There is nothing exact about trying to guess with mileage. I would suspect,
Front-
lower control arm bushings, and ball joints. a good time to replace the
whole lca. The lca from a 95 ///M3 has offset bushings that help steering
turn in a lot.
tie rods
If the shocks haven't been changes, I would bet they are very tired also.
along with the anti roll bar bushings

Rear-
Rear shock mounts
rear trailing arm bushings (RTABs)
shocks
rear subframe bushings.

All of this is subject to change based on actual inspection, but they are
wear items. All of it is really easy to DIY with the exception of the RTABs.

As for the offset. Stock for the E36 15x7 in wheel is 47mm for the ///M3
17x7.5 is 41mm. so... Just about any wheel 7" to 8.5" with an offset from 35
to 45 should work. It will really depend on what size tire you are trying to
use. my 95 ///M3 uses 17x 7.5" wheels with 235-40-17 tires on all 4 corners.
later models used 7.5" front and 8.5" rear wheels with 225-40 and 245-40
tires with 41mm offset. Whew!.. The guys at Tire Rack really know what works
on the E36, give them a call.

Rich

"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?
> 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.
> TIA to all!
>
>