Teaser pics: X3 with summer set
 

On Saturday afternoon, I installed the 18" summer wheels and tires that I ordered from Tire Rack a few days ago. For me, it is an upsize; I've been running on the 17" for quite awhile.

Here's a cell phone pic, since the weather and time wasn't cooperating for a good car wash and photoshoot. Look for a full set of pictures in the future.

Based on a couple days' drive, including the ride back down to Charlottesville, I feel there NO side effects at all. The tires need to break in fully to get a full picture, but so far, I think ride quality has even improved slightly!

Interestingly, when I started the car on an incline after stopping at a gas station, the car threw a combo of warning lights that indicated DSC, xDrive, and ABS had all failed. I drove a couple miles, pulled over, turned it off, locked the door, unlocked it, and restarted. All faults cleared.

Looking good. What wheels are those? You can get the BMW center cap stick-ons from ebay.

monster

The wheels are the Sport Edition F10 18" x 8". Yes yes, I know they're not expensive or brand name. The tires are Kumho Ecsta SPT summer tires. It's a fairly "budget" set of wheels and a friend of mine made some snide comment about the wheels being made in China. The total came in well under $1000 ($960.88 to be precise) inclusive shipping. It's actually $20 cheaper than the 17" winter set purchased for the 325i. I think the BMW centre caps would fit actually, but I opted not to because I don't want people to think I'm trying to "copy" or imitate the Style 148 wheels that are available as a 19" accessory. (http://www.kalach.easynet.be/icone/bmw_wheel_b148.jpg)

I'd been searching for OEM for sale, but that was to no avail. Buying OEM would have cost over twice as much.

I'm not too worried about the cost of mods for the X3 because I plan to (want to) run this baby into the ground. I get the feeling this one's gonna run well over 150k, even if it means replacing an AT along the way.