Need advice with wheels

[bvnguyen516]

Hello all, I joined the forums to do some investigating for a friend with a 2006 3-series BMW.

He's looking to get aftermarket wheels to change the over all appearance.

I need some help with fitments and "popular" rim sizes to start helping him shop for rims. All I know is that his car should have a 5x130 bolt pattern (and I do not know if he has the OEM staggered setup).

Any advice would help right now and pictures would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance! Cheers!

[Edison@Jlevi SW]

Welcome to the forums! The 3-Series accepts a 5x120mm bolt pattern. There is a wide range of choices depending on what style and budget you are after but I do recommend looking into the range of Velocity wheels for your car. We can package these together with tires for a complete setup as well.

Velocity Motoring 18" CSL Wheels (http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/Wheels-Velocity-Motoring/c57_77/p155/Velocity-Motoring-18-Inch-CSL-Style-Wheels-%28Set%29/product_info.html)

Velocity Motoring 19" CSL Wheels (http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/Wheels-Velocity-Motoring/c57_77/p191/Velocity-Motoring-19-Inch-CSL-Style-Wheels/product_info.html)
http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/product_thumb.php?img=images/csl%20wheels%20m3%201.jpg&w=160&h=117

Velocity Motoring V170 Wheel Set (http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/Wheels-Velocity-Motoring/c57_77/p1755/Velocity-Motoring-V710-19-Inch-Staggered-Wheel-Set/product_info.html)
http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/product_thumb.php?img=images/V710_2-wm.jpg&w=133&h=133

Velocity Motoring V715 Wheel Set (http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/Wheels-Velocity-Motoring/c57_77/p862/Velocity-Motoring-V-715-2-Piece-Cast-Wheels-%28Set%29/product_info.html)
http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/product_thumb.php?img=images/V715-3%20small.jpg&w=140&h=133

Velocity Motoring V713 Wheel Set (http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/Wheels-Velocity-Motoring/c57_77/p5899/Velocity-Motoring-V713-Wheel-%28Single%29/product_info.html)
http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/product_thumb.php?img=images/V713_01.jpg&w=150&h=133

Velocity Motoring V714 Wheel Set (http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/Wheels-Velocity-Motoring/c57_77/p695/Velocity-Motoring-V714-19-Inch-Staggered-Wheel-Set-for-BMW/product_info.html)
http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/product_thumb.php?img=images/V714.jpg&w=143&h=133

Velocity Motoring V708 Wheel Set (http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/Wheels-Velocity-Motoring/c57_77/p397/Velocity-Motoring-V708-Wheel-Set-for-BMW-%26-Audi/product_info.html)
http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/product_thumb.php?img=images/v708%201.jpg&w=160&h=123

Another option are the Miro M6 Style Wheels:

M6 Style Wheels (http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/p633/M6-Style-Cast-Wheel-Set---19-Inch/product_info.html)
http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/product_thumb.php?img=images/MIRO%20346.jpg&w=139&h=133

[tcsmiley]

Be very careful with offsets. Just because the bolt pattern is correct doesn't mean its right. I used to be in wheel manufacturing and German cars are especially sensitive to changes in the geometry of wheels. A lot of the Chinese made wheels (not necessarily these velocity ones, I've been out of the business for a little while so I don't know all the newer brands) have generic offsets/backspacing and they just drill in the bolt pattern's and use either a generic 35mm or 44mm offset. The wrong offset will kill your handling and could make the car dangerous.

Even though they are RWD the 3 series/X3/Z/M3 's tend to have a higher offset then most RWD cars.

In the United States all road wheels must be DOT approved but there is really no enforcement of this law. In Germany they have the intense TUV certification (now ENCAP). That doesn't mean that german wheels are made better, just that the fit will be correct. Some decent quality wheels come out of china and some absoultely horrible wheels come from there too. A good test is to say "what does this company have to lose if a wheel falls off and I hit a school bus full of children".

The best wheels in the world are made in Japan, but even they don't quite get the fitment thing right all the time.

Also always get (non-metal) centering rings or you'll have vibration-feedback on the steering wheel. Buy them online, you can get them dirt cheap.

I hope this helps. It kills me whenever I see a BMW with horribly fit wheels.

[CQ7String]

Also always get (non-metal) centering rings or you'll have vibration-feedback on the steering wheel. Buy them online, you can get them dirt cheap.


Spot on here. Your car will ride miserably without them, and in my experience every set of aftermarket wheels I've bought has come with them. The first time I had a set of rims with them, I thought they were spacers and didn't put them on. :lol I lasted about 10 miles until I furiously hit up Google wondering why my shiny new wheels made my car drive like absolute trash, and voila, I learned what centering rings were for. :D

[Beer Goggles]

Spot on here. Your car will ride miserably without them, and in my experience every set of aftermarket wheels I've bought has come with them. The first time I had a set of rims with them, I thought they were spacers and didn't put them on. :lol I lasted about 10 miles until I furiously hit up Google wondering why my shiny new wheels made my car drive like absolute trash, and voila, I learned what centering rings were for. :D


You only need hub-centric rings if the rims aren't the right size for the car. My wheels are made for the BMW hub-size and don't have rings.