I'm interested in getting some decent BBS RS style wheels for my car. I'm not planning on dropping it, just putting some RSR Super Down springs. I feel like any mesh wheels past 18" would look kind of silly, but 17's may be too small. Does anyone have 18 or 17" mesh wheels on their ride they can show off?

 

18's ftw, since these are for looks. There was a fella here a while back who had some sweet OZ Superleggera's, think they were 18x8. But he had to use spacers due to the front brake calipers.

 

I know it sounds silly but I want to preserve the look of a nice thick sidewall, but I'm not sure if 18's would allow that

 

Well for me, I don't want a larger rim, unless the width increases, and it's the so-called +1 (meaning we don't just slap on wider tires and the circumference is even larger than before). My car has the 245/45's and 18's from the factory, but I run 225/55-17's as snow tires. For whatever reason it seems easier to find approved 17" rims aftermarket, than it is 18". I would check with the seller to ensure they say the rims can be mounted on a LS430 without spacers...

 

John beat me to it but the ls430's came stock with that 5 spoke rim so I think you should be fine I have 20's on my car and the ride is not that bad. If you get aftermarket rims I would look at rims from tsw thats what I have on my car and they are solid rims very well made.

 

oh well I'm not worried about comfort, and if need be I'll buy spacers, I just like the aesthetic of a thick sidewall on mesh tires

 

This is how I'd like my LS430 to look by the end of the year. I'd like to have it two tone but I'm not entirely sure what color to go with yet, black seems decent

 

If you have deep pockets...
http://www.heritagewheel.com/series/jpn/fuji/

 

Remember back in the day there would be 3-pc rims and they could easily cost $1200 each.....two things about that....one, no longer necessary for weight, and two, not considered stylish anymore, imho....to me the best rims are still those OZ Ultraleggeras @ $329.....18.4 lbs. and still made in Italy, beautiful on almost any vehicle. Need spacers though on ours...

 

:=) and keep in mind you will spend good part of a nice weekend cleaning, cleaning, cleaning Speaking from experience
I like my Lumaraii's on 17"

 

I'm not a fan of thin spokes, I really like wheels that have "wide faces", like work eurolines or something

 

These are Lumaraii wheels, 17" with a polished lip, tire Michelin Premier 225/55. no spacers, no centering ring.

 

That's awesome, do you have any shots of your car from the side like of mine or from more angles? i wanna try to get the sizing for wheels right

 

One reason I stayed with the OEM 17s size was we have sometimes very bad roads. Low profile tires will hit a pothole pretty hard and can damage your rims easy. ($$$$$). The standard tire is comfortable, readily available and not as hard on your pocketbook as larger low profile tires. I also lowered the car with Bilstein coilovers but left about a two-finger gap to be able to clean the wheelwells with a hosenozzle. Likewise I still can run wintertires without having to change the height again.. The coilovers changed the camber slightly. Now it rides like my old 735i. The airsuspension was too cushy for me. I still have all 4 airshocks with little mileage (the PO replaced 3 shocks before I bought the car with 118k miles)
I will post picture of the car when we get a little more sun.

 

My experience with my Maxima is consistent with what you have said...I went from 215/55-16 to 235/40-18, 3 times. I would buy closeout rims at around $90 each (I think these prices may be long gone). 3 sets of rims ended up with bent lips, usually when my then g/f drove the car. I went back to the 16's.

My other feeling is that OE rims are resistant to being dented (prolly for warranty reasons etc.), but they are likely very heavy too compared to aftermarket...