Wheel Size and Ride Comfort?

How much difference in ride quality can be noticed between 16 and 17 inch
wheels? I'm assuming that wheel and tire diameter would be the same for
both as a result of a smaller sidewall profile for the larger wheel.

Curious because one of the Auto review mags made a point of saying that
ride quality for a 325i with 17 inch wheels was "harsh"...

Thanks

"Bob" > wrote
> How much difference in ride quality can be noticed between 16 and 17 inch
> wheels? I'm assuming that wheel and tire diameter would be the same for
> both as a result of a smaller sidewall profile for the larger wheel.
>
> Curious because one of the Auto review mags made a point of saying that
> ride quality for a 325i with 17 inch wheels was "harsh"...

The difference in sidewall height makes a large difference in comfort
*AND* performance. Even using tires with different aspect rations can
significantly affect these metrics. For instance, my 205/50R17 standard
tires seem kind of plus to me, while my 225/45R17 summer tires
(granted, they're a Z-rated performance tire rather than all-season H-
rated rubber) are very "edgy".

YMMV, drive both.

Floyd

Bob wrote:

> How much difference in ride quality can be noticed between 16 and 17
> inch wheels? I'm assuming that wheel and tire diameter would be the
> same for both as a result of a smaller sidewall profile for the
> larger wheel.
>
> Curious because one of the Auto review mags made a point of saying
> that ride quality for a 325i with 17 inch wheels was "harsh"...

All else being equal, the tire with more sidewall will be smoother riding. But
all else is not always equal. Tires vary enough in ride quality from other
factors that a smooth riding 17 inch can be smoother than a 16 inch.

IME no stock BMW's ride is "harsh." Even the E30 M3, probably the stiffest
riding BMW ever, is smoother than the sport versions of most other cars.

Matt O.

I recently made the change from 15" to 17" rims on my '94 325i. I am not
bothered by the difference in the ride quality, but my car has the Sport
Package, so it is on the stiff side already.

I found my rims on eBay with the search string, BMW OEM E36 17" WHEELS. You
can drop the 17" part of the string to get a complete listing of E36 OEM
rims.

I made the change because my car takes the 225/55x15 tires, and that size
costs $1000 out-the-door. The 225/45x17 tires that have a longer tread life
and better traction and run cooler, cost $115.




"Bob" > wrote in message
. 14...
> How much difference in ride quality can be noticed between 16 and 17 inch
> wheels? I'm assuming that wheel and tire diameter would be the same for
> both as a result of a smaller sidewall profile for the larger wheel.
>
> Curious because one of the Auto review mags made a point of saying that
> ride quality for a 325i with 17 inch wheels was "harsh"...
>
> Thanks

Matt O'Toole wrote:

> IME no stock BMW's ride is "harsh."

A Z4 on sports suspension and ellipsoid alloys (nearly 30lb a piece for
the rear wheel alone) has one of the worst rides of any BMW - far more
uncomfortable than the E30 M3, and enough for practically every
European road test to mark it down as borderline unacceptable (when
everyone else, from Mazda to Merc to Porsche manages to strike a
ride/handling balance).

BMW's recent adoption of run-flat tyres practically across the board
has managed to ruin the ride/handling compromise it used to maintain so
successfully. the 5er has been panned for having a very poor ride,
with no benefit to handling (the Sport version, on drun-roller 18" run
flats, is almost laughable). IME these days a lot of BMWs ride
harshly, if you compare them to competitors - but not if you compare
them to Evos, Elises etc., obviously!