on the fence about 18" or 19" wheels

[Vanne]

Hi all,

about to pull the trigger on some wheels, but i am on the fence about wether to buy 18" wheels or 19" wheels.. can anyone shed some light?

looking at CSL type wheels…

cheers

[inTgr8r]

Depends on what you intend for the car.
Looks > performance; then 19s
Otherwise 18s

[NickyC]

19"s all day, every damned day. Just make sure you drop the car when doing so, otherwise it will look like a popped up monster truck.

[Spedracer81]

I did 19" Sportline CS16 CSL wheels...very happy

+1 for lowering as well...

[jdoublehcubed]

You will notice a lot more ride harshness with 19" wheels, and they'll be easier to bend. If you have absolutely pristine roads, then by all means, go 19", but if you have many pot holes or rough surfaces I would stick with 18".

I would also look through tire rack and compare prices on some of the tires you might end up with. I believe the 19" tires are quite a bit more expensive.

[tiltmode43]

Do you plan on lowering the car? Also, are road conditions an issue? Keep in mind a 19" wheel will require a thinner tire, thus creating a bit harsher of a ride. For many this isn't an issue, but some prefer the thicker tire of the 18".

For me the ride quality isn't really an issue, but rather performance and/or perspective on the car. If you're after better performance, 18" is definitely the way to go (better tire specs offered in 18" + cheaper).

I went with 18" but will probably pick up a set of 19" also at some point.

[elerner61]

Originally Posted by jdoublehcubed

You will notice a lot more ride harshness with 19" wheels, and they'll be easier to bend. If you have absolutely pristine roads, then by all means, go 19", but if you have many pot holes or rough surfaces I would stick with 18".

I would also look through tire rack and compare prices on some of the tires you might end up with. I believe the 19" tires are quite a bit more expensive.

+1

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by NickyC

19"s all day, every damned day. Just make sure you drop the car when doing so, otherwise it will look like a popped up monster truck.

The previous owner of my car had gone with larger and larger 19" wheels and also installed H&R Springs. He put the original 18" wheels back on before he sold it to a local dealer.

I bought it from that dealer and one of the first things I had to do was to replace both rear fender wells as they had completely worn through from the too-big wheels and tires.

Looks aren't everything, I much prefer non-destructive function.

[NickyC]

I wouldn't discount bigger wheels and tires just because some guy installed the wrong sizes and dropped the car incorrectly. Take a look at my old Z4M to see how it's done. Huge wheels/tires and slammed, with no rubbing.

As well, people need to stop parroting the nonsense about 19"s being a harsher ride. It's like some BS that's been hanging around since the 1990s. My last Z4M on 19"s and slammed had a better ride than my car ever did stock. This has been the same experience I've had on other cars as well.

[3002 tii]

19's with drop look way better but it exposes how small the factory calipers are. I stick with 18's only because good rubbers in 19 are too expensive, and I'm not talking the Hankook v12 variety.

[pokeybritches]

It is possible to get a better ride with 19's, if they are gravity cast and so heavy that they can't respond quickly to changes in the road surface. Of course performance will suffer.

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by jdoublehcubed

You will notice a lot more ride harshness with 19" wheels, and they'll be easier to bend. If you have absolutely pristine roads, then by all means, go 19", but if you have many pot holes or rough surfaces I would stick with 18".

I would also look through tire rack and compare prices on some of the tires you might end up with. I believe the 19" tires are quite a bit more expensive.

+2

[PLCZ4MC]

Im pretty sure your car is drop al ready if I remember correctly. But just every one mention looks or performance. I would take VMR CSL style19s or OE CSL wheels if I was going for looks. For performance I think the Apex ARC8 or PS7 would be my choices.

[seank]

Did everyone help you with your decision?

[Vanne]

Lol seank ;-) yeah... or not... ;-) I can easily get 18-s here, 19s I am going tohave to import. If I went with 18s, how wide? 8 and 9 inch or 8.5 and 9.5?
Id be able to reuse my current rubber outon 18s and id have to buy new rubber on 19s...

