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Hello, I have just purchased an E36 M3, my plan for it is a Track day/weekend car. I am working on my build sheet but I am sort of stuck on wheels right now. Idealy I would like to run a 255 tire on a square setup but 245's can fly as well for R comps. My question is what is the right offset to run for 17's and 18's for a square setup? I'm assuming 8.5" wheels will work or do I need to go with 9"? The priority is NO rubbing. What are you currently running for track wheels and tire's? The only reason I am considering 18's is to clear the CSL rotors if I go that route. Thanks guys!
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I would suggest Apex Arc-8’s, they come in perfect offsets for track use and are lightweight.Originally Posted by VagTech
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Apex arc-8 17x9 will fit with minor fender roll. 10-12mm front spacer is needed.
Honestly, you should start driving the car on track before you start modifying it. Find what you like about the car and what you don't like. Only then will you know what direction to go in and how to spend the money efficiently.
That being said, first thing i would do is change rear trailing arm bushings (oem with limiters). Of the 4 e36's i have owned, all 4 needed them ( my 94 m3 only had 80,000km cost me an expensive set of rear tires to learn that lesson)
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I run the 17x9 Apex ARC8 ET42. 245s fit best. Expect to do some heavy rolling if you want 255s in the rear without rubbing at times if your ride height is less than stock. Use spacers up front to move the wheel and tire away from the strut or coil over. You can test to see what you need but I think the 12mm recommendation above is a good one — this makes your front offset equal to ET30 with the ARC8 ET42 wheels. I don’t know the ARC8 18 inch fit options since I run 17s. You can fit some 14 inch BBK under the 17 inch Apex. Ask Apex or search for details if you might do this since not all fit.
Stubborn Approach Racing
I run 18x9.5 +35 (12mm front spacer) on 245/35. I recommend 9+" wide wheels for every tire over 9" wide tread width.. that means 235 and above if you look at actual tire specs and not just the arbitrary BS manufactures assigns.
A slight stretch or tautness to the sidewall will increase response and lateral grip. Too wide of tire on a wheel will result in sloppiness, and reduction in lateral grip, but improvements in putting the power down in a straight line.
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BMW CCA Member
I have 255s on 8's...for autoX.
guess I live my life 1/4 mile at a time :P (just happened to be what I had around, and I'm not competitive lol)
Stubborn Approach Racing
Autocross likes to do everything backwards from what would be competitive on an actual road course / racetrack. I have no idea why, but a lot of time is spent in flat parking lots trying to put the power down in tight spaces, at school zone speeds. Definitely not something I am all that familiar with, and would be outside the scope of the OP's stated usage.
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I have run 235s with a 9.7" section width on 17X8.5 ET40s. That fits all 4 corners with no modifications and no rubbing. I think you could do 17X9 ET30 on the front with 245s, but that could depend on camber, and how big your springs and spring perches are. Fitting that on the rear means a fender roll, but not a bad one.
Generally, anything with more than a 10-inch section (i.e. 255s) sounds like some rolling AND pulling to me, plus a fair amount of spacer up front to clear the suspension. If you have the stock springs and struts in the front, that's a lot of width to clear.
If God meant for man to motor-swap LS engines into track cars, He wouldn't have created Corvettes.
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17x9 et30 with a 245 should fit in front with no problems. Mine required no modification at all to the front (including no spacers), but I have stock-ish Billy Sports up front. The rear required a heavy roll and some pull, too, but it's doable. 255s would be a fair bit tighter fit, but should be do-able. But the rear will be quite tight.
-Josh: 1998 S54 E36 M3/4/6 with most of the easy stuff and most of the hard stuff. At least twice. 271k miles. 1994 E32 740il with nothing but some MPars. 93k miles.
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IF I was going to track a car, I'd go to the track and figure out what I like about the car I already have, and what I don't like. Then I'd observe how others that have the same car have made changes to affect the stuff I don't like.
Factory fitment is a 7.5 or 8.5 inch wheel for your model, with a 41mm offset. I have a 7.5x17 with 41 mm offset, and I see no reason why an 8.5 would not fit easily, and a 9 should fit with minor fender rolling. This is one of those areas where you can see what the other guys are doing.
