Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[MBan]

Kgolf31 - I'm generally function over form as well but I'm never going to track this car so the functional bit will mostly be in my head. But, I like the thought of buying wheels because they're light and they look good as a bonus. Thanks for the tyre info too, helps me make an educated guess on whether i'll need new rubbery bits when the wheels arrive.

A big thanks to all, I think I'm ready to pull the trigger on these wheels...

I'll update the thread when I've got them fitted.

[kobeballer96]

Originally Posted by MBan

Thanks all for the replies, much appreciated

Kobeballer - seeing your car was one of the things that made me think 17s might be fine. Your car looks great! What are the specs of those wheels BTW?

But... Your car and kgolf31 are both pretty low. Smaller diameter wheels - in my humble opinion - look particularly good on a slammed car.

I'm reluctant to go much lower than how it is now. I've had low cars before and they were a pain!

Chrisar82 - is your car stock height?

Sorry I just saw this haha. My wheel specs are not anything crazy. 17x7.5 et38 and tires are 225/45/17 BFG rivals which run wider then normal tires. No rubbing at all well maybe just a little on full compression on the track but that's so rare , no fenders rolled. It's great for DD. My car is only on H&R sport springs just slightly lower then m sport but not that much. I don't like the slammed look. I'm a function over form guy too. These will be for sell soon I need wheels that I can fit my new slicks I got.

[kobeballer96]

Proof that there's no rubbing. I would not worry too much! You won't regret going 17s 👍

[MBan]

Originally Posted by kobeballer96

Sorry I just saw this haha. My wheel specs are not anything crazy. 17x7.5 et38 and tires are 225/45/17 BFG rivals which run wider then normal tires. No rubbing at all well maybe just a little on full compression on the track but that's so rare , no fenders rolled. It's great for DD. My car is only on H&R sport springs just slightly lower then m sport but not that much. I don't like the slammed look. I'm a function over form guy too. These will be for sell soon I need wheels that I can fit my new slicks I got.

No probs, I'd seen enough pictures of your car to give me a good idea, even without the specs. These wheels are 8 and 9 inches wide, ET 40 and 45 with 225s and 245s respectively. Hopefully they'll fit without too much trouble.

I ordered the wheels a couple of weeks' ago but I've still got a bit of waiting to do. In the meantime, I'm assembling a space-saver spare wheel/tyre kit to go with the new non-RFTs.

Cheers

[andrey_gta]

I recently passed up on a set of Ssr type c 17x8 et40. They were in bad shape (didn't want a refurb project). But wow they were so light, and would have been a dream to have on a daily driver

[MBan]

The SSR Type Cs are one of my favourite wheels. If a good set had of come up for sale I definitely would have grabbed them.

But you don't look a gift horse in the mouth and I'm happy with the wheels I bought (pending taking delivery, getting them to fit, etc).

[Zombie1]

Part of me wants a custom set of CCWs in 17s so i can go real low,but spending 3K on rims that may not look good is turning me away from it.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by andrey_gta

I recently passed up on a set of Ssr type c 17x8 et40. They were in bad shape (didn't want a refurb project). But wow they were so light, and would have been a dream to have on a daily driver

They are cast right?

[andrey_gta]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

They are cast right?

They were forged 16.2 lb

I just didn't have the desire to pay some to refurb them with paint and a lip polish

[Gray_Panther]

Late but I want to whore my stock 17's

[Ginger_Extract]

I run a 17" track/weekend setup on my 135i. People are always surprised when I tell them that these are 17's. The ARC8 look good in any size IMO.

[MBan]

Thanks Gray Panther and Ginger Extract; another couple of examples of 17s looking good on an E82.

I'm sure paranoia will hit me again before my wheels arrive but for now I'm pretty confident they'll look good.

[DietTab]

I just ordered a set of four 17x8.5 style 68s as track wheels. I'll take some pics when I mount them with tires, going to run a 255/40/17 all around. The style 68s are great because they're ET50 in the 8.5 size, so you can run a fat tire out back with no issue and a spacer to fit the front tire just where you want it in the front - hopefully the 255 RS3s fit without too much fender work.

[MBan]

Okay, my wheels finally arrived and I fitted them yesterday. Overall I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

To refresh your memory:

- old wheels were BMW style 261M (18 x 7.5 + 49 and 18 x 8.5 + 52)
- new wheels are Rays Volk VR.G2 (17 x 8 + 40 and 17 x 9 + 45)
- new tyres are Bridgestone PlaYz PZ-X, 225 45 R17 and 245 40 R17

[MBan]

I weighed the old and new wheels on some bathroom scales I dug out of a cupboard so the actual weights are probably not that accurate but the difference between old and new should be close.

