lowering with 18" wheels
 

I am a complete newbie when it comes to the wheel and tire world. I have a '03 320i and wondering if I get 18" (or even 17") wheels if I need to lower the car to avoid looking awkward. Any comments would be well appreciated.

the short answer is: you ALWAYS need to lower your car to avoid looking akward :cool::cool:

i personally like the fender to hug the tire, but that means your front end will be very low, depending on your pothole situation thats going to be a headache.

and oh ya, get 19s haha.

Thanks guys for the replies. I figured I could probably get away without lowering with the 17"s but not the 18"s. The car still has an extended warranty with BMW so I will check if I could lower the car without affecting the warranty. Thanks again!

i was wondering about that one since i had my 18 inchers put on a few weeks ago, on a lock to lock motion i am about half a centimeter from my fender liner in the back and my side wall is very low profile, how can you possibly fit 19 inches plus tire in there without hitting the liner hard on a full lock?

with the right offset and tire size, it would be possible. what car you got?
i even fitted 20s on my car.

Wheels don't change overall diameter when you choose the right tire.

that would be very little rubber then, i am running 235/35/18 and they are pretty much lining up with the fender 18X8 wheels et34, this is on a e36 coupe

thats cause the wheels are at et 34.

if you're getting 19s, try 40+

What he said. Hell, my current wheel setup is ET26 all around on my E36 and I'm running 235/40/17 tires. There's lots of room in these fenders.

I have 18s on Stock Non Sport suspension, It doesent look THAT bad but a drop will make it look 10 times nicer. If were you id get the eibach pro kit, thats what im doing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_0271.jpg

actually it looks really bad. DUMP IT!

lowering with 18" wheels
 

Sneaky,

I think the car looks good still without the drop. But that's just me. Thanks for the pic of your car because I really wasn't sure how it would look like.

Raps Fan

Trust me a slight drop with the Eibach Springs (designed to work with our stock shocks) will get rid of the wheel gap (especially at the front) and make the car look 10 times better and wont result in a much harsher ride. Give your ride that agressive E46 stance.

get 19"!