s50 e30 (non M) or e36 M3

[Bimmerman325i]

I've got a pretty well set-up DD/HPDE/TT e36, and the most it can fit with stock fenders is realistically a 265/17. I know of guys who have run 285/30/18 on the stock fenders with 18x10.5s, but those aren't dual duty DD/motorsports cars with that wheel and tire setup. It's the fast setup for damn sure, but not something you'll DD on.

Realistic DD limit on an E36 is 255s on a 17x9.

[Blip Bavarian]

Mike,
What offsets and wheel width are required to fit a 285/30/18 under an e30? I believe it can be done under some DTMFiberwerks simple flares.

Eric thinks he can fit them under his flares. He is currently running 255/35/18 on 9.5" wheels. He says with some trimming there is plenty of room. Hope Eric doesnt mind me posting his pics.



Sorry if i strayed too far OT guys..;)

[makard]

Mike,
What offsets and wheel width are required to fit a 285/30/18 under an e30? I believe it can be done under some DTMFiberwerks simple flares.

Eric thinks he can fit them under his flares. He is currently running 255/35/18 on 9.5" wheels. He says with some trimming there is plenty of room. Hope Eric doesnt mind me posting his pics.



Sorry if i strayed too far OT guys..;)

I'm running a 5 lug setup on one car that uses 18x10 SSR Comp H wheels for e46 M3 rear fitment from TireRack on all four corners. Don't hold me to it, but IIRC the offset is ET25? I can double check if needed before any purchase is made if you're chasing this right away. SERIOUS rolling to stock fenders or common flares similar to IE can fit 305/30-18 Hoosiers. I have used several different 285/30-18 tire sizes for street use as well.

[Blip Bavarian]

Thanks for the response Mike. I am looking to run them on my 4 lug setup. I figure i will get some 10 inch CCWs or Kodiaks to get the right offset. Im not sure how much the offsets differ for 4 lug vs 5 lug.

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge w the community. It is much appreciated. Id love to learn more about tour e36 rear suspension under an e30. Once again sorry to go OT guys.
-Matt

[makard]

Thanks for the response Mike. I am looking to run them on my 4 lug setup. I figure i will get some 10 inch CCWs or Kodiaks to get the right offset. Im not sure how much the offsets differ for 4 lug vs 5 lug.

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge w the community. It is much appreciated. Id love to learn more about tour e36 rear suspension under an e30. Once again sorry to go OT guys.
-Matt

Matt, we're running 4 lug 16x10 wheels from REAL on the newer (than the black #03 car I drive) #96 DM car on the front and 16x12 on the rear along with Lee Vuong's Massive Brakes BBKs at both ends. I will ask our shop Manager, John Brown, for details regarding offset on those stock e30 hub components to assist your project. BTW, as far as overall better performance bang for the buck, the 16" stuff is the way to go these days on an e30 chassis due to the issues with lowering the suspension using larger diameter tires and the very significant weight savings (unsprung rotating mass) on each corner. The tire choices in 16" track rubber used to be really bad compared to 18" stuff (back when we were building the #03 car), but now that modern R compounds & radial construction have become readily available in 16" sizes providing virtually the same size contact patch at such lighter weights the 16" stuff makes a LOT more sense....costs much less too! If I were building a new e30 toy tomorrow it would be built around the same setup we're using on the #96 car. E30 rear suspension and all!!!

The e36/46 rear suspension on the #03 car is indeed very nice. However, it was a TON of work to get it right! If I were headstrong set into using something other than stock based suspension geometry on a new e30 chassis (which I'm not, we stuck with e30 stuff on the newer #96 car by choice because we feel we know enough about both to make the e30 style pieces work very nearly the same), I would likely go totally exotic with a custom build that utilized lesser expensive non-BMW components. In fact, we just completed the conversion away from e36 diff on the #03 car to utilize an 8.8" IRS from an SVT Mustang Cobra since it is several pounds lighter than a small case (318i) e36 diff yet much stronger, greater upgrade availability, and vastly less expensive. I would likely cannibalize other components from lesser expensive performance oriented cars IF I was planning such a radical redesign project in the future.

[Axxe]

Awesome info in here.

[Blip Bavarian]

Matt, we're running 4 lug 16x10 wheels from REAL on the newer (than the black #03 car I drive) #96 DM car on the front and 16x12 on the rear along with Lee Vuong's Massive Brakes BBKs at both ends. I will ask our shop Manager, John Brown, for details regarding offset on those stock e30 hub components to assist your project. BTW, as far as overall better performance bang for the buck, the 16" stuff is the way to go these days on an e30 chassis due to the issues with lowering the suspension using larger diameter tires and the very significant weight savings (unsprung rotating mass) on each corner. The tire choices in 16" track rubber used to be really bad compared to 18" stuff (back when we were building the #03 car), but now that modern R compounds & radial construction have become readily available in 16" sizes providing virtually the same size contact patch at such lighter weights the 16" stuff makes a LOT more sense....costs much less too! If I were building a new e30 toy tomorrow it would be built around the same setup we're using on the #96 car. E30 rear suspension and all!!!

