Which would you choose for an M coupe?

[mhughett]

I've decided to get new wheels/tires for my M coupe and I've narrowed the choice down to two options:

1. OEM M3 Competition Pkg. (19") from TMS

2. Apex EC-7 18" (ET35 front, ET22 rear) in silver.

Although option 2 would probalby be about $500-$700 cheaper (including tires), I don't want this to drive the decision. Assume the same tire is used for both applications. I know there are pros and cons to going to 19" wheels but IMO 18" is probably big enough for the M coupe. 19" looks good but almost seems too big in some pictures. I'd especially appreciate input from anyone with either of these setups on their car.

There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on this board and I'd love to hear what you think.

[XMetal]

Option 3. For about $500 more, you can go with the lighter genuine CSL wheels, which is also 1/2 inch wider front than the competition.

[Kgolf31]

APEX wheels ANYDAY.

I'm absolutely in love with them. Meant to be abused and on the track, they will be home on our cars.

Not to mention they are lighter than OEM (~21lbs IIRC) = less moment of inertia.

[mhughett]

Originally Posted by XMetal

Option 3. For about $500 more, you can go with the lighter genuine CSL wheels, which is also 1/2 inch wider front than the competition.

It is my understanding that the competition package wheels are IDENTICAL to the CSL wheels except for the fact that the front wheels only are 1/2" narrower. This was even told to me by ECS Tuning who was selling the CSL wheels. They are not lighter than the Competition package wheels. I'm not sure I can justify spending $500 more for 1/2" more on only 2 of the wheels.

[gferil]

I say EC-7, but then again I might be biased...

[kennyfrc]

Apex,

Lighter, cheaper, better offset!

[a_riddler]

Apex, but I'd go et22 square setup with a spacer in front to better manage tire rotation.

[sabbanick]

No 19's get 18" wheels instead

[mhughett]

Originally Posted by a_riddler

Apex, but I'd go et22 square setup with a spacer in front to better manage tire rotation.

Other than allowing front-to-back tire rotation, why would you want a square setup? Wouldn't you lose some of the handling benefits of having wider tires in back? What size tire would you use because I thought the front was limited to about 245's?

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by mhughett

Other than allowing front-to-back tire rotation, why would you want a square setup? Wouldn't you lose some of the handling benefits of having wider tires in back? What size tire would you use because I thought the front was limited to about 245's?

Square set-ups reduce understeer.

You could fit 255s with some serious camber.

[ApexWheels]

A good square set up for the Z4M would be 18x9.5" ET35. The 18x9.5" ET22's offset is too low for the front of your cars and sacrifices would have to be made with narrower tires and excessive negative camber. With the 18x9.5" ET35 camber plates would be needed with about -3 degrees camber and you could use 265/35/18 tires. A 12-15mm spacer could then be used in the rear to fill out the fender well for aesthetic purposes. If you are not using camber plates and are looking for a staggered set up than a good fitting set up would consist of 18x8.5" ET35 with a 245/40/18 tire and an 18x9.5" ET22 with a 275/35/18 tire.

[pokeybritches]

There's one more option - Sportline CS.16 lightweight CSL reps.

I vote for Apex. LOVE mine.

[ZeD4Mr]

going to get a set of Apex 8 soon as well. Light and looks good. My 19s weight about 20lbs each. Can't imagine going heavier than that for 18s. Apex 7 were on my radar but they're heavier than the 8s and don't look ax good.

[mhughett]

Originally Posted by pokeybritches

There's one more option - Sportline CS.16 lightweight CSL reps.

I vote for Apex. LOVE mine.

The Sportlines look pretty good and I also like the VMR V710 which is also similar to the CSL style. In addition, EAS has these with free shipping during October. Anyone have any experience with these?

Decisions, decisions.

[aaaafamily]

go 18" for performance, more tire choice

[pokeybritches]

Originally Posted by mhughett

The Sportlines look pretty good and I also like the VMR V710 which is also similar to the CSL style. In addition, EAS has these with free shipping during October. Anyone have any experience with these?

Decisions, decisions.

Sportlines or VMR's? I have the Sportlines on my 3.0i. I have some pictures in my "garage" but none are anything more than spur of the moment iPhone pictures without photoshopping. When I get back to the States I'll have a real shoot done.

I only have good things to say about the wheels.

[ZStig]

18" apex wheels. 265/35/18 all around

[v3.2mc]

Originally Posted by pokeybritches

Sportlines... I only have good things to say about the wheels.

+1

the cs.16's are really light weight and retain the classic look for our z4's lines. and they're very affordable. i highly recommend them.

[mhughett]

Ok, decision has been made and order placed. I got the staggered sizes of 8.5" E35 in front and 9.5" E22 in the rear. Ordered Apex EC-7's in anthracite rather than silver. The more I looked at them, the more I liked them and wanted to try something different. Overall, I think the quality, finish and lighter weight offset the slightly higher price vs. the V710's. I think it will look great on the Imola Red M Coupe.

I'll decide on the tires when they get here but am leaning towards either the PSS or GY F1 Asymmetic 2. I have the PSS on my stock wheels and there is no doubt they are great tires. The GY's look pretty good as well and are about $200+ cheaper + they currently have a $80 rebate program going. Any opinions or suggestions on tires are welcome but I'm NOT going to get dedicated track tires for these wheels, so no R-S3, Neova's, RE-11's, etc.

[beta]

With the half inch bigger rims, I'd say based off finnegan's results that 235/265 would be ideal. An inch is 25.4mm, so half an inch will be 2.5mm wider rim (proportionally) than stock, so it should perform really well and look great.

It looks like for 245/275 you ideally want to be running 9" and 10" wheels.