E30 Zone

i was wondering what sort of wheels to put on my 318is at the moment i have the bbs 15 inch wheels

what would be better to run 16 or 15 inch im having trouble making up my mind

general consensus is that 16s look and handle better, Alipina must have put them on there for a reason.

tyres may be slightly more expensive, but i havent really noticed this

HTH

I run 16in wheels with Avon ZZ3 and ZV3 tyres ( 205 / 45 / R16) and found the grip to be pretty good, ride nice and tight with turn in and grip to be spot on.
That said i'm running powerflex bushes in the subframe, diff and front legs which helps and Bilstein shocks and springs from a Sport all round.

I'd go with the 15's, more comfortable and look better on a lowered is....

Either is fine. You will not notice any difference driving on a day to day basis, smoking about. Possibly easier to get shoes for a 15 inch wheel over a 16, IIRC.

16" Hartges or Alpinas look teh best in my opinion, unless you can afford some 16" BBS splits and they are the daddies!

Kedge wrote:16" Hartges or Alpinas look teh best in my opinion, unless you can afford some 16" BBS splits and they are the daddies!

Good call Dave

I'm running 16" Hartges on my iS with 225/40 Toyos all round. It's also dropped 40mm all round too. As already said, some decent bushes will help the ride also.

Cheers

Pal

+1 on the 16" roof.

17s are proper council and belong with rear drums painted red.

whats wrong with 15in BBS???

This is my IS

odbod wrote:whats wrong with 15in BBS???

Nothing wrong with them at all, you can't beat a change though!

hiya mate keep yr 15s and lower it. i have the same wheels on mine but mine r 14s ona lowered 60/40 and it looks nices

StuBeeDoo wrote:Another "don't go above 16's" vote here.
Only problem with 15's is that unless you are happy about using 50 profile, quality tyres are starting to get hard to come by. Goodyear, for example, are stopping (have stopped?) production of 205/55x15's.

Bugger,did,nt know that. Slighly OT i know but why does everybody seem to slate the Falken tyres?, mine are fine when used sensibly.
As to wheels, id stick with the 15" bbs for everday use but would be nice to have some 16" alpina,s or Hartage for meets etc.

gooner1 wrote:

StuBeeDoo wrote:Another "don't go above 16's" vote here.
Only problem with 15's is that unless you are happy about using 50 profile, quality tyres are starting to get hard to come by. Goodyear, for example, are stopping (have stopped?) production of 205/55x15's.

Bugger,did,nt know that. Slighly OT i know but why does everybody seem to slate the Falken tyres?, mine are fine when used sensibly.
As to wheels, id stick with the 15" bbs for everday use but would be nice to have some 16" alpina,s or Hartage for meets etc.

have you ever tried anything better?
ie toyo's / rainsports / eagle F1's

TBH CraigG, not on this car i have,nt but have had both toyos and eagle on others and for me the falkens
match them but then again ive never really pushed it in wet conditions, which is where the other tyres may have the edge.

gooner1 wrote: Bugger,did,nt know that. Slighly OT i know but why does everybody seem to slate the Falken tyres?, mine are fine when used sensibly..

a rubber band painted black would be fine if used sensibly. its when they are used irresponsibly that a quality tyre will rise to the top. i used to rate toyos but now prefer dunlop sp9000's.

Fuzzy, no disrespect but an irresponsible driver could have the best tyres ever made but sooner or later he/she will fu%k up and NO tyre ever made will save them.Dont get me wrong im no Sunday driver but just seem like the Falkens along with the original E30 brakes seem to get an unfair response. I do understand that you get what you pay for though, my wheels came with tyres already fitted so maybe im not really qualified to comment.
But when did that ever stop me

CraigG wrote:have you ever tried anything better?
ie toyo's / rainsports / eagle F1's

Out of those 3 the only ones available in 205/55x15 are the Toyo's.
I fancy a set of Uniroyal Rainsports, but I'm not sure I want to go to 205/50x15. I'm not 100% on this, but I think Goodyear aren't doing any 15" F1's anymore.
If Goodyear are stopping 205/55x15 production (probably because car manufacturers aren't specifying the size for new cars these days), it's a fairly safe bet that all the rest of the "quality" tyre manufacturers will quickly follow suit, leaving us 205/55x15 buyers with just the "cheapies".
16's are getting less popular now too.

Errrm 'What wheels was the original Q'

Falken tyres are decent too, I used them before on several occassions, with no prob's

Pal

gooner1 wrote:Fuzzy, no disrespect but an irresponsible driver could have the best tyres ever made but sooner or later he/she will fu%k up and NO tyre ever made will save them.Dont get me wrong im no Sunday driver but just seem like the Falkens along with the original E30 brakes seem to get an unfair response. I do understand that you get what you pay for though, my wheels came with tyres already fitted so maybe im not really qualified to comment.
But when did that ever stop me

no disrespect taken sir. when i say irresponsibly used im not meaning dangerously but more enthusiastically used.your right, ,no tyre will save a dangerous driver but a good quality tyre will weight the balance slightly more in favour of the driver and that could make all the difference.

Errm.... I've never used Falkens so cant comment on them, but i thought the whole point of having good quality tyres was not for when you are trying to provoke the car and know what pushing it will do. Surely you only really put your full faith in the rubber when things go tits up, usually for no fault of your own. Am i wrong for bying the best rubber i can afford not for performance but for safety?

Chris wrote: Am i wrong for bying the best rubber i can afford not for performance but for safety?

Not unless I'm wrong as well!
TBH, I'm annoyed that I can't get Goodyears in 205/55x15.

how about a set of these???