Will these fit my E24 ?

[KarmannMarco]

Style 32
17 x 7.5 Fronts ET 41
17 x 8.5 Rears ET 41

about to have a set shipped to me but want to make sure they will work first.
Thanks

[joecoolinatl]

The ET seems way too high, but I could be wrong. I believe you need to have the ET down to around ~13-20

[bimas]

I think that you could go as much as ET24 in the rear, and ET20 in the front in your size. ET41 is way too much - are the wheels from a 3er?

Chris Wright will probably post 'wheels 101' soon.

[KarmannMarco]

They came off a Z3 2.8 Coupe.
Thanks for the info , would suck to pay the money and not be able to use the wheels.

[bimas]

That make sense, Z3 is based on E36.

[AntriebVerliebt]

They will fit ...with hefty (20mm+) spacers... I'd say hold out for a different set unless you're getting an amazing deal!! You'd need to order hub-centric spacers to avoid balancing issues and those get expensive REALLY quick. A buddy of mine just ordered four 8mm hub-centrics and they set him back $200. Essentially, any wheel ever made for a 5, 6, 7, or 8 series will fit our cars - you have a HUGE selection to choose from! Patience, my friend :p If you have your heart set on 32s, wait around for a set off of an e39.

Check here for model-based sizing: http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/

[KarmannMarco]

Thanks man.
32 are the top of my list.
I though the E39 is the only one that needs hubcentric rings?
The deal is very good but not really wanting to space them.

My other option is a set of 16x8 style 5's. ET23....... that may be cutting it a bit to close too.

[rem83]

I though the E39 is the only one that needs hubcentric rings?

Yes, but I believe (and I could be wrong on this, I'm no wheel expert) there are both hub-centric and non-hubcentric SPACERS. I think his point was - if you get the spacers that are designed to be used in a hub-centric application, they're quite a bit more expensive than a setup where the manufacturer expects the lug nuts to do all of the alignment and take all of the loading.

Personally, I'd go with the correct offset to begin with - high offset wheels just won't look right on these cars, even if they're functionally ok.

[AntriebVerliebt]

Karmann- no problem! And haha okay - from what I understand, you're both sort of right? E39s (for whatever reason) have an infinitesimally larger diameter hub center bore (the ring at the center of the car's hubs) I believe it is something like 74mm instead of 72.56.

Two things to clear up though:

Spacers: ALWAYS buy hub-centric spacers, regardless of which wheel you are swapping onto which car! Along with most manufacturers, BMW does not intend for the bolts/studs to handle all the force!! This is unsafe, and can result in serious wheel wobble issues (I just dealt with this on my 6, idot before me had e46 3 series wheels and non-hub centric spacers in the front. This caused a truly scary wobble at 40+ - I purchased a set of 16x8 style 5s from an e38 to remedy the issue x) The hub center bore is there for a reason! Using a non-hub-centric spacer can be equivalent to intentionally balancing your wheels improperly. Even if you have access to air tools and an extra set of hands to center the spacer initially, a non-hub-centric spacer will inevitably become lose over time and cause a wobble equivalent to what it feels like when you lose a wheel weight.
Cliffs: non-hub-centric spacers are meant as a 'one-size-fits-many' solution and they WILL become loose even if you manage to center them initially, which will result in the speed wobble to end all speed wobbles!

E39 wheels - you may run into a less extreme (but equally as unsafe!) version of the wobbles here if you're not careful with spacers/ring choice. When fitting wheels from a non-m e39 onto any other bmw, you end up with the bolts bearing all the load because there will be a ~2mm gap between the car's 72.56mm hub and the larger diameter 74mm e39 wheel hub center bore. I have no experience with this myself and maybe to some this gap is negligible. Personally, I'd err on the side of caution and order spacers/rings to eliminate that gap and take the load off of the bolts. In this scenario, the inner bore of your spacers would be 72.56mm and the outer protruding ring on the opposideside side would be 74mm.

Cliffs II: when buying e39 wheels for any other bmw, count on purchasing custom spacers/rings to take the load off of the bolts for safety's sake.


Cliffs III: style 32s are beautiful wheels, but they come at a price, as unless you're willing to buy 18" wheels, you will need custom spacers, or hub rings if they're from an e39.

Edit:

I'm glad my wheel search is over for the moment! This stuff can be a huge, expensive pain. In your position, I'd hang around and wait on a different set... but if your heart is set on 17" 32s, go for it! From looking at Felgen, it seems like your only options are:
- e36 ET wheels, buy chunky spacers (~ $200 extra for 20mm+ spacers)
or
- wait on e39 wheels, buy custom rings (~ $50 extra for rings)

good luck!

