My Sport Touring On E38 Style 32S :)

[DEVIL 666]

215/40 for the rear fine but I don't understand why people want to fit 215 for the front. The rear 9j the front 8j. This means the front needs 205/40.

My coupe is low and the rear tyres (215/40) is almost rub but I still have a few mm between the arch and the rubber so its still fine.

Touring has less space so if you want to go low you defo need to do the arch or just use camber.

Few pics in my thread: http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/51853-mikes-black-coupe/page-8

[DJL330d]

Sounds good,

Reason I was thinking of 215 at the front is that it is quite close to the original rolling radius provided by 225/40, and if I don't want to go too low and fit 205/40, it may look bad with a sizeable vertical gap between the arch and the tyre. Is your concept of 205 based upon it looking the same as the rears due to the alloy being an inch narrower i.e. aesthetic?

I don't want to go that low, so will the natural camber provided by the coilover drop be enough to prevent rolling the rear arch with a 215/40?

Thanks

Derek

Your car is awesome btw with the 32's on it

[DEVIL 666]

205/40 for the front not a big stretch, looks 10 times better than the 215/40.

http://tyrestretch.com/8.0_205_40_R18/

If you are afraid because of the vertical gap between the arch and the tyre, than you just have to fit spacers, job done.

I don't think that you can fit the rear without arch job,or you can do but than you cant go low,and without lowering it will be a bit fail.

Have you bought the wheels already?

[DJL330d]

No, nothing bought yet.

I love those wheels, and I am happy to drop it a bit, but it is my works vehicle and I need to be able to negotiate some occasional bumps etc

Not trying to build a masterpiece like yours, just an everyday car that still looks cool.

Previous experience is on e30's and am new to e46.

I may have to compromise and go lower to make it not fail.

How many mm below standard m sport level do you think would be the minimum that it would look ok?

Thanks

Derek

[DEVIL 666]

Not everybody likes stretch tyres and lows.If you want to fit without lowering go for it mate ,the main thing is that you are happy.

If its a work vehicle the best would be 225 for the rear and 215 front.Of course with arch job but you don't want to do so the best I can say is try to find a set and before buying them just try it on.

Where do you live? If you live near to me you can try my wheels on but I am sure you live far as everybody else

Thanks man but my car is not a masterpiece,just a standard coupe with a bit of a drop and 32's.

[DEVIL 666]

Its hard to say how many mm you need to go down cos that's depends on the tyres/coilover. I never measured mine before but I think I dropped around 70mm

[DJL330d]

Thanks for your help.

Your offer of trying your rims is very generous, I am in Guildford Surrey, where is South Park?

I am happy to roll all the arches, but they are showing signs of rust and I am worried that I will not get a uniform roll.

I want to lower the car regardless, just not as much as you have, maybe 60mm max front and rear for me.

Hopefully the 32's would look ok with that drop - I also like the deep dish 9's all round actually as per yours.

I think I should buy the coilovers anyway as they are only about £175 for JOL or FK's, drop the car as far as I feel I can and when I am happy, decide on the rims.

If you are anywhere close though I would take you up on your offer.

Regards

Derek

[DJL330d]

Just a couple more questions,

I think I want to go 9J all round, so with coilovers and a reasonable drop, will I have to roll the fronts as well?

Plus you suggested for a works vehicle I use different tyres, is that because the ride will be less hard?

So I suppose I am asking is a 60mm drop on 215/40's on 9J's going to shake my teeth out?!

Thanks

Derek

[DEVIL 666]

You dont have to do anything on the front just put straight on.Front def needs 215.

Of course if you have coilovers and stretch tyres the ride will be a bit hard but I like it,cos I am not fussy like many people.They want everything for nothing.

I havent lost my teeth so thats a good sign,maybe I need more lows or more stretch...lol

Coilovers and stretch tyres just like everything elese you always have advantage and disadvantage.

[DJL330d]

Thanks man,

I have ordered the coilovers and two 9J's so far, on which I will put 215's

I will let you know how I get on - might be a while, you know what it's like with too much stuff to do

Best

Derek

[DJL330d]

I have been running style 32's on my 330d touring now for about 3 months.

I have coilovers, brand new 215/40/18 nankang NS2's, I have done less than 3,000 miles and I have not driven the car that hard.

