Z4 16's over winter - will they fit?

[golffoxtrot]

Little help required please...

I'm looking at 16's over winter, for cost purposes - I've no issues with running steelies during the snowy period but I'd like some clarification over the wheel sizes themselves.

As far as I'm aware, my standard 18's run -47mm offset (8") on the front and -50mm (8.5") on the rear...

The 16" steels I've found so far are 7" x16" in either a 20 or 42 offset - will I run into any issues here? Will the inset look ridiculous?

thanks in advance...

Edited by golffoxtrot on Thursday 20th October 16:15

Edited by golffoxtrot on Thursday 20th October 16:19

[Vroomer]

Depending on which model you have, II think there may be issues relating to the brakes needing alloys for cooling purposes.

[golffoxtrot]

Only an early 2.5i so hopefully no issues there...?

[Vroomer]

I think you better check with a BMW dealer.

I had all sorts of issues when I wanted to put a set of winter steels on a 330i that had sports alloys.

[sjj84]

A 330 needs 17's to clear the brake calipers, same as the 3ltr Z4's. 2.5ltr has smaller brakes and 16's should fit no problem. You'd be able to pick up a set of standard 16" alloys from a Z4 for not a lot of money, will look better than steelies.

[a11y_m]

golffoxtrot said:

Little help required please...

I'm looking at 16's over winter, for cost purposes - I've no issues with running steelies during the snowy period but I'd like some clarification over the wheel sizes themselves.

As far as I'm aware, my standard 18's run -47mm offset (8") on the front and -50mm (8.5") on the rear...

The 16" steels I've found so far are 7" x16" in either a 20 or 42 offset - will I run into any issues here? Will the inset look ridiculous?

thanks in advance...

Edited by golffoxtrot on Thursday 20th October 16:15

Edited by golffoxtrot on Thursday 20th October 16:19

I usually run the staggered 18's on my 3.0i Z4 (same sizes as you mention) and use BMW 104-style alloys over winter: 7.0x16" with ET47 and 225/50/16 tyres all round. They work out almost identical diameter when the higher-profile tyres are taken into account. Pre-facelift Z4s use smaller brakes than E46 330i's, so 16" alloys JUST clear the calipers.

I'd imagine 16" steels with ET42 would be a great fit, but would look ste. Given that BMW 16" alloys are generally cheap and undesireable (although that's changing with the panic over winter wheels/tyres...), I'd suggest that route. This is a useful website for wheel styles, listing offsets, widths, etc: http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/

This show's the caliper clearance on a 3.0i:

2010-04-02 (5) by Ally Mitchell, on Flickr