The e36/46 rear suspension on the #03 car is indeed very nice. However, it was a TON of work to get it right! If I were headstrong set into using something other than stock based suspension geometry on a new e30 chassis (which I'm not, we stuck with e30 stuff on the newer #96 car by choice because we feel we know enough about both to make the e30 style pieces work very nearly the same), I would likely go totally exotic with a custom build that utilized lesser expensive non-BMW components. In fact, we just completed the conversion away from e36 diff on the #03 car to utilize an 8.8" IRS from an SVT Mustang Cobra since it is several pounds lighter than a small case (318i) e36 diff yet much stronger, greater upgrade availability, and vastly less expensive. I would likely cannibalize other components from lesser expensive performance oriented cars IF I was planning such a radical redesign project in the future.

Thanks Mike. I will definitely look into the 16" options that are avaliable. Are you running 305f and 335r on your new 16x10f 16x12r setup? I need to give Lee a call and see if my calipers will clear a 16" wheel up front. I have the 332mm (13") rotors and they are pretty tight under my current 17" wheels. I wish there were some options for a 285/35/17 racing tire... The Cobra rear setup sounds really cool. Let me know if your shop manager has any suggestions on offsets. Thanks for all the help!

[iamsam]

so... win for E30?

[BMW_TUNER]

So those were all M3's? Wow that's pretty impressive. What do you run for suspension along with the 5 lug?

I am running e36 m3 front brakes
GC coilovers Crazy stiff sprin rates (I can not remember them off the top of my head)
THR eyeballs
delrin bushings everywhere
adjustable rear subframe.
245 rear 235 front
GC race upper strut
Cabbie front bar
IX rear bar
front spindle shims

When I raced my fourth auto-x against the E36 M3,E46M3,E90 M3 I compared only the raw times. I know that there are many factors that influence times but in raw times with all of us on street tires I was still mush faster by far.
I was not however the fastest that day the title went to a race prepared STI.

[1990m3]

Matt, we're running 4 lug 16x10 wheels from REAL on the newer (than the black #03 car I drive) #96 DM car on the front and 16x12 on the rear along with Lee Vuong's Massive Brakes BBKs at both ends. I will ask our shop Manager, John Brown, for details regarding offset on those stock e30 hub components to assist your project. BTW, as far as overall better performance bang for the buck, the 16" stuff is the way to go these days on an e30 chassis due to the issues with lowering the suspension using larger diameter tires and the very significant weight savings (unsprung rotating mass) on each corner. The tire choices in 16" track rubber used to be really bad compared to 18" stuff (back when we were building the #03 car), but now that modern R compounds & radial construction have become readily available in 16" sizes providing virtually the same size contact patch at such lighter weights the 16" stuff makes a LOT more sense....costs much less too! If I were building a new e30 toy tomorrow it would be built around the same setup we're using on the #96 car. E30 rear suspension and all!!!

The e36/46 rear suspension on the #03 car is indeed very nice. However, it was a TON of work to get it right! If I were headstrong set into using something other than stock based suspension geometry on a new e30 chassis (which I'm not, we stuck with e30 stuff on the newer #96 car by choice because we feel we know enough about both to make the e30 style pieces work very nearly the same), I would likely go totally exotic with a custom build that utilized lesser expensive non-BMW components. In fact, we just completed the conversion away from e36 diff on the #03 car to utilize an 8.8" IRS from an SVT Mustang Cobra since it is several pounds lighter than a small case (318i) e36 diff yet much stronger, greater upgrade availability, and vastly less expensive. I would likely cannibalize other components from lesser expensive performance oriented cars IF I was planning such a radical redesign project in the future.

Just out of curiosity Mike, are you running ABS on your cars and if so, are you using the e30 system or something more modern?

Dave

[makard]

Just out of curiosity Mike, are you running ABS on your cars and if so, are you using the e30 system or something more modern?

Dave

Dave, we are currently not running ABS on either car. However, this is due to some sort of a glitch preventing the e36 M3 system installed on the #03 car from working. Although we have a pretty
nice facility and Machine shop capabilities on hand, we don't have any significant amount of time throughout the typical work schedule to work on our race cars. We, like so many others out there, have to squeeze in some hobby time whenever we can fit it into our otherwise busy work days. So, we've been chasing other issues as a priority and simply haven't focused on getting the ABS system on line since I haven't been racing with a functional ABS system for the past 8 years. When I last had a fully functional ABS system in a race car i was driving, it was a stock e30 system equipped with an interrupt switch so that I could eliminate its interference in corners where the older/slower ABS system seemed to do more harm than good (typically on rough pavement). I thought the setup I was using was plenty good, but I'm sure that some of the newer/faster processing speeds greatly enhance the effectiveness of ABS....especially wet track & slicks! At some point, we anticipate adding a stand-alone e46 ABS system to the #96 DM car as well...but once again this has not been a priority while we've been doing many other things involved with the engine swaps to both cars.