9x18 rear wheels on E46 Sport saloon
Discussion
I've had my 3rd cracked alloy wheel on my facelift 330d Sport. Rather than roll the second hand die again I'm thinking of just buying some new wheels. According to http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/, the style 72s I've got currently are 8x18 front and 8.5x18 rear. 9x18 seems to be a more common size than 8.5x18 though... would 9x18 wheels fit as-is?
The general consensus appears to be that yes, they would fit - but I can't tell whether this is yes (and you just swap the wheels over) or yes (and after changing wheels you need to have the suspension adjusted and the camber changed). Any advice?
(And/or any recommendations for brand? Tyreleader has Ronal R54s (9x18 ET40 5x120, 8x18 ET45 5x120) for ~£520, which as far as I can tell seems to be a decent price plus reputable brand - Ronal, at any rate.)
The general consensus appears to be that yes, they would fit - but I can't tell whether this is yes (and you just swap the wheels over) or yes (and after changing wheels you need to have the suspension adjusted and the camber changed). Any advice?
(And/or any recommendations for brand? Tyreleader has Ronal R54s (9x18 ET40 5x120, 8x18 ET45 5x120) for ~£520, which as far as I can tell seems to be a decent price plus reputable brand - Ronal, at any rate.)
Feels a bit better with new wheels I think. They look a bit stupid though, as they stick out too much.
For the benefit on anybody reading in the future - on account of protruding more (16.4mm, says willtheyfit.com), fit is actually rather poor for the rears, and they scrape a lot going over speed bumps and round corners. This all looked OK (if admittedly a bit tight) when measuring, and people on other forums seemed to think it was OK on their cars, but this doesn't seem to be true for my car.
Maybe the rear suspension is just shagged? That's always possible. More ££££. It's going for a garage visit tomorrow for something unrelated so I will get advice and post back again.
I suppose the worst case is that I can get the rear wheels switched back and just have mismatched wheels.
For the benefit on anybody reading in the future - on account of protruding more (16.4mm, says willtheyfit.com), fit is actually rather poor for the rears, and they scrape a lot going over speed bumps and round corners. This all looked OK (if admittedly a bit tight) when measuring, and people on other forums seemed to think it was OK on their cars, but this doesn't seem to be true for my car.
Maybe the rear suspension is just shagged? That's always possible. More ££££. It's going for a garage visit tomorrow for something unrelated so I will get advice and post back again.
I suppose the worst case is that I can get the rear wheels switched back and just have mismatched wheels.
Interesting, thanks. I thought the coupé and the Sport saloon have the same suspension, but... maybe not?
Anyway once fitted it was very obvious that the 9x18 ET40 rears stick out more than the OEM ones, which are 8.5x18 ET50, and it looked like they might scrub maybe. Then after driving it for a few miles it became obvious that they would scrub after all. I'd tried to measure this before buying, and it looked OK, but obviously it's harder to tell than I thought.
I took my car to its usual garage (local BMW-oriented independent) this morning; they pronounced the suspension generally OK, but the springs possibly a little soggy. They fitted some used M3 springs in the hope that would help, which it did - but only a bit. The car drove very sweetly on smooth roads, I have to say, but on speed bumps, and dodgy roads - of which there are plenty in my home city of Sheffield - the wheels would still scrub the arches.
So I've had the rims switched back, at yet further cost, and my car is now back on its dodgy old slightly buckled wheels, so now I'm back to reinflating the front tyres every few days. (On the plus side, I still have the M3 springs, so the car still drives a bit more nicely.) I've mailed the vendor, as I'm not very happy, since their website said the wheels would fit without scrubbing... refund, or whatever, to be confirmed, if I'm not so pissed off when I hear back that I just never want to talk about it ever again
(I do still like my BMW but god damn this stupid wheel s
t has cost way more than I was expecting and frankly I don't like it THAT much. So if I don't get a good refund for the wheels, it's PX time... or the scrapyard, and I get dibs on pushing it into the crusher myself.)
Anyway once fitted it was very obvious that the 9x18 ET40 rears stick out more than the OEM ones, which are 8.5x18 ET50, and it looked like they might scrub maybe. Then after driving it for a few miles it became obvious that they would scrub after all. I'd tried to measure this before buying, and it looked OK, but obviously it's harder to tell than I thought.
I took my car to its usual garage (local BMW-oriented independent) this morning; they pronounced the suspension generally OK, but the springs possibly a little soggy. They fitted some used M3 springs in the hope that would help, which it did - but only a bit. The car drove very sweetly on smooth roads, I have to say, but on speed bumps, and dodgy roads - of which there are plenty in my home city of Sheffield - the wheels would still scrub the arches.
So I've had the rims switched back, at yet further cost, and my car is now back on its dodgy old slightly buckled wheels, so now I'm back to reinflating the front tyres every few days. (On the plus side, I still have the M3 springs, so the car still drives a bit more nicely.) I've mailed the vendor, as I'm not very happy, since their website said the wheels would fit without scrubbing... refund, or whatever, to be confirmed, if I'm not so pissed off when I hear back that I just never want to talk about it ever again
(I do still like my BMW but god damn this stupid wheel s
t has cost way more than I was expecting and frankly I don't like it THAT much. So if I don't get a good refund for the wheels, it's PX time... or the scrapyard, and I get dibs on pushing it into the crusher myself.)Edited by to3m on Saturday 25th June 01:55
Final post I think: apparently you need 245/35/R18 tyres to go with these wheels. (I'm not convinced the 3.5mm radius difference will make much difference, but of course there has to be a tolerance somewhere, and perhaps that is it. Maybe they also balloon less than the 255s.)
Anyway, may my sorry tale save somebody else some time and bother.
Anyway, may my sorry tale save somebody else some time and bother.
www.willtheyfit.com
It's fairly easy to get tripped up when working out fitment of different wheels, this helps.
It's fairly easy to get tripped up when working out fitment of different wheels, this helps.
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff