Newbie: '06 330Ci Sport Sapphire black / VMR 18"s

Hey guys,

Nothing outrageous here, but thought I would just put up some pics I took the other day of my new ride, it is a 2006 330Ci Sport with the M package II (Australian version).

Just bought VMR V718s from PYSpeed which got delivered down under in less than a week which was great (2 weeks factoring in the time it took to start shipping).

Hopefully this will give others an idea of how the wheel/tyre package will fit Ci coupes with the M sport suspension too, if thinking about going ahead. I opted for 18"s as the car is my daily driver, and with brand new Continental CSC3s on, I can barely notice any deterioration in ride quality over my previous M rims.





So the specs are as recommended by PYSpeed;
Front: 18" x 8.5" ET35mm, tyres 235/40 R18
Rear: 18" x 9.5" ET45mm, tyres 265/35 R18.

Love how they fill the rear guards *so* much better than the stock rims.





edit: Oh yeah, weights... I put each wheel/tyre on the scales when I swapped them over. I think my old rears may have had a fair bit less tread left on them which is the only way I can explain why they were lighter than the fronts despite the staggered fitment.

FRONT - Wheel AND tyre:
BMW M double spoke style 68 17" x 7.5" + Pirelli P Zero Rosso 225/45 R17 = 20.3kg / 44.7lb
VMR V718 18" x 8.5" + Continental ContiSportContact3 235/40 R18 = 21.5kg / 47.3lb

REAR - Wheel AND tyre:
BMW M double spoke style 68 17" x 8.5" + Pirelli P Zero Rosso 245/40 R17 = 19.8kg / 43.6lb
VMR V718 18" x 9.5" + Continental ContiSportContact3 265/35 R18 = 22.8kg / 50.2lb.



Cheers,
Matt

look very clean.

Beautiful car!

Thanks guys.

Skywalker - how much difference in performance have you seen with the intake, exhaust, and Dinan upgrades? I'm also curious as to what the Dinan trans s/w does?

Cheers
Matt

Looks clean! I'd lower it a tad bit if possible just because it looks like the wheels/tires raised your car quite a bit.

Looks great cant wait to mount my v718's!

Nice car...that shot of the interior is awesome

Gorgeous car

And f*** me, that interior shot looks good!

Needs a drop asap...car looks superb..

Btw I wish our cars came with the little holder Next to the steering wheel

awesome! if it was my car i wouldn't touch it anymore. the rideheight is good to me! perfect

very nice.

Looks great!

-Frank

Looking good. Nice and clean.

Wonderful car! Love the m package. Is the M package the equivalent of zhp in the states? Is the engine output different than the non-m package 330ci?

Originally Posted by conrad721

very nice.

Originally Posted by ModBargains IV

Looks great!

-Frank

Originally Posted by s3th

Looking good. Nice and clean.

Thanks a lot guys

Originally Posted by THECLEANERBEAMER

Looks great cant wait to mount my v718's!

Looking forward to seeing them on yours too. Will look good against the Steel Blue. What colour did you opt for?

Originally Posted by THECLEANERBEAMER

Btw I wish our cars came with the little holder Next to the steering wheel

Which holder is that?

Originally Posted by Studdly_Studright

Nice car...that shot of the interior is awesome

Originally Posted by Dan1el

Gorgeous car

And f*** me, that interior shot looks good!

Cheers guys, appreciate the feedback on the photos. The interior shot came out better than I'd hoped. Love the 'commander' flash mode for remote speedlights on the SLR

Originally Posted by Press22

Looks clean! I'd lower it a tad bit if possible just because it looks like the wheels/tires raised your car quite a bit.

Originally Posted by djnekkon

Needs a drop asap...car looks superb..

Originally Posted by streamline

awesome! if it was my car i wouldn't touch it anymore. the rideheight is good to me! perfect

Thanks guys. Yeah, from some angles it does look like it could use a drop, IMO of about 1/2 an inch, to look absolutely perfect in my eyes. But it is my daily, and as long as I don't get "It's a four wheel drive" comments, I'm happy IMO, it looks similar to how a stock E46 M3 looks on its 18s or 19s; in other words I was after a stance that could pass for something that came out of the factory. I think the main reason it looks like it could use a drop is at the front, where the offset makes the fronts poke out more. I understand now that with the standard M dbl spoke style 68s, BMW chose them because even though you could fit your whole fist between the rear tyre and the guard, visually it makes the car appear a bit lower when the rims are more 'inboard'.

