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[mustangivore]

Hi guys. Sorry for such a long post...

Background
Researched 19" wheels over the winter and planned to get a new setup come spring. I now seem to favor 18" wheels for several reasons like more sidewall for comfort and suspension (I'm lowered on H&R Sport), lighter wheel/tire for added WHP, and lower cost. To expedite my research (again), I'm hoping some of you guys could offer your experience on good 18" setups - the ones below or others not listed here. Thanks!

My current stock setup
18x8 et34 w/ 225/40 (front)
18x8.5 et39 w/ 255/35 (rear)

Preferences
Light & deep dish, deep concave next best. Prefer mildly aggressive offsets, don't want to risk rubbing and don't want to do any fender modifications. Prefer Hyperblack finish but silvers or gunmetal fine too. I'm thinking about specs in these ranges
8.0/8.5 et 35 (front)
9.0/9.5 et 40 (rear)

What I've found
APEX ARC-8 Hyperblack 18x8.5 et38 (front) & either 18x9 et42 or 18x9.5 et 35 (rear)
VMR V703 Hyperblack (i.e., VB3, CSL style) 8.5 et35/40 & 9.5 et33/45 *** probably et35 front et45 rear
VMR V710 Hyper Silver or Gunmetal 8.5 et35/40 & 9.5 et33/45 *** probably et35 front et45 rear
VMT V810 Hyper Silver or Custom Powder Coat et35 & 9.5 et45
OZ Alleggerita HLT 8.0 et34 (front) & 9.0 et40 (rear)
OZ Ultraleggera 8.0 et40 (front) & 9.0 et40 (rear)
Linea Corse Lemans 8.5 et35 (front) & 9.5 et40 (rear)
BBS RGR 8.5 et38 (front) & 9.0 et45 (rear)
Advan RS or RS-D
Avant Garde M359 8.5 et35 (front) & 9.5 et33 (rear) ***et33 rear worries me being lowered...

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[jeff225tt]

I would be curious to hear some input as well. I have a set of Arc 8's on my E46 M3, I use a squared setup with 18x9.5 et35. Im looking to reuse 2 of them for the rears on my new car and buying two more for the front. Any insight on which fitment works best on an '11 E90 M sport pack would be greatly appreciated.

[mustangivore]

Originally Posted by jeff225tt

I would be curious to hear some input as well. I have a set of Arc 8's on my E46 M3, I use a squared setup with 18x9.5 et35. Im looking to reuse 2 of them for the rears on my new car and buying two more for the front. Any insight on which fitment works best on an '11 E90 M sport pack would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe I shouldn't have written a novel LOL... I was wondering if Arc 8's are fine with a staggered setup - I always read people with ARC-8 square setup.

Your stock 18" wheel offsets should be the same as mine I believe: et34 front and et39 rear. With 9.5 width et35, wheel offset calculator shows "9mm LESS clearance on the strut side", which should not be a problem at all (plenty of room there) and "the outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 17mm" (that would be too much for me to risk, but I'm lowered - are you?).

Hope that helps some.

[MonacoBlueE90]

Originally Posted by RunFat

Your stock 18" wheel offsets should be the same as mine I believe: et34 front and et39 rear. With 9.5 width et35, wheel offset calculator shows "9mm LESS clearance on the strut side", which should not be a problem at all (plenty of room there) and "the outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 17mm" (that would be too much for me to risk, but I'm lowered - are you?).

Maybe this helps you some. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...5#post13709835 I would say 18x8.5 et35-25 front with 235/40/18 and 18x9.5 et40-35 rear with 265/35/18 is "safe" setup.

And by the way 18x9.5 et35 front will not have plenty of room. It's about 1-2mm clearance to stock shocks and if the tyre is wider than wheel it will hit inside.

Originally Posted by jeff225tt

I would be curious to hear some input as well. I have a set of Arc 8's on my E46 M3, I use a squared setup with 18x9.5 et35. Im looking to reuse 2 of them for the rears on my new car and buying two more for the front. Any insight on which fitment works best on an '11 E90 M sport pack would be greatly appreciated.

