# Convertible owners-tire, wheel, suspension for e36



## pierpres (May 8, 2003)

New to the forum, so please cut me a little slack.

Looking to upgrade our recently purchased '98 323i convertible.
Considering starting with 17" x 8 "wheels and tires, but wavering on the size. Choices are 225/45/17 or 235/40/17 all around. Or a staggered set up using 225/45/17 front and 2245/40/17 rear. Pretty sure I'll go with Yokohama AVS ES100 tires.

Can anyone speak from experience with one of these set ups? Especially concerned about the extra weight of the larger wheels and the effect on braking. I'll be using the stock suspension, at least for the time being.

Searched, but haven't seen much about non-M e36 convertible suspensions. So any help on how to do it right would be appreciated. It's a daily driver, and I just want to increase the handling performance without really killing the ride quality (read that pissing off the wife). Can't get much worse than the lame look of the 15" factory alloys and those Conti Touring Contact tires!

Fred


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## Guest (May 20, 2003)

I have one of (IIRC) two non-M E36 convertibles on the board. (Okay, it's my wife's. I drive an E36 m3 sedan.) But it is bone stock. However, it did come with the sport package which included 16 inch rims with performance rubber.

If I were to upgrade rims on this car (which my wife would never let me do) it would be for NON-staggered 17 inchers of a style fitted to the E36 M3 or anything from BBS. I prefer an OEM look and those choices all look stock even if they're not.

Also, because the body of the E36 convertible is not incredibily rigid, I would not go for a suspension any firmer than the E36 m3 setup. As many E36 M3 owners have swapped out their suspensions for aftermarket stuff, you should be able to find E36 M3 suspension components for sale cheap. Also, adding a strut brace will help firm up the flex.

Here's ours- http://photos.bimmerfest.com/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=10&thumb=1


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## JoeCinVa (Apr 26, 2002)

*95 325iC*

I upgraded the 16" Sport Pack wheels on my car to the BMW Style 5 wheel (17 X 17.5) and mounted 225/45/17 tires on them. I've not had any trouble with them nor have I noticed a degradation in performance.

As for suspensions, Eibach has a specific set of Pro-Kit springs for the convertible and I used them in conjunction with Koni SA shocks/struts (designed for the coupe). I'm not aware of anyone making convertible specific shocks/struts. The Koni SA were set almost totally soft and the resulting ride is firmer than the sport pack but not too bad and certainly liveable. The only "somewhat" negative thing is that you must be careful about ground clearances when going up/down ramps as the Pro-Kit springs do drop the car down a bit. (Drives and looks nice though).

Good luck.


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## Brashland (Nov 20, 2002)

YEA another e36 323i owner!!!


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