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      07-25-2021, 02:41 PM   #1
HailCezarGT
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New wheels and springs.. what's best?

New here. Want to put wheels in my new purchase 2016 328i GT. Would love 20" wheels and obviously lowered. But will settle for 19" lowered if it rubs. What do U guys suggest for lowering springs? also 19" staggered like 19x8.5 front 19x9 rear. I just can't stand rubbing. I did it with my last car and I went thru 7 tires in two years. Please help
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      07-25-2021, 06:01 PM   #2
admranger
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I have always liked the Eibach pro kit springs on my cars. I don’t have them on my E34 though.
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      07-25-2021, 10:15 PM   #3
Call me the breeze
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If you have xDrive which I assume you do if you are in the US, staggering and lowering more than 1" are a no no
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      07-25-2021, 11:20 PM   #4
HailCezarGT
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Call me the breeze View Post
If you have xDrive which I assume you do if you are in the US, staggering and lowering more than 1" are a no no
Why is that? Bad roads? I'm in FL roads here are great.
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      07-26-2021, 09:54 AM   #5
Velocifero23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HailCezarGT View Post
Why is that? Bad roads? I'm in FL roads here are great.
Curious as well as I am looking at wheel set ups currently.
There seems to be a lot of back and forth with what is acceptable with this car.
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      07-26-2021, 11:46 AM   #6
shiftdnb
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Call me the breeze View Post
If you have xDrive which I assume you do if you are in the US, staggering and lowering more than 1" are a no no
Plenty of people with Xdrives are driving staggered and lowered with Eibach and even H&R springs. What you don't want to be is more than 1% difference in diameter of your wheels and I believe the number for drop is you don't want to drop the car more than 1.5" because of the CV axle. When you lower the car it changes the angle of the axle and they can snap on a bump.
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      07-26-2021, 10:22 PM   #7
Call me the breeze
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I guess it depends on what you mean by staggering. If you mean different size wheels and tires between the front and back, that is bad. However if you are only referring to width, that is possible but also has its challenges.

For the xDrive to operate correctly the outside tire diameter has to be identical so that the transfer case can distribute power correctly. If all 4 wheels are 20"s and you run 9" width in front and 10" width in back, that is fine if you match the aspect ratio of the tires to achieve exact diameters. That is not always the case so you have to get the technical data on the tires to be sure. The other challenge is long term wear. With 4 matching tires, they can be rotated to maintain even wear. With staggered tires the fronts and rear cannot be switched. The primary drive wheel (rear) will wear faster so it is essential to monitor tire diameter over time to not destroy the transfer case. Here is a video on staggering on an xDrive. It can be done as long as you check all the boxes.



Lowering also requires attention to detail. The front axles have extra drive shaft components that take up room and have to maintain a certain alignment and camber with the control arms. That is the primary reason xDrive cars ride a little higher than non-xDrive. I've read a bunch of articles that say 1/2" lower is good to go. 1" or greater and the front drive wears prematurely.

xDrive is a really advanced design but it does have its limitations when it comes to mods.
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      07-27-2021, 10:07 AM   #8
rambleon84
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I've been happy with AC Schnitzer springs, running stagger 19s in summer:
View post on imgur.com
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      07-27-2021, 11:04 AM   #9
HailCezarGT
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rambleon84 View Post
I've been happy with AC Schnitzer springs, running stagger 19s in summer:
View post on imgur.com
It looks perfect.
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      07-27-2021, 11:05 AM   #10
HailCezarGT
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Call me the breeze View Post
I guess it depends on what you mean by staggering. If you mean different size wheels and tires between the front and back, that is bad. However if you are only referring to width, that is possible but also has its challenges.

For the xDrive to operate correctly the outside tire diameter has to be identical so that the transfer case can distribute power correctly. If all 4 wheels are 20"s and you run 9" width in front and 10" width in back, that is fine if you match the aspect ratio of the tires to achieve exact diameters. That is not always the case so you have to get the technical data on the tires to be sure. The other challenge is long term wear. With 4 matching tires, they can be rotated to maintain even wear. With staggered tires the fronts and rear cannot be switched. The primary drive wheel (rear) will wear faster so it is essential to monitor tire diameter over time to not destroy the transfer case. Here is a video on staggering on an xDrive. It can be done as long as you check all the boxes.



Lowering also requires attention to detail. The front axles have extra drive shaft components that take up room and have to maintain a certain alignment and camber with the control arms. That is the primary reason xDrive cars ride a little higher than non-xDrive. I've read a bunch of articles that say 1/2" lower is good to go. 1" or greater and the front drive wears prematurely.

xDrive is a really advanced design but it does have its limitations when it comes to mods.
Thanks for the info. Also, I meant the tire width not different size wheels. I might do HR springs and 19x9 or 19x10 all around
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      07-27-2021, 05:12 PM   #11
HailCezarGT
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I'll post pics once done. I'm thinking about two weeks max
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      07-28-2021, 07:44 AM   #12
Gran_Turismo
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Does anyone know if we can run the rear 598m 19x9 ET42 wheels as a square setup? Would they work fine up front as well? Thanks
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