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[mpaulino]

Long story short, I made my stupid mistake of the week by buying wheels and tires off of Craigslist before making sure they would fit. I put them on the car and thought they looked great, but found out on the way home that the fronts rub pretty good on the top front part of the inner well.

These are used M6 rep wheels with new general gmax tires.

Question 1:
I measured the fronts and the wheels look like they are 9.5" wide. Are they too wide no matter what kind of tire I put on them? I'm not sure what the offsets are, but they are basically flush with the top of the fender (picture below).

The front tires are 245/40R19. I know that the sidewall is too tall and a 35 series sidewall would definitely be better for the front.

Question 2:
Do you guys think I can make these front wheels work if I ditch the 245/40R19's and go with something lower profile and stretched (go a little narrower). If so, what tire size should I go with?

Thanks in advance for the replies. I should have done a little research before on this forum to avoid this problem in the first place.

[Nitrous Garage]

Originally Posted by mpaulino

Long story short, I made my stupid mistake of the week by buying wheels and tires off of Craigslist before making sure they would fit. I put them on the car and thought they looked great, but found out on the way home that the fronts rub pretty good on the top front part of the inner well.

These are used M6 rep wheels with new general gmax tires.

Question 1:
I measured the fronts and the wheels look like they are 9.5" wide. Are they too wide no matter what kind of tire I put on them? I'm not sure what the offsets are, but they are basically flush with the top of the fender (picture below).

The front tires are 245/40R19. I know that the sidewall is too tall and a 35 series sidewall would definitely be better for the front.

Question 2:
Do you guys think I can make these front wheels work if I ditch the 245/40R19's and go with something lower profile and stretched (go a little narrower). If so, what tire size should I go with?

Thanks in advance for the replies. I should have done a little research before on this forum to avoid this problem in the first place.

To make an educated decision and I need to know your offsets. You can either de-mount one wheel and on the back there will be an offset that says ET and a number, or call up the person you bought the wheels off. Your car needs to have a mid 30 offset and mostly likely you have an 8.5 front and 9.5 width rear.

If the wheels are the right size then yes a 245/35/19 front will work better.

[MonacoBlueE90]

You need to check the wheel width and offset? Should be behind the wheel. I doubt those are 9.5 wide front. Wheel width isn't measured from side to side. But no 9.5 isn't too wide to front. Plenty of people have that at front.

Without knowing your wheel specs for sure, i think 235/35/19 would be good solution.

[mpaulino]

Originally Posted by Nitrous Garage

To make an educated decision and I need to know your offsets. You can either de-mount one wheel and on the back there will be an offset that says ET and a number, or call up the person you bought the wheels off. Your car needs to have a mid 30 offset and mostly likely you have an 8.5 front and 9.5 width rear.

If the wheels are the right size then yes a 245/35/19 front will work better.

I de-mounted a wheel and found the numbers on the back of the spokes. they are 8.5" wide as you mentioned. There wasn't anything that said ET, but it did say "AT 346" right before the diameter and width (19x8.5). Does AT 346 convert to an offset?

Thanks for all your help,
Mike

[bmw325i]

I found this http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=183007

They are 8.5 et15. It should work with a 225/35/19 and some camber. With a 215/35/19 you might not need the camber. Does the rear rub btw? And what tire sizes are in the rear?

[mpaulino]

Originally Posted by bmw325i

I found this http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=183007

They are 8.5 et15. It should work with a 225/35/19 and some camber. With a 215/35/19 you might not need the camber. Does the rear rub btw? And what tire sizes are in the rear?

Wow thanks for finding this. I never would have guessed that was the model of the wheel. The rears are 255/35R19 and haven't noticed problems yet. That being said I have only drove the car home on the highway and it's been sitting in my garage since Saturday. Now that I know the wheels are 19x8.5 (ET15) front and 19x9.5 (ET20) rear, is this the wrong wheels for this car? I know I can make them fit, but I don't necessarily want to go through the headache if there are unintended consequences like premature tire wear.

I went through this with my Jeep wrangler and ended up buying new wheels for it since the offsets weren't right. I guess I didn't learn my lesson the first time with that vehicle.

[bmw325i]

This isnt the bolt on fitment but it will work with the right tire size up front. You might need a slight fender roll in the rear if it rubs.

8.5 et15 has been done plenty of times. I think you'd be better off with a 215/35/19 if you don't want to mess with the camber.

Also your rear profile is too tall. If you don't plan on changing it you should get a 215/40/19 up front to match the diameter. The speedometer reads 3mph under from the factory so the taller tires will actually make it a little more accurate.

[mpaulino]

Originally Posted by bmw325i

This isnt the bolt on fitment but it will work with the right tire size up front. You might need a slight fender roll in the rear if it rubs.

8.5 et15 has been done plenty of times. I think you'd be better off with a 215/35/19 if you don't want to mess with the camber.

Also your rear profile is too tall. If you don't plan on changing it you should get a 215/40/19 up front to match the diameter. The speedometer reads 3mph under from the factory so the taller tires will actually make it a little more accurate.

Is there a reason why I shouldn't just leave the back tires with the taller profile and change the fronts out to 215/35/19's? Other than it might look goofy with some taller tires in the back? My car isn't awd so I thought it was ok to have taller tires in the back.

[VMRWheels]

Originally Posted by mpaulino

Wow thanks for finding this. I never would have guessed that was the model of the wheel. The rears are 255/35R19 and haven't noticed problems yet. That being said I have only drove the car home on the highway and it's been sitting in my garage since Saturday. Now that I know the wheels are 19x8.5 (ET15) front and 19x9.5 (ET20) rear, is this the wrong wheels for this car? I know I can make them fit, but I don't necessarily want to go through the headache if there are unintended consequences like premature tire wear.

I went through this with my Jeep wrangler and ended up buying new wheels for it since the offsets weren't right. I guess I didn't learn my lesson the first time with that vehicle.

Rear tires are too tall. You should size them down to a 255/30/19 to closer match the fronts in height, should you decide to size those down to a 225/35/19 or 215/35/19.

[bmw325i]

Originally Posted by mpaulino

Is there a reason why I shouldn't just leave the back tires with the taller profile and change the fronts out to 215/35/19's? Other than it might look goofy with some taller tires in the back? My car isn't awd so I thought it was ok to have taller tires in the back.

That's a 4.4% difference not sure if it would cause any issues with the abs.

[MonacoBlueE90]

Originally Posted by bmw325i

That's a 4.4% difference not sure if it would cause any issues with the abs.

Yeah, even though it is RWD it doesn't mean that the difference can be what ever. It is still better to be as close as possible to each other. Too much difference can cause issues to ABS and DCS etc.

[mpaulino]

Originally Posted by MonacoBlueE90

Yeah, even though it is RWD it doesn't mean that the difference can be what ever. It is still better to be as close as possible to each other. Too much difference can cause issues to ABS and DCS etc.

Thank you for the help everyone. While were on the topic, I'm still confused on the sidewalls. Why doesn't the same sidewall measurement front and back equate to the same diameter? In other words why are you guys saying that a rear with a 30 series sidewall needs to go with a 35 series front?

[bmw325i]

Originally Posted by mpaulino

Thank you for the help everyone. While were on the topic, I'm still confused on the sidewalls. Why doesn't the same sidewall measurement front and back equate to the same diameter? In other words why are you guys saying that a rear with a 30 series sidewall needs to go with a 35 series front?

Because the profile is a percentage based on the width.

[edirtaynine]

look up how to read a tire size. theres a gazillion listed online.

245/40/19 =

245 mm = width of the tire
40 % of the 245mm = sidewall height
19 inches for the wheel size it belongs on