BBS CH vs. Apex EC-7

[funkle]

I currently have 19" BBS CH which came with my Z4M. Gorgeous wheels, but none of the tires I would want to run are made in the sizes that would fit, and I'm more concerned in performance than bling. So going back to 18". I will be using them on the street and autocross, so obviously lightness & durability are both factors.

My question is: is there a huge difference in quality, or are you just paying double the price for BBS cache? Both are similar in weight. I do really like the way the EC-7 looks.

[ZeD4Mr]

what size of 19s tires that you're trying to run? There're plenty of choices that would fit the M. Unless the spec of the BBS are way off.

I would get the EC-7 if you want to go down to 18s and I believe they're quite a bit lighter than 19s BBS CH(24lb F 25lb R if memory serves me correct)

Any pictures of the BBS CH mounted on your car?

[angelr]

After owning several sets of bbs... if I were to consider pragmatic concerns I'd go with apex all the way.

[funkle]

Originally Posted by ZeD4Mr

what size of 19s tires that you're trying to run? There're plenty of choices that would fit the M. Unless the spec of the BBS are way off.

I would get the EC-7 if you want to go down to 18s and I believe they're quite a bit lighter than 19s BBS CH(24lb F 25lb R if memory serves me correct)

Any pictures of the BBS CH mounted on your car?

I want to run the grippiest street tires I can get my hands on. Of the current crop of hot autocross/street tires, the only one available in 19" is the Bridgestone RE-11, which I'm avoiding on the M for wear reasons. But going to 18" the choices really open up to encompass all the go-to tires (RS3, Direzza, Rival). In fact, I just put a set of BF Goodrich Rivals on the OEM 18" wheels, did well at the autocross, and am loving them on the street. Absolutely no desire to go back the the Mich PSS that came on the 19" BBS. As Alex at Tire Rack pointed out, 19" is more for bling - 18" is a better performance size, when it comes to weight and rubber options.

[funkle]

Originally Posted by angel@forgemotorsport.com

After owning several sets of bbs... if I were to consider pragmatic concerns I'd go with apex all the way.

Can you elaborate on some of the reasons?

[Beedub]

i did the same recently and dropped my oem 19" CSL for the oem 260 (euro) m3 18" wheel.
best decision I've made and imo the car looks better anyway... win win... i always had a set of 18s but got lazy and never swapped over from the CSL, when i did i new i wanted to run an 18" all the time . Haven't looked back at all!!!

[ga41]

Beedub, you running the Nankangs already? How are you finding them?

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by ga41

Beedub, you running the Nankangs already? How are you finding them?

hey buddy yeah.... had a great opportunity to swap out, my best friend is the manager at the uks largest audi dealer, he actually sourced my ad08r for me, i then use the dealership when it closed to mount my own tyres etc, anyhow id ordered the ad08 one size to large and i just didnt want to risk damaging my car in anyway and rubbing for me is unacceptable, so he brough my ad08r from me, i picked up these new semi slick nankang n2-sr in tread wear 120 rating, pocketed 600 quid and havent looked back, i cant give you an accurate review as yet, they literally been on for 10-20 miles max, i havent scrubbed them in or used them in anger yet, the reviews are solid, used a control tyre in a few championships now, so far really pleased, very stiff sidewall, still run very wide went with 235/40 265/35 ... much better and still have room to play, ill stick to this size in semi slicks for the future.
Tread pattern looks very serious so i look forward to testing them against my fave tyre the pilot CUP... honest and frank review coming soon, my first track day is in 3-4weeks time!!

[gmd2003]

I'd highly recommend the new Hankook TD in hard compound , it's faster than the sport cup while not wearing as fast and handling high temps better . It has a very stiff sidewall and gives awesome feedback . It also comes in a soft compound that is within a half a second of a Hoosier slick . It is the best street legal DOT R available currently , I've tried them all .oh and the EC-7 is a great wheel and much lighter than your BBS 19's ( mine were 20lbs ) .
George

[gmd2003]

First pic is after 5 advanced group track days and 3,000 street miles( love the blueing) . The last shows the very aggressive tread block design .

[Beedub]

those tyres look incredible!! And the price point is insane!! See GA41, im done purchasing top tier stuff like the cups that would look very tired after one all day session... sticking to the budget stuff which is proving to be a very very nice upcoming market for us more enthusiastic drivers.

ill post up some pics shortly after the ns-2r have been heat cycled a few times :-)

[funkle]

Sold the BBS CH. Apex EC-7 on order

[donoman]

Funkle, what fitment did you get? I was about to buy Apex ARC-8's until I found out that to run concave fronts, you need camber plates. That basically means those wheels don't fit on our car, in my opinion. Same goes for spacers... I don't want to run spacers if I can help it! I've read that there are more EC-7 fitments that fit our car.

These wheels look great.

[funkle]

I went with the most straight forward MC fitment
18x8.5" ET35 APEX EC-7 Wheel
18x9.5" ET22 APEX EC-7 Wheel

I like the looks of the EC-7, especially the profile 3, but not going to sweat the fronts being profile 1 since I cant see it from the drivers seat - pragmatic

[intoflatlines]

Originally Posted by donoman

Funkle, what fitment did you get? I was about to buy Apex ARC-8's until I found out that to run concave fronts, you need camber plates. That basically means those wheels don't fit on our car, in my opinion. Same goes for spacers... I don't want to run spacers if I can help it! I've read that there are more EC-7 fitments that fit our car.

These wheels look great.

I wish concave ARC-8 fit with stock alignment but I'm quite happy with my 18x9 ET42 ARC-8 up front even if it's flat faced.

[donoman]

Yep, looks pretty good!

[funkle]

Just got my EC-7s. I really like the way these look - better than the BBS, which I feel look to "heavy" for the car. Could be my imagination, but the car felt a little more peppy over the heavy stockers.

[donoman]

Looks great!

[funkle]

Originally Posted by donoman

Funkle, what fitment did you get? I was about to buy Apex ARC-8's until I found out that to run concave fronts, you need camber plates. That basically means those wheels don't fit on our car, in my opinion. Same goes for spacers... I don't want to run spacers if I can help it! I've read that there are more EC-7 fitments that fit our car.

These wheels look great.

I'm not fully versed in how all the wheel parameters inter-relate, but it seems to me that concavity is simply a function of offset. Regardless of the wheel used, it is what it is. You cant just magically create concavity without moving the hub inward, or if the changing the angle of the wheel so it clears the arch (which is what I assume the camber plates do). What am I missing here?

[donoman]

You're right on all accounts. I just didn't like how Apex advertises lots of fitments on here as "Z4M Fitment" but really it should be "Z4M + Camber plates Fitment". Still, I just installed camber plates this weekend with my GC coil over kit, so I might be going for the ARC8's.

I'm not sure I can swallow the bill for the wheels I really want (which cost about $3K)

[i2ichal2dZ4M]

Apex ftw!!

[intoflatlines]

Originally Posted by funkle

Just got my EC-7s. I really like the way these look - better than the BBS, which I feel look to "heavy" for the car. Could be my imagination, but the car felt a little more peppy over the heavy stockers.

Nice tires! You use them for autocross/track? If so, what PSI?