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E36 Wheels and Suspension questions
Hi All,
I have a '96 328i, all stock, with about 96,000 miles. I bought the car in 2002 with 54,000 miles on it. I live in the New York city area. Some questions on a couple of topics: 1- Would there be any suspension components/ bushings due for replacement srtictly based on this mileage? If so, recommendations? 2- I'd like to switch from the original 15" wheel/tire setup to 16"or 17" when I take off my snow tires next spring. I see a lot of aftermarket wheels, at tirerack for example, that are said to fit the car, but have a different offset than the stock BMW wheels. How important is it to maintain the exact offset? Is there an allowable difference of a few mm? What about the use of spacers? They don't seem like a suitable alternative seeing how the stock wheel sits over the center hub. TIA to all! |
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#2
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There is nothing exact about trying to guess with mileage. I would suspect,
Front- lower control arm bushings, and ball joints. a good time to replace the whole lca. The lca from a 95 ///M3 has offset bushings that help steering turn in a lot. tie rods If the shocks haven't been changes, I would bet they are very tired also. along with the anti roll bar bushings Rear- Rear shock mounts rear trailing arm bushings (RTABs) shocks rear subframe bushings. All of this is subject to change based on actual inspection, but they are wear items. All of it is really easy to DIY with the exception of the RTABs. As for the offset. Stock for the E36 15x7 in wheel is 47mm for the ///M3 17x7.5 is 41mm. so... Just about any wheel 7" to 8.5" with an offset from 35 to 45 should work. It will really depend on what size tire you are trying to use. my 95 ///M3 uses 17x 7.5" wheels with 235-40-17 tires on all 4 corners. later models used 7.5" front and 8.5" rear wheels with 225-40 and 245-40 tires with 41mm offset. Whew!.. The guys at Tire Rack really know what works on the E36, give them a call. Rich "Jim P." > wrote in message ... > Hi All, > I have a '96 328i, all stock, with about 96,000 miles. I bought the car > in 2002 with 54,000 miles on it. I live in the New York city area. > Some questions on a couple of topics: > 1- Would there be any suspension components/ bushings due for replacement > srtictly based on this mileage? If so, recommendations? > 2- I'd like to switch from the original 15" wheel/tire setup to 16"or 17" > when I take off my snow tires next spring. I see a lot of aftermarket > wheels, at tirerack for example, that are said to fit the car, but have a > different offset than the stock BMW wheels. How important is it to > maintain > the exact offset? Is there an allowable difference of a few mm? What > about > the use of spacers? They don't seem like a suitable alternative seeing > how > the stock wheel sits over the center hub. > TIA to all! > > |
#3
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"Jim P." > wrote in message ... > Hi All, > I have a '96 328i, all stock, with about 96,000 miles. I bought the car > in 2002 with 54,000 miles on it. I live in the New York city area. > Some questions on a couple of topics: > 1- Would there be any suspension components/ bushings due for replacement > srtictly based on this mileage? If so, recommendations? I have a '94 325i that is also stock, except I upgraded the wheels recently to 17" from an M3. I bought my car at 100,000 in 2000, and now have 200,000. I put an average of 25,000 miles per year over 4 years. I have no reason to think I need any bushings or other suspension components. > 2- I'd like to switch from the original 15" wheel/tire setup to 16"or 17" > when I take off my snow tires next spring. I see a lot of aftermarket > wheels, at tirerack for example, that are said to fit the car, but have a > different offset than the stock BMW wheels. How important is it to maintain > the exact offset? Is there an allowable difference of a few mm? What about > the use of spacers? They don't seem like a suitable alternative seeing how > the stock wheel sits over the center hub. Let me urge you to go to eBay and do a search on 'BMW OEM E36 17" WHEELS'. You can modify the search string, drop OEM and/or E36, or change the size to 16", and get a different mix of results. If you leave the OEM in the string, you will cut out the after market rims (for the most part) and get a listing of factory original rims that are take-offs where somebody is changinf from the size you are searching on to an even larger size. I scored a set (all 5) of rims from an M3. The tires that go on these rims are 225/45x17. They are within 1% of being the same size as the tires (225/55x15) that came off, and are very colose to the 205/60s that you probably have today. The 225/45s are nearly an inch wider than the 205/60s, but they will fit without any modification to your car. The offset of the M3 rim is correct for your car. The wider tires will not allow chains, but you have a set of snow tires already so this should be OK. Alternatively, you can put on a 205/50x17 and then you can use chains if you need them before the start of the official snow season and get caught out in the snow. Check this link for the BMW offerings (I got the Style 22, M3 Double Spoke) http://www.kalach.easynet.be/bmw_wheels.htm > TIA to all! > > |
#4
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Jeff, if you have 200K on your car and you don't think you need to inspect /
