Wheels and Tires

[Phillip A Gosnell]

My friend is willing to sell me his wheels and tires from his 2001 325Ci, for $500, they are 16" 205/50/16. He is getting 17" wheels and just wants to get rid of the 16"ers. I have a Ti Active package with 15" five spokes - standard suspension package.

My question is, can I put the 16" wheels on my Ti without making any suspension changes? Should I jump on this opportunity? What does everyone think?

[Dan Burger]

they'll fit fine...go for it.
16" wheels really look good on the ti, and that tire size will run without any suspension mods necessary.

Good Luck!
Dan

[DougZ]

I just ordered M3 Wheels in 17 X 7.5" with Nitto 245/45 17's. I certainly hope that these will fit with out any modifications.

Any opinions?

DougZ

[tgroth]

Wouldn't 245s be a little wide for the Ti fenders? I heard that 235s were the widest the Ti could fit under stock fenders.

[BMWBOY]

ACtually, I have a friend that is running a TI with 245 rear tires on a set of 17's. They fit fine, but everytime you hit a big bump they rub the fender wells. He is getting the fenders rolled. I would suggest the same if you want your tires to last. He found a place that does the job with a waranty for $200 cash, I dont' know if that is a good or a bad deal, but thats what it is.

[DougZ]

TGROTH: I made a mistake. I ordered 225/45 17's. They fit just fine. No suspension mods needed.

DougZ

[ddiorio1313]

I have a 97 ti sport. I was running 205/55 16 Yokohamas on it. When it was time to replace the tires I upgraded/downgraded to 215/50 16's sumitomo's. I have been running them for a while and they are great all around. Just today I was looking under the front fenders and noticed the shock/spring was touching the front tire. I can't even get my fingers between the shock/spring and tire. I have never noticed this before? Is this normal? I know in 98 the sport model went from the 205/55 16's to 225/50 or 45 16's. So I figure that going to the larger tire shouldn't be caung a problem. Let me know if this is like that on anyone elses car. I can't really hear any rubbing or scraping, normally just when I take off for the first time you can hear a little creak but thats it. Any info would be great! Oh yeah these are original springs and shocks.

Later: Dan

1997 Ti Sport, 85,000, all original except updraded ultr white bulbs.

[liquidgraphix]

I'm running the stock 16" tires fine, I bought some 17" Zender rims for the summer and they fit fine without any other mods to do, haven't had any problems so far *knock on wood*.
I don't see why your 16s should be a problem...

[Billan]

I run 18x8.5 rims on my TI without any modification. I was running a 235 tire that rubbed over bumps so I dropped down to the 225 now everything is fine in the back. Even with my system and people in the car it looks slammed but it does not rub. The stock sports package on the TI comes with 16's so you should have no issues at all.