Newbie - want to add E46 M3 wheels onto Z3M

[felixc]

I want to upgrade the stock 17" wheels on my 2001 Z3M (17x7.5 front 17x9 rear) with something from an M3 E46. Contemplating between (18x8 front 18x9 rear) and (19x8 front 19x9.5 rear), would my Z3M be able to accommodate both 18" and 19" wheels and would there be any specific modification required to fit these E46 wheels. Thanks in advance.

[TostitoBandito]

Your stock wheel offsets are 41 in front and 8 in the rear. You need to make sure and check the offsets of the wheels you want to get, and aim for something close to that. If you decrease the offset it means the wheel is pushed out towards the fender more (by that many mm) so you need to check and make sure you have clearance. If you increase the offset it tucks the wheel under the car by that amount, so you may want to add spacers so the wheel is nice and flush with the fenders (and so it clears the strut). If you're going to wider tires, make sure and factor that in as well.

As far as I've seen the stock 18 inch E46 M3 wheel offsets are 47 in front and 26 in the rear. This means that the fronts will probably be fine or even take a small spacer, and the rears will similarly tuck under and require a larger spacer (18mm gets you to exactly what you have now).

As far as diameter, I wouldn't recommend going to 19's on that car. They'll look too big IMO, and tires are just that much more expensive. The 18's should look nice so long as the offsets you get will fit correctly.

[Jim@tirerack]

With the correct offsets what you are looking to do will fit fine. The problem with the E46 M3 wheels is the rear offset is about 20mm less on the rear than the front and will probably stick out of the wheel well. I personally would either go with 18" or 19" all the way around. I would not run the two different diameter wheels. You also want to make sure you pick the correct tire size.