You can use your 18x9.5 et35 square setup on your new E90. Just put 235/40/18 to front wheels and 265/35/18 to rear. I used to have 18x9.5 et35 with 235/40/18 hankooks front without issues on my pre-lci E90, before you say e90 lci and e90 pre-lci are the same at front. I even used them with 5mm spacer so 18x9.5 et30 without modifications and problems.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...3&postcount=39

[mustangivore]

Originally Posted by MonacoBlueE90

Maybe this helps you some. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...5#post13709835 I would say 18x8.5 et35-25 front with 235/40/18 and 18x9.5 et40-35 rear with 265/35/18 is "safe" setup.

Thanks MonacoBlueE90! You helped me last year when I joined this forum. Was wondering if you would chime in with a good link Thanks. Will probably post follow-up questions once I rethink things AGAIN.

Originally Posted by MonacoBlueE90

And by the way 18x9.5 et35 front will not have plenty of room. It's about 1-2mm clearance to stock shocks and if the tyre is wider than wheel it will hit inside.

I was referring to his use of those wheels on the rear, but my post was unclear at best. Thanks for clarifying that. Sorry for any confusion I caused.

Edit: I realize you were adding useful information about the use of those wheels up front to complete the feedback, because I failed to say anything about the front. lol

[Riick]

I'm HR sport LCI with VMR 810. 19x8.5 front ET 35, 19x9.5 rear ET35. No rub, no fender mods. Could easily go ET33 on both front/rear*. Rides no rougher than stock 16in tires on stock springs.

*Depends on tire brand. Hankook are rounded sidewalls. A more square tire will rub even with ET35 rear.

[MonacoBlueE90]

Originally Posted by RunFat

Thanks MonacoBlueE90! You helped me last year when I joined this forum. Was wondering if you would chime in with a good link.

It's all good. To be honest i had to check what i have been saying and seems like i gave you the same link again

[mustangivore]

Originally Posted by MonacoBlueE90

It's all good. To be honest i had to check what i have been saying and seems like i gave you the same link again

yep lol! still impressive all the links you provide...and that's a good link except for car not being lowered like mine. but riick's is similar...so hard a decision, which is why i haven't made one in the last 6 months. have not given up yet on 19". so many questions...

I like rear aggressive/wide wheel&tire setup but I just don't see where it matters up front as much except maybe for fender fitments IMO. For 18", I'm wondering if 8/8.5 up front and 9.0 for rear is best for me. certainly one of safest fitments.

what about something around 8.0 et30 or 8.5 et35 for front, and 9.0 et40 for rear? would not vary too much on strut or fender size. seems like I should determine width and offset before considering wheel brands.

thanks for continuing to help on wheels and tires. same old questions - so complicated though, especially for mod'ed suspensions.

[mustangivore]

Originally Posted by Riick

I'm HR sport LCI with VMR 810. 19x8.5 front ET 35, 19x9.5 rear ET35. No rub, no fender mods. Could easily go ET33 on both front/rear*. Rides no rougher than stock 16in tires on stock springs.

*Depends on tire brand. Hankook are rounded sidewalls. A more square tire will rub even with ET35 rear.

thanks for the post! interesting. roads in northeast are rough regardless. hoping more sidewall will help.

yeah, always wanted Michelon PSS but probably 265's are gong to be too wide, sort of measures like 275-280...hankook v12, Falken 452, or Conti DWS would probably be my choice if I think fitment is tight. but maybe with 18x8 front and 18x9 rear, 225 and 255 PSS would work?

was looking at the new 810's as well. do you have pictures? would love to see gunmetal look on E90. my car is white.

[Thafool]

Originally Posted by MonacoBlueE90

You can use your 18x9.5 et35 square setup on your new E90. Just put 235/40/18 to front wheels and 265/35/18 to rear. I used to have 18x9.5 et35 with 235/40/18 hankooks front without issues on my pre-lci E90, before you say e90 lci and e90 pre-lci are the same at front. I even used them with 5mm spacer so 18x9.5 et30 without modifications and problems.

