When you go to a shoe store, you simply check your size, select a pair, and you’re on your way. Well, not exactly! You see, somehow the shoe in your ‘supposed’ size never really fits, and when it does, it’s usually in the wrong colour. And, if the tricky trident of size, colour and design all come together in a happy coincidence, either the shoe is way too expensive or it’s bloody uncomfortable. I’m afraid that selecting a new set of wheels for your car follows much the same pattern.

Far too often, people merely go for what they think looks good, and they don’t take into account (vital) things like unsprung weight, rolling resistance, offset, aspect ratio, diameter, etc. The easiest way to ensure that you’re making the right decision is to get a set of high quality rims from a known brand. What we have here are a set of Borbet XA’s, courtesy of Petes (www.petes.in) in Cochin.

Borbet is a German manufacturer of premium light alloy wheels that supplies not only to the aftermarket, but also several European OEMs. The company’s been around since 1881, and each wheel is examined structurally by x-ray to ensure top notch quality. As a result, Borbet is one of the most well known brands in the world for alloy wheels, so it’s hard to go wrong if you get a set of rims that are the right size and application. And the way to do that is easy. You have a couple of options, pick up the phone and speak with the ‘Britannica of Automobiles,’ Peter Chacko himself, log onto www.borbet.com to check the compatibility between vehicle and prospective wheel rim, or log onto an independent site such as www.tirerack.com (which is an excellent site for all things wheel and tire related) to get third party assurance.

The wheels that I first zoned in on were a set of anthracite 17-inch rims. Naturally, they were out of production. So, Peter was kind enough to offer this set of 18x8 Borbet XA rims that look absolutely fantastic. The silver wheels offset the all-black perfectly, and there’s a very subtle contrast between the polished and painted surfaces of the spokes. And, while the design is a traditional multi-spoke, it has some nice detailing to set it apart from the rest. Suffice to say, the rims look awesome. There was a fear that the 18-inch rims would look too big on the car, but luckily that was unfounded – they sit just right, and make the car look perfectly planted.

The other fear was that the ride quality would suffer to the point of causing a few fillings to come loose. Luckily that was unfounded as well. The Bilstein mono-tube shocks that we put in previously are firm yes, but the larger piston of the mono-tube design really does ensure that they’re more reactive to undulations in the road surface – as a result of which the ride quality is actually quite livable.

The rubber that we chose was a set of 225/40 R18 BF Goodrich G-Force Sport tires, which is an Ultra High Performance summer tire developed for sports sedans and coupes. Now, the one thing to look out for when buying high performance tires in India is the date of manufacture (which is stamped on the sidewall of each tire) since many of these tires can be quite old – well, new, but old. You see, the rubber hardens over time and the tire degrades over the years – even lying unused.

The BFG’s have an extremely aggressive pattern with large tread blocks. And these looks are complimented by extremely high levels of grip on dry tarmac, which is what BFG is known for. I haven’t had the chance to test the tires in the wet, so I’ll have to withhold judgement on that front for the moment. But, on a dry road, you can now throw the 325 into any corner, at any speed, and the car responds instantly. In fact, turn in – thanks to the two continuous ribs in the center of the tire – is incredibly sharp. The handling is now perfectly neutral, and the wheel, tires, and suspension really do exploit the chassis 50:50 weight distribution – a hallmark of most BMW’s. At best, you now get a slight four-wheel drift if you’re really pushing it. What you lose in the bargain, however, is the ability to power-slide at will, which was quite entertaining. That notwithstanding, this modification has made the biggest difference so far to the road worthiness of this mature machine.

So, when you’re in the market for a set of wheels, make sure it’s a quality brand first-and-foremost. And if you’re upsizing (moving to a higher rim size), make sure that the overall diameter doesn’t change more than 2-3% – there are a number of sites that make this calculation easy. If you exceed certain limitations, it messes up suspension geometry and ride height, as well as gives you a false speedometer reading – so make sure you get the width and aspect ratio right to largely maintain the same overall diameter. It’s not rocket science, but it makes all the difference. Oh, and make sure it’s aligned properly as well.

As for the BMW, well, she now certainly looks the part. And the stance fits the overall design of the car extremely well with its compact dimensions and short overhangs. Project BMW seems to have suddenly taken on a distinct Darth Vader-like appeal!