replace bushings, you are in for a surprise. RSMs are a replacement item by at least 100K along with lcas and rtabs. I would have them checked out. "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message ... > > "Jim P." > wrote in message > ... >> Hi All, >> I have a '96 328i, all stock, with about 96,000 miles. I bought the >> car >> in 2002 with 54,000 miles on it. I live in the New York city area. >> Some questions on a couple of topics: >> 1- Would there be any suspension components/ bushings due for replacement >> srtictly based on this mileage? If so, recommendations? > > I have a '94 325i that is also stock, except I upgraded the wheels > recently > to 17" from an M3. I bought my car at 100,000 in 2000, and now have > 200,000. > I put an average of 25,000 miles per year over 4 years. I have no reason > to > think I need any bushings or other suspension components. > > > > >> 2- I'd like to switch from the original 15" wheel/tire setup to 16"or 17" >> when I take off my snow tires next spring. I see a lot of aftermarket >> wheels, at tirerack for example, that are said to fit the car, but have a >> different offset than the stock BMW wheels. How important is it to > maintain >> the exact offset? Is there an allowable difference of a few mm? What > about >> the use of spacers? They don't seem like a suitable alternative seeing > how >> the stock wheel sits over the center hub. > > Let me urge you to go to eBay and do a search on 'BMW OEM E36 17" WHEELS'. > You can modify the search string, drop OEM and/or E36, or change the size > to > 16", and get a different mix of results. If you leave the OEM in the > string, > you will cut out the after market rims (for the most part) and get a > listing > of factory original rims that are take-offs where somebody is changinf > from > the size you are searching on to an even larger size. > > I scored a set (all 5) of rims from an M3. The tires that go on these rims > are 225/45x17. They are within 1% of being the same size as the tires > (225/55x15) that came off, and are very colose to the 205/60s that you > probably have today. The 225/45s are nearly an inch wider than the > 205/60s, > but they will fit without any modification to your car. The offset of the > M3 > rim is correct for your car. The wider tires will not allow chains, but > you > have a set of snow tires already so this should be OK. Alternatively, you > can put on a 205/50x17 and then you can use chains if you need them before > the start of the official snow season and get caught out in the snow. > > Check this link for the BMW offerings (I got the Style 22, M3 Double > Spoke) > http://www.kalach.easynet.be/bmw_wheels.htm > > > >> TIA to all! >> >> > > |
#5
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I have inspected them, and they are fine.
It is possible that they are needing replacement since I last checked them, but they look fine, I have no noises from suspension parts clanging against one another and the tires wear evenly despite never, that's n-e-v-e-r, getting a wheel alignment. If I needed bushings, at least one of those things would not be a true statement, I ought to hear noises, have poor tire wear, or rerquire alignments. Something would be amiss if the suspension bushings were gone, however I completely agree that even in the best of cases, I have to be close to needing new suspension parts even if I am confident they are fine today. I can only assume that because I live in southern CA., where it never rains - much less snows - there is very little that will attack the rubber under my car. You guys that live where there is actual weather will have a different experience than I have. "Richard Sperry" > wrote in message ... > Jeff, if you have 200K on your car and you don't think you need to inspect / > replace bushings, you are in for a surprise. RSMs are a replacement item by > at least 100K along with lcas and rtabs. I would have them checked out. > > > "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message > ... > > > > "Jim P." > wrote in message > > ... > >> Hi All, > >> I have a '96 328i, all stock, with about 96,000 miles. I bought the > >> car > >> in 2002 with 54,000 miles on it. I live in the New York city area. > >> Some questions on a couple of topics: > >> 1- Would there be any suspension components/ bushings due for replacement > >> srtictly based on this mileage? If so, recommendations? > > > > I have a '94 325i that is also stock, except I upgraded the wheels > > recently > > to 17" from an M3. I bought my car at 100,000 in 2000, and now have > > 200,000. > > I put an average of 25,000 miles per year over 4 years. I have no reason > > to > > think I need any bushings or other suspension components. > > > > > > > > > >> 2- I'd like to switch from the original 15" wheel/tire setup to 16"or 17" > >> when I take off my snow tires next spring. I see a lot of aftermarket > >> wheels, at tirerack for example, that are said to fit the car, but have a > >> different offset than the stock BMW wheels. How important is it to > > maintain > >> the exact offset? Is there an allowable difference of a few mm? What > > about > >> the use of spacers? They don't seem like a suitable alternative seeing > > how > >> the stock wheel sits over the center hub. > > > > Let me urge you to go to eBay and do a search on 'BMW OEM E36 17" WHEELS'. > > You can modify the search string, drop OEM and/or E36, or change the size > > to > > 16", and get a different mix of results. If you leave the OEM in the > > string, > > you will cut out the after market rims (for the most part) and get a > > listing > > of factory original rims that are take-offs where somebody is changinf > > from > > the size you are searching on to an even larger size. > > > > I scored a set (all 5) of rims from an M3. The tires that go on these rims > > are 225/45x17. They are within 1% of being the same size as the tires > > (225/55x15) that came off, and are very colose to the 205/60s that you > > probably have today. The 225/45s are nearly an inch wider than the > > 205/60s, > > but they will fit without any modification to your car. The offset of the > > M3 > > rim is correct for your car. The wider tires will not allow chains, but > > you > > have a set of snow tires already so this should be OK. Alternatively, you > > can put on a 205/50x17 and then you can use chains if you need them before > > the start of the official snow season and get caught out in the snow. > > > > Check this link for the BMW offerings (I got the Style 22, M3 Double > > Spoke) > > http://www.kalach.easynet.be/bmw_wheels.htm > > > > > > > >> TIA to all! > >> > >> > > > > > > |
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