[pav3l]

Hey guys, so in the past few weeks I've been searching for bigger rims to replace my stock 16's. Then I realized the wheel gap with 19s will be atrocious and that I would need to lower. So I started looking for springs( el cheapo lowering) and came to the conclusion that stock suspension with springs is garbage. So then I started looking for coils. I come to the conclusion that only the kw v1s were a good bang for the buck, and st's are similar but they rust(ohio weather) unless you treat them(ain't nobody got time for that). So I decided I can't afford wheels plus kw's at this point, but then got to thinking maybe I can just get the coils for now on my stock OEM style 360's (they dont look bad at all other than their size, which may be perspective induced by the wheel gap combo). Question is what are you guys thinking of a lowered 328xi on stock 16s, for the time being? Will it look goofy? The performance is advantageous in lower rim sizes correct ?so I would be running a maximizing suspension/wheel combination since not increasing wheel size. Any anticipated rubbing issues?

[VTECaddict]

Yes, it will look goofy. No there will not be any rubbing. The 16's with 205 tires are nowhere near close to touching anything lol.

But wheels without lowering also looks goofy (especially on xi). So either way it will look goofy unless you do both rims and drop.

[pav3l]

Originally Posted by VTECaddict

Yes, it will look goofy. No there will not be any rubbing. The 16's with 205 tires are nowhere near close to touching anything lol.

But wheels without lowering also looks goofy (especially on xi). So either way it will look goofy unless you do both rims and drop.

Thanks man I appreciate the expertise. Guess I'm saving up money.

[yomny]

In my opinion wheels alone wont do anything, not even look good in your case. If you get the suspension and keep the drop normal, less than an inch, the car will handle thirty million times better and look better. I dont think any car looks great on oem suspension, nor rides well for us enthusiasts. You could always just save up and get both, but that will hurt the wallet, specially of you need to align after the drop.

[pav3l]

Originally Posted by yomny

In my opinion wheels alone wont do anything, not even look good in your case. If you get the suspension and keep the drop normal, less than an inch, the car will handle thirty million times better and look better. I dont think any car looks great on oem suspension, nor rides well for us
enthusiasts. You could always just save up and get both, but that will hurt the wallet, specially of you need to align after the drop.

So from what you were saying, a minor drop is possible with kw's? I'm not trying to slam it by any means, just wheel gap adjustment until I get upgraded wheels. However I also think any lower than stock on 16's is probably going to look fugly or even be too low for daily driving. Id have to pay for alignment twice also, so theres that.

[VTECaddict]

Just do it. Still better than nothing.

[pav3l]

Originally Posted by VTECaddict

Just do it. Still better than nothing.

I might, just gotta find a good deal on a used set. Right now I'm not really into spending 1.5k on 1". Maybe I'll find one for 900 or so.. but I've been stalking private seller suspension forums for days and nothing yet

[peepayy_91]

Just save up and keep looking you might find yourself a deal on a set of wheels and coilovers. No point in putting the car in the ugly duckling stage lol

[pav3l]

Originally Posted by peepayy_91

Just save up and keep looking you might find yourself a deal on a set of wheels and coilovers. No point in putting the car in the ugly duckling stage lol

I feel ya. Maybe coils with max height setting. Its all about perspective I think. 18's look decent dropped.. 2 inches won't matter. If I recall correctly, its not the size, its how you use it

[sirantsE90]

Just throw big spacers on. 30mm rear and maybe 10-15 front. Thats what I did when i moved to NY because of how bad the roads are. I get just as many compliments as I did when i was slammed on 19' GT3s

The wider track will improve the stability of the car quite a bit to, on top of the KWs.

[peepayy_91]

Originally Posted by pav3l

I feel ya. Maybe coils with max height setting. Its all about perspective I think. 18's look decent dropped.. 2 inches won't matter. If I recall correctly, its not the size, its how you use it

Wait, do you have 18's or 16's? You could just get the coilovers and keep it at the stock ride height and wait until you get some wheels.

[pav3l]

Originally Posted by sirantsE90

Just throw big spacers on. 30mm rear and maybe 10-15 front. Thats what I did when i moved to NY because of how bad the roads are. I get just as many compliments as I did when i was slammed on 19' GT3s

The wider track will improve the stability of the car quite a bit to, on top of the KWs.

Yeah spacers would almost be required with a lowered stock 16 rim. By lowered I mean to the max setting.

Originally Posted by peepayy_91

Wait, do you have 18's or 16's? You could just get the coilovers and keep it at the stock ride height and wait until you get some wheels.

Is it possible to have stock height with kw v1's? I thought there was going to be an inevitable drop. I've seen some pictures of "winter setups" that are assumingly max height but look lower than the xi stock height. I'm on 16's