Tyres.... can you help

[muleskinner]

hi

i may have dropped a gooly here but can anyone advise.

Ive bought some 225/45/17 tyres to go on my alloys to fit my 318i e30 ( 1987 ).

I havent lowered the car yet , but my questions are:

1. will the above tyres rub
2. if anyone has the same size wheels/tyres , how much would you advise lowering the car to improve handling and looks ( i was considering 40mm ).


cheers

mule.

[orangecurry]

they are too big, so your speedo will be out

'correct' rolling diameter for the E30 is 205/45/17 or 215/40/17 or 225/40/17 are ok

yours will be about 3cm bigger diameter

but they may not rub - I'm sure someone will be along to advise

[muleskinner]

You know I thought they were to big , but like always , act first think later.

so 205/40/17 's are the ideal size?

cheers

mule

[orangecurry]

ideal is what you want - correct rolling diameters include

195/65/14
205/55/15
205/50/16
205/45/17
215/40/17

[muleskinner]

cheers , thanks a lot for your help.


Mule.

[muleskinner]

These are the alloys I have bought

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... %3AIT&rd=1

or item no

270024882323

cheers

[gareth]

i've had 215/45/17's on the front and 225/45/17's on the rear with a -40mm ish drop and they rubbed like a b4st4rd!

[muleskinner]

was the rubbing due to the amount you lowered the car?

[orangecurry]

not exactly my cup of tea

but anyway, have you checked they are the correct offset?
(apologies if I'm bringing you down)

and what width are they? 7J or 7.5J ?

[muleskinner]

F**K knows...I bought em because it said they were e30 compatible.

The off set is 4 x 100 which i believe is the right off set.

[orangecurry]

the 100 is the PCD; that's how far apart the stud holes are

the offset is how far in or out the wheel sits on the hub - that's important; though spacers can be sometimes be bought to correct this if the wheel has the wrong offset

[muleskinner]

oh for f**k's sake.............

I take it the off set will determine the width of tyre you can fit? and what does the 7j or 7.5j refer to.

does this have any major bearing on the wheels i have bought.

[orangecurry]

errm I'm sorry but it's not as simple as that

here's some light reading
http://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/wheeloffset.html

but wheels are usually sold by diameter and width, then the details of stud spacing (PCD) and offset.

The width of the rim/wheel will set the width of the tyre; so 7J or 7 inch rims suit 205mm width tyres for example

don't ask me why wheels are still sold in inches, and tyres in mm

you might be fine with your wheels - just ask the seller or if you already have the wheels, it'll be printed on the rear somewhere

[muleskinner]

cheers , thanks for that .

i tell ya , if they have sold me a set of wheels that are not compatible with my e30 there's going to be fireworks.

Ok , so im best to wait for the wheels to arrive and see what is on the wheels itself.

I take it someone like ATS will know the tyre size I need from the info on the wheels?

sorry for really picking your brains on this , but as you can see , ive made a pigs ear of this.

right on with the reading.

[gareth]

my scrubbing was partly due to the lowering, partly due to 17" alpina replicas being the wrong offset and mostly due to the tyres!

it will also handle like poo with those tyres

removing my 17" alpina replicas and fitting 16" alpina replicas was the second best thing i've done to my car, after fitting a 3.5 of course!

[orangecurry]

compatible might mean they are correct, or they might mean 'with spacers' - until you know the width of the wheel and the offset, you won't know which

if the offset is ok, 7 inch rims as I said suit 205 section tyres, or if the rims are 7.5 inches (7.5J) some people prefer to run 215mm tyres, but I have 7.5 inch wheels with 205 section tyres.

so either 205/45/17, or 215/40/17 in which I understand there is more choice of tyre - IIRC the Toyo T-1R is recommended by 'zoners in that size, though I have never bought Toyos so that's 2nd hand info

do a 'search' on the top of the page for previous threads on tyres and wheel sizes

good luck

[orangecurry]

it will also handle like poo with those tyres

removing my 17" alpina replicas and fitting 16" alpina replicas was the second best thing i've done to my car, after fitting a 3.5 of course!

I didn't want to mention that - is it too late to get your money back on the 17" wheels anyway?

[muleskinner]

what is the acceptable off set for an after market set of alloys.

[orangecurry]

offset is determined by the width of the rim, and then for how the hub sits on the car

IIRC for the E30, 7J is 25 and 7.5J is 24?

