I 've been lurking and reading the stickies as well as searching (here and the web) so please be gentle if I missed some obvious info.

I'll detail my situation and if people think this should be broken into different forums I'll gladly do so.

I will have the opportunity sometime in the next 5 months to purchase my father's 1999 GLE for an extremely attractive price. The lease on our Volvo wagon is coming to an end and although I've owned standard cars for the past 18 years this is basically too good to pass up. With only 80,000MK on it the mileage is very low. Its kept in a heated garage and serviced faithfully. The brakes were done at 60,000km. The muffler was replaced. Basically the thing is mint (except for needing some shocks which is actually a good opportunity). I actually went and test drove the Maximas when he bought it (we tested an SE and wish he'd bought that) so I know the pros of the car nice engine build quality fairly decent luxury features. I also know that the GLE is wayyy to soft for me. We have a 2005 v50 with the sports suspension. I had a slightly modded Impreza before that and an RX7 before that.

When I get the car I'll do all the normal things tranny flush, change plugs and anything else that needs to be done. but since I'm compromising somewhat to save $ by getting this car my wife has allowed me a budget to make this car more my style for the next 2-3 years.

Here is where I need the help. I'm 38 with a wife and 2 young kids (child seats will be in the back ) This car will be our daily driver. So the rules are: NO BLING, nothing flashy, its not going to be raced or on the track, needs to stay reliable so no major engine mods.

I have access to reasonably priced mechanical and body shop services but no garage or real tools of my own so only the most basic stuff can be DIY.

The car is dark grey in color.

From all I've read the suspension seems fairly straightforward. H&R springs are consensus for minimum drop and livable ride. Surprisingly both performance shops steered me towards the Blues for shocks saying they are the same as Illuminas without the adjustments. This is contrary to what I read (in terms of handling the springs) and its weird they would not steer me towards the more expensive part. But unless some tells me otherwise I'll stick with what I've read here and spend the extra $. A rear sway bar and inexpensive front strut bar should complete it.

Does anyone have a better suggestion given my need to be conservative (and also somewhat budget conscious especially with the hassle of buying parts in nova Scotia without incurring duty shipping etc)

What i really need help with is the wheels and tires.

I think I'm set on 17's. It appears that the tire size that will give the closest match to stock is 235/45/17. Is this correct? Tire choices will be along the line of Kumho ECSTA ASX, Falken ZIEX ZE-512, Hankook VENTUS H405 or something comparable. I will have snows on the stock 15s but need all season in case some weather hits before I change them and also to try to stay around 400 treadwear to fit my budget.

Most 17s I see ar 7 inches wide. Do I need to worry about this and go to 7.5 or if I go with a 7 inch wheel go to a different tire size? I find this confusing.

I want to match the stock offset 40mm and make the fit as close to possible to stock without worrying about spacers rings tuner lugs etc.

Obviously gold and chrome wheels (black too likley0 are not in keeping with conservative. What would people recommend I consider (I of course will make the final decision just looking for suggestions0 silver? grey gunmetal grey? Spoke pattern?

There are so many wheel out there. Can anyone help me narrow my search with some suggestions that fit what i am looking for. I know ultimately I have to pick what looks best but if I could choose from 20 instead of 200 it would help. I'd prefer to keep it under $200 Canadian per wheel.

I'll post my request for suggestions on Canadian suppliers in the Canada forum.

Thanks for helping me with my advanced research so i can have all my parts ready when i get the car.

 

if ur looking for HP gains then u gotta go with Lyell's stainless or aka Budget which is based in canada, they are currently the best IMHO for Ypipes, and bpipes, and it is the cheapest mod u can do for a great gain in HP and TQ for a low price, but in terms of tires and wheels, its really up to ur taste... I'm not gonna sit here and tell u what u should get when u might regret it later on.

 

Your post is a little on the general side and you sound like a man with a million dollars and don't know how to spend it.

Anyhow, here's my suggestion.

Tokico illuminas are the way to go.
H&R springs are fine.

