E30 wheel fitment question

[ken garchow]

new to board and E30's this has probably been asked before but i didnt know how to search for it.

will 97-98 M3 wheels (24m?) fit my 91 325 iC?
thanks

[wludavid]

To quote jim72911t:

E30 325s and 325is had 14 x 6 or 14 x 6.5 four bolt wheels (4 x 100) with either a 30mm (basketweave) or 35mm (bottlecap) offset.

E30 325ix's had 15 x 7 FOUR bolt basketweave wheels (4 x 100) with a 41mm offset. These can be used on other four bolt E30s with 15mm spacers.

ROW E30s 325s (325i Sports, I believe) were available with a 15 x 7 four bolt basketweave wheel with a 25mm offset. These can be used on other E30s with no modifications. However, they are rare as hen's teeth so if anybody finds a set they should send them directly to me in exchange for this info!

E30 M3s had five bolt (5 x 100) 15 x 7 or (in Europe) 16 x 7.5 basketweaves with a 20mm offset. M3 apps only. (actually, they fit some 5 series cars, but we won't get into that here.)

E36 M3s had five bolt (5 x 100) 17 x 7.5 or 17 x 8.5 wheels with a 41mm offset. These can be used on E30 M3s with spacers.

The 325iC's probably are the same as the 325i, so I would look for a 15" wheel with a 25-35mm offset, depending on the width of the wheel. THe 97-98 M3 are the E36 body.

David

[ken garchow]

modern look on this car what are some suggestions? say in 16 0r 17 in?

[wludavid]

15-17" should work, depending on if you've lowered the suspension. Keep in mind that the larger the wheel, the heavier it is, and the more energy it takes to accelerate it.

[ken garchow]

what are some of the better looking wheels for the E30's, mine is a white convert w/ the small 14 in basket weave wheels.

[carolinus]

Alpina wheels are great. Look em up!

[ken garchow]

i am currently looking for the euro 15x7 on 4 mentioned in this thread. any ideas where to look?

[wludavid]

The 4-bolt 325ix wheels are a lot more common and keep with the stock bmw look. I just saw a set on ebay last week. I thought about buying them because they were a good deal, but they cease to be such a good deal when you factor in the $100+ you would spend on spacers you would need to get the proper offset.

Have you looked on TireRack.com? There are few nice looking wheels there.

[ken garchow]

any photos of the 15x7 on the 325?

[jimsill]

i have 15x7 basketweaves on my car, ill try to post a pic. They are not genuine BMW, the are RONAL ACT LS wheels, available at www.ronalusa.com Gorgeous and affordable. I found mine online mint used with good tires for 500 shipped!!

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

To answe this in a nutshell, they wont fit because the E30 is a 4 lug setup, whereas the M wheels have a 5 lug setup.

[Rich911E]

You can also use the Kosei 15x7 wheels which are light. TireRack sells them for $129 each. I have them on my car with 205/50/15's.

Rich

[jase007]

David's mentioning the iX wheels as an option is a good one but also add in $100 + to true up the wheels. For whatever reason, the BBS supplied OEM BMW 15 x7s (4 bolt 100mm) seem to go out of round pretty easily. I refinished and trued up mine several years ago for around $125 each. They probably need it again.

I have been looking at those Kosei racers (nice and light) in 16 x7. I wouldn't suggest getting a 17" wheel unless you have uprated suspension / brakes to handle the additional rotating mass. I am sure peolple here have 17" wheels on their E30s but IMHO I think they are too much for the car. Tirerack, discount tires and discount tires direct all have pretty good wheel / tire online selections.

Jason

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

I was under the impression that the iX wheels wont fit without spacers...