any trade offs between 16X7 and 17X7 rims

[gwb72tii]

other than looks??

[erik325i]

17s weight a little more.
16s don't look as cool.

[SchnellerVert]

16's you have sidewall and 17's don't.

[CleanAzzE30z]

17s youll need chiropractic work on the regular if youre streets are anywhere near L.A.'s conditions. Youll need VERY strong rims cuz they will bend constantly. And ditto on the sidewall comment. Take it from me, Ive owned both sizes on a regular E30.

[SchnellerVert]

Oh and the old wheel scale used to be 14x6, 15x7, 16x8 17x9 manufacters don't seem to build them that way anymore.

[ddongbap]

Wider rims = more friction which means slightly lowered gas mileage, but increased traction.

Skinnier rims = the exact opposite.

[motorprestige]

More rotational inertia to get moving, considering the weight is further spread out than on a 16'', wich results in a higher kinetic energy once the wheels are moving, wich requires more breaking force to slow them down. Makes four lug e30 tea cup saucer breaks look even smaller. I don't know, i have always considered 17's too big on an e30. There are no advantages to be had, not to mention you are stepping up the price for your tire considerably, because you have to run such a low profile sidewall.

16s don't look as cool.

NOT true. I run a 15'' and my car looks cool to me, and any car running 15'' euroweaves looks extremely cool. Who says cool these days? LOL

[fastgeek]

17s weight a little more.
16s don't look as cool.

As the old saying goes "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

With that being said, and no disrepect to people who feel differently than I, but 17" and larger wheels just look WRONG on the E30. More than anything they simply look too damn big; kind of like 20" and larger wheels on most other vehicles. I have 17x8.5 wheels on the M3 and they look great, but no way I'd ever run similar sized wheels on the IS or IX. :) Personally I'll most likely be buying 15" BBS RG-F wheels. Why? Because trying to find wheels that 1) look good on the E30, 2) *fit* the E30 and 3) weigh less than ~15 pounds is damn near impossible. :curse: (Basically said BBS, Team Dynamics or Kosei K1's that won't be out again until next freaking year!)

As to the OP, others have summed up the issues fairly well. Cost, weight and sidewall are the main issues with 16" vs. 17" wheels.

Once again, this is all JMHO and to each their own! :pimp:

Regards,
fastgeek

[erik325i]

no disrepect to people who feel differently than I, but 17" and larger wheels just look WRONG on the E30. More than anything they simply look too damn big

I think it all depends on the car. If someone slaps 17s on an otherwise stock beater divingboard e30, it does look like crap.
Personnally, i love the look of my 17s. i have hit some real hard potholes/cracks in the road (hard enough to make my Pioneer deck skip), and have not bent any of my rims.

I say for looks, 17s are great. The tire selection sucks though. No company that I know of offers a 225/40-17, which is what i want.

i am probably going to be getting a set of 16s eventually.

[DrMcDave]

nitto makes that size tire but who wants nitto, you need to run 235/40's.

[CleanAzzE30z]

When the width of the tire increases, so does the height if its the same number. The height "40" on a "235" width tire will be taller than the "40" on a "225" width tire. Seeing as the height number is the percentage of the width number. Dunno if most people knew that. :)

[p nut]

I think 15's and 16's look the best on E30's. Others look just too big. I'd rather leave the stock 14's on than go with 17+'s.

I've got 16's and I think looks great.

[Digitalwave]

17's have more brake and strut clearance. 17's are really the only way to run a 235+ width tire on an E30.

There are tons, and I mean tons of light 4 lug rims out there, you just have to use spacers and studs. I am running 16x7" Honda rims that are 14lbs a piece, were cheap as hell, and are very strong.

[p nut]

There are people running 16x8-9's with 235+ tires.

[Digitalwave]

Tire selection is much more limited.