Old front wheel plus tyre = 23kg (50.7 El Bees for statesiders)
New front wheel plus tyres = 18kg (39.7Lb)
Old rear wheel plus tyre = 26kg (57.3Lb)
New rear wheel plus tyre = 19kg (41.9Lb)

The new tyres are non-fun flats by the way. I haven't had much time to drive the car since yesterday but I've already noticed a big improvement in ride quality, particularly over speed humps. The steering feels different - not as 'hard' might be a way to describe it - but I wouldn't say it's any less precise than it was with the RFTs as some other people have commented.

This may all be in my mind but the car seems to feel more agile and generally lighter when changing direction.

As for aesthetics; I'm pretty happy. The 17s don't look too small although I am considering taking 20mm or so out of the ride height. I'll give myself time to adjust to the new setup before making that call.

The offsets I think are pretty much spot-on. I'm only running -1.25* of camber on the front and the edge of the wheel pretty much perfectly lines up with the lip of the guard. The rears could possibly go another 5mm further out but that wasn't the look I was after. I also think I can probably run a 235 on the front and a 255 on the back without clearance issues.

So, in summary I'm really happy and glad I went this way

[John_01]

Those Volks are super cool. I thought they had stopped making the 17" in that style.

You have dropped about 45kg, or 100 EL-Bees of rotating mass, so it doesn't surprise me that car feels different. A slight drop would be cool if you decide to go ahead.

[yllwwgn]

Originally Posted by MBan

I weighed the old and new wheels on some bathroom scales I dug out of a cupboard so the actual weights are probably not that accurate but the difference between old and new should be close.

Old front wheel plus tyre = 23kg (50.7 El Bees for statesiders)
New front wheel plus tyres = 18kg (39.7Lb)
Old rear wheel plus tyre = 26kg (57.3Lb)
New rear wheel plus tyre = 19kg (41.9Lb)

The new tyres are non-fun flats by the way. I haven't had much time to drive the car since yesterday but I've already noticed a big improvement in ride quality, particularly over speed humps. The steering feels different - not as 'hard' might be a way to describe it - but I wouldn't say it's any less precise than it was with the RFTs as some other people have commented.

This may all be in my mind but the car seems to feel more agile and generally lighter when changing direction.

As for aesthetics; I'm pretty happy. The 17s don't look too small although I am considering taking 20mm or so out of the ride height. I'll give myself time to adjust to the new setup before making that call.

The offsets I think are pretty much spot-on. I'm only running -1.25* of camber on the front and the edge of the wheel pretty much perfectly lines up with the lip of the guard. The rears could possibly go another 5mm further out but that wasn't the look I was after. I also think I can probably run a 235 on the front and a 255 on the back without clearance issues.

So, in summary I'm really happy and glad I went this way

MBan, I have to agree, those 17's actually don't look much different than some 18's out there. And with the lower weight/inertia... would for sure make the care feel a bit "lighter on its feet". As far as running a 255 on the rear, you should have no issues with that (I have 18x9 rears, but same offset and am lowered on KW's). Nice choice in rims!

[MBan]

John_01 - they may have stopped making them; I bought these second hand from Yahoo Japan. Much cheaper than buying them new! A slight drop is on the cards but I'm not in a rush as it doesn't look bad as it is.

Yllwwgn - I was worried that the proportions of 17s wouldn't look right but I shouldn't have been. I've always liked the look of a bit of tyre sidewall so this setup ticks that box too. Thanks for the tip on the 255s; I'll definitely go that way when I buy new tyres. Is your car lowered or have any guard massaging?

[yllwwgn]

MBan - Yes lowered about 1" from Sport height on KW's (which to be are sublime btw), but sadly don't have any updated pics on here with the car lowered yet. I need to go out and snap some anyway. Maybe next week sometime. I rolled my rears "some"... I say some because if you do some research out there, our 1-series rear fenders are a PITA to roll. Doable for sure, but takes far more work than most other cars. The fronts an 8yr-old could roll with a wiffle-ball bat.

Did I HAVE to roll the rears? No, but I am running Potenza S04's and they have rounded shoulders. The Michelin PSS of the same size (255/35 18) tend to rub a bit on the same size rim, an 18x9 et45. Anyway, good luck!