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Thread: Consideration on wheel and tire sizes for E32

  1. #1
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    Consideration on wheel and tire sizes for E32

    Wandering through the BMW forums last evening I bumped into a very interesting thread on the subject of wheel and tire size.
    The thread is aimed at E24 6er, but also touches E34 and E32. It contains a lot of information which applies very well to the E32.
    The inscape of the thread is the input of a user called "francoid" (François), who said that he was the global head of sports tires at Michelin in France and created the Pilot Sport line.

    I thought it may be useful for the E32 community here to post a link to the thread mentioned above:
    http://bigcoupe.com/phpBB3/viewtopic...=22613#p196868

    For convenience and as a back-up (should the bigcoupe thread become unavailable in the future), here's a copy & paste excerpt of what I consider the most important information:

    Posted by user francoid on Wed Jul 13, 2016 2:55 pm, bigcoupe.com forum:

    Disclaimer: I used to be the global head of sports tires at Michelin in France and created the Pilot Sport line. So I have some knowledge but also some bias...

    I would never put 18" on an E24, at least not on a stock one. One would have to modify thoroughly all the suspension elements to go to 18". The car is optimally balanced with 225/50R16 or 235/45R17 all around.
    There is nothing magical about increasing the diameter of the rim. It's 99% marketing fad. In some ways it can be counter productive as it increases the unsprung mass. The wheel itself does pretty much nothing. It's the tire that actually does the work, as we all know, and as such it's really the measurements of the tire that matter.

    The most important measurement is sidewalk height. The sidewalk of the tire is the part that has to flex the most to provide the required performance elements (in particular handling and comfort). We did a lot of research and trials and found the following optima for the pseudo sidewalk height (nominal width * aspect ratio, so for example 235 * 45 = 106):
    Light, track oriented sports cars (Ferrari 348, Porsche 911): 90 to 100 mm
    GT type sports cars (E24 M6, E34 M5, Porsche 928): 100 to 110 mm
    GT not tuned for sport (E24 635, E34 535): 110 to 120 mm
    Heavy, comfort oriented (most E31 and E32, Jaguar, typical class S): 120 to 130 mm

    These were found to be true regardless of the diameter of the rim. Recent cars have much bigger overall diameter than cars of the '90s so they tend to have bigger rim diameters but the tire height that works best for them has not changed, it's still pretty much the same rule of thumb as indicated above.

    The primary reason for this is that the stiffness, modes and frequencies associated with the tire change a lot with the height of the sidewall. The suspension needs to have matching characteristics. Otherwise what happens is a very non linear feeling, where the tire will be overpowered or underpowered and the car will react in a non uniform manner, for example a strong initial jerk from the tire followed by a much slower roll of the car, leading typically to having to correct the steering input long after the initial input. And of course the same will happen with the comfort aspects, the tire will work against the damping of the suspension or only one of the elements will do the work.

    Also do realize that load carrying capacity is a function of how much air there is in the tire (i.e. higher sidewalk will make the tire able to carry more at same pressure, or to lower the pressure at same load, providing a better ride); and high speed capability is a combination of all of these and will be lower with an overloaded tire (i.e. if you don't take weight off your car as you stiffen it and put lower sidewalls you'll need to increase the tire pressure, hence further stiffening the tire, requiring even harder suspension, and having a tough ride).

