Rubbing on wheel arch

[German-Whips]

I've had my e30 for about a week now and noticed when 2 or 3 people are in the car the rear passenger side arch is literally 2-3mm away from the tyre. The rear driver side is fine on clearance.

When cornering to the right, accelerating and going over bumps the ONLY tyre that rubs the arch is the rear passenger one, all others are fine. It's very close compared to the driver side one for some reason.

It's lowered all round 40mm on H&R springs with new dampers on the back and new inserts on the front I've been told.
15 inch alloys, not BBS, not too sure on the tyre size either but I think the tyres are 205/55/R15

Also when I bought the car, the guy mentioned he changed the wheel bearing on the very same side, the rear passenger side. Could improper fitting of the wheel bearing be causing this?

Why is this happening only to one arch?

[mcbonio]

Theres your problem "It's lowered all round 40mm on H&R springs" most on here consider a 30mm drop the most you can go without having problems.

You need to raise your car of tell your friends to get the bus.

[sunnysr]

is your fat mate on that side ? ,as said raise the car or get a lower profile tyre ,seems a common problem this on bmw`s sitting lower on one of the rear springs i have had it on 2 e36`s a touring and a 4 door ,someone with more knowledge will probably have a technical reason ?

[Rtaylor2208]

Never had this problem on my cab and its running -40mm springs on OE spec boge turbo dampers. On 15's with the same spec tyres.

There is a good chance the rear beam or trailing arm bushes are worn and causing issues. I don't fully understand the whole camber, toe in\out side of things but someone more technical should be able to explain the affects worn bushes can have and cause you rubbing issue.

[Jim320i]

40 drop with h and r springs wouldn't cause your rubbing issue...

Take a picture of our wheel without the cap on and someone might be able to advise if its genuine or not as it may well be the wrong offset wheel.

Also, worn bushes? Although I don't know if that would give that much play

[German-Whips]

I've taken a pic of the wheels on the car and how it looks, the tyres are 205/55/R15 all round.

I'll upload just now.

[German-Whips]

Here is what the car looks like. Any ideas on what the wheels are called?

Are they MiM 1800s? And if so, is it normal for these to rub, considering it only rubs on the rear passenger arch.

[Rtaylor2208]

What ET is the wheels? It should be stamped on them somewhere?

[German-Whips]

Let me go out and check for you

[eko]

Ill swap your wheels for 15" BBS`s,thatll solve your problem
Id be checking the rear beam bushes as mentioned above.
Body can drop a good 5mm + if they are shot.

[German-Whips]

Ok its got 205/55/R15 on the rear, and 195/55/R15 on the front. Is this tyre size acceptable and recommended?

Here are the wheel details:

[Jim320i]

Assuming the offset is 13... Some spacers on the rear should sort the issue.

10mm spacers would sort the issue? Correct me if i'm wrong anyone

[German-Whips]

Assuming the offset is 13... Some spacers on the rear should sort the issue.

10mm spacers would sort the issue? Correct me if i'm wrong anyone

If I put spacers on, would that mean that the wheels would "stick out" by 10mm?

If that happens then it would make it worse wont it?
As it's aready rubbing on the section towards the outer top part of the tyre, if I get them to stick out they wont clear the arch?

Or is that wrong?

[eko]

No Jim,the lower the ET number the further out the wheels poke.
As a comparison,OEM 15" are ET24 so sit 11mm further in the arch.

[Jim320i]

Ahhhh, wrong way round

[German-Whips]

No Jim,the lower the ET number the further out the wheels poke.
As a comparison,OEM 15" are ET24 so sit 11mm further in the arch.

So these being ET13, the stick 11mm further out than 15"BBS alloys and combined with the fact that the car being dropped by 40mm, this rubbing issue is kind of expected yes?

So would getting the arches rolled slight sort this issue, if one was to keep the setup and wheel/tyre sizing the same?

[eko]

No Jim,the lower the ET number the further out the wheels poke.
As a comparison,OEM 15" are ET24 so sit 11mm further in the arch.

So these being ET13, the stick 11mm further out than 15"BBS alloys and combined with the fact that the car being dropped by 40mm, this rubbing issue is kind of expected yes?

So would getting the arches rolled slight sort this issue, if one was to keep the setup and wheel/tyre sizing the same?

Yes.
Could try fitting 205/50`s on them,that would help.Would throw the speedo out a few notches but ot a huge amount.

[German-Whips]

No Jim,the lower the ET number the further out the wheels poke.
As a comparison,OEM 15" are ET24 so sit 11mm further in the arch.

So these being ET13, the stick 11mm further out than 15"BBS alloys and combined with the fact that the car being dropped by 40mm, this rubbing issue is kind of expected yes?

So would getting the arches rolled slight sort this issue, if one was to keep the setup and wheel/tyre sizing the same?

Yes.
Could try fitting 205/50`s on them,that would help.Would throw the speedo out a few notches but ot a huge amount.

Cheers!

I'll take it down to my local garage and get bushes and everything else checked over just in case.

[Rtaylor2208]

ET13 should fit no problem with your tyre size and drop as that is the exact same as my cabby. My cabby is preface lift though and the arches are slightly different so may be why they do not rub on my car.