M3 rims, will they fit my stock ti?

[3DGE]

Will they fit?

http://portland.craigslist.org/yam/pts/202346042.html

[AutoM3otives]

you might only be able to run the fronts, so if you want them, might have to find another set and just get the fronts.
Rears are bigger with much lower offset. if you wanna flare the fenders out, then it might work.

[AlaskaBlue]

That is what I have seen as well. Flared fenders are coool anyway.

[Mad-Machine]

I am running ten spoke 17 inch M3 rims.. 17X7 1/2 with a 235/40/17 tyre... no rubbing at all at stock ride height

[scabzzzz]

Ive had some pretty intense offset rims on my ride. My rear is dumped all the way. Should fit ok as long as heat the fenders up on the rear with a torch or something or ball ping hammer and towell and bend them a lil. I mean like Alaskablue said, everyones doin it ha

[J!m]

The E36 wheels and stock tire size (225 front, 245 rear) fit with minimal modification. The fronts will rub the inner fender wells (unless the M3 caster tops are installed) and the rear will rub the outer quarter lip. Both are slight, but should be addressed. The wheels you are showing from Craig's list are E46 wheels, and may have a different offset.

Heating with a heat gun (not an open flame) and gentle persuasion will yield satisfactory results. If you try to flare them too much, they won't flow into the rear bumper cover, and start to look really weird...

I run a bit wider front and rear (245 front, 265 rear) with just the slightest rubbing in the rear when loaded with cargo over harsh undulations in the road. no issues in the front, but I have the full M3 suspension which includes the offset LCA bushings in addition to the caster tops.

[AlaskaBlue]

Mine are pretty flared out in the front and rear, but the rear didn't take gentle persuasion. It took a sledge hammer and a heat gun.



It is much easier to just use a smaller hammer and beat the rear fender lip up against the actual fender.

[Severian]

This line struck me as odd in the seller's post:

SO I NEED TO SELL THESE ASAP TO PAY SOME BILLS TRADES WELCOME PLEASE OFFER

Is he gonna pay bills with a trade? Hmm...

[J!m]

Originally Posted by AlaskaBlue

Mine are pretty flared out in the front and rear, but the rear didn't take gentle persuasion. It took a sledge hammer and a heat gun.

It is much easier to just use a smaller hammer and beat the rear fender lip up against the actual fender.

Corect me if I'm wrong; but those look an awful lot like AC Schnitzer wheels, not stock ones. And yes, you flared those rear quarters WAY out.




On mine, you can see they are slightly flared, but the original body line is preserved (somewhat hard to see with the lens distortion). I wanted to preserve the original look without shredding my tires... And those are stock 8.5 X 17 forged wheels in the rear of mine. it looks like a lot of clearance, but they still rub a bit.

[sublimeti]

What size tires are u running on the rear 17X8.5's? I just bought a set of re070 potenzas size 225/45/17's ....i havent mounted them, but my wheels are 17X8.5 all around.

Originally Posted by J!m

Corect me if I'm wrong; but those look an awful lot like AC Schnitzer wheels, not stock ones. And yes, you flared those rear quarters WAY out.

... And those are stock 8.5 X 17 forged wheels in the rear of mine. it looks like a lot of clearance, but they still rub a bit.

i beleive those are the "new" bbs wheels not the AC's

[J!m]

I run 265/40-17's on the rear (Toyo T1-R) and 245/40-17's on the front (Michelin Pilot Sports- until they finally wear out, then I'm getting the T1R's for the front too)

The Toyos are GREAT tires. The current 265 has as much (if not more) grip than the 275 Pilots I had on the rear prior, PLUS lower cost (about $50.00 per tire less expensive) and longer tread wear. Highly recommended!!!

[AlaskaBlue]

Originally Posted by J!m

Corect me if I'm wrong; but those look an awful lot like AC Schnitzer wheels, not stock ones. And yes, you flared those rear quarters WAY out.

On mine, you can see they are slightly flared, but the original body line is preserved (somewhat hard to see with the lens distortion). I wanted to preserve the original look without shredding my tires... And those are stock 8.5 X 17 forged wheels in the rear of mine. it looks like a lot of clearance, but they still rub a bit.

Those are BBS RA wheels 8.5 x 17 with a 42 mm offset and 12mm spacers. I want to fit some 265 on there, but that may require some even more involved work. The fronts are flared beyond all recognition now.

EDIT: they are an older BBS wheel not the new split 5 spoke that recently came out.

[J!m]

See, this is where I get confused. I was running 275's in the rear for a while with some rubbing, yes, but they fit on the stock wheels with no spacers, and the minimal body modification you see in the picture above.

Why don't you go to stock M3 wheels (which are virtually dime-a-dozen now a days [with the exception of the wheels I run]) and run 275's? I expect they'd fit with the flaring you have done in the rear.

The front may have to go a bit narrower, but I currently run 245's in the front with no modification to the body at all. Again, if I modified the body, I could probably fit 265's and maybe even 275's. BUT, I like the 'staggered' look, and the car handles great with the current set-up, so I'm not changing mine!

[AlaskaBlue]

Originally Posted by J!m

See, this is where I get confused. I was running 275's in the rear for a while with some rubbing, yes, but they fit on the stock wheels with no spacers, and the minimal body modification you see in the picture above.

Why don't you go to stock M3 wheels (which are virtually dime-a-dozen now a days [with the exception of the wheels I run]) and run 275's? I expect they'd fit with the flaring you have done in the rear.

The front may have to go a bit narrower, but I currently run 245's in the front with no modification to the body at all. Again, if I modified the body, I could probably fit 265's and maybe even 275's. BUT, I like the 'staggered' look, and the car handles great with the current set-up, so I'm not changing mine!

The problem came from the fact that I have coil-overs. I had to get a front spacer to keep the wheel from rubbing the coil spring. The back had no issue with rubbing the shock, but I wanted to keep the track of the car the same all the way around. I also have a very very low car. It is lowered probably three inches or more.

That is where I start running into problems. I know I could fit wider tires on the rear. I have a camber kit back there so I can just increase the static camber and fit some big tires in back. Then again I run into the problem of the front tires. I would have to install front camber plates to run wider tires, do some even more extreme modifications to the front fenders or raise the car.

[J!m]

In your case if you truly need to be that low and have the coil-overs, and have that wide a tire, then the body has to be sacrificed. MAShaw has a nice wide-body kit for the regular E36 that could be modified to work with a ti easily enough.

Then you cut the wheel openings as needed to run the right set-up for you (ride height, tire width/profile, offset and suspension system), and don't have to compromise anything but the body (which you have already more-or-less done).

Unfortunately, we can't have it all. The reason I stuck with factory parts is beyond the obvious reason that I can walk into any BMW dealership world-wide and get a part within a few days (worst case), but also that I know that I can fit certain wheel and tire combinations without having to sacrifice the body to do so (a roll is tolerable for me).

Granted, the 275's were too big for my car, but I took the chance (and at the time, they were cheaper than the 265's) and got away with it long enough to wear the tread. I did have some sizeable grooves in the side walls...

I guess the point is you have to weigh the pros and cons and decide what is most important for you and your car.