    I tested (both at Michelin and with BMW Motorsport) a range of wheel diameters on cars such as the E34 M5 and others and the technical guys and drivers always agreed on these results. The best mount we ever had on these cars was 235/45R17 all around (by the way, the other fad of mounting bigger tires in the back is another common misconception I will write about in the future if there is interest).
    Of course that's when the marketing people came in and said we need bigger wheels, and also wider tires in the back... but everybody knew that when we departed from these optimal values, customers would pay more for a lesser result.
    There is way more subtlety here (such as, what rim width to mount the tires on, depending on their aspect ratio; how tire measurement is done and on which rim width affects a lot of the characteristics of the tire (as an example, did you know that a 225/50-16 tire is not narrower than a 235/45R17 one by standard?). If there's interest, I'll try and write more.
    Posted by user francoid on Wed Jul 13, 2016 7:01 pm, bigcoupe.com forum:

    If you ever wanted to stagger an E24, you may want to consider wider in front
    But more seriously, it's naturally balanced, does not have excess power for the rubber, and should ***not*** be staggered.
    Little known fact: if you put a 20% wider tire on the back axle than on the front, how much bigger of a contact area do you get in the rear? 0%. How much will the cornering stiffness increase on the back axle? Essentially 0%.
    No change whatsoever, unless you do unnatural things such as wildly lowering the tire pressure, which will then result in all likelihood in some sluggishness of the rear axle, possibly followed by violent (but very well hidden) oversteer...
    Unless we are talking huge amounts of power or a naturally unsound car (Italy, I look thy way), there's really no good reason to stagger. I mean, for an engineer. For a marketer, that's very different!
    Posted by user francoid on Thu Jul 14, 2016 11:05 pm, bigcoupe.com forum:

    I only have time for a quick note on the TRX. Unfortunately, the engineering work for it stopped around 1990. It was a fantastic idea and provided some amazing capabilities but (as is often the case when trying to depart from an old, stale standard) the industry inertia was too much. IIRC Michelin sold the rights, the design and the molds to another company somewhere around 1994.
    What that means is that some of the design elements are very outdated. That's the case in particular for the tread pattern (subject to irregular wear that generates vibrations and noise). That tread pattern (with blocks instead of ribs) was used briefly in the MXX tire by Michelin, but soon upgraded with the MXX2, MXX3 and the Pilot Sport line.
    The other domain where the technology is quite outdated is the rubber compound used for the tread. While it's excellent on dry, it's not up to modern par on wet and cold, and it wears relatively fast.
    I would only ever use TRX tires on my car for a show in order to be perfectly period conform. I would never drive on them. Pilot Sport are the way to go in my opinion.
    I'll write more on Alpina when I have a chance. Alpina has had an exclusive partnership with Alpina for as long as I know (that used to be the case with BMW Motorsport as well unless big business stepped in) and the cars are definitely better on Michelin.
    Posted by user francoid on Sat Jul 16, 2016 3:34 pm, bigcoupe.com forum:
    GazM3 wrote: It's a very good point you mention. Some heavy cast 16" or 17" wheels can be heavier than some light 18". If I was to go 18" the BBS RS are reasonably light.
    Beyond the question of why going 18" which I have already covered and won't belabor further, the point about lighter 18" compared to heavier 16" is questionable. It's not just about unsprung mass, but also about rotational inertia, which is a function of the radius of course; since a lot of the mass is in the rim portion, even lighter wheels of higher diameter will tend to have higher rotational inertia.
    --
    1994 E32 730i M30 manual
    ex- 2006 E86 Z4M Coupe
    ex- 1986 E28 535i

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    Fascinating read, thanks for posting!

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    One of the best tire sizes for BMW E32 is 225/55R16, particularly when used with E31 Style 8 or Style 9 wheels (both 16"x7.5"ET15).
    I found that this size provides better handling than the OE 15" wheels, without getting into the harsh ride territory of 17"+ wheels. More, this is the most "sporty" tire size which fits the above recommendations of sidewall height for E32.

    Unfortunately, the tire industry is moving on, and the last two performance summer tires available in 225/55R16, Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE002 and Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2, were recently discontinued.
    Their replacements, Adrenalin RE003 and, respectively, F1 Asymmetric 3, are not available in this size anymore.
    Of course, there still is a plethora of 225/55R16 tires, from various manufacturers. Unfortunately, they are all touring tires.

