18inch wheels

[TripleM]

Hello there..
Welcome to our forum...
Let me take a few shots to answer your question...

1. It won't slow your car down terribly but a little bit.
Heavier rims will increase your ride's unsprung weight hence you need more torque to propel your car. So as a result, your car won't accelerate that fast compared to lighter rims.
Again, however, if u simply like the killer look of the rims as opposed to be too deeply concerned bout other drawbacks such as slower ride, increased harshness, increased fuel consumption etc... then it's fine. At the end of the day, it's your choice

2. Since your car is heavier now, then your fuel consumption will go up but bear in mind that one's driving style is equally important. Not to mention also whether you tend to drive more on highways or mostly in the city. I am not surprised even if you have a 13kg rims but your fuel consumption is lower due to your mainly Highway driving compared to a car with 16inch rims but heavy city driving.

3. The rim weight is not exactly the factor that should concern ride comfort. It's the rim size (hence the tires) that is the culprit.
You should expect a harsher ride when fitting lower profile tires.
Bear in mind that the change in ride quality will largely depend on the tire size and pattern chosen. Some tire manufacturers produce tires with strong marketing emphasis on its silent ride bla bla bla..eg the Yokohama Aspecdb

So, my advice to you is...
Change the rims by all means and choose the right tires that suit your driving style and the key strengths they offer that suit to your liking

Hope I have answered your questions.
Pls post more Qs if you have any..

Cheers

JacK

 

[TobyNik]

Hello there..
Welcome to our forum...
Let me take a few shots to answer your question...

1. It won't slow your car down terribly but a little bit.
Heavier rims will increase your ride's unsprung weight hence you need more torque to propel your car. So as a result, your car won't accelerate that fast compared to lighter rims.
Again, however, if u simply like the killer look of the rims as opposed to be too deeply concerned bout other drawbacks such as slower ride, increased harshness, increased fuel consumption etc... then it's fine. At the end of the day, it's your choice

2. Since your car is heavier now, then your fuel consumption will go up but bear in mind that one's driving style is equally important. Not to mention also whether you tend to drive more on highways or mostly in the city. I am not surprised even if you have a 13kg rims but your fuel consumption is lower due to your mainly Highway driving compared to a car with 16inch rims but heavy city driving.

3. The rim weight is not exactly the factor that should concern ride comfort. It's the rim size (hence the tires) that is the culprit.
You should expect a harsher ride when fitting lower profile tires.
Bear in mind that the change in ride quality will largely depend on the tire size and pattern chosen. Some tire manufacturers produce tires with strong marketing emphasis on its silent ride bla bla bla..eg the Yokohama Aspecdb

So, my advice to you is...
Change the rims by all means and choose the right tires that suit your driving style and the key strengths they offer that suit to your liking

Hope I have answered your questions.
Pls post more Qs if you have any..

Cheers
JacK

Pak

Sekarang ada CSL replica rims???

 

[Tom]

what is your model?

it will put more load on the car and significantly affect it's acceleration.
but it makes up for other aspects like better feel of the road, handling, firmer ride and of course looks, etc.

if it's on a lower displacement,, don't mind me saying this, but it's not going anywhere even with 15"s why not make up for the accelaration with other aspects instead, looks and ride feel, handling etc.

if it's on a higher displacement, don't worry you'll still smile in content when you put on bigger wheels despite the weight penalty.

cheers.

Tom

 

[TripleM]

Toby...
So far I hv seen couple of people mention bout CSL replicas. I havent seen the rims myself...*Curious*

 

[Black Spyder]

Thanks for all the advice. Will give it some more thought. The price of the replicas is attractive, plus they are made in Italy and very well finished.

For those who want to have a look at what the M3 CSL looks like, goto this URL:-

http://www.bmwworld.com/pics/3er/e46/m3/13701_1024.jpg

The wheels on the M3 are 19inch. Very NICE. If I do get the wheels, I intend to shoe them with 225/40-18s all round.

My ride is the 318 valvetronic version. I know the heavier wheels will increase my fuel consumption. Not sure by how much tho. I'm currently doing about 9.5km per litre. Is that normal? I do quite a bit of highway driving as I live way out in the West.

Anyway, let me know what you guys think of the rims!

