M Roadster wheels

[sikbrik]

Has anyone tried M Roadster (or M Coupe) wheels on their ti?

It looks like the offset is different than the regular staggered M3 wheels.
Front
Wheels: 7.5Jx17 (41mm offset)
Tires: 225/45/17
Rear
Wheels: 9Jx17 (8mm offset)
Tires: 245/40/17

I found those specs on a Z3 site. Can anybody vouch for the validity? I wish it told backspacing because with a 9" wide wheel, knowing the offset doesn't really help me by itself.

The tire sizes sound okay from what I've read in this forum since that's what the factory M3 staggered wheels are running and a few of you have them on with no problems.

I'm just curious if they're offset to the "wrong" side...I mean, can I just run a spacer on them or do they already stick out too far without a spacer...do I need to move them inboard, in other words?

I bought a set of 16" wheels last week but somebody is willing to trade me their 17" M Roadster wheels for them...if it seems crazy, I'll just pop the 16" wheels on and be done with it. I think the 17" M/Z3 wheels look pretty sweet, though. THANKS!!!

[PettitWC]

i read somehwere that one of the pairs won't fit and i think it's the rears but I'm not sure on that. I was looking at the M roadster/coupe wheels too.

[sikbrik]

Thanks! From my calculations, the wheel lip will stick out an extra 2.75" in the back...I haven't measured but I'm thinking that's a little extreme! I don't think there's 3" extra room back there!!!
I want to try it so bad...maybe I'll just see if he'll let me try it. I wonder how bad the structural integrity of the wheel would be if I had 10mm milled off of the flange???!!!

[bmw///m3///]

I wanted to buy some m coupe wheels but other said the rears wouldnt tuck as preticted. I saw a guys e36 325i with m coupe weels so it can be done. At the very least I think you will have to roll the wheel well as suggested. The m coue wheels look real good but kinda wired on that guys 325i. I will try to find those pics on net. think it was on bimmerforums.com

[KIRASIR]

Unless you put some 195 tires in the rear, they won't fit at all.

SL


Has anyone tried M Roadster (or M Coupe) wheels on their ti?

It looks like the offset is different than the regular staggered M3 wheels.
Front
Wheels: 7.5Jx17 (41mm offset)
Tires: 225/45/17
Rear
Wheels: 9Jx17 (8mm offset)
Tires: 245/40/17

I found those specs on a Z3 site. Can anybody vouch for the validity? I wish it told backspacing because with a 9" wide wheel, knowing the offset doesn't really help me by itself.

The tire sizes sound okay from what I've read in this forum since that's what the factory M3 staggered wheels are running and a few of you have them on with no problems.

I'm just curious if they're offset to the "wrong" side...I mean, can I just run a spacer on them or do they already stick out too far without a spacer...do I need to move them inboard, in other words?

I bought a set of 16" wheels last week but somebody is willing to trade me their 17" M Roadster wheels for them...if it seems crazy, I'll just pop the 16" wheels on and be done with it. I think the 17" M/Z3 wheels look pretty sweet, though. THANKS!!!

[sikbrik]

I'm guessing that was a joke. A 195 won't fit a 9" wide rim!

Anyway, for future reference (so I can feel like I contributed something):

If you use four FRONT wheels from the M Coupe/Roadster, they'll fit with no problems. The REAR wheels will fit 5,6, and 7 series cars. Offset is, in fact, 8mm on the M Roadster (Roadstar is the name I've seen) wheels. 5's, 6's, and 7's use anywhere from 18 to 22 but 8 will work. The rears stick out over an inch on a 3 series.

So now we know!
Thanks for the responses.

[Juni]

Dont they make any adapters that would make this wheel fit? :cool:
Because I have a set of these sitting in my house waiting for my car to get out of the shop so I can try to fit them. But it would suck if they didn't.

[cossieturbo]

The rears will not fit. You would have to have them machined to increase the Offset and that opens a whole new bag of problems. Just find another set of front ones. They look pretty good on the Ti. I was thinking of getting these as well, but they might be heavy...??? At least compaired to other aftermarket units (SSRs, Racing Dynamic Race2).

Erik

[osattack13]

what is the smallest tire you can put on a 9" rim that would fit on the rear of a ti

[M-technik-3]

Fronts will fit fine I have 235-40-17 et 41 on 17x8.5 front and rear with no fitment issues.

But the rear? I don't know about that one sounds like some fender rolling. M roadies and coupes have some mad stagger, would rather have equal to dial out understeer vs putting it in intentionally.

