15 inch wheels

[yatisr]

An update on the purchase of my 15-inch wheels. I ordered them from Maxilite, one of the sites recommended by Jeroen. They were shipped from Germany on Monday and arrived in Malaysia on Wednesday or Thursday. I hope to get them in the next few days after they clear customs.

I have some follow up questions that I hope Jeroen and others can help me with:
(a) What tyres should I use for the rainy and hot conditions in Malaysia? The rain over here can be extremely heavy and temperatures can be high, with a daily mean of 32C;
(b) The standard tyre for these wheels is 195/50/15. Can I use 195/55/15 without affecting the speedometer reading?
(c) For the wheel centre caps, the recommendation is to use Alpina labels. I am not keen on this as these wheels are not real Alpinas; they are modern replicas. Are there BMW labels available for these centre caps? I believe that the diameter of the required labels is 50.8 mm.


Thank you everyone in advance for your help.

Regards,
Yatis

[nic65]

the 185/70/13 should have rolling equivalent to 195/55/15
you can also find the stickers on ebay
I was in Malaysia in 2007, I remember it was hot and humid

[Jeroen]

(a) In both warm climates and in the wet I am very happy with Hankook tyres, the Ventus Prime V3 K125 being more sporty and Ventus V12 Evo2 a bit more comfy/eco.

(b) Starting off from factory size 185/70-13, 195/50-15 is 2.2% smaller, 195/55-15 is 0.9% bigger. In both cases the effect on the speedo is limited. Best fit is 205/50-15 which is only 0.4% smaller than stock, but this can be too wide for the front and might rub the fenders. That is why Alpina came up with a staggered setup: 195/50-15 fronts and 205/50-15 rears.

(c) I'd just try to find some decent aftermarket cap logos/stickers in the desired size

[yatisr]

Thank you Jeroen and Nic65 for the useful advice. The wheels I bought are 15x6 ET 12. So, the best fit based on your advice is 195/55/15. This is consistent with the advice of friends here. This is good news as tyres in this size are widely available here in Malaysia. I will certainly consider the Hankook tyres suggested by Jeroen, at least one of which is locally available. The other good local options are BF Goodrich and Michelin XM 2Plus. From having no choice with my 13 inch rims, I now have a wide range of tyre choices. What a relief!

[Jeroen]