Need help on wheels

[AZ325Ci]

I have a couple of questions for you guys. On the wheels, are there any advantages or disadvantages of having a multi-piece wheel over the 1 piece? Also, what about 18" vs. 19"? I've heard that 19" wheels are a little rougher riding than the 18", but not sure.

Any help will be appreciated. I am starting to look at various wheels for my ride.

[AZ325Ci]

Also, what do you guys think about the RH-Alurad rims? They are made from Artec in Germany.

Here's what they look like model. AO (1 piece)/AK(3 piece) Phoenix

[AZ325Ci]

and here's a pic on a car

[e36_m3_Turbo]

dude.thos are nice..but the only disavantges ther is btw the 18's and 19's is that the 19's weigh more

[FruityOne]

and more rotational mass

[Fox]

Well there are a couple things. About the multi piece vs one piece wheels is rigidity and wieght. Single piece wheels are much more ridgid. This makes a difference in wheel integrity but not much else. Mostly its wieght. Multi piece wheels require more and thicker parts to keep the wheel hole and in one piece. So you just end up with more wieght and less strength, and in my opinion those ugly ass rivits on the outside of the rim. As for 18"vs 19"... (im saying this assuming your keeping the correct wheel spin ratios) 18 will always be a smoother ride than 19 because your using more rubber. One thing to consider is wieght, of the rim and the rubber. The point is not always to keep the wieght to a minimum but to have good wieght distribution, on wheels this means getting rid of centerfugal inertia. What I mean by this is usually people think about the wieght of the wheel, but the rubber actually can be much heavier than the new aluminum alloys good wheels use today. The wieght of the thicker wall 18 inch tire may be heavier/lighter/same as the weight of the thinner yet larger circumference 19 inch tire. Im not sure which is, best i can say is go to tire store and get some measurments. But if the 19 inch is lighter then your keeping more wieght (the metal wheel) to the inside resulting in less centerfugal inertia = wheels can spin faster, like getting a lighter flywheel. Well i probly didnt explain it as good as i can, if i explained it good at all, but i gave it a try. Im goin back to imitating pauly shore now.

FReeee MAHI MAhI

[cam540]

hey, I have those ugly ass rivets! :lol: j/k. I think they are sporty looking and like them but I know a lot of people don't like em, it's all personal preference.

AZ, those wheels look hot, some other similar ones that look good are breyton magics and hartge makes some as well. Also MVR's are very sweet looking on the E46, BBS makes nice quality wheels as well. Breyton Vision's are also very very cool looking.

18's are for go, 19's are for show. Which do you want, a car that looks better or handles better.

[Fox]

BTW I got all into the technical shit i forgot to mention ergonomics or whatever the hell the word is... 19 inch tires are gonna be using like 25%-30% wall heigth and 18 inch is gonna be using like 35%-40% Im not sure cause i dont know what car you have and what wheels comes on it but im just guessing. Its gonna be expensive as hell buying new 21X/30 tires every year, they arnt cheep. And lastly is the ride.... I personally would never buy anything less than 35% tire heigth because the ride gets so fuckin bumpy on even half way crap roads... I wouldnt want anything less than 40 but to get 17 inch wheels i have to go down the 35 =\

[AZ325Ci]

thanks guys, that helps out alot. i'm not too fond of the 19's as cam had said that they were for show. personally, i think 19's are too much wheel.

fox, i agree with you, i am looking for a little more tire wall and between 35-40% is basically what i'm looking for. btw, i have a '03 325Ci which is shown on my signature below.

i think i'm gonna go with the 18's and 1 piece. not sure what brand yet as there are so many awesome looking wheels. i'll have to see if i can find them in person and decide from there.

[woobiee]

19s weigh more than 18s
19s look awesome and better than 18s
18s perform a tiny bit better than 19s
18s has a nicer ride (minor)
multi-piece weigh less than single i believe
multi-piece cost a buttload.
multi-piece (I think) is harder to clean cuz of the small bolts
would you need a multi-piece rim? most likely not...you are just buying it for the looks.

Hope that helps a little

two piece wheels are made for racing

[donutchow]

those wheels you showed AZ are huge! i mean bling bling huge. and it doesn't matter which you get, 18 or 19, you have an auto :lol:

plus the 19's are a lot of money!

[AZ325Ci]

thanks for pointing that out donut :P

[Fox]

Originally posted by jake325@Apr 16 2003, 05:41 AM
two piece wheels are made for racing

Origionally yes, the reason is the Rim part of the wheel doesnt have much torque applied to it because its spread evenly over a large surface area, So they made a lightwieght aluminum (or elsewhat) outer rim. In drag racing with all that large amounts of torque, all of it is applied to the spokes of the wheel, so they made a steel center. Therefore the multipiece rim. Any multi piece non drag rim you buy today is all aluminum just like 1 piece wheels but since they are multipiece they are heavier. Also a trick of the immitatiors is they are 1 piece wheels... they just have fake rivit heads.

[cam540]

multi piece wheels kick ass!!! B)