[drbluedevil]

So I have a black sapphire iX50 on order that finally entered actual production last Friday after being stuck in status 150 purgatory for 6 weeks.

I ordered it with the 20" wheels. I saw an iX with them at the dealership. They're horrendous. Don't look directly at them or they'll damage your eyes. BUT, they increase range, comfort, and cabin quietness, so that's why I did it.

I was planning to powder coat them black, which I think might make them actually look halfway decent. Anyone have experience with or pictures of this? Anyone else care to admit they ordered these or have anything else to share about it? All the reviews seem to be on vehicles that ride on the 21s or 22s, but that recent insideEVs range test was encouraging...

[Bird~Dawg]

I ordered 22's but I intend to get the 20's for my winter package. I figure they'll help offset a little bit of the cold weather range loss and the extra sidewall height is better in snow. I'd be interested in seeing them in black if anyone has done that.

[Brwilli]

Originally Posted by drbluedevil

So I have a black sapphire iX50 on order that finally entered actual production last Friday after being stuck in status 150 purgatory for 6 weeks.

I ordered it with the 20" wheels. I saw an iX with them at the dealership. They're horrendous. Don't look directly at them or they'll damage your eyes. BUT, they increase range, comfort, and cabin quietness, so that's why I did it.

I was planning to powder coat them black, which I think might make them actually look halfway decent. Anyone have experience with or pictures of this? Anyone else care to admit they ordered these or have anything else to share about it? All the reviews seem to be on vehicles that ride on the 21s or 22s, but that recent insideEVs range test was encouraging...

I have the same on order—Black Sapphire with the 20” wheels. I did that for a couple reasons. Better range, comfort and quietness, plus I think the front lower fascia looks better than those multi-v shaped designs on the sport version. I chose the color to hide all of those busy lines generally at the bottom of the car.

Yes, those 20” wheels don’t measure up style-wise, but I can live with that as my usual view will be of the interior not the exterior. I like the Castanea leather. The black leather would have been too much black.

Now if I could only get the order moving. Genius said I had a production week 26, but that disappeared and I don’t have a build week. Probably means I’ll get a 2023 with no B&W

[drbluedevil]

well, I'm hoping someone else has already done this and will post/maybe give me new ideas, but at the very least, I'll post about it once I do it

[NiallG]

Beware: we have the Sports pack on our ix40 with the 22" wheels & the maintenance will be a lot pricier.

Last Friday we had a puncture - pretty sure due to workmen entering/leaving local construction site and leaving stuff on road. The nail was on the top of the tyre & had gone straight through.

Despite going directly to a garage at 10km/h (under <1km away) almost immediately as soon as we saw the Tyre warning light come on, we sadly learned the walls of the run flat style tyres were too worn down (and showing tread) so we weren't able to simply get the puncture repaired.

Due to the large size of the tyre it cost us AUD$620 (about USD$430) to get a replacement just using same Bridgestone tyre which we had on the car (other brands about same price too). Because it was a rarer size, we also had to wait half a day for it to be ordered in.

So anyhow, 20" wheels might not look as nice but if you have to replace a tyre like we did it will be significantly cheaper.

[JonoNZ]

I did not think any iX wheels were fitted with run flat tyres.

[NiallG]

Originally Posted by JonoNZ

I did not think any iX wheels were fitted with run flat tyres.

It might be different overseas but in Australia all the iX tyres are tubeless/run flats apparently.. There's no spare wheel at all either - unless of course we didn't look in the right spot (ie it's in the frunk or something)..

[JonoNZ]

Ok interesting. I'm pretty sure here in NZ (or other markets) they're not fitting run flats due to the impact on range. No spare either. There is a tyre repair kit in the boot/trunk though.

[Bird~Dawg]

Originally Posted by JonoNZ

Ok interesting. I'm pretty sure here in NZ (or other markets) they're not fitting run flats due to the impact on range. No spare either. There is a tyre repair kit in the boot/trunk though.

And with roadside assistance there's really no need to drive any distance on a flat tyre.

[PhilD]

In the UK, they're definitely not run-flat tyres. There's a patch kit and compressor in the boot.

[hugo_nz]

Originally Posted by NiallG

It might be different overseas but in Australia all the iX tyres are tubeless/run flats apparently.. There's no spare wheel at all either - unless of course we didn't look in the right spot (ie it's in the frunk or something)..

I’d question that. As far as I know the IX does not come with ROF tyres in any market.

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by hugo_nz

I’d question that. As far as I know the IX does not come with ROF tyres in any market.

Not mentioned in any OEM option package that I could find, including Australia (and they all included a repair kit, which I imagine RF would not have), but perhaps dealer-installed? Or could explain the sidewall damage....

Specifically mentions non-RF here:

https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-rev...mw-ix-review-2

[CaboM4]

Originally Posted by drbluedevil

Don't look directly at them or they'll damage your eyes.

