Rim/Tire Questions for my 330ci/Opinions wanted.

[bointc]

I recently bought an 2002 e46 330Ci... Anyway, I believe they came with 17" rims (not sure, didn't really care, they look nice) I was thinking of buying maybe 19" and put more summer/all season tires on it, and using the stock ones for winter tires... Here's the question, I live in NYC and especially when driving at night/in the rain, I can't avoid every pothole, and I don't want my rims to get damaged, my first car was a Lincoln Town Car (don't ask, it was free), and the rims used to get cracked easily, although this was a flaw admitted by Lincoln to be poorly designed rims, I don't want to go out and blow a lot of cash on 19" rims for them to be easily cracked/damaged, so... should I:

Get 19" rims (can someone reccomend strong ones that don't look too bad, I was looking at the SSR GT3s, or the OZ Superleggaras....)

Get 18" rims?

Or just keep the current rims, which I don't dislike, but I like the other ones better..... And just put on different tires and swap them back and forth?

As far as pricing goes, I'd like to get the best bang for the buck, as I'm not independently wealthy, and have been paying my own way for some time...

[NY550i]

I recently bought an 2002 e46 330Ci... Anyway, I believe they came with 17" rims (not sure, didn't really care, they look nice) I was thinking of buying maybe 19" and put more summer/all season tires on it, and using the stock ones for winter tires... Here's the question, I live in NYC and especially when driving at night/in the rain, I can't avoid every pothole, and I don't want my rims to get damaged, my first car was a Lincoln Town Car (don't ask, it was free), and the rims used to get cracked easily, although this was a flaw admitted by Lincoln to be poorly designed rims, I don't want to go out and blow a lot of cash on 19" rims for them to be easily cracked/damaged, so... should I:

Get 19" rims (can someone reccomend strong ones that don't look too bad, I was looking at the SSR GT3s, or the OZ Superleggaras....)

Get 18" rims?

Or just keep the current rims, which I don't dislike, but I like the other ones better..... And just put on different tires and swap them back and forth?

As far as pricing goes, I'd like to get the best bang for the buck, as I'm not independently wealthy, and have been paying my own way for some time...

If you are afraid of bending or cracking your rims and you drive hard i suggest going for Forged Multi piece rims but they will cost an arm and a leg but its worth it if you damage your rims often.

I am also from NY and i got 19s on my car,yeah the roads are pretty bad but you just got to keep your eye open on the roads you havent been on before and the roads i was on before i already know where the damaging potholes are so avoid them.

If you are not going to go forged then i suggest going with the 18s since you will get a little more meat on the tires.
If you decided to go with 19s you will get a 30 series tire in the rear if you run a staggered setup which is a must for any bimmer IMO.

[bointc]

Hmm I do drive pretty hard, I was looking at the Tire Rack website, and I couldnt find any all-season tires for the 19" rims I was looking at.... How well do the summer tires hold up in the rain? I don't like to drive lighter in the rain... Those forged rims seem nice, but I might have to wait another few months before I can scrap together the cash to pay for them....

[NY550i]

Hmm I do drive pretty hard, I was looking at the Tire Rack website, and I couldnt find any all-season tires for the 19" rims I was looking at.... How well do the summer tires hold up in the rain? I don't like to drive lighter in the rain... Those forged rims seem nice, but I might have to wait another few months before I can scrap together the cash to pay for them....

High performance tires hold up very well in the rain.

You dont like to drive lighter in the rain? thats kinda scary,i dont want to run into you on the road in the rain:help

[bointc]

hahaha just cause I don't like to doesn't mean I don't, especially in the Bimmer, I have a very good feel of the car, and what it can and cannot take... Thanks for the info, looks like I'll be waiting/saving up a bit to decide exactly which forged rims I want... Then I'll worry about the tires..