Considering new wheels....

[GrahamNorton]

Hi everyone,

not posted for a while. Nearly sold my Z3 during the summer last year but im glad that i didnt. Have kind of renewed my love for it and am actually looking at making a few improvements to personalise the car.

I have fallen in love with the 18" BBS LM wheels that some of you have fitted to your Zeds. I have considered getting a set (probably replicas) but am a little worried about A) where i would get a set B) If the car would need to be lowered to make them look right and C) If there would be any rubbing. I have had rubbing on a car with bigger wheels before and it kind of ruined the driving experience.

An alternative i am also considering is to get a set of the 17" E36 328i sport BBS RC042 alloys off of ebay. If you get a set refurbed, which they probably would need, then the outer edge can have a polished and shiney finish. Going down this route will mean that there will be no chance of rubbing and i would save quite a bit of cash (as the wheels are a lot cheaper and i can use the tyres off of my currrent wheels. Additionally i have not seen a Z3 with these wheels before and like being different.

What do you think? Would the 328i sport rims look ok?

(2002 3.0 Z3 Estoril Blue)

[Z3cade]

Go for 18 Lms.. There a cracking set of wheels and the reps quite cheep..
Try rimstyle.co.uk got my 18s from there and was next day delivery..
Very good service..
If you can't find the wheels your after give them aring

[c_w]

If you're set on the BBS split rim look thaen 17s aren't big enough to pull off the right look unless you go for lower profile/slightly stretched tyres.

The 18s should look spot on though.

[GrahamNorton]

With the 18s:

1) Would i need to lower the car for it to look right?

2) Would i experience any rubbing?

[g8jka]

I have LM Reps on mine and they are fine, no rubbing issues unless you are at speed and hit a big bump. They are 8" wide upfront and 9" wide on the rear all with a 35 offset and tyres 225/40/18 front, 255/35/18 rear.

It has also been lowered 30mm all round with a Eibach pro spring kit.

Here it is without the lowering springs





Here it is with the lowering springs, although the hardtop is on which drops it another couple of mm I think





You can buy replicas off ebay or specialist wheel shops as z3cade says, just check the sizes and offset first to make sure they will fit. Genuine ones without tyres are around £3000 new I believe and it is very very rare for a second hand genuine set to come available.

And with regards to your questions:
1. Look at my pictures and decide for yourself whether it needs to be lowered

2. You shouldn't unless like I say you hit a big bump at high speeds, I don't experience any rubbing with my set up other than that.

[GrahamNorton]

Thanks g8jka,

i confess your progress journal was one of the reasons i was sold on the LMs in the first place. Need to start saving . Im guessing with new tyres (Falken 452s) i must be looking at about £1000 - £1100 (Replicas)?

[g8jka]

Thanks g8jka,

i confess your progress journal was one of the reasons i was sold on the LMs in the first place. Need to start saving . Im guessing with new tyres (Falken 452s) i must be looking at about £1000 - £1100 (Replicas)?

They are one of the best looking wheels along with AC Schnitzers on any BMW in my opinion.

I paid around £830 from what I can remember, it was £699 for staggered wheels with budget tyres but I upgraded to Falken 452's.

I can't find any staggered sets the same as mine on eBay at the moment only ones for VW which have 5x100 fitments, BMW is 5x120. Maybe worth trying one of these to see if they have BMW fitments or I would try to contact Mark at bmautosport I have heard good reports about them and he used to do staggered sets of LM reps.

Other than that check out these genuine ones on eBay, look at the price and they are not staggered and only have economy tyres

[yalden]

These may be of interest...

http://www.bmwowner.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7&t=199987