e46 wheel choice

[NiceCupOfTea]

I have an e46 330 Sport (Touring) with the staggered 18" MV2 wheels. They're in a bit of a state (badly kerbed and with flaking paint, losing air from at least one) and I grow increasingly weary of the ride.

I remember being told that not all 17" BMW options will fit over the 330/Sport brakes, but Style 68 is one of those that does, and I rather like the look of them. Going rate seems to be £200-250 for unrefurbished second hand.

Question - are there different versions with different offsets, are they all staggered, etc., what size tyres would I want for a "standard" setup?

Thanks!

[d_a_n1979]

NiceCupOfTea said:

I have an e46 330 Sport (Touring) with the staggered 18" MV2 wheels. They're in a bit of a state (badly kerbed and with flaking paint, losing air from at least one) and I grow increasingly weary of the ride.

I remember being told that not all 17" BMW options will fit over the 330/Sport brakes, but Style 68 is one of those that does, and I rather like the look of them. Going rate seems to be £200-250 for unrefurbished second hand.

Question - are there different versions with different offsets, are they all staggered, etc., what size tyres would I want for a "standard" setup?

Thanks!

ALL BMW wheels can be found on here: http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/

Select the E46 from the drop-down box at the top and then find the Style 68s and it'll give you their widths, offsets and OEM tyre sizes etc

[NiceCupOfTea]

Thanks for that Dan! does muddy the waters slightly as it says "M3". I didn't think they were M3 wheels and I would have thought they would be much wider than standard e46 ones and IIRC the M3 was different at the rear to accommodate the wheels...

[BFleming]

Style 68's definitely fit the 330i - I had them on mine. They are all staggered, 7.5x17 front (wearing 225/45-17), 8.5x17 rear (with 245/40-17). The offsets were 41mm front, 50mm rear. They were indeed also M3 fitment, but with M3 specific offsets (47mm front, 25mm rear), and I suspect this was a winter wheel/tyre option with 225/45-17's all round.
My E46 330i came on the standard 7 spoke Style 44's, 8x17 & 225/45-17 all round.
I like this site for BMW wheel info: http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/

[NiceCupOfTea]

Thanks that's perfect - I spy a few sets on ebay so will try to snag some!

[helix402]

BFleming said:

Style 68's definitely fit the 330i - I had them on mine. They are all staggered, 7.5x17 front (wearing 225/45-17), 8.5x17 rear (with 245/40-17). The offsets were 41mm front, 50mm rear. They were indeed also M3 fitment, but with M3 specific offsets (47mm front, 25mm rear), and I suspect this was a winter wheel/tyre option with 225/45-17's all round.
My E46 330i came on the standard 7 spoke Style 44's, 8x17 & 225/45-17 all round.
I like this site for BMW wheel info: http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/

Spot on info! Op I’m buying a set too, they are a lot lighter and stronger than the 18s.

[Mr Tidy]

Interesting post OP, as I know someone with an E46 325i Sport with MV2s who had a rear one crack a couple of weeks ago. So I was just wondering if the one you have that is losing air has a similar problem.

Anything that fits an E86 Z4 will fit an E46 330 as they use the same sizes and offsets. I get size and offset details from here:- https://www.alloywheelsdirect.net/bmw_alloy_wheels...

FWIW if it's of any interest I'm sure I read somewhere that the lightest staggered 18s for an E46 are the Style 32s.

[dhutch]

In case it helps or is useful to others I have Style 44's on my E45 330ci, no issues with fit.

Daniel