E34's on 18" rims

[attack eagle]

Hmm I'm 31 now and I don't have a problem with it...

[Evan]

I have 18s on low profile tires and H&R springs... my car is low and the ride isnt as soft as it was when it was on stock 15s with big tires...

but the car looks great and the ride is still great... im happy.. and im over 30

[ericbendler]

I am running 18's with 45 series tires to try to absorb some of that impact. Aside from the rear scraping problems that are forcing me to run stock springs in the back with an Eibach setup in the front, the ride is acceptable.

Corners like its on rails.......with a 4000 pound roller coaster car. lol

[John B.]

I'm obviously in the minority around here but I'm no fan of the "huge wheel with a black bandaid wrapped around it" look. I'd take the stock alloys over 90% of the wheels I see on this forum although a set of 16" Style 5s would be hard to resist but that would be my limit. The E34 is a classic design, like an older Jag sedan & IMO looks much better with more sidewall then these 17/18" wheels allow.

[repenttokyo]

i'm worried about the weight of 18 inch wheels slowing down and already slow car...but I can't seem to find 17 inch m parallel's

[GJPinAU]

The only thing I've found (which is VERY important) is to monitor tyre pressures.
I'm running 40psi and found most of the probs I had before haven't re-occurred. The old 30-all-round doesn't apply to 18s or probably 17s.

,
Greg

[BigTed00]

I have 18x8.5 with 245/40 tires. And its not that bad.. Its rough sometimes... I'm switching to 17's next season because I'm installing Dinan lowering springs and Koni shocks and I do enjoy the smooth ride.

I'm running 245/45/18 front and 285/35/18 in the rear

I would not reccomend going larger then 245/40. The 285/35 rubs in the back and provides a harsher ride then I would prefer.

Additionally, while 18s look baller on e34s, if I could do it all over again I would go for 17" rims, only because the improved ride and clearance well make up for the extra inch

[Roderick]

Just how badly is the ride affected?

I'm running 16" 5 spokes right now (with 225/55R16 tyres) and obviously the ride is exceptionally smooth... I appreciate going to 17's would firm things up a bit and it would lose some of the suppleness, but how bad is it on 18" rims?

I'm on 275/30/19 rear, 245/35/19 front with no rub or anything. Car is a 95 540i, the ride is good.

[SC David]

The only thing I've found (which is VERY important) is to monitor tyre pressures.
I'm running 40psi and found most of the probs I had before haven't re-occurred. The old 30-all-round doesn't apply to 18s or probably 17s.

,
Greg

I've been wondering what tire pressures to run with 17"s, but never really thought too hard about it and stuck with the pressures for the standard 15" tires. Should I be running slightly higher pressure front and rear?

[attack eagle]

ON a nice day use a spray bottle and lightly spray the tread of the tire, then rol forward and read the damp impression on the concrete like a wear pattern. It'll get you closer than a random add x psi guess will.

This assumes you have camber within spec.