Oh and I am already dropped as one of you guys pointed out correctly ;-)

What offsets would I need?
The 18s I am looking at are

Et 35 staggered 8 and 9 inch wide

[Beedub]

18s all day long... so much better for tyre choice, especially track biased tyres!!

I've had 19s for 3 years and i WISH WISH i got rid earlier!!




These pics are on KW clubsport suspension, the car is lowered around 10-15mm from stock, i know lots ride alot lower but for a proper functional and hard track use i really wanted the wheel travel, with the 19s my track biased suspension was crazy crazy stiff, with these its stiff bad but liveable, with semi slick tyres this setup in general is punching way above its price point.

[jdoublehcubed]

Originally Posted by Beedub

18s all day long... so much better for tyre choice, especially track biased tyres!!

I've had 19s for 3 years and i WISH WISH i got rid earlier!!




These pics are on KW clubsport suspension, the car is lowered around 10-15mm from stock, i know lots ride alot lower but for a proper functional and hard track use i really wanted the wheel travel, with the 19s my track biased suspension was crazy crazy stiff, with these its stiff bad but liveable, with semi slick tyres this setup in general is punching way above its price point.

Everytime I see that rear 3/4 view of your car, I become slightly aroused.

Seriously though, I love the black accents and the hardtop.

Vanne, the 18" Apex wheels look great on our cars, are fairly light and well made, and there is a ton of info on them on perfect offsets and widths. They also do a group buy like every 2 or 3 months and knock the price down quite a bit. Note: I do not own any Apex wheels yet, but they will be what I buy when I get my next set of wheels.

[Honorebel]

Car looks great Beedub! Are those wheels the bmw style 269?

[Vanne]

Thanks JD, but the group buy for wheels is not on the table for me as shipping would add 2/3 again to the buying price. I'd love to get the apex wheels, but there's no local distribution center for them here.. Thus I am currently stuck with only option of et35 at 18 inch and staggered 8 and nine inch respectively front and back.

I am sure the back would fit, just worried about the front with 240/35...

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by jdoublehcubed

Everytime I see that rear 3/4 view of your car, I become slightly aroused.

Seriously though, I love the black accents and the hardtop.

Vanne, the 18" Apex wheels look great on our cars, are fairly light and well made, and there is a ton of info on them on perfect offsets and widths. They also do a group buy like every 2 or 3 months and knock the price down quite a bit. Note: I do not own any Apex wheels yet, but they will be what I buy when I get my next set of wheels.

thankyou thankyou, I've had so much stick for the black hardtop on here but knew the direction i wanted to take and get to.... it looks absolutely incredible and literally turns heads wherever we go... i love how it all turned out.

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by Honorebel

Car looks great Beedub! Are those wheels the bmw style 269?

they are oem m3 v8 18s ... style 260m (euro) the us version is 219m which imo don't look as good.

[jdoublehcubed]

Originally Posted by Vanne

Thanks JD, but the group buy for wheels is not on the table for me as shipping would add 2/3 again to the buying price. I'd love to get the apex wheels, but there's no local distribution center for them here.. Thus I am currently stuck with only option of et35 at 18 inch and staggered 8 and nine inch respectively front and back.

I am sure the back would fit, just worried about the front with 240/35...

Let me figure out what offsets I have on my wheels and get back to you. I am currently using the special option triple star wheels from the 3.0si, which look awesome but have the wrong offsets. I run 15mm spacers in both positions and it helps, but they are still not flush. If you're going to buy new wheels, it would suck to have disappointing offsets. I actually think the rears may be more of a concern; the Ms have a wayyyyyy more aggressive offset in the rear than the other trim levels. When I use the 3.0si wheels with no spacer in the rear, they're recessed over an inch.

As to why I would use these wheels with not the best offsets? The spoke pattern is still great, and, I got them as new takeoffs from their owner, with new tires and the TPMS for $400.