New wheels! APEX ARC-8 - 17x9 et30, 17x10.5 et27

[StarReaver]

Hello BFc,

I've had the Kinesis K27s for a while now, and was looking to switch things up. I really started to fall in love with 17" APEX ARC-8s, especially seeing them on Ken's car:


I missed out on the original group buy, but luckily BenFenner was selling his set for a great price. They were/are in amazing condition, and also happen to be in the exact fitment I was looking for (same as Ken's above). After a little back and forth, they arrived this past Monday.


My coworkers and I were amused by the 7-legged spiders drawn on the cardboard


I loaded them up into the E90 to transport home. I wish I had folding rear seats, but they fit.



Ben was gracious enough to clean the hell out of them. They are practically brand-new



Here are some gloomy daytime shots with my friend's E46 M3. He also has ARC-8s, but his are 18". Twinning! (sort of)






Unfortunately the fronts do not clear my Wilwoods, but a 12mm spacer fixed that. They poke a little in front as a result, so I put a 20mm spacer in the rear to balance it out. It's not so bad. I also got new, black wheel nuts/locks. No more faded pink lugs!




Final thoughts: They are substantially lighter than the Kinesis, and I feel a dramatic difference in acceleration, braking, everything. Plus, taller sidewalls make the ride much smoother. I'm sure they will be easier to clean too! My only regret is not buying a set sooner.

Specs:
APEX ARC-8
Hyper Silver
17x9 et30 front, 17x10.5 et 27 rear
12mm front, 20mm rear spacer
Dunlop Direzza ZII - 245/40/17
Sumitomo HTR ZII - 275/40/17

Thanks for reading!

[ZoO]

i love meaty tires, looks awesome. are you going to try wider rear spacers to even the "poke"?

[StarReaver]

i love meaty tires, looks awesome. are you going to try wider rear spacers to even the "poke"?

Thanks! The 20mm spacers I currently have on are the widest I have. The difference in poke doesn't really bother me at the moment. I might have a set of 10mm spacers buried in my garage somewhere that I can swap with the fronts though...

[moonvan]

Looks great but kinesis crew misses you.

[JohnDuh]

looks cool

What size tires are those ?

[KBH22102]

Looks great. Several coupes were wearing those at Schuh.

[ajt36]

They do look great. I love ARC-8s and plan on getting a set for my Z3, though not quite that wide. My Style 18s are beat.

[totalazneclipse]

Looks great!

[BenFenner]

Yay! I'm glad they arrived without issue and you've already gotten some use out of them.
I can't believe how little poke you have with 12mm spacers. I had about the same up front with none. You must have swapped hats or otherwise gained some camber to tuck them that well. Nice job.
I too had 20mm spacers in the rear, and with rolled fenders it was pretty good, but could have gone to 27mm or more easily.

I assume you're familiar with that particular spider since you got a laugh out of it?

The wheels look gorgeous on your car, maybe even better than on mine. Hyper Silver really is a great choice no matter what color car it goes on.
Enjoy!

[StarReaver]

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone!

Looks great but kinesis crew misses you.

Thanks Byron! Will you be at Dorkfest this year?

looks cool

What size tires are those ?

245/40/17 front
275/40/17 rear

Yay! I'm glad they arrived without issue and you've already gotten some use out of them.
I can't believe how little poke you have with 12mm spacers. I had about the same up front with none. You must have swapped hats or otherwise gained some camber to tuck them that well. Nice job.
I too had 20mm spacers in the rear, and with rolled fenders it was pretty good, but could have gone to 27mm or more easily.

I assume you're familiar with that particular spider since you got a laugh out of it?

The wheels look gorgeous on your car, maybe even better than on mine. Hyper Silver really is a great choice no matter what color car it goes on.
Enjoy!

Thanks again Ben! I have my front camber set to -3° (TC Kline kit). I could fit a larger spacer in the rear, but I'm finding that the more time I spend driving the car the less I care about how flush the wheels are.

David Thorne is my hero. I actually use that spider as my profile pic on Steam.

Agreed about the color. Hyper Silver is really ideal for a "clean" look, whereas Hyper Black looks more aggressive, and better on a brighter colored car (Estoril, Imola, etc) where there would be more contrast.


Here's another pic I posted on Instagram/FB, but I wanted to share with you guys as well:

[mitohne]

Hello from Germany,


I would like to order the wheels in size. Unfortunately I do not know if this rim on the Peformance brake fits. It is a 6 piston Brembo system like this

[Bobkid]

Looks really sweet. I loved the ARC8s on my M3 and hope to go the same way on my MCoupe.

[Z3speed4me]

YES YES YES!!! 17's are the way to go.
Makes driving around way more comfortable thanks to the sidewall.

I am 235/45 F 275/40 R
With no spacer up front I look about the same as yours as well; with your camber I understand why it tucks about the same with the spacer.
I think I have an 18mm out back, but want to go wider as well; bc once I roll the fenders out it will need it!

[HamiltonSeth]

I love your setup. I am placing an order today for the same wheels to go on my silver z3m... hopefully we don't get each other's cars confused here in Socal. I noticed your tire setup- Direzza and Sumitomo. How did that work out? Seems like a drift setup.