    Consequently, if you run 225/55R16 tires on your E32, then it may worth considering buying one of the last sets of Adrenalin RE002 or Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 (depending on your preference and/or availability) still available on stock. They will soon be gone, if not gone already in many parts of the world.
    --
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    I couldn't agree more. I have 225/55R16 Hankook Ventus s1 noble2's on my beater e32 (on 16x8 ET15 wheels). They are all seasons but perform great. See my post in this thread:

    https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...8#post29969278

    I'm on my third set and they have always been about $80 - $90 a tire. And if you put them on an 8" wide wheel the turn in response is so much better even with the old and worn stock suspension.
    Last edited by shogun; 08-19-2022 at 10:04 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RobertRO View Post
    One of the best tire sizes for BMW E32 is 225/55R16, particularly when used with E31 Style 8 or Style 9 wheels (both 16"x7.5"ET15).
    Or even better than that is what I have on mine being Continental 225/55-16 on E38 Style 61 16x7.5" retaining the correct et20 offset.
    IMG_0840.jpg

  6. #6
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    Both the E38 7 Series Style 5 (8Jx16" ET23) and Style 61 (7.5Jx16" ET20) are beautiful wheels, which look nice and period-correct on an E32.
    My recommendation for E31 8 Series Style 9 and Style 8 wheels is based on a few facts. For that purpose, I briefly compare below all these four wheels.

    The Style 9 (7.5Jx16" ET15, a.k.a. turbine styling) is the lightest original BMW 16" wheel which fits the E32 7er . And it is forged! Weight: ~ 8.1 Kg. It's a light and sturdy wheel. Note that you have two part numbers, because the model for the left side of the car is different than the one for the right side.
    The Style 8 (7.5Jx16" ET15) is second lightest. Cast wheel. Weight: ~ 8.3 Kg.
    The Style 5 (8Jx16" ET23) weights ~ 8.8 Kg. Cast wheel. Note that it is a tad wider, 8" vs. 7.5" for all the others. It's the offset that worries me a bit; combined with the larger width of the wheel, it puts the tire very close to the front strut. For that reason, I expect that certain tire models may actually rub on the strut.
    The style 61 (7.5Jx16" ET20) is also a cast wheel. However, at ~ 9.7 Kg it is significantly heavier than all the others.

    We all know that the 730i and 735i E32 are neither powerful, nor great handling cars, by today's standards. I never drove a 740i or a 750i, but obvisouly I expect them to be much more competitive (750i particularly so), despite that they are a bit heavier.
    Being both unsprung and rotational mass, even small savings on wheel weight may improve the dynamic behavior of an E32. And the E32 (particularly 730i / 735i) needs any help it can get. Considering this, I believe that it is important to observe the weight of the wheels - thus my recommendation for the E31 Style 9 and Style 8 16" wheels. Bonus, the smaller numerical offset (ET15 vs. original ET20) makes the track 10mm wider per axle, which improves turning. There's really no reason to worry about 5mm difference in offset. Many people run wide 17" or 18" wheels on these cars, with offsets such as ET13 or ET11, without any issues.

    For you guys who want to stick with 15" wheels, I think that the best choice is BMW Style 4 wheel, 7Jx15"ET20. It is forged, and weights only 6.8 Kg. I don't think you can get any better than this.
    Compare it with the ubiquitous Style 2 "bottlecap" 7Jx15"ET20 wheel, which weights 8.6 Kg.
    It is a pity that there are no high performance 15" tires available on the market anymore - at least none that I know of.
    Regarding 16" tires, as I mentioned in my post above, the last two high performance model have just been discontinued. However, there still are good options in 225/55x16 size out there. I wonder for how long.

