White 330Ci with ...

[hydrazine]

Hi Luke, I have a white 2001 E46 330Ci .. my car came standard with a set of 205/50-17 wheel set. While I was surfing tirerack.com, I noticed that the Borbet Type E and T may look nice for my car. This time I'm looking for probably some width 225 wheel sets at 17 inch. Please answer some of my questions below, thanks !

First of all, can you explain what it means to be "17x8" or "17x8.5" ? And which do you think would be more suitable for my case of getting width 225 ?

Also, what would be the tire figures (such as 225/45-ZR17) that you'd recommend for my car ? My driving style is safe but sometimes very aggressive. Should I go 225 front and back, or should I consider 225 front, 245 back like the cars at the BMW Driver Training do ?

How'd you think of me getting some Borbet Type E or T for my White 330Ci ? I'm leaning towards a simpler design, much like the Hamann PG2 .. which other rims do you think might look good on the white 3er coupe ? How'd you think the weight of these rims would enter the picture compared to more expensive & lighter rims, and cast vs alloy ?

I'm also looking into the tire choices. A friend have suggested me the Dunlop SP9000, and I've also had a great experience with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S at the driver training. How'd you think of these 2, and which one would you recommend for my situation ? Are there other good tire choices that you think I should look into ? Another friend recommended the Bridgestone SO3PP too but that's outta range .. =P

Thanks a lot Luke, please try to answer the ones you see as important .. and I'm looking forward to my shopping experience at Tirerack !

Thanks again,
Michael

[Luke@tirerack]

There are many wheel choices and since it is a very personal style statement when installed on your car I will leave that to you. As far as, size ... either 8.0 or 8.5 will work with the 225 width you mentioned just stay away from 9.0" or offsets higher than 42mm. On www.tirerack.com all of the wheels pictured will fit your car properly without any problems.
Tire size is the second issue .... I would suggest that you use the same size on all four corners because it will make the car more neutral handling in corners. The reason the wider tires are used is to reduce throttle induced oversteer and create some understeer, both things are to aid unskilled drivers and the wider rear tires look cool . Plus you will get better tire life when you can rotate your tires.
Tires... I would suggest that you take a serious look at the S-03 Pole Positions they are not that expensive when compared to other tires in the same performance catagory.

hope this helps in your decision ... if you have any additional question please feel free to give me a call

[hydrazine]

Thanks a lot Luke, you have easily answered the questions I had in mind. I've heard a lot about the SO3 pole position's performance, but I am rather concerned about the tread life. Do you think the Dunlop SP9000 would outlast SO3 PP on regular driving with occasional sprints ? Thanks again !