Is fitting CSL's wheels to a stnd. E46 M3 a erm....Chav?
Discussion
Chaps
I got myself a really mint standard E46 with the 18"s. I bought these as they seemed to be considered the better drivers rims (EVO/Car and a few track instructors i spoke with).
However the CSL 19"s seem to offer potentially the best of both worlds; big rim filling alloys but with benefits of lightweight drivers performance. But.....
Firstly:
Over the long term do mint standard cars seem hold their value after the fashion stuff drops out/goes wrong such as Sat Nav., TV's etc?
Second:
And and most importantly am I the only one who thinks its a bit sh1t trying to get you car to look like something its not i.e. fitting LEDs (to pre-facelifts) and mines not a face lift, CSL's to stnd M3's etc, H&K stereos, pipes, fluffy dice?
Comments appreciated
I got myself a really mint standard E46 with the 18"s. I bought these as they seemed to be considered the better drivers rims (EVO/Car and a few track instructors i spoke with).
However the CSL 19"s seem to offer potentially the best of both worlds; big rim filling alloys but with benefits of lightweight drivers performance. But.....
Firstly:
Over the long term do mint standard cars seem hold their value after the fashion stuff drops out/goes wrong such as Sat Nav., TV's etc?
Second:
And and most importantly am I the only one who thinks its a bit sh1t trying to get you car to look like something its not i.e. fitting LEDs (to pre-facelifts) and mines not a face lift, CSL's to stnd M3's etc, H&K stereos, pipes, fluffy dice?
Comments appreciated
E36GUY said:
Nope. CSL wheels are gorgeous. They look nice on the e36 too. But they've GOT to be the 19s. The 18s look too small.
Anyway - the CS had the CSL wheels so you'd be bringing your car in line with those looks.
Anyway - the CS had the CSL wheels so you'd be bringing your car in line with those looks.
The CS had 'replicas' of the CSL wheels.
O/T Im not sure the E36 suits the later E46 CSL style wheels. IMO the E36 only suits dished wheels as per the OE spec originals.
ASBO said:
E36GUY said:
Nope. CSL wheels are gorgeous. They look nice on the e36 too. But they've GOT to be the 19s. The 18s look too small.
Anyway - the CS had the CSL wheels so you'd be bringing your car in line with those looks.
Anyway - the CS had the CSL wheels so you'd be bringing your car in line with those looks.
The CS had 'replicas' of the CSL wheels.
O/T Im not sure the E36 suits the later E46 CSL style wheels. IMO the E36 only suits dished wheels as per the OE spec originals.
Anyway we digress....
hes got an e46, fitting CSL wheels is a lovely mod because they are gorgeous, a mate of mine even changed his boot lid, i dont think its chav personally because they are BMW parts - if you were fitting an aftermarket body kit or blue leds around your number plate then yeh - chav !
ASBO said:
E36GUY said:
Nope. CSL wheels are gorgeous. They look nice on the e36 too. But they've GOT to be the 19s. The 18s look too small.
Anyway - the CS had the CSL wheels so you'd be bringing your car in line with those looks.
Anyway - the CS had the CSL wheels so you'd be bringing your car in line with those looks.
The CS had 'replicas' of the CSL wheels.
O/T Im not sure the E36 suits the later E46 CSL style wheels. IMO the E36 only suits dished wheels as per the OE spec originals.
m12_nathan said:
ASBO said:
E36GUY said:
Nope. CSL wheels are gorgeous. They look nice on the e36 too. But they've GOT to be the 19s. The 18s look too small.
Anyway - the CS had the CSL wheels so you'd be bringing your car in line with those looks.
Anyway - the CS had the CSL wheels so you'd be bringing your car in line with those looks.
The CS had 'replicas' of the CSL wheels.
O/T Im not sure the E36 suits the later E46 CSL style wheels. IMO the E36 only suits dished wheels as per the OE spec originals.
Unless I am very much mistaken, the CSL was fitted with special lightweight (and therefore very expensive) magnesium-alloy wheels whereas the CS's wheels were identical in all but the material they were made from and are therefore a good bit heavier.