    Of course, the weight of the tire is also an important factor. But, when selecting tires, there are other specs much more important than weight, so selecting tires based mainly on their weight it's not a good approach.
    To have a rough idea about how much a wheel + tire weights:
    - a Style 2 wheel 7Jx15"ET20 with a GoodYear EfficientGrip 205/65 R15 94V tire weights about 17 Kg;
    - a Style 9 wheel 7.5Jx16"ET15 with a Nokian Line 225/55x16 99W XL tire weights 19 Kg.
    Note that the higher the speed index, the heavier the tire. Same for the load index. So, for the tire model of your choice, always select the lowest speed index and lowest weight index available (of course, observing the maximum speed and the weight of the car!)
    --
    1994 E32 730i M30 manual
    ex- 2006 E86 Z4M Coupe
    ex- 1986 E28 535i

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    Quote Originally Posted by RobertRO View Post
    The style 61 (7.5Jx16" ET20) is also a cast wheel. However, at ~ 9.7 Kg it is significantly heavier than all the others.
    I can vouch for this! These wheels are not lightweights. When you fit them with Continental SSR run-flat tyres too, their weight becomes really noticeable in the driving. The car very definitely accelerates slower and responds shall we say with a relaxed attitude compared to before on the stock 15" style 5's with conventional tyres. I would very definitely say these wheels are only for M60/M70 powered cars. Don't bother with a M30 one unless you only like cruising.

    I went with 16" because where I live I could no longer get 15/60 tyres for anything less than ridiculous prices for Chinese crap. Options were still limited at 16" hence why I ended up with SSR's. Not ideal, but a helluva lot better than the previous 15" style 5's with unbalanceable out-of-round Chinese no-name brand 'Happy Unicorn Motoring Rainbow' tyres before.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Legoman View Post
    I can vouch for this! These wheels are not lightweights. When you fit them with Continental SSR run-flat tyres too, their weight becomes really noticeable in the driving. The car very definitely accelerates slower and responds shall we say with a relaxed attitude compared to before on the stock 15" style 5's with conventional tyres. I would very definitely say these wheels are only for M60/M70 powered cars. Don't bother with a M30 one unless you only like cruising.
    Legoman do you think switching from the stock 15" Style 2's to 16" Style 61's with non-runflat tires would be noticeably detrimental to the handling on a 735iL? There is an excellent deal locally for 5 Style 61 wheels and I've always been a fan of multispoke Alpina-like wheels (can't afford real Alpinas!), but will it ruin the handling? Your input would be appreciated, thanks.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cactuar View Post
    Legoman do you think switching from the stock 15" Style 2's to 16" Style 61's with non-runflat tires would be noticeably detrimental to the handling on a 735iL?
    Short answer: Yes, it will be. You will notice the difference.

    Long answer: Now, that said, I've never driven a 735iL. Is that a M60/2 V8 or an M30 engined car? I had an M30B35 735i before my current 740iL and it was not a quick car even on the stock 15" wheels to begin with. I'd imagine an iL version would be even less suited again to the local race track. There just isn't the torque available for serious get up and go on such a big car and it's the torque you need to overcome the rotational inertia of heavier and bigger wheels+tyres. These style 61's are heavy wheels. The spokes are curved rather than straight like ALPINAs are and that makes them thicker. The boss is also very thick and solid all the way through to the et20 offset. The fact they're bigger than your current wheels means the extra weight is being shifted outwards too increasing rotational inertia, so you're fighting against two bad things here: more weight + that weight being swung around further out as well (x 4).

    In my case, I went even worse, by fitting them with SSR tyres which are (by Continental's own numbers) 25% heavier than their non-SSR tyre. So I really went from one extreme to another and noticed very obviously the dulling of performance as soon as they went on the car. That doesn't mean I regret doing it though. I accept that as the penalty to be paid for having vastly better looking wheels with a greater available range of quality tyres in the right size to suit them. I am however looking forward to wearing out these SSR Continentals and hopefully replacing them with non-SSR Continentals and enjoying the instant increase in performance that will result.

