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Thread: How much fender work required?

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    How much fender work required?

    I did some searching about fitment and found some helpful notes, but looking for opinions and advice since you are all masters of this piece of machinery.

    I recently purchased a set of 20" style 32's and want to know what is required to make them work without rubbing. I know people have made them work, but looking for the best option here.

    Wheels are 20x9" square setup et24. I believe fronts have 245/45 (i think), and rears are 275/35.

    Since 72.56mm bore size, I have to run my 15mm converters so that brings the wheels to et9 all around.

    My question is, would I be able to roll my fenders enough (without it looking retarded and deformed) and make it fit WITH the 15mm adapters.. Or would it be too much fudging around?

    Or should I get 12mm adapters, which would still require a roll, but maybe reduce the required rolling/flaring.


    ORRR should I just bore out the wheels to e39 hub size and throw them on the way it is? I'm worried it will be too sunk? Plus kinda want to avoid this route as it may decrease value of wheels

    Need your guys' expertise.

    Thanks

    (Note: I dropped the fronts already, but waiting to drop the rears since I'm already rubbing with my current setup).

    And sorry for the dark pics.. Shot these last night when test fitting.









    1994 325is (2006-2010) -- 1989 325i M50 Swap (2011 - 2014) -- 2001 525iT (2018 -Current)

  2. #2
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    03 530dT - Ex Police Car
    Hi,

    First thing I noticed is that your tyre sizes are incorrect, the profile is too high and quite a way off for the fronts.

    You'll need to change your tyres to;

    225/35/20, 245/30/20 or a size that keeps the rolling radius +/- 3% of the original tyre size/profile.

    For the rear, 285/25/20, 265/30/20, 255/30/20 or a size that keeps the rolling radius +- 3% again of the original tyre size/profile. Issue you have is that you have the 9's all round so the 285's won't mount as they're too wide for that width wheel.

    Current tyres are too high a profile so your speedo will be out by quite some margin and you have the issue of clearance so as to avoid the rubbing

    Once you get the right profile tyres on, you can then look and check to see if you have clearance / rubbing issues and you can alter your ride height - either with coilovers or new lowering springs on the front.

    With 20's on the E39, you do need to run 'quite' low (but not ground scrapingly low) so, adjust and then include spacers of your width choice without modifying the arches to see if you don't get rubbing.

    I'm soon going for 20's on my Touring (9" ET18 & 10" ET22") and most likely 255/30 Rear and 225/35 F and will get coilovers all round and adjust accordingly. I might then fine tune with some spacers if I feel like it.

    Cheers, Dennis!

  3. #3
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    Hey Dennis, Thank you for the very helpful information! Sorry, The fronts are actually 245/35/20, not 245/45. But that still puts me at about 4.5% out of range of standard wheel/tire size.

    If I were to go from 15mm spacers to 12mm spacers, would it be enough slack to avoid rolling, or at least do mild rolling instead of an aggressive roll/flare?

    I would prefer to run thinner tires in the back, but trying to see if I can make the setup work with current tires. They have a lot of tread remaining and I'm trying to limit the expenses from what I already paid for the wheels/tires.

    I do appreciate your help, though!
    1994 325is (2006-2010) -- 1989 325i M50 Swap (2011 - 2014) -- 2001 525iT (2018 -Current)

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    ‘01 540’00 528T’03 525T
    20’s..... WHY??? ! But hey, it is your car, have fun with it, guess I’m just old school in my old age.
    Set the controls for the heart of the sun

  5. #5
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    Haha, I too am not a big fan of 20's... I feel for the e39 chassis, the 19's compliment the car very well.. But style 32's don't come in 19's, either 18" or 20". I feel 18" are a little on the smaller side, personal preference I guess.

    Im just thinking about trying these out to see ride quality and rubbing issues. If all clears out... Why not? They look great lol

    Thanks for the 2c though!
    1994 325is (2006-2010) -- 1989 325i M50 Swap (2011 - 2014) -- 2001 525iT (2018 -Current)

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    840Ci/6 528iT Europa TCS
    Let's see a photo of the wheels you have laying on the ground next to the car. Those look pretty nice.

  7. #7
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    z3
    Who needs ride comfort or performance anyways? I'd rather spend time replacing my suspension bushings every week! Bring on the 20"s!!!

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by rjbaren View Post
    Let's see a photo of the wheels you have laying on the ground next to the car. Those look pretty nice.
    Those would be these guys



    1994 325is (2006-2010) -- 1989 325i M50 Swap (2011 - 2014) -- 2001 525iT (2018 -Current)

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Thanks for the pictures. Those are really very nice. Are you removing them, or putting them on?

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Neither actually, unfortunately.. Currently up for sale, but the longer they sit in my garage, the more i think about using them as a platform to build something for my wagon. They are originally 5x114 re-drilled to 5x100. Playing with the idea of buying 5x120 faces and completing the set.

    Dunno yet. Not in a rush to sell only because i WANT to end up building something. But if money comes my way, why not lol.

    And btw, the 20s have since been sold. Was discouraged by the amount of fender flare that was going to be required to fit them, and possibility of buying thinner spacers. Wasn't worth it...

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
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    Wichita, KS
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    1999 528I Touring
    E60 hub swap is an option too. Thats what I ordered to do here in a couple weeks.

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