wheel size's ?

[TouringTash]

Hi all

I'm looking to get another touring in a month or so and the one I've been offered has 17"s on it.
My old girl has the original bbs 15"s which I love but..

What are the best size rims for a 35mm drop 325 touring.
Its mainly for swanning about but I get to enjoy 10 miles of lanes a day. So looking to keep it comfey and would poss raise the car up 15mm so as not to stand out as I'll be looking to make a wolf in sheeps clothing.

[Taylor325i]

16" Wheels. Best of both worlds.

I used to have 17" wheels on mine and with the 40 profile tyres the ride was quite crap. Since going down to 16" it is much better. Very surprising how much difference an inch makes.


Taylor.

[Jhonno]

16" Wheels. Best of both worlds.

I used to have 17" wheels on mine and with the 40 profile tyres the ride was quite crap. Since going down to 16" it is much better. Very surprising how much difference an inch makes.


Taylor.

205/40?

I run 17's with proper sized tyres and they are fine..

[poolnoodle]

16" Wheels. Best of both worlds.

+1
The size used by Alpina, Hartge, etc.
Bigger compromises ride, smaller compromises looks

[magpie]

17" on 40 profile is a harsh ride imo.
225 45 16 arse end,205 45 16 front ftw

[TouringTash]

to be honest looks are the least of it for me, interested in a standard look.
16" BBS's cross types, and as I'll be looking to up the power 100 bhp, discs and calipers need to be thought about.

Cheers

[Brianmoooore]

It's all about unsprung weight, which is where the 15" BBS wheels score so highly. Simplifying things a lot, the lighter the bits attached to the ends of the suspension arms, the better they can track the surface of the road.

[Bob_S]

It's all about unsprung weight, which is where the 15" BBS wheels score so highly. Simplifying things a lot, the lighter the bits attached to the ends of the suspension arms, the better they can track the surface of the road.

but a 16" with a good tyre will weigh less than a bbs with a dodgy knock off kumho or such like

[Brianmoooore]

Agreed, this can be so. It's when you get to 17" and above that they tend to get really heavy.

[TouringTash]

Cheers Brian I understand a bit about unsprung weight from my biking days, sure there was an article in motorcycling news about two weeks after stone wheels were superceded.

But will I come across any issues with 15's apart from stopping without spending silly money on exotic materials to keep the disc size small enough.
Though I couldn't think of a reason for small ceramic discs

[TouringTash]

It's all about unsprung weight, which is where the 15" BBS wheels score so highly. Simplifying things a lot, the lighter the bits attached to the ends of the suspension arms, the better they can track the surface of the road.

but a 16" with a good tyre will weigh less than a bbs with a dodgy knock off kumho or such like

Point taken but as I'll be looking to add 100+ bhp I'm not gonna fool around with cheap tyres.

[bss325i]

The lower the profile tyre, the harsher the ride.

Also, some 17's are lighter than wheels alot smaller despite what some "experts" may say.

[oldroydsr4]

To increase the power by 100bhp , you will either need to spend alot of cash on the m20 or drop another motor in.

[TouringTash]

To increase the power by 100bhp , you will either need to spend alot of cash on the m20 or drop another motor in.

Yeah a lot of cash

but it'll be done in stages ie brakes, chassis, engine, tweeks, induction and new underpants after each stage. In total I'm thinking about 15-18K.
And yes I could go and find a sweet M3 but then there's no dog space and I perfere a wolf in sheeps clothing to anything that shouts "LOOKATMEI'MFAST".

[oldroydsr4]

If you have a 15k budget , you can aim for way more than an additional 100bhp.

A 6k turbo m20 will easily see 400bhp.

[TouringTash]

True
But want it to be a wolf in sheeps clothing so it'll be a screw for me as PIsht, pisht, pisht every gear change gives the game away and is a bit too council form me

[bss325i]

S50 (E36 M3 engine) is what you need then. 300bhp out the box gives an E30 awesome performance.

[Bob_S]

just go and buy an audi rs2.. room for the dog 300 brake and 4wd.. e30's in reality are pushing the boundaries of grip at 300hp

[E30BeemerLad]

Retaining the stock 15"BBS will keep the oem look and the Q car appeal you want and you can still get a 280mm disc conversion with 4 pots to sit behind them

[oldroydsr4]

just go and buy an audi rs2.. room for the dog 300 brake and 4wd.. e30's in reality are pushing the boundaries of grip at 300hp

The RS2 is an awesome car, however "Quattro ist fur sissies"

[Boyraceruk]

With 15s on my car is sideways happy, with 16s on even getting a burnout on in the wet is an effort. The difference in traction is staggering. 15" BBS are some of the lightest, strongest wheels I've had though. If I hadn't crashed two of them up a kerb (that's how I know they're strong ) I probably wouldn't have gone looking for my 16s.

For what it's worth I also vote for the S50 sleeper, that would be awesome fun. Your dog may find it less so.

[TouringTash]

just go and buy an audi rs2.. room for the dog 300 brake and 4wd.. e30's in reality are pushing the boundaries of grip at 300hp

Do have a soft spot for one of those but there is no way I would want to give any of my hard earned money to the VAG group, even if it was only a 30p plastic clip.

The RS2 ticks all the boxes apart from a blue one due to the seats looking a bit too lairy for my tastes.

[ross_jsy]

If you don't go down the s50 route, speak to Ant about one of his Rotrex supercharger kits.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but 100hp out of an m20 is practically impossible without forced induction and will make for a very hard car to drive on the road anyway with that sort of N/A increase.

[TouringTash]

Had Ant swap a rack for me and will get him to do the work on any E30 I own now or in the future, but don't want to bother him with loads of daft questions along the lines of "what about..." or" what if..."
Poor guy is to nice not to answer all questions and he has a bussiness to run and spanners to wear out.

[oldroydsr4]

Agreed with Ross , an additional 100bhp from an m20 is only possible with huge investment. The highest I've seen is 260bhp from a 2.8 m20 on individual throttle bodies etc etc.

Think his user name is Player , or something like that.

[Bob_S]

Agreed with Ross , an additional 100bhp from an m20 is only possible with huge investment. The highest I've seen is 260bhp from a 2.8 m20 on individual throttle bodies etc etc.

Think his user name is Player , or something like that.

Player6...
I know me and dan saw 250/260ish out of an alloy block m52 with 3ltr bottom end and rucks of torque. A rough estimate on that was around 1600 quid.
It was a fucking great powerplant though

edit as for Vag stuff.. I've got 2.. one for going fast and one for being an economy homo.