e46 wheels

[E30_fiend]

Well I wanted to come here and ask a few questions hoping a few would have the knowledge to answer them.

First question:

What offset are stock e46 wheels on a 323i?

Second question:

What tires would fit with nor modification to the fenders or rubbing at all for a 17" or possibly an 18" wheel? Widest possible tire?

Thanks.


E30Fiend

[atomic]

Well I wanted to come here and ask a few questions hoping a few would have the knowledge to answer them.

First question:

What offset are stock e46 wheels on a 323i?

Second question:

What tires would fit with nor modification to the fenders or rubbing at all for a 17" or possibly an 18" wheel? Widest possible tire?

Thanks.


E30Fiend

First answer :

Depends on which e46 wheels you are speaking of ? The vary between et41 - et47 it looks like depending on which wheel. Look at each wheel listed in this link and you will see the size of each associated with the et following the size. And they are 5 lug wheels so theres your next dilemma.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=BF73&mospid=47482&hg=36&fg=15

Second Answer :

SEARCH there is tons of tire size info for 17's on here in the wheel/tire fitment question thread and 18's are on e30's.

[E30_fiend]

First answer :

Depends on which e46 wheels you are speaking of ? The vary between et41 - et47 it looks like depending on which wheel. Look at each wheel listed in this link and you will see the size of each associated with the et following the size. And they are 5 lug wheels so theres your next dilemma.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/partgrp.do?model=BF73&mospid=47482&hg=36&fg=15

Second Answer :

SEARCH there is tons of tire size info for 17's on here in the wheel/tire fitment question thread and 18's are on e30's.

These aren't for my E30 they are for my mom's e46. She is looking to buy wheels and tires but I don't know what offset I should be looking for, or tire size.


E30Fiend

[atomic]

Well then, I can not answer that but you did not say it was for your moms e46 either. The link I listed will at least tell you what the oem wheel offsets are for the e46 oem wheels, to give an idea on that part.

As far as the tire size, take the oe size that is labeled on the door jamb and put it into a tire calculator online and play with sizes that will be close to the same ratio as the oe tires. Or goto tirerack.com and pick a wheel size and it will automatically tell you which tire size is recommended.

[Mystikal]

Keep the offset between ET35-45, the wheel width 9" or under, the tire width 245 or under, and the tire diameter close to 25" and you're set for an E46.

Of course any of these can be more aggressive, but that's the safe setup.

[colombacho]

i fit a set of 17'' staggered rims 8.5'' front and 9.5'' rear et35. minimal rubing on the rear. tires are 240/40, so there is a little strech and ride is a little hard. The odd thing is that on e46s the clearances vary sometimes. Other people i know have been able to run my set up w/o rubbing.

now given that it is for your mother, i would play it safe and go with mystikal's sugestion, and put some rubber on them(245).

[E30_fiend]

Cool thanks for the responses guys. She has 225s on there right now without rubbing so hopefully I can get a 245/40 or a 245/45 to fit.

Thanks again,


E30Fiend

[E30_fiend]

ok well we decided on a wheel choice but we have a choice of et24 or et35.

does anyone know what this would look like in terms of fender alignment? I know that the et24 will be more flush with the fender but I dont know if it will push it out past the fender. I dont want that. The closest to flush would supreme.

Also, I put her stock tire size in the calculator and tried to find the best size for her without any rubbing issues and I came up with a 245/35/18. Would this be too wide for the inner wheel well? It is exactly 1 inch shorter in the side wall but the overall height of the tire is almost exactly the same. So really all I need to know is if she will have any rubbing issues on the inner well because I highly doubt there will be a problem anywhere else but there.

thanks,


E30Fiend

[Mystikal]

ET35 is what an E46 wants.

The 245 is a little on the aggressive side, honestly (especially at ET35). Unless that wheel is 9" wide or something, put a 225/40/18 to be absolutely safe. Of course you can try the 245, but for your mom...why bother.