E30 Zone

Hi all long time member but on a new account after a few years away from e30s

im just after some help about wheel fitment on my '91 325i sport

I recently purchased a set of 16" Dare DR-RS wheels to go on my car

They are 8j on the front and 9j on the rear, would i be best fitting 205/45/16s or going for 205/40/16s for the rear? For the front im fitting 195/45/16 or 195/40/16s

The car is running standard ride height but i will be getting springs for it in the next few days. The springs im looking at are 40 front and 35mm rear as im not looking to go too low as she drives like a dream and i dont want to ruin that.

Can anyone advise me on any problems i may incure ie rubbing arches or clearance with the tyres or lowering springs etc and maybe suggest some solutions

Thanks

What is the offset on the wheels?

Believe the offset on those is something like et25 front, et20 rear.

I had the same dilemma, until I actually lowered my Sport and realised skinny tyres on 16's would look silly, even with the front of mine lowered 60mm, it's to high. So I changed my order for 17's.

205/40's are going to give a lot of stretch, I'd look at 215's. I'm putting 205's on my 8.5's and still think that will be a bit much stretch.

Use this website to determine stretch, just put in wheel and tyre sizes and it will show you examples, also bear in mind the amount will depend on tyre manufacturer as well, as they have different thicknesses of side wall. There is also the option on there to select tyre manufacturer

http://tyrestretch.com

Also have a look at this thread, the guy has fitted the same wheels...

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=233367

i was recommended 205/45/16 for the front, and 225/40/16 for the rear for the same wheels

Sorry i should of said yer the front 8" is et25 and the rear 9" is et20

If you buy the wheels with a tyre package they come with 205/45/16s all round with 4 8" wheels so i thought lower the front profile to gain some stretch and with the rears bieng wider leave the tyre a 205 to get the stretch

I considered getting a 60/40mm drop but was a bit worried it might be a bit too low with my area bieng speed bump central

Is a 40/35mm drop not going to be enough on 16" wheels? I am currently restoring the car and just finished pitting new inner rear arches in just waiting on fitting the outter rear arch so ive got some time to play about with the arch if im going to get some rubbing

Mrreds wrote:I considered getting a 60/40mm drop but was a bit worried it might be a bit too low with my area bieng speed bump central

Is a 40/35mm drop not going to be enough on 16" wheels? I am currently restoring the car and just finished pitting new inner rear arches in just waiting on fitting the outter rear arch so ive got some time to play about with the arch if im going to get some rubbing

This is how mine sits with 60/40 H&R Cup kit, and E92 top hats which supposedly drop the front another 10mm. The car hasn't moved yet since fitting but can't see it settling too much more. The wheels are 17" with 205/40 tyres on, I have got new wheels, so ignore the fact they're Alpina replicas

yerr I see what you mean doesn't look low enough for what im going for.

my car looks as low as that on the standard 15" bbs wheels,


[/img]http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/3712 ... nc.jpg[img]

where did you get your springs from and how much? are they for the mtech suspension or for normal?

been doing some ringing around today and been told by a few people that if you put springs from an se into a sport they don't drop as much as the shocks are slightly longer on an se

I want the arches sat just above the tyre so wondering on what springs to get now as lowest I can get is 60/40 and there for se suspension so mite not drop as low

any ideas if I will have any clearance issues on the back arch with the 9" wheel? [/img]

looking at these springs anyone got an idea if there suitable and wont cause me any problems ie lowering height etc..

Mrreds wrote: im not looking to go too low as she drives like a dream and i dont want to ruin that.

With those springs, you will.

The H&R cup kit is springs and dampers, cost me about £430, you can get them from Venom Motorsport or Euro Performance. They do them in varying drops, for all models of E30

Mrreds wrote:
I want the arches sat just above the tyre so wondering on what springs to get now as lowest I can get is 60/40 and there for se suspension so mite not drop as low

You won't get it driving like a dream with a drop like that, looking good yes, but you will have to compromise on the ride and handling.

A Sport is lowered -15mm over a standard E30, the spring kits usually quote a drop on standard suspension - a 60/40 kit won't lower a Sport by 75/55mm.

My Sport is lowered -35mm, so -10mm lower than standard Sport height. It was running the slightly heavier S50 engine so I'd say it was actually closer to a -40mm drop at the front. The front arches have been caught by the tyres (205/55/15s) so it won't be going that low again...

The only way to get it sat that close to the tyre, unless you've got balloon tyres, is coilovers, which will make the ride stiff, and unless you get the cheap way of doing it, most good quality coilovers require welding to the strut

jmc330i wrote:

Mrreds wrote:
I want the arches sat just above the tyre so wondering on what springs to get now as lowest I can get is 60/40 and there for se suspension so mite not drop as low

You won't get it driving like a dream with a drop like that, looking good yes, but you will have to compromise on the ride and handling.

A Sport is lowered -15mm over a standard E30, the spring kits usually quote a drop on standard suspension - a 60/40 kit won't lower a Sport by 75/55mm.

My Sport is lowered -35mm, so -10mm lower than standard Sport height. It was running the slightly heavier S50 engine so I'd say it was actually closer to a -40mm drop at the front. The front arches have been caught by the tyres (205/55/15s) so it won't be going that low again...

Yer this is what a few places have been saying that the drop is measured on standard suspension.

So if i buy the 60/35 springs will i see a 45/20 drop on my sport suspension? I think that should be enough and probably the lowest i can get without coilovers. 60/40 is the only other option but worried about issues with the rear arches

Coilovers are on the list for next spring when i overhaul all the suspension/drivetrain but for now i want it sat just right so at least it looks the part untill spring

Will i see rubbing on the rear with my 9" rear wheels and a -35mm drop?

Shouldn't do providing your dampers and ARB aren't worn

Going by my experience with some 16x8"s and the slightly wider M3 suspension, the tyres will come very close to the rear arch. Wheel offset and tyre size choice will play a part.

I'd also be worried about catching the front arches with a 60mm drop and 8" wheels, et25 is basically the standard offset with a 7" wheel so you would need a stretch on the tyre with an 8".

All of this wont be helping with the handling that you want to keep nice and the ride quality will suffer.

You will need to compromise, you either want no arch gap or good ride/handling. Personally, I wouldn't be going lower than a -40mm drop for a car driven daily on our roads.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/546/img1937ph.jpg/

im thinking for the moment I can live without the smooth ride and go for looks and get it sat nicely above the arch. its an automatic so I spend most of the time cruising at 25mph and really only gets used on a sunday.

when I overhaul the suspension come winter and upgrade to some coilovers I can look at my ride height then

managed to get my new rear wheel arches welded in today and my tyres are on there way so should be able to have a look over the weekend or early next week at how much I need to roll my arches to get the clearance I want

worked out that if I put a 40mm on my 15mm sport suspension then a 25mm rear drop will be just about right and same with the front a 60mm drop giving me a 45mm drop.

fingers crossed all should be well