Of course the UK motoring press may have got it wrong too
ASBO said:
m12_nathan said:
ASBO said:
E36GUY said:
Nope. CSL wheels are gorgeous. They look nice on the e36 too. But they've GOT to be the 19s. The 18s look too small.
Anyway - the CS had the CSL wheels so you'd be bringing your car in line with those looks.
Anyway - the CS had the CSL wheels so you'd be bringing your car in line with those looks.
The CS had 'replicas' of the CSL wheels.
O/T Im not sure the E36 suits the later E46 CSL style wheels. IMO the E36 only suits dished wheels as per the OE spec originals.
Unless I am very much mistaken, the CSL was fitted with special lightweight (and therefore very expensive) magnesium-alloy wheels whereas the CS's wheels were identical in all but the material they were made from and are therefore a good bit heavier.
Of course the UK motoring press may have got it wrong too
Gorgeous in any event. When I upgrade to e46 I want the CSL reps for sure
Still think they pass on the e36
ASBO said:
Unless I am very much mistaken, the CSL was fitted with special lightweight (and therefore very expensive) magnesium-alloy wheels whereas the CS's wheels were identical in all but the material they were made from and are therefore a good bit heavier.
This was my understanding too..... (given that i've kerbed the crap out of mine...is it going to be uber expensive to refurb if they are the full-on lightweight jobbies??)
Edited by Adom on Wednesday 13th February 17:39
I don't think it's chav... The good people at BMW, with the M3 CS, have already set the precedent for something that looks like an M3, but with CSL-style alloys. And they look way better than the 18s.
You can pick up genuine CSL alloys for about £1300, and there's a bloke on Ebay who regularly sells them with tyres, and they go for usually 1500-1600 quid these days.
Here's what I wrote "elsewhere" about my upgrade:
I bought my 02/52 car with 18s on, about 18 months ago, as I wasn't particularly bothered about getting one with 19s. Recently I had thought about replacing the car with a facelifted model, but having seen the minimum worthwhile cost to change would be about 7-8 grand, and that mine was in better condition than most in the showroom, I just decided to freshen it up a bit and keep it.
So I bought a set of genuine CSL wheels, mainly for looks I have to admit, but have been blown away by the improvement in handling. Old 18" tyres were newish PS2s, new 19" tyres are newish Contis, so quite equivalent.
There's far less understeer with the 235/35 fronts, and ride quality seems barely affected - it even seems improved over sharp bumps due to less unsprung weight (although I may be imagining that). It tramlines a little bit more of course, but I find it acceptable.
It's so much better at going round roundabouts now that I can see why the CSL needed from the quicker steering rack as arm crossover starts to become a bigger problem with the increased front end grip.
So really, anyone still on 18s who is wondering whether 19s are worth it, just go for it, I don't think you will be disappointed.
The only drawback really is having to give the old wheels away for sod-all because there's no market for them !
You can pick up genuine CSL alloys for about £1300, and there's a bloke on Ebay who regularly sells them with tyres, and they go for usually 1500-1600 quid these days.
Here's what I wrote "elsewhere" about my upgrade:
I bought my 02/52 car with 18s on, about 18 months ago, as I wasn't particularly bothered about getting one with 19s. Recently I had thought about replacing the car with a facelifted model, but having seen the minimum worthwhile cost to change would be about 7-8 grand, and that mine was in better condition than most in the showroom, I just decided to freshen it up a bit and keep it.
So I bought a set of genuine CSL wheels, mainly for looks I have to admit, but have been blown away by the improvement in handling. Old 18" tyres were newish PS2s, new 19" tyres are newish Contis, so quite equivalent.
There's far less understeer with the 235/35 fronts, and ride quality seems barely affected - it even seems improved over sharp bumps due to less unsprung weight (although I may be imagining that). It tramlines a little bit more of course, but I find it acceptable.
It's so much better at going round roundabouts now that I can see why the CSL needed from the quicker steering rack as arm crossover starts to become a bigger problem with the increased front end grip.
So really, anyone still on 18s who is wondering whether 19s are worth it, just go for it, I don't think you will be disappointed.
The only drawback really is having to give the old wheels away for sod-all because there's no market for them !
Edited by outnumbered on Wednesday 13th February 22:38
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