Cars We Drive!

[Rumpelstiltskin]



Yeah, that's #1 on my agenda. What would you recommend? I was thinking going pretty much back to stock, something like this

Great car

 

[impolyt_one]

The best rims you could get for your car (though pricey) would be a set of 17" E39 Sport (came on both 528i and 540i models) wheels made by BBS, very similar to BBS RS1:

That's all you need for that car to look perfect.

 

[MarkI]

Yep, ideally that is exactly what I want. Car would look mint with those, going to be on the lookout. I feel like the current ones are really bringing down the overall appearance of the car.

 

[MarkI]

Do you happen to know the exact model name or number of those?

 

[mike1445]

I like the other two options better but the alpina styles was the first thing that came to mind. Gorgeous car, either way. mins

 

[sonick]



Do you happen to know the exact model name or number of those?

they are known as the style 5's.

 

[JayJay]



Just picked this up...88 635CSI, "only" 75k miles. Really clean inside and out, will get some other pics up soon. First thing i'm going to do is change the rims....then i'll probably go cry in the corner when I think about how much money i'm probably going to spend on this thing.

Beautiful car. With new rims, it'll look stunning. Congrats on finding this one. Do show us a pic with the new rims, and please don't delay in getting them.

 

[impolyt_one]



Yep, ideally that is exactly what I want. Car would look mint with those, going to be on the lookout. I feel like the current ones are really bringing down the overall appearance of the car.

The Style 5's are almost perfect for the 6'er. They look like the original M6 TRX wheels without the hassle of TRX tire sourcing, and are plus one sized. The only problem is that the ones in America are almost always off an E39, and if I recall the bore size of E39's is slightly different than the rest of the big BMWs, which can share wheels pretty easily. You'd have to look into it, as I've forgotten the scenario there. In overseas markets there were style 5's for E34's that would go directly on without any adapters or rings.

All I'd do to make your car perfect would be to get the style 5's on (possibly with a refurbishing of a full polished lip and stock silver mesh centers, polished bolts) and then a good fresh suspension that isn't too low, with brand new bushings everywhere, and then continual small maintenance on the wear parts. That car should go forever and look beautiful forever, if so.

(an example in worse condition, and with BBS caps, which I kinda dislike here - would fly standard BMW roundels)

 

[GreenFrog]

Mark, that's an awesome car! Great taste my man.

I hope to own an E30 M3 someday .

Edit: Impolyt's recommendation for the style 5s is spot on -- I'd say go for those for sure.

Aren't you on the West Coast? The BMW CCA schools out here are some of the safest, best-run driving schools available, and for not that much money ($300-$600, depending on the track). You will get an instructor with you in the car for the whole day (or weekend) until they think you're safe enough on your own. And not being signed off is not a bad thing either as having an instructor in the car will keep your learning curve steep, and students often keep instructors in the car with them even after being signed off for that day.

I imagine that BMW CCA instruction throughout the US is pretty uniform, so no matter which region you're in, they're usually a great first school.

If a track school is too big of a first step, the Golden Gate Chapter has car control clinics where they teach you the basics of car dynamics, and they're much cheaper (about $100) than track schools. The GGC requires all its 1st time track students to take a car control clinic. Chapters also have autocrosses where instruction is often available.

Both autoX and CCCs are held in large parking lots (GGC does them at Candlestick Park and the Marina airport) so it's a safe environment. HPDEs are held at racetracks.

Whichever one you go to, you will usually find that you, the driver, are by far the biggest limiting factor in your car's performance. The performance envelope of any reasonably sporty car (and that includes BMWs without sport packages) is so far beyond the capabilities of almost every driver on the road, and any of those schools will let you incrementally and progressively explore that envelope.

The only thing about BMW CCA HPDEs is that you cannot take a convertible to the track unless you have an SCCA-equivalent rollcage and all of its associated safety equipment (harnesses, arm restraints for both driver and passenger).

Unfortunately not. I'm in Texas so this is my being lazy on my part because I don't even know what track / auto X options are available to me. I have no excuse, now that I think about it, because I'm only home on the weekends and the weekends are probably the only times one can attend such events .

I used to be a part of the CCA based in Mass., but alas, never participated in any events or meetups. My membership expired, too, so I may want to re-new it for the Texas / Dallas chapter. Thanks for the detailed write-up; now I'm actually much more motivated to seek one of these classes out .

 

[SkinnyGoomba]



The best rims you could get for your car (though pricey) would be a set of 17" E39 Sport (came on both 528i and 540i models) wheels made by BBS, very similar to BBS RS1:

That's all you need for that car to look perfect.

I'm putting in a vote for these as well. BMW does a great job with factory wheels.

 

[MarkI]

Those are exactly the rims I wanted, I just didn't know what they where called. Now what's left is actually finding a pair.

 

[A Y]

GF, the Lone Star chapter has a school scheduled for COTA (Circuit of the Americas) this spring. It's pretty cheap too and you'll be among the earliest people to drive that track. It was built for F1 and is new so the facilities should be pretty awesome. The track looks very fast and is probably hard on brakes so they may do something to its layout for students.

 

[glundr]

"RIMZ" Its wheels guys come on. inb4 three piece wheels technically have a separate rim portion.

 

[Huntsman]

I always say wheels, too -- because that's what the majority by far actually are. But I always get shot down.

Incidentally, I think those Sport wheels will look kinda ricer on that incredible BMW. BBS wheels always look so lame to me.

 

[impolyt_one]



I always say wheels, too -- because that's what the majority by far actually are. But I always get shot down.

Incidentally, I think those Sport wheels will look kinda ricer on that incredible BMW.  BBS wheels always look so lame to me.

 

Huntsman, they look similar enough to the original E24 wheels (which are almost always replaced with aftermarket wheels due to the metric TRX tire problems) that there's no way they could look rice-y. The only way the Style 5's could look better on the E24 is if they had a stepped lip, which they don't. That's splitting hairs though, considering how great they look on 6ers. Others seem to agree, since there are many examples to look at if you google 'E24 style 5'

original M6 TRX (BBS 'RA' style?)

BMW Style 5: