a set of 19" rims with 155 winter tires on my '14 i3; those rims needed 10mm spacers to fit on my '18 i3s. Otherwise no spacer needed.

Currently my rims have GoodYear UltraGrip Performance+ winter tires on them. We have several winter tire options for this dimension on Turkish market. A forum user wrote that 195/55R20 is not available in US Market. I believe you should easily find in Europe. Keep us informed, cheers!

 

[shoei600]

You are right sorry. I have 175/55/R20 on the front and 195/50/R20. I know you say they fit without issue, but do you know how much clearance you have internally? I'd like to understand how close the additional 10mm either side of the wheel puts it to the nearest obstacle. I should be able to find out in a couple of days.

I'd like to avoid spacers if I can as this will potentially put an additional stress on the bearings although others have said the cars feels more planted by going marginally wider, and it does feel very twitchy on the motorway.

Thanks.

 

[m6rk]

You are right sorry. I have 175/55/R20 on the front and 195/50/R20. I know you say they fit without issue, but do you know how much clearance you have internally? I'd like to understand how close the additional 10mm either side of the wheel puts it to the nearest obstacle. I should be able to find out in a couple of days.

I'd like to avoid spacers if I can as this will potentially put an additional stress on the bearings although others have said the cars feels more planted by going marginally wider, and it does feel very twitchy on the motorway.

Thanks.

I cannot give clearance amount in numbers, but I can say I used the summer tires for 40k miles in different road characteristics, more importantly I passed through thousands of speed bumps without any tire rubbing. Some speed bumps that I failed to see on time proved me there is full clearance on straight. You are more concerned on front tires I assume, whether they may touch somewhere inside when you steer max. left/right or not. I did all the check by myself at the beginning but I have no data nor photo, sorry. I kept the used tires, they have absolutely no rubbing mark on them. That is all I can share with you

Is 195/55R 20 tires -winter & summer- available in UK?

Maybe I can find time to take some photos of my car tomorrow.

 

[shoei600]

We dont do the summer/winter switch in the UK as our seasons have become much the same - it can snow, hail, be hot or cold any time of year and we have torrential rain throughout

Options:
195/55/R20 - (front) include Michelin Crossclimate 2, Continental Contact, Pirelli Cinturato, etc.
175/55/R20 - (front) Bridgestone Ecopia EP500, Continental Eco Contact 6 - both summer tyres
195/50/R20 - (rear) Bridgestone Ecopia EP500, Bridgestone Potenza S001 - both summer tyres
195/55/R20 - (rear) but larger, Michelin Crossclimate 2, Continental Contact, Pirelli Cinturato, etc.

It's worse than I thought. So I can get all season tyres for the front only if I go from 175 to 195 but nothing for the rear unless the wheel goes 1cm ;are run circumference. I really dislike the idea of having a second set of wheels but its looking like 19" may be the better option.

 

[m6rk]

It seems you have pretty much all the necessary info to come to a conclusion

You know better your year around mileage, where do you drive most of the time -well maintained big city roads or narrow village roads in Scotland/Wales- etc.

The city I live is Istanbul, Turkey. It has a warmer climate compared where you live, I assume. However, I opted to use two set of tires; both being 195/55R20.

For the spring, summer & fall (9 months): GoodYear EfficientGrip Performance
For the winter (3 months): GoodYear UltraGrip Performance+

Even though I am not a fan of allweather tires, Michelin Crossclimate 2 seems to be a good option if you choose to have a single set for the whole year. Just be extra cautious on snow.

Cheers,