1996 bmw 318is upgrading rims question

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digitalbymind@hotmail.com - 22 Jul 2006 22:54 GMT

I have a bmw 318 is and I currently have the stock 15" rims on it, I
would like to get some 17" factory rims off a 2001 3 series on it and
was wondering if I could just do it staright or would i need to lift it
at all....If anyone has done this any help would be greatly
appreciated.

thanks,
Brandon

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Richard Sexton - 22 Jul 2006 23:23 GMT

>I have a bmw 318 is and I currently have the stock 15" rims on it, I
>would like to get some 17" factory rims off a 2001 3 series on it and
>was wondering if I could just do it staright or would i need to lift it
>at all....If anyone has done this any help would be greatly
>appreciated.

Short answer: no.

Long answer: you won't be changing the diameter of the wheel, just
the amount of rubber (less) and metal (more). You have several options
in tire size there is no single right answer. Just make sure the
new size is withing 2% of the number of revolutions per mile

Here's a handy dandy calculator I wrote:

http://mbz.org/sys/tires

One thing, if it were me I'd go to 16" not 17". There is
a penalty in terms of stiffness of ride and comfort and
wide-a.s 16" are enough to give you that HOLY sh.t slot
car handling. 17's in my opinion aren't THAT much better
and he ride is pretty severe. But that's a subjective
thing and YMMV.

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Jeff Strickland - 23 Jul 2006 05:37 GMT

>>I have a bmw 318 is and I currently have the stock 15" rims on it, I
>>would like to get some 17" factory rims off a 2001 3 series on it and
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> and he ride is pretty severe. But that's a subjective
> thing and YMMV.

While there may be truth to the rumor that there is a penalty to skip the
16s and go directly to 17s, that's exactly what I did on my 325i (and later
my 325iC), and I found no penalty at all. I do mostly freeway driving, and I
found no practical difference in the 15s and the 17s, except that the 17s
are alot cheaper.

I see no reason to go to 16s, make the jump all of the way to 17s if you are
going to make the jump at all.

PS
The 3 Series cars work fine with a 225/45x17. The tires fit well, and the
speedo is dead nuts accurate at 80+ mph.

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Rex B - 24 Jul 2006 18:40 GMT

>>> I have a bmw 318 is and I currently have the stock 15" rims on it, I
>>> would like to get some 17" factory rims off a 2001 3 series on it and
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> The 3 Series cars work fine with a 225/45x17. The tires fit well, and
> the speedo is dead nuts accurate at 80+ mph.

Last I looked, the 16" tires were the cheapest of all.

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