Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[Merlin_83]

Greetings,

There are many guys that have various wheel/tire combo's they use on their M3's - they all look great ! I have noticed that there seems to be three camps that people are grouped into.

1) Meaty tires and serious track wheels, these are guys that track often or want real meaty tires for 'spirited' driving on the street. I see these guys with like Volk type rims.

2) Ultra low-profile, like 20 or 25 series on big ass staggered set-up, these cars look amazing, and are great for cruising around look bad-ass...I like these the most...I even like the undersized tire to wheel ratio look...I know, I know that is not really what our cars were designed for, still looks great though.

3) Stock wheels, these guys have decided to wait awhile and use their stock set-up (this is me) - these folks have decided to wait or perhaps are putting their money to other items on the car, and others buy the OEM ZCP wheels they look really great for stock set-up. My M3 came with these since it has the competition package.

I would like to have another spare set-up that I could easily swap in my garage, not gonna lie, I would like to have something exotic like the high end BBS wheels with super low-profile tires. I reckon that would set me back around $6K or so (not including tires)

Anywhoo - to those that have made changes to their M3's, I admire what you guys have done. It takes some effort to get it 'right' in terms of correct size, offset, hub-centric, etc.




Cheers,
Merlin

[Denk]

It's great to be able to have a different set of wheels to throw on for variety. The stock tire size is meaty enough to me but I do like the looks/light weight of a quality aftermarket wheel. ZCP's are one of my favorites, here is another I love.

[to///m]

I agree with your different segments of M3 drivers and their wheel choice, but i think there needs to be one more group:

#4 who purchases aftermarket 19" wheels to achieve their ideal aftermarket look without sacrificing performance, the "best of both worlds" option

[InspireSiR]

I agree with 19's being best of both worlds. That's why I run them also.

In the end, I don't track my car so I didn't need to run 18's. And I haven't really seen 20's that don't look cartoonish on this car...

[ben@tirerack]

Originally Posted by InspireSiR

I agree with 19's being best of both worlds. That's why I run them also.

In the end, I don't track my car so I didn't need to run 18's. And I haven't really seen 20's that don't look cartoonish on this car...

19" does seem to be the sweet spot for most. Tire selection is good, sidewall is sufficient for normal road driving (though dodging potholes is always recommended), and they look sporty enough for most people's taste.

With that said, one man's "cartoonish" is another man's "freakin' awesome." OP, it sounds like some big wheels and skinny sidewalls are really the style you like.

If you're keeping two sets, you might make one your cruising setup and get the look you want, then make the other your performance setup and use those for road trips, curvy roads, driving schools etc.