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[austinla335d]

Update/Edit: Offset Motorwerks in Glendora pulled it off... No rubbing, no rolling. Pictured is a 4mm front spacer and 10mm rear spacer. No rubbing up front but in back it rubbed where the fender meets the bumper. They took care of that for me, but the tire was poking out from under the fender.
We went with -2.3 front camber and left the rear as it was, at only -1.6. With a little more camber it may have looked better and not poked, but I decided to just remove the rear spacers for now and I'll install 5mm spacers in place of them sometime soon.

The car was dirty and the tires hadn't been cleaned yet. Pics taken right after test drive proved no rubbing!

[IMG]Untitled by ilive41, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Untitled by ilive41, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Untitled by ilive41, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Untitled by ilive41, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Untitled by ilive41, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Untitled by ilive41, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Untitled by ilive41, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Untitled by ilive41, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Untitled by ilive41, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Untitled by ilive41, on Flickr[/IMG]


Previous Post:
Finally ordered a set of ARC-8 18x9.5 ET35 wheels in square fitment.

After much too much research, comparison, notes, diagrams I decided to try something that is based on pics and tire rack measurements. A 255/35 PSS tire can fit up front on the arc-8 with a 3mm spacer, and a Conti DW runs fairly small compared to PSS, so the 265/35 Conti was chosen instead of the 255 PSS (my original plan). I'm about 5%-80% sure I can make it work

Front: 18x9.5 ET32 (3mm spacer) 265/35-18 Continental DW front
Rear: 18x9.5 ET25 (10mm spacer) 265/35-18 Continental DW rear

Car is lowered on BMW PS (about 1" lower than sport suspension). I have
-camber pins removed
-M3 front control arms
to be installed:
-Dinan Camber Plates (adds -0.7 camber and just under 1/4" ride height)
-rolled front fenders

Out back I have the fenders rolled and don't foresee any issues.

In anticipation of the wheels/tires arriving Tuesday or Wednesday, I wanted to share my setup and then later share results. The 255/35 conti's will fit for sure, but they actually stretch (in my opinion) too much and if going 255, I would go PSS... except the 255 PSS runs wider than DW... so I guess the real question is does a slightly narrower but slightly taller tire fit as well as the wider but not so tall tire?

PSS vs. Conti DW fitment... round 1. Hopefully it's a TKO

[LotusBMW]

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[austinla335d]

Got this setup installed today (refer to first post for details).

Interestingly, we didn't even need to roll the front fenders. You can see in the photos how the 4mm cheap and randomly sourced spacers used today up front provided about 3-4mm of room. I'm replacing with proper 3mm spacer tomorrow, which came a day late in the mail.

Let me say that Offset Motorwerks is the perfect kind of place for this sort of "attempt". I was 4 hours late for my appointment because I was scrambling to get everything I needed. I didn't know what oddball issues I might encounter, and sure enough, day of install there was no TPMS or front spacers or stud kit in the mail with the wheels, and the one thing I didn't "need" but had was the 10mm rear spacers I hoped to use on the rear (which ended up being too much for me).
When it was all said and done, they had everything I needed within a few hours, no sweat, and I should've just ordered from them to begin with. The prices were better than anything I found online (or at least matched what I found online) and within .5 miles there were two Starbucks where I could work and spend a few hours... and a Chinese foot massage for $20/hr even closer. Can't beat that! Definitely a big fan of Offset after a day like today.

I have some tweaking to do with finding the right spacers, maybe inevitably lining up camber in the ballpark of -1.8 or so front and rear, etc, but for now I'm happy that it all fit. It's time for more people to start trying 265 squared setups on their 17" and 18" ARC-8's!


Early morning quick pics:


Funny how the front wheels look smaller than the rear from certain angles...


Motorsports Stud Kit was in stock at Offset Motorwerks and I love the look, quality and ease. Not a must, but I suggest it. Also allow you to play with spacer sizes without worrying about bolt length.


I weighed two different wheels and got 18.0 lbs for each. 0.8lbs lighter than advertised? Highly doubt it... my scale seems to be off LOL. It's been lying to me all this time to make me feel better about my weight.


I had a lot of excitement and cost justification coming from the whole idea of reducing wheel/tire weight, and below is what I found for those interested:

Using a scale that didn't seem to be 100% accurate, but was close (consistently .8lbs off is my guess?):

Front 19x9 AG M359: 50.0lbs 235/35-19 PSS and TPMS
Rear 19x10 AG M359: 51.7lbs 265/30-19 PSS and TPMS
All four 18x9.5 Arc-8: 43.0lbs 265/35-18 Conti DW and TPMS

Altogether approximately +/-30lbs of weight saved.
Here and there, I can definitely tell a slight difference, but nothing definitive. It is definitely not a placebo effect (which I wonder about when reading posts). In one area of obvious difference my wife had the same *vague* feedback without being prompted. "It's smoother and quieter, but it feels weird when you let off the gas pedal". It could be the wider width tires up front slowing us more quickly, or the odd silence of this tire compared to the PSS, or maybe these are under inflated, too many factors to pinpoint the reason, but the way the car coasts differently when you let off the throttle is noticeable to us both. I've also considered the inertia difference of the lighter wheels combined with the wider tread width up front as being easier to spin down vs the heavy force of M359's? Bottom line, it just *feels* different.
Braking is a little more effortless, but just barely to the point of noticing. I came to a stop just a few feet earlier than I felt I would a few times, nothing major. Already used to it.
Acceleration is noticeably different only in the 10-60 pulls, where it seems to sort of whip you along in a more pleasing manner, and actually does feel faster than before (and probably is)
Suspension response and ride quality is fantastic. I feel spoiled by handling improvements in day to day driving, because it is certainly a more refined and pleasurable experience.

One negative, which I definitely noticed and knew I would notice, is the Conti DW soft sidewalls folding over on turn-in. Man oh man I wish I could have every element of the PSS in a tire as suppled and quiet and smooth as the DW. Definitely a bummer to have $2500 in suspension upgrades and have a flexing sidewall... That is one downgrade that I had to make. I'm already considering a 255/35 square PSS setup for the next set of tires, whenever that may come...

[bmw325i]

Cool, looks like you have plenty of clearance on the outside more than I do anyways

I think a PSS would have fit with the right sized spacer.

[MonacoBlueE90]

Looks nice and i'm happy you got it work and got the setup the way you wanted.

[austinla335d]

Originally Posted by bmw325i

Cool, looks like you have plenty of clearance on the outside more than I do anyways

I think a PSS would have fit with the right sized spacer.

My 19" 235 width PSS looked to have similar tread width as the 265 DW's. It's hard telling.

[austinla335d]

Originally Posted by MonacoBlueE90

Looks nice and i'm happy you got it work and got the setup the way you wanted.

Thanks... The biggest challenge in planning was finding someone else who had already done this but I never did. Maybe it'll help out the next guy.

[FriedPiston]

How does it handle with 265s in the front? Does it rub when you take sharp turns?

[ethanjoon]

Nice. I'm digging your lugs

[austinla335d]

Originally Posted by narstune

How does it handle with 265s in the front? Does it rub when you take sharp turns?

Handles like stock. My previous tires have about the same tread width up front. The added camber is fun, but otherwise nothing to note.
No rubbing no matter what.

[MonacoBlueE90]

Originally Posted by austinla335d

Thanks... The biggest challenge in planning was finding someone else who had already done this but I never did. Maybe it'll help out the next guy.

Well that's kinda the idea, do something that not too many have done atleast here at the forum and then share with others so they can do it also.