The king of indecision strikes again: decided on getting 17" instead of 16" radial wheels on my 95 740i!

["Stephen Robinson" <stever@xxxxxxxxx>]

I was all set to get the 16" radial spoke 61 wheels to replace my ugly stock
"dish" style wheels till I was stopped in my tracks last night at VOB BMW...
On the showroom floor was a 2000 model year Blk/Tan 740il "Protection
Package" with the security glass, no sunroof, armor package...for $99,000!
My eyes went immediately to the wheels, which I had never seen before - they
were 17" Star Spoke 70's with Michelin Pilot MXM4 tires.  They were HOT!
And, they looked easy to clean!  I asked one of the salespeople about how
much the wheels were, and they said they were VERY expensive.  I didn't
think too much more about it, till I woke up this morning and thought, "I
wonder"...  So I called VOB in Rockville MD and found out they were $455
each list but they'd discount them to just $330 each including the BMW
hubcap.  They're about $110 more per wheel than the Radial Spoke 61 wheels
I'd originally decided to go with, and the Michelin Tires add another $930
to the deal (including mounting & balancing) as I was going to just put the
radial spokes on my existing Yokohama 16" tires, but I thought, what the
hell!  I did ok in the stock market last year, so I deserve a treat.  This
wheel thing turned out to be a hell of a lot less than buying a used 740i
sport!  They're still in the $57,000 - $59,000 range - aaargh.

I'm pretty sure I'll go with the Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 tires 235 55 R17,
but the guy at Radial Tire and Tire Rack said that the Bridgestone Turanza
Rivo (ain't that a mouthful) tires were $30 less per tire and are just as
good if not better than the Michelins.  Any comments?  I'm leaning towards
the Michelins, as they were on the car in the showroom and just looked
great - but if I can save $130....!

Email me if you have an opinion...
Thanks,
Steve Robinson
1995 740i  waiting patiently for the wheels to come from Germany by boat!
1988 911

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