    It's totally up to you and your decision, but do expect a noticeable performance reduction if you choose the style 61's. I would still do it though. The style 2's are hideous and nasty. The style 61's are by far and away the best looking (to my eye) wheel from the the standard BMW catalogue that fit the E32 without modification or requiring adapters of any kind and they're relatively rare too, at least down here in Australia. If you've found a full set of 5 so you can have the matching spare as well, then you're very lucky. I could only get a 4-set originally for my car, then I got a very badly damaged 5th froma wrecker in Texas and had it restored to become my matching spare.

    Here's my spare as it came to me off an E38 that had been stolen and used for ram-raiding and driven at high speed over kerbs in the ensuing police chase.

    Now here's what it looks like after restoration

    Before:
    s-l1605.jpg

    After:
    IMG_1543.jpg

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    Thanks Legoman. Like you I am willing to accept a performance compromise because of how the Style 61's look. They are my favorite OEM wheel design on the E32. I will go ahead with the purchase, I don't think I will be disappointed.

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    I bought the wheels, indeed they are pretty heavy! But they look very good. Five wheels for 240 CAD (183 USD) was a steal

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cactuar View Post
    I bought the wheels, indeed they are pretty heavy! But they look very good. Five wheels for 240 CAD (183 USD) was a steal
    Well done, good work. That is indeed a steal for 5 wheels! I think I paid $400 for my set of four originally, but they came with tyres fitted and I couldn't convince the seller to separate them. Fortunately the tyres were Continentals, undamaged and still with about 80% tread left, so they were definitely sellable. I bought the lot and knowing I would be getting them restored anyway, got the tyres removed by the restorer and then just not put back on again. I sold the bare E38 size tyres to a Honda Accord Euro owner (which apparently also uses 225/60-16 size for I think $200. Then I found the matching set of four Continentals second hand in the required 225/55-16 to put back on the restored wheels. The only spanner in the works was that the tyres were run-flats. I had not ever knowingly driven a car fitted with run-flat tyres before, just read the reports that they were not liked and often never replaced after the first set wore out. I now concur completely with those reports. The cons far outweigh the pros. Run flat tyres are yet another classic example of the cure being worse than the disease. If flat tyres were even a remotely common thing with modern rubber, then it would still be hard to justify the loss of ride comfort and performance from the extra weight and stiffness of run-flats. The fact that flats are almost unheard of anyway, makes them even more pointless.

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    17x8 style 32s

    Anybody have any suggestions on what tire size and what spacer size I would run with 17x8 style 32s with h&r lowering springs on my e32 740il?

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    Shogun tricks and tips for the E32 series are HERE!

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    Options are getting less for new tires, just checked the largest tire online shop in Japan, for 225/60/15 there are only 2
    NANKANG NA-1 225/60R15 96V
    NANKANG RX615 225/60R15 96V
    both around USD 70/pc + shipping

    205/65/15 there are plenty of brands available from $40 - 160, examples
    MOMO OUTRUN M-2 205/65R15 94V
    ZEETEX ZT1000 205/65R15 94H
    MAXTREK MAXIMUS M1 205/65R15 94H
    MINERVA F209 205/65R15 94H
    ATR RADIAL PLATINUM HP 205/65R15 94H
    RADAR Rivera Pro 2 205/65R15 99V XL
    HIFLY HF201 205/65R15 94V
    ARMSTRONG BLU-TRAC PC 205/65R15 99H XL
    HIFLY Win-turi 212 205/65R15 94H
    DAVANTI DX390 205/65R15 94H
    MINERVA ALL SEASON MASTER 205/65R15 94V
    NANKANG NA-1 205/65R15 94V
    NANKANG RX615 205/65R15 95H
    NANKANG AS-1 205/65R15 95H
    NANKANG ECO-2 +(Plus) 205/65R15 95H
    MOMO OUTRUN M-2 205/65R15 94V
    GOODYEAR EfficientGrip ECO EG01 205/65R15 94H
    NANKANG AW-1 205/65R15 94Q
    DUNLOP SP TOURING R1 205/65R15 94T
    DUNLOP ENASAVE EC300+ 205/65R15 94H
    BRIDGESTONE NEXTRY 205/65R15 94S
    YOKOHAMA BluEarth-ES ES32 205/65R15 99H XL
    DUNLOP SP SPORT LM705 205/65R15 94H
    BRIDGESTONE Ecopia EP150(150EZ) 205/65R15 94H
    BRIDGESTONE REGNO GRVII 205/65R15 94H
    BRIDGESTONE REGNO GR-XII 205/65R15 94H
    DAVANTI DX390 205/65R15 94H

