Mike's Alpine White 1991 318is

[Powling]

No problem. I really would've liked to run something like the Star Spec (available in 205/50), but the 205/55 is the closest-to-stock size and works well on a stock-ish ride height like mine. I'm impressed with the Yokohama S Drives so far.

Agreed with this - I sized down by '5' when I ordered new tires (Falken 615K's) and its visibly noticeable to me how much smaller the tire sidewall looks. And I'm lower than you as well, its still noticeable. I'll be sizing back up when I get new wheels and tires next season.

[mike.bmw]

I am so glad I jumped on a set of these wheels as well. Thanks for posting! Car looks stunning...now I just need spring to roll around

Nice! They're going to look great on your car.

Looks awesome. And thank you for posting the details on your choice between 55 Vs 50 sidewall tires. I had the same dilemma but now this has helped me make a final choice. Thanks!

No problem. I really would've liked to run something like the Star Spec (available in 205/50), but the 205/55 is the closest-to-stock size and works well on a stock-ish ride height like mine. I'm impressed with the Yokohama S Drives so far.

Those Ronal's on a perfectly clean Alpine white car look amazing. The reasonably deep lip on the wheels looks very correct on E30's.


MJ

Thanks!

Car is looking very clean! What's next? Side skirts?

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Thanks! No quite sure what is coming next. I've been looking for a small case 4.10 LSD. I may need to move my exhaust plans up as I think I have a small leak (need to confirm). I'd also like to repair my driver's side seat bolster as the vinyl has started to crack in a couple spots.

[jeenyus]

Car is looking very clean! What's next? Side skirts?

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[mjweimer]

Those Ronal's on a perfectly clean Alpine white car look amazing. The reasonably deep lip on the wheels looks very correct on E30's.


MJ

[Powling]

Looks awesome. And thank you for posting the details on your choice between 55 Vs 50 sidewall tires. I had the same dilemma but now this has helped me make a final choice. Thanks!

[dmanb2b]

I am so glad I jumped on a set of these wheels as well. Thanks for posting! Car looks stunning...now I just need spring to roll around

[mike.bmw]

Snapped some photos this morning in my usual spots. I played with some features on the camera for various effects. I'm happy with how they turned out!

[mike.bmw]

Great wheel and tire choice, which seems to be growing in popularity.

I may have missed it earlier in the thread, but what percentage window tint do you have?

Your car is really looking outstanding!

Thanks! Yeah, I know of at least 3 others that have put together this same wheel/tire package in the last few months. They have good taste. ;D

The tint is 50% front and 35% rear. It was all 35% at one point (previous owner), but I had the front replaced to meet VA state law.

[connorb850]

Great wheel and tire choice, which seems to be growing in popularity.

I may have missed it earlier in the thread, but what percentage window tint do you have?

Your car is really looking outstanding!

[mike.bmw]

Loving the look on the Ronals. Also, the photos are making me want to switch my 205/50 S-Drives up a size like yours!

Thanks! I like the OE style of the Ronals, though I may actually prefer the euroweaves like yours. I couldn't pass on the Ronals for the price though. With my recent suspension upgrades and these new wheels/tires, I'm excited for a few HPDEs this coming year.

I think your 205/50s look great! My ride height is close to stock so I wanted to get a stock-sized tire to fill out the wheel well.

[freeride53]

Loving the look on the Ronals. Also, the photos are making me want to switch my 205/50 S-Drives up a size like yours!

[mike.bmw]

Wheel Shopping

The last few months I’ve been casually shopping for some new wheels. A little before Thanksgiving Zeemz made me aware of some BBS RS001s for sale and were located only a couple hours away. These were in original condition, with 2 bent barrels, a cracked/welded barrel, and had some other flaws. They were priced accordingly. The seller was very forthcoming and honest. He sent photos of everything I requested.

I went back and forth with the seller for a couple weeks trying to schedule a time to look at them. It seemed he was on the fence about selling the wheels and he ultimately decided to keep them. Unfortunately this made me miss out on the Ronal LS sale from Performance Alloys, a wheel distributor in the U.K.