Too late ... I saw the video from InsideEVs range testing the xDrive50, and I believe my retinas are permanently scarred. I have had blurry vision since!

I would strongly urge you to see if a body shop or powder coater could partially paint the "insides" of the spokes and inside of the wheels black, which I think would greatly improve the aesthetics of the 20" wheel option

[Rickardg]

I went for the 21'' wheels. Yes the 20'' have a theoretic advantage in range, but in reality speed, driving style, temperature, rain/snow and elevation differences have so much more impact. (not judging the looks of the different wheels)

RE Run flat or not, the fact that there is no compressor in the boot is not a sign of tire type. In my region the compressor is an option that can be choosen or not (No run flats in Sweden either)

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by Rickardg

I went for the 21'' wheels. Yes the 20'' have a theoretic advantage in range, but in reality speed, driving style, temperature, rain/snow and elevation differences have so much more impact. (not judging the looks of the different wheels)

RE Run flat or not, the fact that there is no compressor in the boot is not a sign of tire type. In my region the compressor is an option that can be choosen or not (No run flats in Sweden either)

I imagine having a repair kit included as standard OEM equipment is a pretty good indicator though, since you wouldn't need one with RFT. And that seems to be the case across the model line, everywhere, as far as I can tell. I suppose, somewhere, you could order RFT as an option (and you could certainly install any tires that fit after purchase), but I haven't found any configurator that allows that as an order. And I expect BMW does not for the simple matter of range - considering that they even designed aerodynamic wheels to maximize it, and run-flats add about 50 pounds of rolling resistance for a comparable sized tire set.

[ricerboi]

I ordered with the 21", but I'm probably going to sell them and order 22" for summer/daily and 20" for Winter/Off-Road setups. The tire choices are just much cheaper in 20/22" compared to 21".

[ScullyD]

Originally Posted by drbluedevil

So I have a black sapphire iX50 on order that finally entered actual production last Friday after being stuck in status 150 purgatory for 6 weeks.

I ordered it with the 20" wheels. I saw an iX with them at the dealership. They're horrendous. Don't look directly at them or they'll damage your eyes. BUT, they increase range, comfort, and cabin quietness, so that's why I did it.

I was planning to powder coat them black, which I think might make them actually look halfway decent. Anyone have experience with or pictures of this? Anyone else care to admit they ordered these or have anything else to share about it? All the reviews seem to be on vehicles that ride on the 21s or 22s, but that recent insideEVs range test was encouraging...

I'm getting anywhere between 3.6mi/kwh and up to 4.0mi/kwh sometimes on the 22"s.

Factor that efficiency with the fact that i don't have to look at the 20s (which are uglier than sin) and the car rides great, i think the 22s are the no brainer.

[Paladin1]

Only problem with OEM 22s, at least in the US, is no all season, which is a non-starter here without a winter set...

[ricerboi]

Originally Posted by Paladin1

Only problem with OEM 22s, at least in the US, is no all season, which is a non-starter here without a winter set...

You're going to want to get real winter/studless tires anyways if you're living somewhere cold. All-season's are pretty much all garbage (save for the Conti DWS or Nitto Motivo/NT421Q) if you're constantly living in snow or sub 40F temps for most of the year.

I'm in SoCal but I have a dedicated winter set for when I drive up to SLC or other snowy areas for ski trips. From my other thread, I'm going to do winter 20s and summer/daily 22's. You will probably want to downsize to 20s for a winter setup to save money on tires.

[Paladin1]

Originally Posted by ricerboi

You're going to want to get real winter/studless tires anyways if you're living somewhere cold. All-season's are pretty much all garbage (save for the Conti DWS or Nitto Motivo/NT421Q) if you're constantly living in snow or sub 40F temps for most of the year.

I'm in SoCal but I have a dedicated winter set for when I drive up to SLC or other snowy areas for ski trips. From my other thread, I'm going to do winter 20s and summer/daily 22's. You will probably want to downsize to 20s for a winter setup to save money on tires.

Winter tires perform better than all season tires in winter. That out of the way, Bridgestone AS Ultras have worked just fine - in fact better than fine - in the Midwest winters here for three seasons, with sometimes a foot of snow or more - and I'm not a fan of seasonal swaps here because of the unpredictability - Winter here is October through February. Maybe. Or could be September through May. Maybe. With daily or weekly differences. Or not. If I drove more now over longer distances, winters maybe.

[CaboM4]

I just ordered the winter set from BMW style 1011 in 21”. They appear to be currently available in good quantities. I would suggest buying now and not closer to the winter if you want these. October/November is when these things become scarce.

36115A42016

[ppagiga]

Originally Posted by CaboM4

I just ordered the winter set from BMW style 1011 in 21”. They appear to be currently available in good quantities. I would suggest buying now and not closer to the winter if you want these. October/November is when these things become scarce.

36115A42016

Thinking best to buy soon as well. Any luck getting discount on them?