    I presently have Minerva 225/60/15 installed, good tires, still many miles to go, but next?
    Shogun tricks and tips for the E32 series are HERE!

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    On my side I found:
    Falken Ziex ZE310 Ecorun 225/60R15 96 W
    1533pln=below 400usd for set of 4

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    Yikes! Yep, I kinda saw this coming a while back when I needed to make inquiries about replacing the 15" tyres on the 740 and the options then were getting very limited and what was still available was utter crap Chinese-made rubbish that could only be balanced by double and triple stacking the stick-on weights and then covering them with duck-tape. Even then, if you could get them to dynamically balance, it turned out they weren't actually round either, so within 1,000km of use with a tiny bit of wear starting, they would start to wobble and shimmy the steering and no amount of new control arm bushes would stop it. Can't remember the brand, but it was some generic Chinglish name like Happy Sunshine Rainbow Motoring Tyre Company and they were dirt cheap, but at the same time a complete rip-off.

    It was then I started looking for the 16" replacements. 15" tyres are pretty soon going to be the preserve of vintage and classic tyre vendors only like Avon. You'll be shopping alongside the classic Rolls Royce Silver Shadow owners for tyres soon where you'll have a choice of one tyre. Would sir like an Avon classic reproduction tyre or a Avon classic reproduction range tyre? A bargain at only $500 each.

    Wheel sizes are the absolute classic example of marketing trumping engineering in car design. When bog standard Civics are coming out with 20" wheels as standard fitment, you know the car industry has completely lost the plot and simply thrown the engineering rule book away forever. To be fair,, they started throwing it out in the mid-90's. I still remember when the E34 M5 came out and the engineers protested loudly that 16" wheels were the optimum size wheel for that car for the best possible ride/handling, but the marketing department said "we can't sell that car with 16" wheels, it has to have 17" wheels", so of course it got 17" wheels and the engineers had to redesign the suspension to try and get back some ride comfort by sacrificing handling.

    Formula One isn't helping by going to a plus +5 fitment next year! From 13" to 18" wheels in one move. Anyone who has ever had anything to do with suspension will tell you a +5 fitment is complete and utter insanity, but people equate big wheels with performance in exactly the same way as they do big TV screens with better picture quality, even when it's proven that the exact opposite is true. Size matters, quality doesn't.

    Just look around objectively at modern cars these days. The wheels are so huge that there's basically no vertical side to the fenders above the wheel arch anymore. If they get much bigger there will need to be cut-outs in the top of the fenders for the tyre to poke through Le Mans Prototype style! They're starting to look like Victorian-era peramulators the wheels are so comically oversize. How on Earth most of them have enough power to even swing that much weight that far out along such a long radius is amazing.
    Last edited by Legoman; 12-16-2021 at 09:10 PM.

  18. #18
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    For the reasons discussed herein this thread, I believe that 225/55R16 is a great tire size for an E32, when it comes about replacing 15" wheels.
    It is also kind of future proof well into this decade, considering that it has been factory tire size for a few recent vehicles, including BMW 3 Series F30/F31.

