BMW E90 wheels?
Discussion
ejenner said:
Another question...
Does anyone know if there are restrictions due to brake caliper sizes? i.e. if the car is one of the bigger engine models does it have bigger brakes which must have bigger wheels or is it easy enough to swap 316i wheels with 330i wheels... for instance.
17s/18s should be fine maybe 16s tooDoes anyone know if there are restrictions due to brake caliper sizes? i.e. if the car is one of the bigger engine models does it have bigger brakes which must have bigger wheels or is it easy enough to swap 316i wheels with 330i wheels... for instance.
ejenner said:
I might want to go from 18s to 16s.
I was told 17s were the smallest suitable fitting on a 335i. 17s was also the smallest that came up on BMW configurator in the context of a winter set up, which prompted my change.
17s on a decent tyre such as Michelin Pilot sport 4 were very comfortable regards ride and it handled superbly.
Even if suitable , I’m not sure what extra value add 16s would bring.
Maybe a call to a respected BMW dealer’s parts department would be a way of finding out if there is a genuine 16 inch wheel suitable for 330i? Not saying you buy it from them
FWIW my 17s were style 158 I believe , 300£ second hand by were as good as new
What would be interesting to know is what the ideal wheel to tyre ratio the chassis handles best with. I don't think there's any way you could find out though.
...I would have thought it is not necessarily the largest wheels you can get. There will be a sweet spot in terms of tyre width, height and offset which produces the best overall balance.
...I would have thought it is not necessarily the largest wheels you can get. There will be a sweet spot in terms of tyre width, height and offset which produces the best overall balance.
You need at least 17s on a 330i (or 330d) as well as the front discs are bigger than on smaller-engined models.
There are loads of wheel options - I bought my E91 325i last February and it had 16" rims with winter tyres. So I needed some summers, and found a set of F30 17" rims with summer tyres that fit fine. If you are in any doubt about fitting you can check here:- https://www.willtheyfit.com/
I've never tried it, but I've read in many places that if ride comfort is what you want above anything else you need the smallest rims that will fit your car and non-runflat tyres.
Happy hunting anyway!
There are loads of wheel options - I bought my E91 325i last February and it had 16" rims with winter tyres. So I needed some summers, and found a set of F30 17" rims with summer tyres that fit fine. If you are in any doubt about fitting you can check here:- https://www.willtheyfit.com/
I've never tried it, but I've read in many places that if ride comfort is what you want above anything else you need the smallest rims that will fit your car and non-runflat tyres.
Happy hunting anyway!
Edited by Mr Tidy on Saturday 30th March 22:32
Not so much the case that I would want to run non-standard.
I'm just aware than when the chassis and suspension system of a car is designed there is an optimal wheel setup which gives the best handling. It might not be the most comfortable, it might not be the biggest wheels either.
Tyre wall height, the type of tyres (for instance, my last Mercedes had specially designated tyres which had their own unique model number), wheel width, tyre width, wheel diameter, wheel offset. All these things are measurements which react with the geometry of the suspension.
Things like thrust angle, camber, toe, caster. Putting on different wheels and tyres can really mess with the suspension design. Like I said though, I don't think there would ever be a way of knowing which out of all the options would be the optimal wheel and tyre combination for handling and comfort.
With overly large wheels and wide low profile tyres you can end up with less grip compared to smaller ones. A tyre which won't flex can end up lifting across the whole surface rather than compressing and flattening against the road surface.
I'm just aware than when the chassis and suspension system of a car is designed there is an optimal wheel setup which gives the best handling. It might not be the most comfortable, it might not be the biggest wheels either.
Tyre wall height, the type of tyres (for instance, my last Mercedes had specially designated tyres which had their own unique model number), wheel width, tyre width, wheel diameter, wheel offset. All these things are measurements which react with the geometry of the suspension.
Things like thrust angle, camber, toe, caster. Putting on different wheels and tyres can really mess with the suspension design. Like I said though, I don't think there would ever be a way of knowing which out of all the options would be the optimal wheel and tyre combination for handling and comfort.
With overly large wheels and wide low profile tyres you can end up with less grip compared to smaller ones. A tyre which won't flex can end up lifting across the whole surface rather than compressing and flattening against the road surface.
Will They Fit calculation results for 18-inch v.s. 16-inch
"Compared to your existing wheel, this new wheel will have an inner rim which is 22.1mm further away from the suspension strut. The outer rim will poke out 16.1mm less than before."
You can see that is going to make a big difference to the grip and handling of the car. For better or worse I haven't a clue. Only to say it proves the point that there isn't really such a thing as 'standard' when there is such a wide choice of OEM fitments, as is the case for the E90.
"Compared to your existing wheel, this new wheel will have an inner rim which is 22.1mm further away from the suspension strut. The outer rim will poke out 16.1mm less than before."
You can see that is going to make a big difference to the grip and handling of the car. For better or worse I haven't a clue. Only to say it proves the point that there isn't really such a thing as 'standard' when there is such a wide choice of OEM fitments, as is the case for the E90.
ejenner said:
You can see that is going to make a big difference to the grip and handling of the car. For better or worse I haven't a clue. Only to say it proves the point that there isn't really such a thing as 'standard' when there is such a wide choice of OEM fitments, as is the case for the E90.
There is a huge variation in OEM size options, but then E90s ranged from 318is to M3s so it's hardly surprising!225/45 x 17 worked fine on my E91 325i, and the same size seems good on the E90 330i I picked up last week.
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