Yesterday I had a sidewall nearside rear failure at 70mph on a typical British A road - i.e. a rough and quite bumpy surface. I was going straight not cornering and was changing lanes gently.

The wheel was impacting on the road and when I pulled over within about 300 yards and changed the wheel, the sidewall was holed around a third of the circumference.

Scary, is this likely to be a freak accident, a dodgy tyre or is it time to stop stretching tyres onto wheels with wild offsets and lowered suspension?

I should say both rears are showing quite a lot more wear to the inside edges.

Any suggestions, help?

Thanks

Derek

[Jay.]

Did you have the car aligned after the setup? The toe kills inside edges of tyres

Most of us run camber & stretch without problem I think you've just been unlucky

[DJL330d]

No I didn't because I have heard how bad e46's can be for tramlining, and my touring doesn't give any trouble in that regard so I left it alone - unlike my wife's e46 325i sport saloon which a nightmare with no mods anywhere on it

I polybushed it and it is better but still bad to me, but she's ok with it.

Anyway, I should have mine done because it will be out with the lowering? Should I replace the other rear tyre as it will be weakened?

Thanks

Derek

[Jay.]

Yes that'll be your problem, alignment will 100% been responsible for the killing of your tyres

Get it done at th first possible opportunity

[DJL330d]

Thanks Jay,

I will get it done asap

Derek

[DJL330d]

Just wondering about the load ratings

Standard on my original sport wheels and tyres was 88 front 94 rear, whereas the NS 2's are 87; is that something I should be looking at as well for the rears?

Thanks

Derek

[Jay.]

I think in the grand scheme of things it'll have a negligible impact but it would Prob be better to get the higher rated ones

[Fuelbills]

I have style 32 on my touring but they are correct e46 staggerd items with the correct tyres,

i think they are the best wheel for an e46 IMO

I'm not a fan of the broken suspension and stretch tyre malarkey but i won't go there for fear of upsetting the scene crew ;0)

[DEVIL 666]

Nothing wrong with deep dish style 32 and a little stretch, you just have to do it right and looks 10 times better than the "correct e46 staggerd items with the correct tyres"

[Fuelbills]

In your opinion m8 ;0)

Doing it right is fitting tyres that are not stretched out of the spec they are safely designed for

I no a chap that crashed his vw with stretched tyres his insurance declined to pay out and he had to pay £4.5 k in damages to road signage and find money to replace the car he wrote off

You carry On living the dream ;0)

[Jay.]

In your opinion m8 ;0)

Doing it right is fitting tyres that are not stretched out of the spec they are safely designed for

I no a chap that crashed his vw with stretched tyres his insurance declined to pay out and he had to pay £4.5 k in damages to road signage and find money to replace the car he wrote off

You carry On living the dream ;0)

I think you'll find that you can run a falken 215/40/18 tyre on a 9J rim, I can provide the falken specification sheet if you like?

[touringking]

In your opinion m8 ;0)

Doing it right is fitting tyres that are not stretched out of the spec they are safely designed for

I no a chap that crashed his vw with stretched tyres his insurance declined to pay out and he had to pay £4.5 k in damages to road signage and find money to replace the car he wrote off

You carry On living the dream ;0)

I think you'll find that you can run a falken 215/40/18 tyre on a 9J rim, I can provide the falken specification sheet if you like?

There is a few 215 tyres you can run on a 9j

[Fuelbills]

Fallken lol I wouldn't put ditch finders on any of my cars fella ;0) on a serious note I'm not really interested in stretched tyres very chav mod imo and generally looks crap nothing worse than seeing rim sticking out when following behind but if you like it fella carry on its your motor and your choice,I'd rather go for a red axle light jack up kit and large rear slot mags and they thought that looked cool in the 70's to lol

[Jay.]

In your opinion m8 ;0)

Doing it right is fitting tyres that are not stretched out of the spec they are safely designed for

I no a chap that crashed his vw with stretched tyres his insurance declined to pay out and he had to pay £4.5 k in damages to road signage and find money to replace the car he wrote off

You carry On living the dream ;0)

I think you'll find that you can run a falken 215/40/18 tyre on a 9J rim, I can provide the falken specification sheet if you like?

There is a few 215 tyres you can run on a 9j

I know mate was just using that as an example, just to prove a point to fuel bills that the tyres used on the 'doing it wrong' style 32s

[Jay.]

Lol- ok pal.