Road Trip!

A few weeks passed and the seller of the BBS RS001s contacted me and said he has decided to sell them again. I took a day off work and took the trip in the e30. A friend came along for the road trip (owner of the manual Chevy SS from the NJ BMW CCA track event I posted about earlier this year). We met up with the seller and I looked at the wheels for a solid 20 minutes. Ultimately, I passed due to other issues I discovered looking at the wheels in person and a number of unknowns in refinishing costs. I don’t hold anything against the seller as I knew it was a gamble making the trip.

The trip wasn’t a total failure though. My friend and I grabbed lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings in Newark DE. As usual he ordered the hottest wings. They asked him if he wanted to do the “wing challenge”. He said sure, signed the waiver, and crushed their wings in half the allotted time without eating or drinking anything during that time. Apparently he’s only the third person to do it at that location. He was awarded some swag and we left for the trip home. We hit some traffic both on the way there and on the way home, but the E30 was great. In total there was about 6 hours of travel time. Here was the route:



Enter Ronal LS

A little bummed about the RS001s, I reached out to Performance Alloys and got a great price on a set of Ronal LS wheels. Richard from Performance Alloys was great to work with and I highly recommend them.

It took less than a week for the Ronals to arrive. They came in excellent condition and included new lug bolts.



Tire Choices

Regarding tires, I went back and forth on size for a bit. 205/50/15 vs 205/55/15. The 205/50s provide more options and are cheaper. However, they are almost an inch shorter than the 205/55s. I went for the Yokohama S Drives in 205/55/15 to match the stock rolling diameter.



Mount and Balance

To have the tires mounted and balanced I went Mach V Motorsports (today). I've been a big fan of this shop for a long time and they always exceed expectations. While I was there the owner took me back into the shop to show me an S14 swapped BMW 2002 they were working on.



For transport, the wheels in their boxes fit in the trunk and the tires fit in the rear seat (kids’ car seats out of course).





I was excited to get these installed, so I put them on the car tonight. Here are some shots in the garage. I will get out for a proper photo shoot this weekend.







I’m happy with the results. The Ronals aren’t exactly light weight wheels, but they aren’t heavy either. With tires they are about 4 pounds heavier per corner. I like the style, fitment, and price. If I come across a good deal on a decent set of RS001s or RS003s, I may offer these up for sale at some point, but for now I’m going to enjoy them and focus on some other areas of the car.

[mike.bmw]

I just wanted to say, beautiful car. I just closed a deal on it's twin brother and will be using your build as inspiration. Progress will be slow as winter will force car into storage until spring.

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing your build thread!

[dmanb2b]

I just wanted to say, beautiful car. I just closed a deal on it's twin brother and will be using your build as inspiration. Progress will be slow as winter will force car into storage until spring.

[mike.bmw]

Great work!

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Thanks!

Nice! I'll be tackling this in the coming weeks as well once everything arrives and I can find some time to do it!

Thanks! Hopefully it all comes apart easily for you!

Great update, Mike! Installing new parts is always fun :)
Ride height looks great too, although it will probably still settle a bit.

On my VW Golf mk1 I also fitted Bilstein B4s when I restored it. However after maybe 6000-7000km one of them started leaking already.. Luckily I was able to get them send in again under warranty.. I hope you won't encounter this.

Indeed! Yeah, I'm expecting it to settle some. I'll give it a few weeks and then I'll take it to RRT (local specialist shop) for an alignment. I'll keep an eye out for leaking shocks, thanks.

After I told my daughter I stayed home and worked on the car, she was quite disappointed she didn't get to help. So today we re-torqued a number of bolts to include the strut house to control arm, tie rod ends, sway bar links, and rear shock to trailing arm bolts.



Another great thing about the new ride height is that my jack has clearance to reach the front cross member. Previously I had to drive the car on ramps, then use the floor jack, then place the car on jack stands. Ramps no longer needed. :)