    Sure, for very long term it may make more sense to migrate from 15" to 17" wheels.
    However, the current offer of touring tires in 225/55R16 size is quite rich and includes top brands. Which makes me hope that this tire size may still be available for some good years from now on, and in decent quality.
    --
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    ex- 2006 E86 Z4M Coupe
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  19. #19
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    I dunno about being future-proof. 225/55 is quite an oddball intermediate size. It was never that common to begin with. The big sellers are the whole number aspect ratio ones, so a 50 is as common as a 60 series, but 55? Not so much. When I got mine, it was a small miracle I could actually get a matched set of four. I had to take run-flat SSR versions too which made them ridiculously heavy, but that was all I could get. They're almost down to the TWI now, so I'm starting to make gentle inquiries again. It's sounding very much like I will only be able to get matched pairs this time, not a complete set of four. I am steeling myself to have to accept something like a pair of Continentals on the front and a pair of either Dunlops or Pirellis on the back. I will accept that in preference to run-flats again though, even if there is a matched set of run-flats available. Run-flats were a blind alley of stupidity in tyre development that should never have been.

    As for 17", on an E32 I noticed a big difference in ride quality going from 15 to 16. Not objectionably so, but a big difference nevertheless. Going to 17" I would expect the entire character of what the car is to change quite dramatically. I would also expect that you'd need to start going wider to a 235 as well, which will increase steering weight, tramlining, tyre roar, uneven tread wear and all the other fun downsides of plus size wheel fitments.

    The 16" upgrade is sensible, maintains period correct aesthetics and doesn't compromise on road handling/ride too dramatically. The only problem is there is basically only one or two BMW style wheels with the correct dimensions that look any good on an E32, and there simply aren't enough E38 style 61s and 5s to go around for all the E32's still running.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Japan
    Posts
    54,654
    My Cars
    11/88 E32 750iL+98 E36M3
    for those which want to stick to 15", some years back morozza mentioned: 225/60 getting hard to find, but 205/65 and 215/65 will work and are relatively plentiful. The latter will correct your speedometer as well.
    Checked my tire shop online in Japan, tire width 215mm / flat rate 65% / 15 inches are plenty available, starting from $50/tire plus shipping up to $190, listed : cheap first, highest price at bottom
    HIFLY HF201 215/65R15 96H
    ZEETEX ZT1000 215/65R15 100V XL
    NANKANG NA-1 215/65R15 100H XL
    NANKANG AW-1 215/65R15 96Q STUDLESS
    DUNLOP SP TOURING R1 215/65R15 96T
    BRIDGESTONE NEXTRY 215/65R15 96S
    BRIDGESTONE REGNO GRVII 215/65R15 96H
    BRIDGESTONE REGNO GR-XII 215/65R15 96H

    comment by jehu in E34 forum: 205/65/15
    i have mounted Michelin X Ice 3 and use these in New England Winters.. its a decent ride quiet on dry with very good bite and grip in snows but though I should get good use for the rest of Winter from these they are appearing unavailable from Tire Rack the largest retailer of Tires. Wondering if the limits are due to age of the specifications or the global supply/demand and personnel adjustments

    I had horrible trouble with the Michelin Power Sport PS4S in 235/45/17 last Summer after one picked up a nail at the edge they replaced it with the last one available in the US in that size. Then the shop over filled them so one wore excessively and I had to shop for a used of the same model and this was in the middle of Summer zero new stock
    Last edited by shogun; 01-12-2022 at 07:30 AM.
    Shogun tricks and tips for the E32 series are HERE!

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    306
    My Cars
    '92 740iL + '85 M635CSi
    I'd still take an E32 on the wrong tyres over a brand new car everyday of the week. Mine has way too much grip on 225 Continentals anyway, so a drop back to 215 if I had to would be no hardship as long as the load rating was still there of course. This is the thin end of the wedge though and how the market is eventually going to force people out of their old cars. Eventually we simply won't be able to buy tyres or oil or fuel to run them anymore.