As for the wheels 17's are fine, go on ebay and type in the search maxima 17" this will give you various wheels for the maxima that are 17's and that can act as your starting point for you to see what kind of wheels appeal to you. Also go to tirerack.com for further help with wheels and tires, you don't have to buy anything from them but you can find info on various tires and also see more wheel styles so you can find something that interests you. Also don't fear away from getting an offset down to 32mm.

As for tire size, that depends on the width of the wheel. Most 17's will be either 7 or 7.5 wide. 225/45/17 is probably what you're looking for. 235/45/17 tires would be more for an 8" wheel width.

The front strut bar from ebay is fine. The rear sway bar seems to no avail though seeing as you don't plan on driving your car fast around corners.

You might also consider getting some clear bumper lights. It's just a cheap slight subtle mod, if you don't like the orange bumper lights on the car. And red/clear taillights for the 97-99 maximas are a nice subtle addition as well.

 

as far as wheels go, (given a conservative approach, which I was going for as well), I think the 2k 5th gen 16" 5-spokes looked very nice on my late maxima.


with 2 kids and this being a family car, I don't know about dropping. When I changed my suspension around (H&R/illumina) my father complained about how he could feel every bump on the road, while with the stock GLE ride, he'd fall asleep on the drive because it's so smooth. you may want to replace any bushings and rubber components to recondition the stock suspension, or explore the Tokico Blues setup with SE springs you can find in the Classifieds for cheap, to give you a slightly better handling performance

as for tires everyone swears by their own brands (toyo proxes4 being mine), but check the Wheel/Tire section of the forums to read others opinions and sizes they've used. tirerack.com and edgeracing.com were my sites of choice when shopping around.

Thats the input I can offer to you

 

I have the falken ziex 512, the snow and wet grip isnt great, but for the money the dry grip is good.

 

I agree with what you want to do. I have 235/45/17's on my 99 (Pirelli P-Zero) and really love the tire but it probably costs me a little in gas mileage. The 17 size is great for handling without getting too harsh of a ride.
Go to tires.com and get to the section that will let you put different wheels on you car and see what they look like. There are so many choices and only you can really decide. I think tirerack.com also has that feature.
I like a polished aluminum look. Not too shiny like chrome.

 

Thanks for the input so far. Just to add a little more.

I would have no issue putting 17 or even 16's on from a MAxima or G35. I know they would fit well. the problem is that the local supply (private sale) of these is slim to none in Nova Scotia. The price of wheels from salvage yards is INSANE.

I do like to go around corners fast just not race anymore. I had an aftermarket sway bar on my impreza and I liked how it took some of the push outta the car so that's why am considering it but I may end up doing the shocks and springs first and see if its enough. I know for a fact that the GLE stock ride is way to soft for me. I do 90% of the driving so as long as it doesn't rattle teeth and bottom all the time I shouldn't get too many complaints. My V50 sport suspension is actually pretty harsh on small bumps so it may not feel much different to me



$175 for B grade 17 inch maxima wheels or 225 for 17 inch G35 wheels. Unless I find someone privately selling some I think I'll get better bang for the buck with aftermarket.

Appreciate the comments about not being super concerned about offset that isn't right on 40mm.

If I go with a 7 inch rim I am a bit concerned about going 225/45R17 as that's over a 2% difference in diameter. Maybe consider going 215 or 225 50? That's getting specific so I'll move that part of the question to the tire thread.

Definitely need to consider the clear corners.

Thanks for getting me started

 

You said you have a budget which is fine since you don't need too much money. If you want new rims you need new suspension. Illuminas and h&r as was said is good, but coilovers are going to be much better. I say this because you also said no engine mods. So if you don't want engine mods, I think you should spend the money to get nice rims and do coilovers. Silver or gun metal will look fine. Go to the rims forum when you know what rims you want and ask them about tire sizes. Since all you'll be doing is daily driving and don't want any other upgrades, should spend money on the best products for the one mod you will do. Go coilover.

 

Give us an idea of budget!

 

This is not written in stone since I don't get final approval until the car is purchased aometime in the next 5 months but lest say for purposes of this thread $3000 canadian plus taxes

 

http://maxmods.dyndns.org/index.php .... i think you will find this page extremely helpful. It has opinions, cheapest prices, and description of the products.