[StarReaver]

Hello from Germany,


I would like to order the wheels in size. Unfortunately I do not know if this rim on the Peformance brake fits. It is a 6 piston Brembo system like this

Hello! The 17x9 et30 wheels will probably not fit over those massive OEM Brembos, unless you use a spacer. However, I would also suggest camber plates to reduce the poke. An 18" or 19" wheel setup would clear the brakes with no problem. Please give us more information on how you fit those brakes! What brackets did you use? Were they custom-manufactured?

Looks really sweet. I loved the ARC8s on my M3 and hope to go the same way on my MCoupe.

YES YES YES!!! 17's are the way to go.
Makes driving around way more comfortable thanks to the sidewall.

I am 235/45 F 275/40 R
With no spacer up front I look about the same as yours as well; with your camber I understand why it tucks about the same with the spacer.
I think I have an 18mm out back, but want to go wider as well; bc once I roll the fenders out it will need it!

What tires are you running? There are not very many manufacturers on TireRack that produce a 275/40/17.

I love your setup. I am placing an order today for the same wheels to go on my silver z3m... hopefully we don't get each other's cars confused here in Socal. I noticed your tire setup- Direzza and Sumitomo. How did that work out? Seems like a drift setup.

Thanks! What size/finish did you go with? Looking forward to seeing your car around at future meets!

I purchased the wheels and tires used from another member here on the forum. He had originally purchased and mounted the Dunlops & Sumis. There was a ton of tread left on all the tires (the previous owner put very few miles on the setup), and at the moment the car is 100% street-driven, so I don't feel the need to switch them out yet. The next set of tires I mount will all match.

[HamiltonSeth]

Thanks! What size/finish did you go with? Looking forward to seeing your car around at future meets!

I purchased the wheels and tires used from another member here on the forum. He had originally purchased and mounted the Dunlops & Sumis. There was a ton of tread left on all the tires (the previous owner put very few miles on the setup), and at the moment the car is 100% street-driven, so I don't feel the need to switch them out yet. The next set of tires I mount will all match.

I went with hyper silver. I just had them installed yesterday with an 18mm spacer in the rear but there is still a substantial amount of gap from the fender, even sitting on my GC's. Would you mind confirming your rear wheel specs, and spacer specs? Do you have a photo that shows the fitment (how flush they are)?

Thanks so much for the help!

[PbFut]

what size did you get? been on wait list forever for 17x10et25

[HamiltonSeth]

what size did you get? been on wait list forever for 17x10et25

I went 17x9 and 17x9.5 as I wanted a more square setup and 275 rears are plenty on this car. I think the rears need about a 25mm spacer to be to my liking, wich is nearly flush. They look great with the 18mm but are about the same fitment as the oem wheels.

[ZoO]

Op is running 10.5 +5 offset. With your setup 9.5 +10 offset. He has a whole 18mms of outward poke than you. You would need exactly a 43mm spacer to match the look of star

[smokenjo]

what is the stock offset on the 1999 z3m wheels front & rear

[Phr34k]

what is the stock offset on the 1999 z3m wheels front & rear

I have written down:
Front: +41
Rear: +8

[StarReaver]

I went with hyper silver. I just had them installed yesterday with an 18mm spacer in the rear but there is still a substantial amount of gap from the fender, even sitting on my GC's. Would you mind confirming your rear wheel specs, and spacer specs? Do you have a photo that shows the fitment (how flush they are)?

Thanks so much for the help!

Hello. Confirming that my rears are 17x10.5 et27, with a 20mm spacer. Here are front and back fitment photos from the first post:


More photos below.

- - - Updated - - -

I have written down:
Front: 17x7.5 +41
Rear: 17x9 +8

Wheel widths are necessary to convey offsets.

- - - Updated - - -

Moar photos from Bimmerfest & Dorkfest. None were taken by me:

[Marcus2137]

Man I don't know how you guys get these fronts to fit! I guess the -3* of front camber makes more difference than I would guess. Do you still intact fender liners in the front? I just put on some 235/40r18, hoping it would take care of the rubbing issue I was having with the 225/25r18 that came on the wheels I bought. The wheels are 18x8 et47, and it's still rubbing the liner like crazy. Hopefully I'll get some newer suspension soon and maybe a little more camber will fix me up. I just can't believe that you guys can run so much more effective offset (et30 + spacers) and still have it not rub.

[StarReaver]

Man I don't know how you guys get these fronts to fit! I guess the -3* of front camber makes more difference than I would guess. Do you still intact fender liners in the front? I just put on some 235/40r18, hoping it would take care of the rubbing issue I was having with the 225/25r18 that came on the wheels I bought. The wheels are 18x8 et47, and it's still rubbing the liner like crazy. Hopefully I'll get some newer suspension soon and maybe a little more camber will fix me up. I just can't believe that you guys can run so much more effective offset (et30 + spacers) and still have it not rub.

Although I don't have any rubbing issues with the ARC-8s, my previous setups (SSR Professors and Kinesis K27s) did have some crazy rubbing issues, and I am missing a bit of my front fender liners. The camber settings certainly do help tremendously as well.

[Maanski]

How did those fit???