We need to be careful on what we call a square setup here. Square really refers more to having tires with rolling diameters which are the same or really close so that you can rotate the tires/wheels front to back properly. I only bring it up because having the same size rims all the way around and different sized tires isn't always going to give you that.

In this case the math works out and you have a rolling diameter delta that is sub 1%, so it's fine. But I would say the way most e90 335 xdrive guys I know (including me) do a square setup is with all 4 tires being the same size, and then the stock x8 wide rim on the front and stock x8.5 wide rim on the back.

Width doesn't mess up rolling diameter or the front to rear diff AWD ratio - that's all about height.

[Riick]

What sold me on the 810's are the fact they are flow formed, same technology used in Indy Car/Formula 1 racing rims. As strong as forged rims, and as light. My first choice in rims were to buy the BBS CH-R in titanium but I couldn't get myself to fork out the extra $800 in cost for CAST rims that weigh nearly 8lb more. In the end, the better rim won my wallet (even if the name isn't as good)

[bmw325i]

Originally Posted by Riick

What sold me on the 810's are the fact they are flow formed, same technology used in Indy Car/Formula 1 racing rims. As strong as forged rims, and as light. My first choice in rims were to buy the BBS CH-R in titanium but I couldn't get myself to fork out the extra $800 in cost for CAST rims that weigh nearly 8lb more. In the end, the better rim won my wallet (even if the name isn't as good)

What color are those?

[Riick]

Gunmetal

[mustangivore]

Looks very nice - color is awesome. I knew you said Gunmetal but I was also going to confirm the color on those. Camera/pictures can really can make Gunmetal look lighter or darker. Would you say the shade is lighter than most Gunmetal, sort of on the order of maybe Hyperblack?

I'm still looking at ARC-8 but I'd like to find someone who can roll the rear fenders so I have more options for greater concavity in wheel selection. The 810's are indeed light and look good. Thanks for the picture and congrats.

[Riick]

They're on the lighter side, pretty darn close to the pictures. Nowhere near black. Black rims on a black car is like getting caught making out with your sister. It just doesn't look right.

[mustangivore]

Originally Posted by Riick

They're on the lighter side, pretty darn close to the pictures. Nowhere near black. Black rims on a black car is like having sex with your sister. I don't care how hot she is, you just don't do it.

I have Alpine White with silver that I like but I prefer Hyperblack or a lighter gunmetal. The Gunmetal color on those 810's looks perfect to me - not too dark. Any idea how the concavity compares to BMW stock 18" Style 287 star-spoke alloy wheels?

Thanks again for your help.

[MonacoBlueE90]

Originally Posted by Thafool

We need to be careful on what we call a square setup here. Square really refers more to having tires with rolling diameters which are the same or really close so that you can rotate the tires/wheels front to back properly. I only bring it up because having the same size rims all the way around and different sized tires isn't always going to give you that.

In this case the math works out and you have a rolling diameter delta that is sub 1%, so it's fine. But I would say the way most e90 335 xdrive guys I know (including me) do a square setup is with all 4 tires being the same size, and then the stock x8 wide rim on the front and stock x8.5 wide rim on the back.

I disagree square setup is used with both, when wheel or tyres are the same size. I have never heard anyone saying it being square setup if the tyres or wheels aren't the same size, but this is something that everyone has different idea what it means. Besides i clearly said that he can use 18x9.5 et35 wheels front and rear and told with what tyre sizes it will work. Well he could also use 235/40/18 rear too.

You really think that i didn't check the rolling diameter before suggesting that 235/40/18 and 265/35/18 setup.

In my opinion Xdrive car can and should use the same size wheels as RWD. It just means that you need to be more aware when choosing tyre sizes. Whether it's same size front and rear or wider rear wheel. Problem with square setups is that almost all the time rear needs spacers, at least if flush look is wanted. Unless you choose lower offset to rear, but then you loose the ability to rotate.