Staggered 17 inch Style 5s

[vince]

Hopefully, this won't be too offensive to any of the purest on the board.

For the last 5 to 6 years, I've been running 17X8 Style 5s w/polished lips on my coupe. They came off of my wife's old E39 wagon. I've always loved the look of these wheels and think they look great on an e9. Because our cars have a wider track in the front, it's always bothered me how the rear wheels sit farther in than the fronts. This could be rectified with spacers or staggered wheels; I didn't want to use spacers so I just lived with it.

I knew that staggered 18 Style 5s were available but didn't know BBS produced staggered 17s until my friend showed up with a set on his e28. Apparently, they were available on some euro 5/8 series and are made out of unattainium.

Since then, I've been obsessed with finding a set. After over a year later of looking, I finally found them. A few months ago, I barely missed a set in BC so this time I didn't hesitate at all.

The wheels are 17X8s in the front and 17X9s (et26) in the rear and were just reconditioned before I bought them. I just had new tires mounted, 225s in the front and 245s in the rear.

Ron P was a great help with figuring out if these wheels would fit on a coupe. Thanks again Ron!

Please see photos on the link below.

Vince

http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd295/biology_book/Staggered Style 5s/?albumview=slideshow

 

[decoupe]

Personally I think this looks fantastic with the Style 5's. Great looking car as well with the split front turn signals and 635 air dam.

Questions if I may ask: Did this bring the front / rear track widths closer to being equal? What front ET's are they? Rolled lips? Camber plates? Lowering kit? Clearance from the steering assembly issues?

Trade you for my staggered Alpinas? We could time share them... seriously.

Doug

 

[m5bb]

Mmmmmmmmmm looks great.

Mine just aren't as deep as yours and are non staggered 16's.

 

[loloe13]

niceeeeeee

Vince,
ever since I saw your car+wheels on Monday, I cannot get the image out of my head :razz:. The style 5 somehow matches quite well! and maybe its really matching with the colour of your e9 too!
Could you tell me more about these wheels? Were they standard or option wheels for the e39? did they come with the polished lips as standard? did you need special centric ring for fitting onto the e9? and what are the tyre size 225x? 245x?
(edited)
thanks in advance!
nice wheels!

Gavin

 

[verde2002]

What is the offset on the front 17x8 wheels and are you using spacers? If so what is the width of the spacers?

 

[vince]

Thanks for the all of the positive comments!

I'll try to answer each of your questions:

Did this bring the front / rear track widths closer to being equal? Pretty close, within mms. The lips on the 9 inch wheels are over 1/2 wider (to me they look even wider) so they push the edge of the wheels/tires out to where I wanted them.

The front wheels have an offset of et20 and the rears offset is et26.

The front fenders were rolled when I painted the car 8+ years ago.

No camber plates, the car is lowered about an inch in the back and an inch and half in the front. No clearance issues with steering assembly.

17X8 inch Style 5 wheels were pretty common on e39s with the sport package. It's the staggered 17s that are rare. From what I've been told, they were only available on euro cars and maybe some US spec 8 series had them as an option.

None of the Style 5s came from the factory with polished lips.

You do need the hub centric rings for the front wheels.

Tires are 225/45ZR17s in the front and 245/40ZR17s in the rear.

I'm not using any spacers, just the hub centric rings in the front.


Thanks again.

 

[vince]

Personally I think this looks fantastic with the Style 5's. Great looking car as well with the split front turn signals and 635 air dam.

Questions if I may ask: Did this bring the front / rear track widths closer to being equal? What front ET's are they? Rolled lips? Camber plates? Lowering kit? Clearance from the steering assembly issues?

Trade you for my staggered Alpinas? We could time share them... seriously.

Doug

Thanks for the comments Doug.

Trade for staggered Alpinas? Tempting, very tempting!

 

[RonP]

Vince,

The car looks stunning. I know it took a leap of faith to go ahead with the purchase (angry wife-pending doom!), but you pulled it off. Thanks for trusting me. I had only seen a square set of style 5s on an e9, the staggered set looks amazing.

