Pics of 323i sedan with 19", not lowered, 35 series

Originally Posted by louish

Well I lowered my 2 other cars and these roads in utah suck so bad, I didnt want to mess with it since it was nice to get back into a car and feel a smooth ride again. I wouldnt mind at all upgrading to the bmw sport suspension. Do you know where I can buy it from?

Originally Posted by Navin323i

LOL, yeah I remember the Utah roads being bad (I lived there from '74 to '82).
I had a feeling you didn't lower your car due to you wanting to have a smooth ride, which I can respect. Definitely your best bet is to upgrade to the OEM sport suspension. You can search thru the classifieds subforum since there are people who sell their OEM sport suspensions (think I saw one the other day in fact), and if you want a new set, definitely talk to Evan@Tischer or Jason@Tischer (forum sponsors here who have great pricing on their OEM BMW parts). I sold my OEM sport suspension a while back otherwise I would have gladly sold mine to you... good luck!

Hey Clint,

I wanted to add one other thing to what I told you earlier about the sport suspension... given that you have 19's currently on your ride, if you do decide to get the OEM sport suspension then you won't have to worry about any sort of rubbing issues which you'd normally experience with aftermarket springs or coilover setups (therefore no fender rolling needed).

hey good thread ..glad you started it ..

i appreciate this...i'm contemplating putting 19" LM reps on my xi. I know it'll be a bit higher than this but at least gives me a decent idea. Clearly I'd rather not lower my xi even though it's been done, yadda yadda.
also just for fun, here's 18" m3 wheels on my 323Ci WITH sport suspension. Uber rub!

+1 for the drop; at least drop it to where the top of the tires meet the arches. That is how I have mine set up more or less.
But that gap looks not good. Really looks like a truck. I think others here are trying to be nice, but you must drop it lol.
The wheels are cool though. Maybe get Eibach spring to get that 1" drop and maintain a nice ide quality; also, you wont scrap.
Also running M3 18' staggered with a 265 rear tire; rolled and pulled quarters:

There's a Saratoga Springs in Utah? Learn something new every day...

Originally Posted by bad91teg

hey good thread ..glad you started it ..

You do realize this thread is five years old.....

Originally Posted by hacksawmark

You do realize this thread is five years old.....

wonder if he ever got the sport springs in the last 5 years?

Louish, thanks for this post. It is very informative. I have a 02 325i and just bought 18" ZHP wheels with 225/40/18 F and 245/35/18 R with non sport OEM springs and struts. I will eventually in a month buy Sport Springs used from someone local in NJ on this form and brand new struts so I can one get rid of the wheel gap and two enhance the suspension. This Post is not worthless.

Unless you are adding SUPERlight 19's, meaning something lighter than the factory wheels (if that is possible, without exceeding the value of the car), I do not know why anyone would put 19's on a 323. The 323 is underpowered as it is, without adding a substantial amount of weight to each wheel. I have a 330ci, and I did not want to give up any performance by adding heavier wheels, so I went with some 17's that weigh 15.4lbs each. That is about a 9-10lb weight loss per wheel, and it absolutely translates to faster acceleration.
Having said that, it is your car, and your money, so good for you! I hope you enjoy them, seriously!
I don't judge what people do with their cars and their money, for the most part. I am just throwing my observation out there.