Wheel Question M5 Wheels - BMW Forum

Greg T · 07-08-2005, 10:23 PM

Hi All,
I just bought some replica M5 wheels. I bought 4 18X8 with 245/40/18 wheels. My question is, would you pay $400 more for the rear 18X9.5 with 275/35/18 tires? I like the deepness of the rear, but not sure if it's worth it.
I've been entertaining the M Parallel chromes for about a hundred more than the 18X8's that I have now. For some reason they just look like an older design to me. Although I do like the deepness and simpleness.
This is going on a 2000 540i

Torque · 07-08-2005, 10:28 PM

Well, I like M parallels much more than the m5 wheels... they are just so simple and elegant. And on top of that they are about 10 times easier to clean.

But ... its all a matter of personal preference.

///M Power · 07-09-2005, 04:18 AM

All preference I doubt the 9.5 inch rears would fit in your car without fender modification.

Greg T · 07-09-2005, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ///M Power@Jul 9 2005, 03:18 AM
All preference I doubt the 9.5 inch rears would fit in your car without fender modification.

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Outside of the rub issue. The advantage I would see as;

Deeper more OEM look for the rear.
Beefer looking stance from the rear of the car
Better handling?

disandvantage:
might have to modify fender to fit (although they say it will fit any e39 without mods)
can't rotate tires
rougher ride because of the wider tire
expensive

Did I miss anything?

sp0rky · 07-09-2005, 12:37 PM

Yup - excessive rotational mass.
which equals loss of braking power and acceleration.

sp0rky · 07-09-2005, 12:38 PM

nevermind, you have a 540. You may notice a difference, but I wouldn't worry.
The 6 cyl cars really have a tough time with so much added rotational mass.

BeelZibub · 07-10-2005, 04:30 AM

18x9.5 fit perfectly well on an e39 rear with no rubbing - Personally I would go for 9 or 9.5 rears because it looks great. To do a straight swap and keep the same rolling size for an e39 you need to go with 235x40x18 front and 265x35x18 rear and all will be well ie. your speedo won't be affected.

I have a lot of respect for Sporky and he knows his stuff, so I hope this following statement doesn't offend him. I would like to take anyone who says putting on diferent rims affects the acceleration of a car that much that it is derogatory or indeed noticeable to any normal person in a normal, not race lightened car, to sit in a 2.5ltr e39 while I put different wheels on it then drive away, come back and have a different set put on it and drive away again etc. etc. then to be able to tell me which were the stock rims and which were not - Just think it would be an interesting experiment.

Just my opinion but M5 rims belong on M5's, the only time you'd see me driving an e39 with M5 rims would be if I were to buy an M5 - the twin parallels look much better on an e39 anyway, plus as torque said they are a damn site easier to clean.

tbhtjd · 07-10-2005, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BeelZibub@Jul 10 2005, 04:30 AM
I have a lot of respect for Sporky and he knows his stuff, so I hope this following statement doesn't offend him. I would like to take anyone who says putting on diferent rims affects the acceleration of a car that much that it is derogatory or indeed noticeable to any normal person in a normal, not race lightened car, to sit in a 2.5ltr e39 while I put different wheels on it then drive away, come back and have a different set put on it and drive away again etc. etc. then to be able to tell me which were the stock rims and which were not - Just think it would be an interesting experiment.

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You probably already know this, but it doesn't matter if your car is "race lightened" or not, rotational mass still affects the car a lot more than regular mass on the car. I can definately see rotational mass from a wheel swap affecting acceleration. You might not be able to do it with cars, but try riding a road bike acouple miles on a 2500 gram wheelset, then swap them for a set of 1200 gram carbon wheels and you will most certainly see a gigantic difference.

BeelZibub · 07-11-2005, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tbhtjd+Jul 10 2005, 03:00 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tbhtjd @ Jul 10 2005, 03:00 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-BeelZibub@Jul 10 2005, 04:30 AM
I have a lot of respect for Sporky and he knows his stuff, so I hope this following statement doesn't offend him. I would like to take anyone who says putting on diferent rims affects the acceleration of a car that much that it is derogatory or indeed noticeable to any normal person in a normal, not race lightened car, to sit in a 2.5ltr e39 while I put different wheels on it then drive away, come back and have a different set put on it and drive away again etc. etc. then to be able to tell me which were the stock rims and which were not - Just think it would be an interesting experiment.

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You probably already know this, but it doesn't matter if your car is "race lightened" or not, rotational mass still affects the car a lot more than regular mass on the car. I can definately see rotational mass from a wheel swap affecting acceleration. You might not be able to do it with cars, but try riding a road bike acouple miles on a 2500 gram wheelset, then swap them for a set of 1200 gram carbon wheels and you will most certainly see a gigantic difference.

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[/b][/quote]

Yep - I'm not saying that it doesn't effect , but it would be so minimal 99.9% of people wouldn't notice. My statement about race lightened was just to emphasise that to see a real difference in acceleration you really need to lose a lot of weight on a car - Even with a couple of hefty passengers, say 16 stone each I can't tell any difference in my cars acceleration, is a couple of kilo extra of alloy wheel going to add so much rotational mass that it reduces performance more than 32 stone of dead weight?. I can't see that a set of m5 replicas are going to be much heavier than stock rims (if not lighter) - in your bike example above you removed well over half the weight.

Eric S. · 07-11-2005, 06:30 PM

BEELZ! Hey man, I am glad to see that you are still posting!

Better yet, I totally agree with all you had said - The M-Parallels are tough to beat! I personally like my staggered 32's (stock 1999 540 sport) enough to not want to change them, but if I ever did, it would be to M-parallels. Love the practical advice you bring to this forum.

BTW, remember right after I got my car when I whined about changing the valve cover gaskets? Well, I recently installed M5 sways front and rear, and let me tell you - installing an M5 stabilizer bar on the front of an E39 makes valve cover gasket changing seem like checking tire pressure...

BeelZibub · 07-12-2005, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Eric S.@Jul 12 2005, 12:30 AM
BEELZ! Hey man, I am glad to see that you are still posting! Better yet, I totally agree with all you had said - The M-Parallels are tough to beat! I personally like my staggered 32's (stock 1999 540 sport) enough to not want to change them, but if I ever did, it would be to M-parallels. Love the practical advice you bring to this forum.

BTW, remember right after I got my car when I whined about changing the valve cover gaskets? Well, I recently installed M5 sways front and rear, and let me tell you - installing an M5 stabilizer bar on the front of an E39 makes valve cover gasket changing seem like checking tire pressure...

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I've heard the fronts are a bitch - Congrats on a job well done. Wish I had the space/tools/time to do things like that - oh and the funds too.