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

[bwh13]

OK thanks Jay, now I can at least figure out what tires to get :)

[Fidhle007]

Honestly, not much room to play with at all. Guys have tried 215/45/17 (which is 24.5-24.7 depending on tire used) with bad results.

I don't recommend anything larger than the 24.0".

Jay

Along those same lines, I'm running 205/55/16 snow tires right now (they were free) and I'm getting some rubbing when I turn the wheel, but I assume this is because my ride height is so low. When I get a spare minute in a warm place I'll crank up my coilovers a bit but it makes me wonder if there's any advantage to running that size tire in the summer as well? I know there's a much larger selection available to me as it's a stock e46 size but I wonder if that's the only advantage...?

Thanks!
Brendan

[E30nate]

Both front and rear.

Jay

if my car is lowered, will the spacers put the wheels out so far that they will rub on the fenders?

[ethirdy]

I just bought a set of 16x7.5 ET40 wheels, and they have two good Pirelli 205/45/16's on them. First question, how far off is that tire size, or can I run them if I buy a pair to match?

Second question, I know the ix has an offset of 41, but the only things that are different in the rear (correct me if I'm wrong, though this is from experience) are the hubs and brake rotors. The rear hubs for an ix are significantly "taller" than the hubs for a non-ix - I'd say somewhere between 15 and 20mm, but it sounds like if the stock e30 is 25mm, the hubs are most likely 16mm difference. In order to fit around these, the rotors are obviously deeper by the same amount, but the rear brake caliper carriers and calipers themselves look to be the same.

What I'd like to do is use ix rear hubs and rotors instead of spacers, not only because I already have ix hubs pressed into new bearings that I can put in easily, but also because I feel a bit more secure with this as opposed to a 15mm-20mm spacer. Maybe it's the same thing, but this is free, hence...I prefer it :) Then for the fronts I just need a similar spacer and I should be good.

Thoughts? As a preface this is going on an 87 convertible (low arches) and I'm going to roll the fenders as much as I need to.

[Mystikal]

Along those same lines, I'm running 205/55/16 snow tires right now (they were free) and I'm getting some rubbing when I turn the wheel, but I assume this is because my ride height is so low. When I get a spare minute in a warm place I'll crank up my coilovers a bit but it makes me wonder if there's any advantage to running that size tire in the summer as well? I know there's a much larger selection available to me as it's a stock e46 size but I wonder if that's the only advantage...?

Thanks!
Brendan

Again, I will not recommend that someone buys oversized tires. And that rubbing is not because the car is too low, it's rubbing on the chassis/fender liner. Ride height won't affect that.

Jay

[Mystikal]

if my car is lowered, will the spacers put the wheels out so far that they will rub on the fenders?

Nope. You'll have a lot of room with 15mm spacers and 205 tires, you can even go 225 if you want.

Jay

[Mystikal]

I just bought a set of 16x7.5 ET40 wheels, and they have two good Pirelli 205/45/16's on them. First question, how far off is that tire size, or can I run them if I buy a pair to match?

Second question, I know the ix has an offset of 41, but the only things that are different in the rear (correct me if I'm wrong, though this is from experience) are the hubs and brake rotors. The rear hubs for an ix are significantly "taller" than the hubs for a non-ix - I'd say somewhere between 15 and 20mm, but it sounds like if the stock e30 is 25mm, the hubs are most likely 16mm difference. In order to fit around these, the rotors are obviously deeper by the same amount, but the rear brake caliper carriers and calipers themselves look to be the same.

What I'd like to do is use ix rear hubs and rotors instead of spacers, not only because I already have ix hubs pressed into new bearings that I can put in easily, but also because I feel a bit more secure with this as opposed to a 15mm-20mm spacer. Maybe it's the same thing, but this is free, hence...I prefer it :) Then for the fronts I just need a similar spacer and I should be good.

Thoughts? As a preface this is going on an 87 convertible (low arches) and I'm going to roll the fenders as much as I need to.

Unfortunately I have no experience with any sort of project, although it sounds interesting. I have never believed the iX's final hub position to be more than 6-7mm different from a RWD E30's though, so you might want to make sure of that 15-20mm number.

Oh, and 205/45/16 is slightly undersized, but nothing outrageous.

Jay

[SchnellerVert]

17x8.5 et 41 will be running 18 mm spacers. Tire suggestion? Not on a typical e30 fenders are flared.

[Van Westervelt]

17x8.5 et 41 will be running 18 mm spacers. Tire suggestion? Not on a typical e30 fenders are flared.

215/40-17's. depending on how low, stiff and how much you flared, you might be able to run 235/40-17's

[SchnellerVert]

These are going to be DE event tires but the car will need to get there on some streets. So I have to order a VSR hitch. I don't plan on mucking up the interior. I run 16's on the street and being Kosei killed off their blank K1 in all sizes I jumped on the last batch coming in January to tirerack.

5 K1's 17x8.5 et 41 E36 sized. It was that or a set of 18x8.5 et 15 RK which are too big

[Mystikal]

17x8.5 et 41 will be running 18 mm spacers. Tire suggestion? Not on a typical e30 fenders are flared.

I'm assuming E30 M3 5-lug?

What E30 Groupie said is correct, anything bigger than 215/40/17 will be dependent on exactly how much the fenders are flared. If you ran 12mm spacers (which are wonderfully hubcentric on 5x120 cars) 235/40/17 or even 245/35/17 is possible even with stock fenders.

Jay

[mitch500]

i was wondering if this tire combo will work for me. first off i have to drive the e30 this winter because the e28 is out of commision, it needs a new tranny. anyways the e28 had brand new winters on it 205/70r14 and the e30 only has summer wheels. so i am getting some cheap ass bottle caps for the e30, do you think the 205/70r14's will fit my car? also it is lowered with the H&R springs. i just dont want to go and spend the money to get them mounted and put them on and find out they are not going to fit. much thanks if you can help.
-Mitch

[SchnellerVert]

I'm assuming E30 M3 5-lug?

What E30 Groupie said is correct, anything bigger than 215/40/17 will be dependent on exactly how much the fenders are flared. If you ran 12mm spacers (which are wonderfully hubcentric on 5x120 cars) 235/40/17 or even 245/35/17 is possible even with stock fenders.

Jay

yeah correct.

[E30nate]

Nope. You'll have a lot of room with 15mm spacers and 205 tires, you can even go 225 if you want.

Jay

could i go wider even with a 55 profile?

[ethirdy]

Unfortunately I have no experience with any sort of project, although it sounds interesting. I have never believed the iX's final hub position to be more than 6-7mm different from a RWD E30's though, so you might want to make sure of that 15-20mm number.

Oh, and 205/45/16 is slightly undersized, but nothing outrageous.

Jay

I'll measure the ix hubs and the regular hubs I have, see what difference it is. But, I'm almost positive it's more than 6-7mm, because I tried fitting a standard non ix rotor on an ix hub, and it didn't even come close to lining up with the caliper/carrier. We'll see.

While we're thinking about it, how else would there be a difference in offset of so much between an ix and an i? Aren't the rear trailing arms and subframe the same, therefore the offset would be the same aside from the hubs?