E30 Zone

I'm looking for wheels for my project car.. Asked this before but theres no harm asking agiain!

Does anyone know of any 16" wheels that will fit onto E36M3 hubs/struts and still fit over the brakes? The diameter isn't a problem, it's just the clearance in the spokes for the calipers.

I'd like 16"s so I can run 225/45/16's all round rather than the 215/40/17's.

It's not the end of the world, I just really want to keep some compliance and get as much rubber to the road as possible (for all the juicey power)

Jai

Get a 15-25mm spacer.

I dont think there are any 16" wheels that will fit over the E36 M3 brakes - they are 315mm with a big caliper.

You could try asking on E36coupe.com, but Im sure 17" is the smallest you can go.

I have the same brakes up front and 16" fit as long as you have the right design rim. You can use spacers to compensate for the rimdesign.

Aico wrote:I have the same brakes up front and 16" fit as long as you have the right design rim. You can use spacers to compensate for the rimdesign.

Cool. What wheels have you got? - I also may want to use the E36 M3 brakes on my conversion.

Ive seen some compomotive wheels in 16" that fit over large brakes, but wasnt a fan of the styling for the E30.

17" I wanted to go 15", but that just doesn't fit. You need to grind the caliper if you want to do that. About 5mm I think so 16" wheels should fit fine with or without a spacer.

I'd say compomotives will go on no probs. I personally LOVE the designs, I'd like white 5 spoke MO's on my red 318is (and fit an MtECH2 KIT). Bit expensive though.

I was hoping there would be some sort of BMW OEM wheel that'd fit. Perhaps a steel winter wheel. Steelies rule, especially painted white or something!

Jai

Well Ive asked on E36coupe.com and the replies have got me interested.

Basically, some have said that the E30 M3 15" wheels will fit with a bit caliper modding, and so then should the 16" BBS.

I always thought that because of the disc/caliper size, only 17" would fit (other than the compos). I will leave the thread on E36coupe and see if anyone else can help from there.

One guy with an E36 M3 has just replied on E36coupe.com that he had thick wheel balancing weights on his M3 and they rubbed the caliper

Bit dissapointing really. I spose it's Compo's or bust.

17"s do have the advantage of allowing us to buy two disks and two calipers and upgrade to the very cool 324mm 2 piece and drilled E46M3 brakes. (and if you have enough wheel clearance you can then bolt on late 840i brembos).

What are E30's with all my suspension mods and 215/40/17's like to drive. I imagine they are a touch snappy and harsh on the road. Ians car didn't seem bad at all but I was only in it for a little bit.

I have poly bushes all round, H&R -35mm spring, Bilstein 'Sprint' shocks and M3 running gear (to be Mcoupé rear E30M3 front as I said)

Jai

Ive lost track which front set up you have

The 8 series 4pot Brembo calipers will bolt straight onto the E30 M3 fronts, but I cant remember what size disc can be used - it does need to be a custom disc or an E46 disc with a spacer. This will fit inside the E30 M3 16" BBS wheel.

Just thinking about it, will the E36 M3 calipers bolt on to the E30 M3 fronts or vice versa??

From what I've gathered from S14.net (those guys are dedicated) is that the e36m3,e46m3 and 5/8 series brakes fit the E30M3 struts.

The 8 series calipers work perfectly with the very cool E46 M3 disks but you need 'adaptors' that take the hub of the E30 outward and give it a larger diameter centre ring like that of an E36.

The guys then found clearance problems as the calipers are wide and fouled their E30 M3 offset wheels and had to space their wheels. In the end it looks as though the brembo idea may be harder on an e30 due to having to have wheels spaced out and having less room than M3's. High clearance wheels would 'probably' be fine.

I might just take my struts off and measure them up, draw them in autocad/catia and do the same for the E36 M3 Evo hubs I have. I can then draw different wheels and calipers to see what fits. (sounds impressive but you wouldn't have to draw in any great detail, just rough idea of shape, i'm rubbish at cad these days)

I tried a set of the 'everday' 16"s at the scrappy and no way would they fit. Its the old problem of the spoke backs having extra material behind them. Shame.

Would 225/45/16 tyres fit the arches well or cause rubbing? I could always stich myself up and get some compomotives... But there are some new BK Racing alpina copies with tyres for 400 on ebay. Soooo cheap and we all know how thwy'll look. Not Motorsport cool but cheap and cheerful.

Jai