Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[overdrivex]

Hey guys. I have a 2008 E92 328xi with sport package and am looking to purchase new wheels. I've been looking into getting the APEX ARC-8, but am unsure on which size to get for the fronts and rears. My tire dimensions are the following:

Fronts: 225/40R18

Rear: 255/35R18

They are Bridgestone Potenza RFTs.

I am thinking that for the fronts, these should fit onto my current tires without problem:

http://www.apexraceparts.com/apex-pr...C-8-Wheel.html

However, I'm unsure about the rears. Does anyone know which size wheels should fit with my current tires on the fronts and rears?

[Zernaff]

If you stick an 8.5" rim on the front, a 9" on the back will make the tire profile the same on all four. Thats what I would do.

Since, you currently have the OEM 8" and 8.5"

[overdrivex]

Originally Posted by Zernaff

If you stick an 8.5" rim on the front, a 9" on the back will make the tire profile the same on all four. Thats what I would do.

Since, you currently have the OEM 8" and 8.5"

Thank you! What offset would you recommend for both the front and rear? I'm looking for this to be a direct bolt on to the current tires I have on the vehicle without any rubbing/fitment issues.

[Zernaff]

Originally Posted by overdrivex

Thank you! What offset would you recommend for both the front and rear? I'm looking for this to be a direct bolt on to the current tires I have on the vehicle without any rubbing/fitment issues.

Off the top of my head, I can't give you a definitive answer on that one. But, since what looks best is probably half an inch further out than stock, I would get an offset that puts the rim exactly where yours is strut side, so I want to say if you have 34mm for example on an 8" rim, 34mm on the 8.5" would be 6mm closer to the strut and 6mm further out. If you did a 28mm offset, it would be all 12mm outwards.

Check me on this, I'm trying to imagine it in my head and it's all a little confusing. There's a calculator at the top of the page that can help you determine what would work best. Just keep in mind how far out you want it to sit vs what you have and how much room you have under the fenders to work with.

So, adding half an inch, add 12mm to offset to have it all outwards. Or, leave the offset equal to what you have to have it 6mm further out on both sides.

[overdrivex]

Originally Posted by Zernaff

Off the top of my head, I can't give you a definitive answer on that one. But, since what looks best is probably half an inch further out than stock, I would get an offset that puts the rim exactly where yours is strut side, so I want to say if you have 34mm for example on an 8" rim, 34mm on the 8.5" would be 6mm closer to the strut and 6mm further out. If you did a 28mm offset, it would be all 12mm outwards.

Check me on this, I'm trying to imagine it in my head and it's all a little confusing. There's a calculator at the top of the page that can help you determine what would work best. Just keep in mind how far out you want it to sit vs what you have and how much room you have under the fenders to work with.

So, adding half an inch, add 12mm to offset to have it all outwards. Or, leave the offset equal to what you have to have it 6mm further out on both sides.

The calculator says this:

7mm LESS clearance on the strut side, and the outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 5mm

So this means I will be 7mm closer to the strut, and 5mm closer to the fender?

Also, if I use an 8.5" up front and 9" out back, will this cause the tires to stretch to an unsafe level? (sorry this is all new to me).

[Zernaff]

Originally Posted by overdrivex

The calculator says this:

7mm LESS clearance on the strut side, and the outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 5mm

So this means I will be 7mm closer to the strut, and 5mm closer to the fender?

Also, if I use an 8.5" up front and 9" out back, will this cause the tires to stretch to an unsafe level? (sorry this is all new to me).

Yep, that would mean 7mm closer to the strut, which should be fine.

And, people stretch their tires a lot more than that with no issues. Something to take into consideration though, is your speedometer with a smaller circumference tire will be a little high. And, BMWs are already a little high (52gps my speedo reads 55mph)

So you might be doing 50 and read 58-59.

What I would do is get a spacer that is 7mm to get the whole half inch on the fender side.

[overdrivex]

Originally Posted by Zernaff

Yep, that would mean 7mm closer to the strut, which should be fine.

And, people stretch their tires a lot more than that with no issues. Something to take into consideration though, is your speedometer with a smaller circumference tire will be a little high. And, BMWs are already a little high (52gps my speedo reads 55mph)

So you might be doing 50 and read 58-59.

What I would do is get a spacer that is 7mm to get the whole half inch on the fender side.

Thanks! Putting the spacer in shouldn't cause any rubbing on the fender?

[Zernaff]

If you measure from your sidewall to the fender, you should have about an inch right now, so the half inch shouldn't hurt. But measure to double check.

Plus, your tires being stretched gives you even more room, and if your not lowered that's a plus too.

[overdrivex]

Originally Posted by Zernaff

If you measure from your sidewall to the fender, you should have about an inch right now, so the half inch shouldn't hurt. But measure to double check.

Plus, your tires being stretched gives you even more room, and if your not lowered that's a plus too.

I'll go out and measure, and I'm currently not lowered but would like to in the future. So just to be clear since I would like to purchase these wheels sometime tonight.

For the front 225/40/R18 tires, I can have these: http://www.apexraceparts.com/apex-pr...S-7-Wheel.html

Along with some 7mm spacers

Now for the rear 255/35/R18 tires, would these work: http://www.apexraceparts.com/apex-pr...S-7-Wheel.html

From what I calculated for the rears, it reads: THE SAME clearance on the strut side, and the outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 12mm

[Zernaff]

Originally Posted by overdrivex

I'll go out and measure, and I'm currently not lowered but would like to in the future. So just to be clear since I would like to purchase these wheels sometime tonight.

For the front 225/40/R18 tires, I can have these: http://www.apexraceparts.com/apex-pr...S-7-Wheel.html

Along with some 7mm spacers

Now for the rear 255/35/R18 tires, would these work: http://www.apexraceparts.com/apex-pr...S-7-Wheel.html

From what I calculated for the rears, it reads: THE SAME clearance on the strut side, and the outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 12mm

Yep, that will work.

I found this picture - he has 18x9 wheels with 255/35 tires, so that stretching doesn't look too bad.

The fronts would look the same as those. I say go for it!

And for spacers, I got some eBay ones for $50 bolts included and they work great, had them on for about a year now. I wouldn't spend the extra money on name brand ones.

Good luck!

[overdrivex]

Originally Posted by Zernaff

Yep, that will work.

I found this picture - he has 18x9 wheels with 255/35 tires, so that stretching doesn't look too bad.

The fronts would look the same as those. I say go for it!

And for spacers, I got some eBay ones for $50 bolts included and they work great, had them on for about a year now. I wouldn't spend the extra money on name brand ones.

Good luck!

Thank you! The picture didn't load...could you try uploading it again please?

[Zernaff]

Hopefully it works this time.

[overdrivex]

Originally Posted by Zernaff

Hopefully it works this time.

Thank you! It worked! That looks very nice. Looks like I will go with the discussed setup. Thanks!