 

[IS3FIFTY]

Tires are 225/45ZR17s in the front and 245/40ZR17s in the rear.

I'm not using any spacers, just the hub centric rings in the front.

Thanks again.

Very nice looking indeed!
I would have thought that with 225 width the front tires would rub against the shock towers...

 

[verde2002]

I am in the process of putting on 16x8 wheels +23 offset with 205/55/16 tires and the wheels can't even be tightened because the tire rubs. With 8mm spacers which brings the offset down to +15 the tires barely clear by 2mm. I am surprised how your tires don't rub with the +20 offset and wider 225 tires. Maybe the 17" wheel sits higher up and the strut is slanting inward giving an extra couple of mm's?

 

[vince]

I am in the process of putting on 16x8 wheels +23 offset with 205/55/16 tires and the wheels can't even be tightened because the tire rubs. With 8mm spacers which brings the offset down to +15 the tires barely clear by 2mm. I am surprised how your tires don't rub with the +20 offset and wider 225 tires. Maybe the 17" wheel sits higher up and the strut is slanting inward giving an extra couple of mm's?

I had another set of 17X8 Style 5s on the car for years, but with 235 tires all the way around. I never had any issues with rubbing up front/or rear.

 

[loloe13]

so, with your older set of 17x8 style 5's, are they basically the same as the front wheels of your new staggered set?
I am wondering whether I will have a better chance of finding one set of 17x8(et20) and then another set of 17x9(et26) wheels than trying to find a staggered 17's set....

 

[decoupe]

Vince or Ron

Would et 28 17 x 9 fit on the rear?

 

[John Buchtenkirch]

I am in the process of putting on 16x8 wheels +23 offset with 205/55/16 tires and the wheels can't even be tightened because the tire rubs. With 8mm spacers which brings the offset down to +15 the tires barely clear by 2mm. I am surprised how your tires don't rub with the +20 offset and wider 225 tires. Maybe the 17" wheel sits higher up and the strut is slanting inward giving an extra couple of mm's?

Just maybe your strut or knuckle / spindle is bent giving your wheel negative camber and causing it to hit the strut tube. Have you tried the wheel in question on both sides of the car ? ~ John Buchtenkirch

 

[gdub0717]

What are you doing with the 17X8's you removed?

I actually kept a picture of your car because I liked the wheels you had on the car. Was considering those when I was ready for an upgrade from stock.
Your new setup looks amazing.
I would though possibly be interested in the old wheels if you are interested in a sale. The car needs significant work before I put the wheels at the top of the list, but it may be a reasonable purchase given your location and possible pricing.
I live in Portland if interested in a possible sale give me a call. Gordon 503-539-3292.

 

[vince]

I actually kept a picture of your car because I liked the wheels you had on the car. Was considering those when I was ready for an upgrade from stock.
Your new setup looks amazing.
I would though possibly be interested in the old wheels if you are interested in a sale. The car needs significant work before I put the wheels at the top of the list, but it may be a reasonable purchase given your location and possible pricing.
I live in Portland if interested in a possible sale give me a call. Gordon 503-539-3292.

Hi Gordon,

Thanks for the interest, I left you a vm.

 

[RonP]

Decoupe, it would be really tight but if you use a 245-40-17 tire with the right shoulder it will probably work.

 

[gdub0717]

From one E9 to another

Vince-
Thanks for the deal on the wheels and tires.
It was good to meet you and see/discuss some of the great mod's you have installed.
The wheels look great. Couldn't wait to get them on the car.
Should be happy with this look for a while.
Unless......................
I feel the need to lower the front 1-1.5"
and get an airdam.
Its only money!

 

[loloe13]

Vince (or Ron):

I hope you can give me some advice here, I may have found a set of style 5 with 17x9 at the rear but with et22 (RC038). Do you think it will still fit? or is it sticking out too much?
by 40mm more?

thanks
Gavin

 

[RonP]

Gavin,

They should fit fine, just run a 245-45-17 tire. You may need to do a fender roll, but I doubt it. Nice score!