Just curious who has replaced their 17" stock wheels with aftermarket 19" wheels. Was it a pain? Did it affect your car in any negative way?
Have photos??
Thanks
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A larger diameter wheel is always going to affect the car in negative ways. Along with the wheels likely being heavier, the mass of the tire will be farther from the hub center. You will slow the car down by demanding more effort to rotate the wheels. Even if you bought extremely high quality wheels that are as light or lighter than whatever 17s you have now, 19s won't look right on an E36 and you will still lose acceleration. Then there is the harshness of the ride quality that comes with the smaller sidewall. Big wheels are for big brakes. I'd say stay away from larger wheels unless there is an absolute need for brake clearance.
It looks hella stupid DSC01975.jpg
Don't do 19's, they don't look good on e36's period. Even 18's are too big imo.
CBlock
I had 19" wheels 265 rear 235 front, went back to stock 17" DS2 wheel.
19" looked decent but the 17" are way better.
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You gotta remember that the E36 was designed for 15's and 16's for the lower average models. So 17's actually look bigger than usual since the wheel arches on the E36 are already smaller than most cars now a days.
Anything bigger than 17s looks retarded in an e36 IMO.
Appreciate the opinions guys
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She's still tucked in the garage waiting for me to get home and drive her.
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Some 18s look fantastic. Its rare, but RCs or Schnitzer type 2s I've seen look great on e36s.
19s ALWAYS look like steaming piles of garbage.
I have 18's but I needed them to cover the CSL disks (345mm)
M3.jpg
E30 1992 335 Cabriolet - Transplant nearly finished
E31 1992 850ci - Hartge H8 6.0 conversion
E34 1995 540A - Stock, low mileage, hi spec and soon to FI'd
E36 1994 M3 - GM LS3 Transplant
E38 2001 735 - Daily driver
E46 2002 330 Cab - Stock
M62B46 with TTV flywheel, dual plate clutch and 6 speed box sitting in a corner waiting for me to decide where to put it.
Nothing says you have to be stock, just that bigger than 17" just looks wrong to most normal people. But if you just have to have a DONK mobile go for it...
No matter where you go, there you are...
only car I've seen 19's pulled off... this is only from an aesthetic perspective though. In short, the compromises simply aren't worth it. Maybe if you have a show car and you invest the money to put some huge brakes behind the 19's too, they kinda will look silly with stock brakes. Again, simply too many things just to get them to work. 18's is max on E36 for most people that like to drive them and not spend alot of time and money to make wheels work.
There is a whole scene dedicated to making these kinds of things work and I won't argue for or against it, it's your car. Simply not worth it to me.
small sidewall tires (rough ride)
heavier wheels
have to slam just to get it to look right (compromised suspension geometry)
rubbing, modification of arches
TRM Coilovers 670F/895R | BBS LM | Corsa RSC36
I'm going to be another curmudgeon and add that 19s don't fit the character or period the car was developed in either. Performance cars back then didn't have monstrous wheels. That's a more modern thing, and when applied to older more "vintage" cars, just looks wrong. It falls into the same category as angel eyes IMHO.
Also, your car is gorgeous. You owe it to humanity to keep it that way.
1998 Titanium/Dove M3/4/5
2020 Toyota 4Runner
Thanks for the compliment. I think I just need to take off my sport shocks and put coilovers on to squat it lower. Doubt I'll adjust them once on, just really want that lower stance. Probably will keep stock wheels (which I do like) if I get my car lowered. At the moment it has Bilstein sport shocks with Eibach sport springs but it just doesn't quite sit as low as I want it.
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If you must run 19s, at least replace all 31 bushings, ball joints, mounts and links under the car so you will have some suppleness in the suspension to counter the stiffness of the short sidewalls on the rubber band tires. And I would not run super stiff springs or slam the car.
Well if you were a fan of touring car racing, they did run big wheels and really low setups, which is why maybe some people like the look (talking pure aesthetics here, not discussing all the suspension geometry changes race cars have to run that low). Even E30 M3's used 18x9's in DTM guise. I personally like how 18's look on E36's, but that's the biggest size to run I think. I've had 18's on my car for almost 10 years, so I'm a bit biased.
and a nice example of 18's done right on a very nice LTW
And one of my favorite M3's
Last edited by propcar; 06-13-2017 at 09:19 AM.
TRM Coilovers 670F/895R | BBS LM | Corsa RSC36
I hear ya. My car is on Konis and H&R sport springs so I understand the need for a bit more lower . Another thing I did to fill the front wheel wells a bit more was put 12.5mm spacers behind the front wheels. Car still drives and rides great to me. You can even do 5mm spacers in the back but I decided I didn't need to. Or, you could do a square wheel setup and run a set of the 8.5" rear wheels all around. That's a great look too.
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1998 Titanium/Dove M3/4/5
2020 Toyota 4Runner
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