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Well, I have decided to definitely go 17's, I will likely run Arc 8's. What I need to decide now is to run an 8.5" wheel and have no need to roll fenders or run a 9" wheel and risk paint damage to a very clean car in rolling the fenders. Either way I will run a 245 tire. As far as needing to take the car to the track first, I disagree since practice with a staggered setup will not translate into what the car will be like on a square settup.
Last edited by VagTech; 02-06-2018 at 10:22 PM.
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I will say, while my wheel wells are not rolled, they are fairly forgiving when doing so as I’ve helped others. As long as the lip is cleaned out of any debris they roll very cleanly.
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+1 for the ET42 17x9 Apex ARC-8's. You can fit 255's in front with a 12mm spacer and no fender roll, and 255's in back with no spacer and a fender roll. I currently run 245's on mine because it's a dual purpose car and I'm lazy and don't really feel like rolling my rear fender (245's will fit on 17x9's with no fender work). All this fitment is assuming rational ride heights (not stanced), and fairly aggressive (for the street) camber along the lines of at least 2.5 degrees in front and at least 2 degrees in back.
They look great too. Mine are Hyper Black.
SBO_MyhreCreative_Turn2_01_w.jpg
Last edited by TostitoBandito; 02-07-2018 at 06:48 PM.
1999 M3/2/5 - Titanium Silver - Track/Weekend Toy
My Drip Loops Are Better
I run 245s in 8's. Maybe the best of both? lolI have 255s on 8's...for autoX.
guess I live my life 1/4 mile at a time(just happened to be what I had around, and I'm not competitive lol)
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I run Apex ARC-8, 17x9, ET42 on my track car. I bought 17x9s to run 255 tires. 255s are not an easy fit under the rear fenders. It’s not just the outer fender edge you need to worry about. 255s are wider but also larger in diameter which reduces clearance everywhere. I don’t recommend 255s unless you’re willing to take a BFH to the inner fender wells and trim big chunks off the rear bumper cover plastic. Even after hammering and trimming I always got some amount of tire rub in heavily loaded corners. It was not confidence inspiring. I gave up and have stuck with 245/40-17.
If I were to start over I'd use 17x8.5 wheels and 245/40 tires for ease of fitment and tire selection. Over the years I’ve found no benefit to running 255s over 245s. My car is always fastest and feels best on 245s… maybe because the rear tires don’t scrub the body mid-corner. 17x9 with 245/40 does look sweet though. The extra 1/2" wheel width fills out the wells nicely. With something like Toyo R888 the tire sidewalls are pretty straight. With BFG R1 or Hankook Z214s there’s a slight stretch.
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Serious question: Have you ever been on a track?
Cone Killer
I know ARC-8's are the flavor of the month and have been for awhile (for good reason), but another good choice are the Kosei K1's. They're light, they're cheap and they're available from Tire Rack. I run them, 17x8.5 ET40, need a 12mm spacer to fit 245 R7's in front and a good fender roll in the rear to fit them.
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To add to this conversation, not all 245s are the same. A Hoosier R/A7 measures out to approximately 265... significantly larger than a BFG R1 in the same size, and requiring more rear fender work to clear on a 17x9 with a 45-42 ET. If you are running OEM RTABs in the rear, deflection and tire contact will be an issue.
Lesson? Read the specs on the tires and determine what the actual tire size is, what the 'as tested' rim size is and move on from there.
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Yeah, this. Make sure and factor in the tire size because all tires of the same size are definitely not created equal.
The R compound slicks are WAY wider than street tires of the same size. With that ARC-8 setup for example, the biggest Hoosiers you'll be able to run without really molesting your fenders are 245's, but that's honestly all you'll probably need. The "extreme" summer tires (street legal track tires) like the Hankook RS4, Dunlop Star Specs, Bridgestone RE71R, and so forth also tend to run wider than normal street tires though not by nearly as much as the slicks. I know my Hankooks do.
1999 M3/2/5 - Titanium Silver - Track/Weekend Toy
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I have raced lucky dog endurance racing for 3 years and have around 30 track days other than that, so yes, I have a lot of track time and experience. I am just new to the platform.
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