[osattack13]

how much would fending rolling cost .. like in range. ?

[M-technik-3]

Rolling fenders can be done with a baseball bat out or wood and a Heat gun. But I would rent a proper tool so lessen the chance of cracking paint.

[osattack13]

haha that sounds harsh but hey if it has to be done. so you would push from inside out and just widen it. does this happen often? and if you know what types of tools would i need.
Thank you

[cooljess76]

This thread clearly explains the factors involved here. M Coupe wheels simply won't fit. A fender roller cost about 250 bucks. If you could find someone to do it for you, the going rate is 50-100 bucks. Keep in mind that if you're not extremely careful and sometimes even if you are, the paint will crack. You'll need to use a heatgun to make the paint more flexable, but it may still crack.

Besides that, there's no way that a fender roller will open things up enough. You'll also need a fender pull. This requires actually pulling the fenders outward, probably with a machine of some sort or a ghetto rigged tow strap or hydraulic jack.

Even then, you'll need to run a narrower tire than the rim is capable of safely holding. This is called stretching your tires and basically makes your car next to undrivable as you'll be riding on the sidewalls. The slightest bump or pothole will more than likely bend your rim and/or destroy the tire. While I'll admit, that stretched tires look really cool, I have to say that it's rather unsafe and unpractical.

Now before you get mad at me for being a nay sayer, I'll go ahead and say that it can be done if you want to spend alot of money and do extensive work to your car even though it'll kill performance since you won't be able to drive it as if it had properly fitted wheels and tires. And before you question my knowledge, I'll say that I speak from experience as I've ran 5 series wheels on my Ti in the past. My wheels were 17x8 et20 style 42's off of an e39. There's photo's in my gallery and they looked amazing. The widest tire that I could fit was a 215/40/17 which was slightly stretched on the 17x8 wheel.

Even with the fenders extensively rolled, they still rubbed over bumps and on takeoffs. It wasn't until I grinded down my rear bumper and beat my fenders out with a sledgehammer that I was even able to drive the car on lowered suspension.

Now, you're considering putting a wheel on your car that is has over a centimeter lower offset, 12mm to be exact. It's also an inch wider than my style 42's. Someone mentioned something about a 195 tire, and I don't even think a 195 would stretch across the rim from bead to bead if it were totally flattened out. Maybe a 205, but you're still going to be riding on sidewall while turning.

Anything short of going widebody, you're gonna have rubbing issues. Besides all that, the tires are going to stick out almost 2 inches. It might look really cool or it might look really funny, IDK. If you still want to go through with it, you got my blessing, but you absolutely have to post pics!!! Good luck and best wishes.

Edit; sorry for the long post.

[M-technik-3]

Basicly what Jess is saying is it will look hooptie. I added 3.5" lips to my BBS RS070's that were 15x8 and made them 15x10.5 and guess what they were stupid wide and goofy and you can't find **** to get your speedo to read right either.

[318tiv8]

I have e46 m3 wheels on mine 18 x 8 fronts and 18 x 9 rear... Fronts tuck nicely rears are quite extreme for a stock ti... Rolling fenders on there own might not do it... But i am running a 554hp sbc and need some meats top plant the ponies so wide body it is! But if you are going for a stock look and not into serious body mods i dont think they would be the rims of choice!

[osattack13]

i have a picture here with them on.. i found it on the net.. http://www.bmw-syndikat.de/cgi-bin/bmwuploaded/Hola-Cocaina/IMAGE0023.JPGsyndicate.jpg

[318tiv8]

Thats pretty aggressive for sure... about the same as the e-46 m3's on mine look

[budget76]

I have e46 m3 wheels on mine 18 x 8 fronts and 18 x 9 rear... Fronts tuck nicely rears are quite extreme for a stock ti... Rolling fenders on there own might not do it... But i am running a 554hp sbc and need some meats top plant the ponies so wide body it is! But if you are going for a stock look and not into serious body mods i dont think they would be the rims of choice!

You dropped a SBC into your TI?:eek: PICS!!:biggrin:

[osattack13]

hey guys finally finished the project. i put the M roadster rims on my 318ti. i had to get brand new bilstein shocks with coilover springs. it looks pretty solid.. looks like you can do after all. you just have to modify it a bit.. ill post up pics soon.

[cooljess76]

KICKASS!!! what size tires did you end up running? On with the pics!!!!

[trickiekid]

:useless:

[osattack13]

the rear are 9" rims.

[spidertri]

What size tires did you put on the 9" wide rear wheels?

[osattack13]

245x40xr17