[CW6er]

The size of the original rims and tires that came from the factory:

...................................... Rim Width x Diameter - "ET" or Offset (mm) - Tire Size
Stock wheels ('76 to '81) ............ 6" or 6.5" x 14" - ET22 with a 195/70 -14" tire that has a diameter of 24.74"
Stock wheels ('82 on) ................. 6" or 6.5" x 14" - ET22 with a 205/70 -14" tire that has a diameter of 25.30"
TRX (165mm x 390mm) ............... 6.5" x 15-3/8" - ET22 with a 220/55 -390 tire that has a diameter of 24.88"
TRX (195mm x 415mm) (M6)....... 7.6" x 16-3/8" - ET19 with a 240/45 -415 tire that has a diameter of 24.84"
TRX (210mm x 415mm) (M6)†.. 8.26" x 16-3/8" - ET15 with a 240/45 -415 tire that has a diameter of 24.84" (early "///M" rim)

The typical replacement rim is

7" or 7.5" x 16" - ET20 or less with a 225/50-16 tire that has a diameter of 24.85"
7.5" or 8" x 17" - ET20 or less with a 235/45-17 tire that has a diameter of 25.32"
7.5" or 8" x 18" - ET20 or less with a 235/40-18 tire that has a diameter of 25.4"
(A front rim of 8.5" will need an ET of 13 or less for 235 or wider tires. An ET of 18 will bolt on but only a 225 or smaller tire will not rub and that may depend on the brand)

The Tire diameters range from 24.8" to 25.4" .

The rears have plenty of space and can take an 8", 9" or even a 10" wide rim with the proper offset and tires of 255 or 265 unless you have the SLS accumulators, in which case over 255 and up can hit them in hard cornering. It is the front that is the most critical and an 8" wide rim is generally the largest without a spacer or a smaller ET (IS).

The larger the rim and tire the more stress that is put on the front suspension and the more likely to inroduce a shimmy into the front unless the front suspension is tight.

All BMW rims with 5 lug bolts use a 5 x 120mm bolt pattern and are "hub centric", i.e. they are centered by a lip on the hub, not the bolts. They all have the same size hub hole (72.56mm) with the single exception of the larger hole in the e39 which will still fit fine, but they will need hub centering rings (not spacers), $15 from Discount tire. Most after-market rims have hub rings also.

The 3-series rims generally won't fit because the offset is too high, running around ET40/48 and the 7-series with an ET of 23 will generally need a hub centric spacer of 5-10mm depending on the width of the rim. Sometimes a narrower tire (215/205) can be fitted to the 7-Series rim without a spacer and not rub also (but I think is depends on the rim width).

†(US M6s and mid to late Euro M635s were fitted with the single piece 195X415mm, ET19 TRX rims with the black strip. Early M635s were fitted with the fatter factory issued 210X415mm, ET15 BBS 3-piece RS 007 rims. Both BMW and BBS letterings were stamped on the these wheels. It maybe intentional or unintentional, but both BMW and BBS have obliterated any info and specs on these original modular RS 007s.
____________________________

Article on rim sizes: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1826811
____________________________

Here is a good Rim/Wheel Size Calculator:
http://www.wheelsmaster.com/rt_specs.jsp

____________________________

Here is a site that lists all of the wheels that BMW made, with pictures and specs and the cars they came on. Click on the thumbnail Photo to see the rim and data:
http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/

[AntriebVerliebt]

Chris Wright will probably post 'wheels 101' soon.

Mods... sticky/lock one of these? This thread is in it's prime right now! Short, sweet, and to the point ...the perfect candidate!

[KarmannMarco]

style 32s are beautiful wheels, but they come at a price, as unless you're willing to buy 18" wheels, you will need custom spacers, or hub rings if they're from an e39.

it seems like your only options are:
- e36 ET wheels, buy chunky spacers (~ $200 extra for 20mm+ spacers)
or
- wait on e39 wheels, buy custom rings (~ $50 extra for rings)

good luck!

thanks for all the info from all of you guys.

So even with 12mm hubcentric spacers those E36 32's wont work it seems. 20mm spacers just dont sound right. too thick ... and $200 for spacers

Looks like I may indeed need to wait on some E39 32's and buy rings.
Hope they aren't as rare as I think they are (M5?)