For those that have E60 m5 wheels on your E39

[Astrocyte]

I have some oem e60 m5 wheels and have them bored for e39, from what I can find, the recommended tire sizes are;
245×35 front
275x30 rear
What I haven't seen is any real follow up from people that have done this, so here are my questions.
Are you happy with the look and ride of the recommended tire sizes? or would a little bigger side profile fit, at the cost of speedo accuracy?

The back rim is very close to the inner liner on inside wheel lip so what's the best size spacer for front and rear?
Thanks

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

There's lots of 'follow up' as you call it ! Lots and lots of E39 owners running 19's and on those recommended tyre sizes report no issues and everything runs very well. This is due to the R&D done by all the high end BMW tuning specialists who offered 19 inch wheels as an upgrade when the cars were new. They all recommend 8.5x19 and 9.5x19 wheels with an offset of around ET15 front and ET22 rear. There's some variance, as Breyton did a 10x19 rear wheel and some offsets went as low as ET25 rears and ET18 fronts.

If you are looking at the 'wheelarch to tyre top' gap and are on standard suspension, it's a visual 'trick' as the rolling radius of those tyres closely matches the oem tyre sizes. On 19's, it's recommended to lower the car in order to reduce that 'visual' trick. Some lower about 25-30mm some go lower.

From a quick search, the OEM E60 M5 wheels are 8.5x19 ET12 front and 9.5x19 ET28 rears. I'd say put a 6mm spacer on the rear and leave the front as is. If you wish to make the front wheels sit further out, then perhaps a 5mm spacer?

Cheers, Dennis!

[Astrocyte]

Thanks Dennis for the reply, I forgot to mention I'm lowering my car on ST coilovers and will be buying a set of Michelin pilot SS and want to be 100% sure about sizing. The back wheel looks like it could take at least 20mm for a spacer though.

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

You could put a 20mm spacer on if you wish - that'll take the offset to ET8, you'll just need to lower the car on those coilovers to the level where the tyre shoulder won't or doesn't touch the wheel arch when going over larger road undulations etc. If you find you do wish to run lower, and the tyre does catch, then you could have your arches pulled 5mm or so or enough to prevent it catching. You can also run 265/30/19 tyres as well and also, different tyres have differently shaped sidewalls ie some are more square shouldered and others are more round which could give you the clearance you need.

Lots of pictures of E39's in the slammed thread on 19's etc with plenty giving their individual specs of the setup.

Cheers, Dennis!

[Astrocyte]

Thanks again Dennis, I like the way the car looks in your sig, I just want the biggest side profile tire I can fit. I'll check out that other thread too.

[blackknight530i]

I have 19x10 ET24 wheels in the rear with 285/30/19s and with my fenders rolled and even cut a bit in the rear near the bumpers, they still rub a bit on heavy dips, but that is also with M5 fender liners. When I ran 275/30/19s on the same wheels, just fender rolling and M5 liners I was able to eliminate rubbing completely with Michelin AS3s that tend to run very wide compared to other tires. The Super Sports do run a bit narrower than the AS3s in the same tire size, so running a 275/30/19 on a 9.5" wide wheel should be fine with around a 5mm spacer as Dennis suggested (I know he said 6mm, but I think most are sold as 5mm). You also need to realize that the tires get much closer to the inner liner when the wheels are being suspended (car in the air) and move outwards when the car is on the ground. When I put the 285s on my car, the guy at the tire shop was like, "is he sure these will fit?", but once it was on the ground, it was fine.

[Astrocyte]

20171014_174733.jpg

Here is how this project turned out. I refinished these wheels myself to the tune of around 30hrs including paint time. Two were bent and one of the bent ones had a flat spot ground off from when the donor car was pulled sideways off of a telephone pole. I had the bent wheels straightened at a wheel shop and then I did all the rest.
Silver is factory and top coated with PPG 2021 clear.

[Sewciu]

Respect for doing most of the work yourself. Those look great on your car, very boss.

[Astrocyte]

20171023_100808.jpg

Hey thanks sewciu, here is a close up.

- - - Updated - - -

I used an old water pump off a Ford for a turn table to get each spoke evenly coated. Not fun to paint.

[myron02]

20171014_174733.jpg

Here is how this project turned out. I refinished these wheels myself to the tune of around 30hrs including paint time. Two were bent and one of the bent ones had a flat spot ground off from when the donor car was pulled sideways off of a telephone pole. I had the bent wheels straightened at a wheel shop and then I did all the rest.
Silver is factory and top coated with PPG 2021 clear.

Are you already lowered on coils in this photo or is this stock sport suspension? (Assuming you have stock sport with those bumpers and window trim)

[computiNATEor]

Are you already lowered on coils in this photo or is this stock sport suspension? (Assuming you have stock sport with those bumpers and window trim)

+1, I'd like to know as well. Any rubbing issues?

[Astrocyte]

Screenshot_20171027-165819.jpg
Zero rubbing with this ST/KW coilover setup. This wasn't a sport model, just a loaded 97 6spd in full geezer trim, chrome side and window trim, stock bumpers and a nearly inaudible exhaust system. To top it off, the wood trim almost had me thinking about buying a golf cap and learning to smoke a pipe lol.
Great riding coilovers if anyone is wondering, the small spring at the top takes care of small bumps and ripples in the pavement which feels stock and rebound is more controlled.

[BMXandBMWS]

No issues with rub, stock sport suspension

- - - Updated - - -

It is the staggered set 275/30 rear

[Texasdeere]

Very Nice!