E46 M3 Winter Wheels Offset Question

[Lord Pikey]

Afternoon all,

My circumstances have changed recently I now I need to use my E46 M3 over winter out here. I need to get some winter wheels this week. Tonight there is a set of wheels finishing on eBay that I think will be suitable, however as you know the M3 has some very funny offsets compared to other BMW's. The fronts being ET47 and the rears ET25-27 (depending on where you look for info).

I can get the "official" M3 winter wheels around here but they are either a 3 hour drive away (id have to hire a car as its been snowing heavily for 3 days) or they wont be delivered until after the weekend which is too late.

Anyway, here are the wheels I am looking at.

http://www.ebay.de/itm/181038577321?ssPageName=STR...

These are very close to home and I am pretty sure they will fit over the brakes, the only issue is the offset on the front. Using a couple of wheel calculators (http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp) and (http://www.willtheyfit.com) I had determined that they will be 31mm further out.

Does anyone have any experience of fitting different offsetted wheels to a M3? or know if I can get away with this 31mm. Unfortunately I can't do something as simple as placing a rule on the outside of my tyre as the car is 70km away at the mo. Also, im not sure if that would be a fair measurement given that my current tyres have a mean rim protecting lip.

So, I throw my case to the BMW beards of PH... Any knowledge or experience very welcome

Notes to save you hunting the net for specs

Current wheels and tyres - BMW Style 67

Front - 225/40/19 ET47 <<< The odd annoying bit!
Rear - 255/35/19 ET27

Official winter wheels - BMW Style 68

Front - 225/45/17 ET47
Rear- 225/45/17 ET25

Proposed winter wheels due to location and effort time and money reasons... - BMW Style 66

Front - 235/45/17 ET20
Rear- 235/45/17 ET20

Edited by Lord on Tuesday 11th December 13:00

Edited by Lord on Wednesday 12th December 06:37

[oxam]

I am running genuine m3 9x18 et27 255/30/18 all round on a lowered car and no issues at all.

so you shouldn't have problems with 8x18 et20 in the front

Edited by oxam on Tuesday 11th December 13:10

[oxam]

btw. the wheels you are looking at are from e39 and have different center bore so you will need spiggot rings in order to put them on e46 M3

[Lord Pikey]

oxam said:

btw. the wheels you are looking at are from e39 and have different center bore so you will need spiggot rings in order to put them on e46 M3

Cheers Oxam - i already have spigot rings on my other set of winter wheels from my old E39 but they are only 16s. I can reuse the rings though.


Ill see how much these go for tonight, if they stay under 400€ then ill go for them (i can always relist them). The alternative is a 500km round trip in a hire car for the offical wheels that are 600€!

[bennyboysvuk]

31mm is a heck of a lot when it comes to offset. A while ago I fitted some E46 M3 rear wheels to an E92 325. The offset made the wheels stick out an extra 20mm, which rubbed as soon as I went around the first corner. I think an extra 31mm might be a leap too far.

[Lord Pikey]

Ok, a couple hours to go and i am not sure

I have been downstairs and put a rule against the tyre.







Doesn't really prove much, as it was very difficult to get the camera and rule to line up. I think i basically have 10-15mm clearance to the edge of the wing which isn't enough

[chiark]

Hi, I have a set of E46 'official' winter wheels, it seems, that I bought to use on my 330i e91. The things don't fit over my front brakes, so I'm selling them (http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13139840)
They are all 7.5jx17,
Fronts say IS25 offset, part number 2 229 480.
Rears say IS47 offset, part number 2 229 980.

[Lord Pikey]

Thanks chiark but they are too far away and in the wrong country for me. Thanks for the thought though

[chiark]

No problems, but hopefully you've got all the info you need on offsets there

[Lord Pikey]

Thanks for the info

[Lord Pikey]

chiark

- Sent you a PM