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Swapping winter tires onto the one set of rims

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Papafox

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Jan 12, 2013
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I'll be doing a fair amount of driving in the snow on ski trips this winter and wish to have my winter tires placed on the 19" Tesla wheels that my 70D came with. Later in the year I'm likely to take the car home to Hawaii, and so two sets of wheels doesn't really make sense for me. I have two questions:

1) Have you ever had your wheels damaged while tires have been swapped? I'm trying to get a feel for the risk here.

2) Are the sensors for tire pressure part of the wheels and for this reason will they work with the new set of tires?

Thanks!
 
1) I am more concerned about the bead area of the tires being damaged than damage to the wheels.

2) The sensors are part of the valve stem.

3) Standard 19" wheels are $300 each from Tesla. That's actually a reasonable price. Get the extra set of wheels, you won't regret doing so. Also sometimes there are used wheels on TMC. Winter tends to beat up wheels, so a winter set of wheels that you don't care all that much about is always a good idea.
 
...3) Standard 19" wheels are $300 each from Tesla. That's actually a reasonable price. Get the extra set of wheels, you won't regret doing so. Also sometimes there are used wheels on TMC. Winter tends to beat up wheels, so a winter set of wheels that you don't care all that much about is always a good idea.
If price matters, find some new after market rims or mount some used BMW 19" ones with ET 35 ~ 40 and centerrings.
You can even not bother with mounting TMPS sensors at all. I don't recommend that; the error message is a PITA.

For a one time swap, when moving to another climate, you should of course be OK with just the one set of rims. (Ditching the winter tyres afterwards on Craigs List or similar.)
 
When I first started using winter tires, I would simply replace the summer with the winter tires on the same 19" wheels (this was on a Porsche). It was fine for several years and then I sold the car. I repeated this exercise on another Porsche for several years. Finally, I got tired of paying the $200+ for swapping tires plus balancing every two seasons and just bought a cheaper set of dedicated winter wheels.

Having dedicated winter rims also allowed me to splurge and go for the 21" summer wheels and a more reasonable 19" winter wheels.

If you're doing this infrequently (such as for a ski trip before heading to Hawaii) I would recommend just swapping tires on the same wheels. You will be fine. Go to a reputable tire shop in your neighborhood. The TPMS kit will work on the winter tires as well (they are attached to the wheel). You will get charged an extra $20 or so for the TPMS effort.
 
Centre rings and spacers always make me very nervous--seen too many bounces with them installed.
Yes, this is a common fenomenon on low quality after market wheels.
But caused by the lousy fitment of the wheels, not caused by the rings or the spacers.
So using either on BMW OEM or A-brand after market wheels is fine.