"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!
>
>