 

[oneHeadlight]

Hi spyder, I m a pretty new owner myself, and i can relate to your considerations. I bought a used one, and it was already on 18" (225 tyres) My consumption, with a fair bit on highway was about 9.5km/litre. REcently i have a misfirin prob. After PML fix it, i am doing about 10km/litre and driving a lot heavier

My ride is not uncomfortable at all !

 

[SMYUEN]

Re: 18inch wheels

Hi,

Am a newbie here and would be grateful for some advice.

Have an E46 sedan and am considering uprating to 18inch M3 CSL replica wheels. I would be grateful for any feedback on whether this is a wise move, including whether this will:-

(i) slow the car down terribly
(ii) increase fuel consumption by a lot (if so, by how much?)
(iii) make for a very uncomfortable ride

Am told that the CSL replicas weigh 12kg a piece, whilst the stock Style #32 16 inch rims weight about 10kg each.


Hi, where to buy M3 CSL replicas?

Cheers! (just curious)

Many thanks!

 

[m3magic]

.

For those who want to have a look at what the M3 CSL looks like, goto this URL:-

http://www.bmwworld.com/pics/3er/e46/m3/13701_1024.jpg

The wheels on the M3 are 19inch. Very NICE. If I do get the wheels, I intend to shoe them with 225/40-18s all round.


As far as I know, there are no replicas CSL rims available anywhere!

 

[kenntona]

Any thought on Black Spyder's ride if he upgrade to 18" without lowering the ride? Surely, this is one of the consideration, if the decision is affirmative. Will make for a harder ride, but aesthetically more appealing.

 

[stevenwu]

hi all,

BTW, what is the weight of a 18" BBS CH ?

The design look quite similar.....but confirm much lighter...and the price is OK for BBS I believed.

thx

 

[kenntona]

BBS CH weighs 22 lbs (10 kg) on 17x8.5; 24 lbs (11 kg) on 19x8.5.

Clueless on the 18x8.5 (have only see it once), but can extrapolate between 17 and 19 - hence should be around 23 lbs (10.5 kg)?

 

[Steel Blue]

Black Spyder,

Question - why buy replica when you can well afford to buy an original set of BMW wheels?!! :roll:

 

[Black Spyder]

Blue Steel,

The replicas are much cheaper plus I don't think that the original BMW range includes a design similar to the replica CSL design that would fit an E46 sedan.

BBS has a similar design in the RX and RX II models. They are also very nice but I think considerably more expensive than the CSL replicas.

I will be checking out the BBS wheels this weekend.

Thanks for all the comments and HAVE A NICE WEEKEND! :wavey: [/img]

 

[MRacer77]

IMHO, if you can, forget the replicas and just go for the BBS rims... you will definitely find that they are well worth the money...

 

[tbt]

one more thing to consider is the brakes.

i move from 17" to 19", i can feel my car getting rather slow or rather less effective in responding to my command on the brakes.

As for other points I think you’ve already got the answers from the other replies.

I did my brakes upgrade after wearing the 19” for 1.5 months.

Better be safe, although looks is also important… all you need is 1-2 seconds quicker or i shall say effective on the brakes, it makes a big diff if it's call upon.

I am on E46 M54 320 2.2

Cheers
bt

 

[Black Spyder]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I am probably going to go with the 18inch CSL replicas. Having spoken with others, whilst tyres are much cheaper to get for 17inch wheels, the visual impact is not as great as 18s. The fashion now seems to be go 2-up, rather than just 1-up. 17inch, I am advised, is "neither here nor there" and if I am going to change, must as well make it an "obvious" change. Haha!

Oh well, now to shop around for affordable but good 18inch tyres before I finally make up my mind.

As for lowering the car, well.... not now. No more budget.... After the wheels, it will be the M-steering wheel.

Cheers to all!

 

[Steel Blue]

I have a set of 18" BMW M3 wheels for sale, stolen from a "accident" car - no tyres, U interested?

 

[Steel Blue]

Ok, just to clarify, not stolen but mis-appropriated from the owner who didn't know that the workshop replaced them with "replicas"..... :roll:

 

[MRacer77]

Wah lau eh... the workshop seems kinda dodgy man... :errr:

 

[TripleM]

Wah lau eh... the workshop seems kinda dodgy man... :errr:

Hope the guy was just joking..
If not, it's abso-f***inglutely outrageous