It is designated by 'ET 25' or similar stamped in the rim - has any 'zoner reading got 17s with the correct offset?

[fuzzy]

i fitted 225x45x17's to my touring on a -40mm drop and had to change them to 215x40x17 due to quite severe rubbing on the rear arches even with no passengers.i also thought they looked a bit silly as the sidewall was just to high and made it look like a clowns car imo.its the last time i take advice from a tyre salesman.no problems ata all now even with a -60 drop and passengers.i also recommend toyo t1-r for dry grip although not so good in the wet but thats probably more to do with my power and my heavy right foot than the tyre itself

[muleskinner]

Orangecurry , your a star mate , thanks a lot for letting me bug you on a saturday night.

Cheers gareth for the info.

[orangecurry]

sorry - this is all in mm, so you can be at least say 5 out in either direction and you should be ok

if you want a better idea, raise a new thread with the title of

what offset is ok for 17 inch wheels?

and everyone will jump in
very helpful place, this here 'zone

[snooka]

i've got -35mm at the front and 205/40 17 i had de spread my wings at the front at the back there's no problem if you don't put spacers

[FBF]

whats the diffrence in the rolling diameter of these "205/45/17" compared to these "225/45/17" then? you'll find they are the same just ones wider

[E30Mark]

whats the diffrence in the rolling diameter of these "205/45/17" compared to these "225/45/17" then? you'll find they are the same just ones wider

The 225/45/17 will have a larger rolling diameter. The height of the tyre side wall is a percentage of the width, i.e in this case (225/45/17) the sidewall height is 45% of 225mm, which is greater than 45% of 205mm (205/45/17)

[gareth]

wrong.

the first part of the tyre size is the tread width in mm, the second part is the profile. this is a percentage of the tread width in mm. the third part is the wheel diameter in inches.

for a 205/45/17, the rolling diameter is 616.3mm
for a 225/45/17, the rolling diameter is 634.5mm

the quick way is to plug the sizes in here:
http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyre-size-calculator.htm

edit, beaten to it!!!!

[FBF]

wrong.

the first part of the tyre size is the tread width in mm, the second part is the profile. this is a percentage of the tread width in mm. the third part is the wheel diameter in inches.

for a 205/45/17, the rolling diameter is 616.3mm
for a 225/45/17, the rolling diameter is 634.5mm

the quick way is to plug the sizes in here:
http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyre-size-calculator.htm

edit, beaten to it!!!!

i never knew the profile was a percentage.. why do they do thet? seems very confusing way of doing things to me

[Jon_Bmw]

Perhaps slightly relevant here. It doesn't say the wheels are multifit on the advert but it says it fits e30's and peugeot 306's. I can tell you for definate that those two PCD's are different. I think the 306 is 4x98(perhaps 96) and the e30 id definatly 4x 100

[muleskinner]

oh for the love of god..... i am totally f**ked up now.

The current wheels I have on my e30 are 195/60/14 with a rolling dia of 590.

does this mean that I need to try and get me new wheels as close to this figure as possible , but is that possible?

if i go for 205/45/17 this gives me a rolling dia of 616.....

is that difference in figure ( ie 616 as oppossed to 590 ) going to be ok. will this slow my car down due to the increased dia.

cheers

mule

[muleskinner]

ive just put into google pcd peugeot 306 406.

I have the following link which states the pcd is 4 x 108 which is different to e30 4 x 100.

http://www.kahnwheels.com/shop/12/47/

the wheels i have bought have been in correctly listed and intentionally done so i think.

[muleskinner]

now i have really confirmed it with the following link

http://www.carlsalter.com/wheel_fitments.html

I am fucking fuming.............

peugeot 306 are 4 x 108

I have been totally ripped off.

[E30Mark]

I have been totally ripped off.

Have you contacted the seller yet? if they are the wrong wheels and he gives you your money back then no harm done.

[Jon_Bmw]

Sorry i thought pugs were 4 x 98, but i think thats fords on retrospect. I knew they definatly wern't 4 x 100. All is not lost as they could be multistud. I would try and contact the seller first.

[gareth]

ford and pug are the same.

[muleskinner]

ive been on the sellers website and they are not open until Tuesday , then he's going to have it if he doesnt give me my money back...........

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

Mule