ASK ALL WHEEL/TIRE FITMENT QUESTIONS HERE - The Official Wheel/Tire Fitment Thread

[Mystikal]

Will they look wierd with the spacers? Will I need to get rolled fenders, etc? They are off a Mini Cooper and look fairly cool. I was on tirerack and saw some cool BBS wheels. I dont know what to do. 16" or 17". What are some great wheels?

Not weird at all, it will make them actually sit properly. They will look strange without that large of a spacer.

If you want to see some wheels that will fit an E30 without spacers, try www.tunershop.com.

Jay

[Mystikal]

Sportmax 962/006/009 17x9 et35 (Yeah yeah yeah, i know Sportmax's, but I'm saving up to buy a house and at least they aren't 002's)


I know there will be some serious fender rolling and pulling, the car I'm trading for has H&R's and Bilsteins.

What size spacers would I need to use to get the right stance? 10-15mm front, 15-20mm rear?

What would the appropriate tire size for:
Stretched:
Not stretched:

Still haven't decided if I would want the stretched look on my own car, sometimes it looks really good, others it doesn't. Plus I'm not sure how it affects spirited driving.

I honestly really wanted a set of 17x9 Sportmax's for a bit. I think the popular 15-16" wheels a lot of guys are running are friggin ugly, but some of those wide 17's are good looking.

You'd want 20mm spacers just to safely clear the front struts. I'm almost sure 15mm is enough, but you may as well play it safe (some tires have big rim protectors, etc). Just run 20mm in the rear too, it's already going to be hard enough of a fitment.

Stretched: 215/35/17 or 215/40/17
Non-stretched: 245/35/17

Driving hard on the tire sizes I mentioned won't be dangerous at all, I've drifted an E30 with a more extreme stretch (205 on a 8.5", 225 on 10"). Perfectly fine. Oh, and that 245 will NOT WORK without flaring.

Jay

[z31maniac]

^Is a 20mm spacer "too much"? Or should I just try to find a wheel with a better offset to begin with?

For an 8-9" wide wheel, would the "correct" backspace be approx et15?

[Mystikal]

^Is a 20mm spacer "too much"? Or should I just try to find a wheel with a better offset to begin with?

For an 8-9" wide wheel, would the "correct" backspace be approx et15?

No, it's not too much. Spacers are safe.

The offset depends on a lot of things, hence the length of this thread. :)

Jay

[z31maniac]

I honestly really wanted a set of 17x9 Sportmax's for a bit. I think the popular 15-16" wheels a lot of guys are running are friggin ugly, but some of those wide 17's are good looking.

You'd want 20mm spacers just to safely clear the front struts. I'm almost sure 15mm is enough, but you may as well play it safe (some tires have big rim protectors, etc). Just run 20mm in the rear too, it's already going to be hard enough of a fitment.

Stretched: 215/35/17 or 215/40/17
Non-stretched: 245/35/17

Driving hard on the tire sizes I mentioned won't be dangerous at all, I've drifted an E30 with a more extreme stretch (205 on a 8.5", 225 on 10"). Perfectly fine. Oh, and that 245 will NOT WORK without flaring.

Jay

So I'd actually have to buy fender flares, like the IE flares? Wouldn't be able to roll/pull them enough for clearance?

This car is an '87 as well.

Would the stretched 215's fit without flares?

[Mystikal]

So I'd actually have to buy fender flares, like the IE flares? Wouldn't be able to roll/pull them enough for clearance?

This car is an '87 as well.

Would the stretched 215's fit without flares?

You would not be able to roll/pull them enough to fit the 245s, you'd be adding new metal and forming new arches. $$$$$. IE flares are another option.

The stretched 215's will fit with just rolling.

Jay

[z31maniac]

If I did IE flares, is 245 on 9" wheel still about as big as I could go? Also would a 245/40 be alright? Tire rack showed one option for a 245/35 and about 60 for a 245/40

I have a rather sick obsession with with wide wheels.

[Mystikal]

I honestly have no idea how much space those flares give you. Pretty rare setup.

Jay

[z31maniac]

Thanks for the help. I think I'm definitely going to go with the 006, just gotta decide to stretch or not to stretch!

[z31maniac]

Just in case anyone else was wondering, I emailed Jeff at IE, he said the fender flares add about 1.5" of clearance outside the normal fenders.

[Erik]

Best offset for 17x8 and 17x9 wheels?

[ian e30 318is]

would the kopi alpina 17's fit under 60/40 drop?? how much fender rolling involved?

[Mystikal]

Best offset for 17x8 and 17x9 wheels?

ET25 front and rear, good room inside on both. Room outside with stretched tires on the back.

Jay

[Mystikal]

would the kopi alpina 17's fit under 60/40 drop?? how much fender rolling involved?

No rolling at all if you use 205/45/17 tires. Minor rear rolling with 215/40/17.

Jay

[z31maniac]

I read through some more of the thread to get a better idea on stuff. I compared the 17 x 9 to 17 x 8 and the 9" only has 3/4" more of a lip, but seems to make fitment a bit more troublesome, so........

17 x 8 - et 35 + 15mm spacers + 235/40/17 = FTW?

Is stepping up to a 235/45/17 possible, what would need to be done to make that work? It seems to nearly triple the available tire selection.