    I've just read about Toyota introducing subscription based motoring as (what they hope will become) the new paradigm in car ownership to keep you spending regularly after you've bought and own the product. Same concept as TV, mobile phones, music collections etc.

    You buy the car and then Toyota hit you with the realisation that several features will stop working after the 'free trial period' like for instance everything controlled by that giant iPad stuck to the middle of the dashboard. Like the ability to start the engine remotely from 200m away via the keyfob? That will cost you $8/month via the Toyota phone app to keep working. Do you like the premium audio system or the climate control system or the onboard navigation system and the emergency response breakdown assistance system? That's great, you'll need to buy a monthly subscription service with a fee attached to keep these working otherwise they'll just become inactive. This is seriously where car ownership is heading.

    You can bet your life every other car manufacturer is looking at Toyota right now to see if they get away with this, and if they do, then this is gonna be copied like wildfire. You can bet too, the Toyota app through which you must maintain to keep your subscriptions active so you can get to keep operating the car you already own will also be updated in an agreement with Apple to only work on the very latest version of iOS as well thus forcing you to update your phone every year too in order to keep the app running so you can keep your car running…

    No thanks. I'm not a mouse on an exercise wheel. I'll keep my E32 which I own outright and can't be taken away.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    SF, bay area
    Posts
    251
    My Cars
    94 740, 74 wagoneer
    Quote Originally Posted by Legoman View Post
    No thanks. I'm not a mouse on an exercise wheel. I'll keep my E32 which I own outright and can't be taken away.
    Ha, Ha, yes the older engines with no fob or wifi rule... Honestly a carbureted engine is still good... easy to fix...

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Earth
    Posts
    3,669
    My Cars
    8/88 750iL
    I've seen many reproductions of stock wheels that are in different fitments. What if someone did the same with OEM E32 wheels? I would love to see some Style 3s in a 16" fitment, that way we could have a huge number of tire options, and subtle difference in wheel wouldn't impact ride quality or speedo much...

    I would love to get like a 16" or maybe even a 17" version of Style 3 for my car. Would be the best of all worlds -- factory styling, better grip, good tire choices, etc.

    Edit: Came across this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8LJyM1BuRo. Hmm...
    Last edited by paulmer; 12-20-2021 at 02:48 AM.

    1989 BMW 750iL (prod 08/88) (vin: 2768675)
    Gone but not forgotten: 1994 BMW 740iL (prod 10/11/1993) (vin: *DE89667) 6spd swap, 2001 BMW 740i Sport

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Revolutionary City
    Posts
    163
    My Cars
    01 325cic, 90 750iL
    Oh 17" style 3s would make me so happy. Style 3 , 5 and 8 are the best fits for this car, imo.

    For now I've chosen some style 8s that I picked up for free.
    Need to be de-chromed and re-finished, but will loook very nice.
    1990 750iL BronzitBeige Metallic
    2001 325cic OrientBlau

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    1,133
    My Cars
    e34 540ia/e32 740il
    Quote Originally Posted by paulmer View Post
    I've seen many reproductions of stock wheels that are in different fitments. What if someone did the same with OEM E32 wheels? I would love to see some Style 3s in a 16" fitment, that way we could have a huge number of tire options, and subtle difference in wheel wouldn't impact ride quality or speedo much...

    I would love to get like a 16" or maybe even a 17" version of Style 3 for my car. Would be the best of all worlds -- factory styling, better grip, good tire choices, etc.

    Edit: Came across this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8LJyM1BuRo. Hmm...
    Agreed! I used to really dislike the Style 3 wheels but now I love them. I also wish they were in a 16" or 17" variant. Earlier this year I contacted Compomotive about their TH1680 / TH1681 wheels (which are a somewhat similar design to Style 3's) to see if they made them in lower offsets or in a 17" variant, but they don't do any other versions of that model...

    https://www.comp.co.uk/products/prod...=th1681-32-315
    Last edited by m60power; 12-20-2021 at 08:09 PM.

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