Originally Posted by B8888KC

Wonderful car! Love the m package. Is the M package the equivalent of zhp in the states? Is the engine output different than the non-m package 330ci?

Thanks B8888 That's a good question and something I've been trying to figure out too. What I do know for a fact is that for our Aussie versions, we got no additional power (still 170kW / 231hp like the regular 330i/Ci) - didn't get the more aggressive cam. Exhaust; not sure; the 330Cis here certainly have a nice boom to them when taking off even on light throttle, but I'm not sure if we got the full sport exhaust your ZHPs got. When I ran the VIN through BMWVIN though, there are equipment codes that do apparently match with your ZHPs though, I believe, e.g. - M Sports Package II (S338A) - M Aerodynamics Package II (S716A) - High gloss shadow line (S760A) - M leather steering wheel (S710A) - Anthracite headlining (S775A) - Sport suspension settings (S226A). I'd like to run a ZHP VIN to see what bits match and what bits don't. We did get "M" side sills / rocker panels, but long story short, it seems to me that the US ZHP is considerably more 'special' than the Sports we got here.

Originally Posted by God_speed

Thanks B8888 That's a good question and something I've been trying to figure out too. What I do know for a fact is that for our Aussie versions, we got no additional power (still 170kW / 231hp like the regular 330i/Ci) - didn't get the more aggressive cam. Exhaust; not sure; the 330Cis here certainly have a nice boom to them when taking off even on light throttle, but I'm not sure if we got the full sport exhaust your ZHPs got. When I ran the VIN through BMWVIN though, there are equipment codes that do apparently match with your ZHPs though, I believe, e.g. - M Sports Package II (S338A) - M Aerodynamics Package II (S716A) - High gloss shadow line (S760A) - M leather steering wheel (S710A) - Anthracite headlining (S775A) - Sport suspension settings (S226A). I'd like to run a ZHP VIN to see what bits match and what bits don't. We did get "M" side sills / rocker panels, but long story short, it seems to me that the US ZHP is considerably more 'special' than the Sports we got here.

Wow thats a thorough information. I always wondered if the m54 engine in the US is different than in other countries. Your "no additional power" 330ci is slightly more powerful than US-spec 330ci. Our 330cis are 225hp, probably due to emission regulation or something. Maybe zhp is for american market only like the e92 335is.

Are you planning on getting an aftermarket exhaust? And that M sport suspension is actually pretty low. It looks perfect. Oh, and i noticed your tires are 235/40/18 and 265/35/18. If you lower it more, your rear tires might rub. My old car (330ci too) came with 18" wheels from the factory, and the tires were 225/40/18 front and 255/35/18 rear. Is your speedometer reading off by a little since you're running slightly larger diameter tires? Or is it negligible?

Thanks mate. From what Ive heard the ZHP is a US only package. Found out there was a fair bit more to the zhp over our Sports too; such as perforated leather wheel, lighter flywheel and also the increased redline

Don't plan on replacing the exhaust, it has a nice note to it already and is my daily driver .

Tyre specs are what was recommended to me, I think my rears are wider than the MVIIs / zhp rims, at 9.5". Havent noticed speedo being out... the difference in diameter should only be 7mm (35% x 265 - 35% x 255; x2)?

Originally Posted by God_speed

Looking forward to seeing them on yours too. Will look good against the Steel Blue. What colour did you opt for?



Which holder is that?

I chickened out instead of gunmetal and got hyper silver same as yours but I'm glad I did they look amazing!

And that cubby underneath the light dial beside your steering wheel

Originally Posted by THECLEANERBEAMER

Btw I wish our cars came with the little holder Next to the steering wheel

Yeah, I was thinking the same exact thing The dash holder in the red circle. Our cars in the US don't have this...



OP, you sir have a very clean and nice 330CI