dawgcatching

Hi,

I went ahead and purchased a 2008 535xi E61. Sweet car. Now, I was wondering about wheels. What are the general rules for fitting rear wheels on here, regarding width and offset? I would like to turn the stock 18's into winter wheels, and run 19's. What is the maximum width, and offset range? General rules to look for in terms of offset or wheel spacers needed?

I had my eye on a set of 351m wheels from a private seller: 8.5 width, 19" wheel size, 34mm offset. Would these work? Why or why not?

6speed

I am in the same situation. I have read close to 100 pages in this forum and I am still not very sure.
These are what I see so far.

***Xi setup
FRONT: 20x9 ET 25~30
REAR: 20x9 ET 15~20

It is strange that the offsets are different for the front and rear wheels. Can someone provide more insights? Thanks.

ucsbwsr

Hey guys,

I was in a similar situation, hopefully my insight can help.

Some good threads for me were M3this's and M5this's build threads; based off of those I wanted to run more rubber than M3this (wider and thicker) and compared to M5this I wanted my car lower. As it turned out Matt from Top End Motorwerks (M5this) was local so I dropped by to view his car in person, probe it with my fingers, take pictures like a stalker, and gain info for my wheel/tire setup. I also strongly suggest you familiarize yourself with Online Wheel and Tyre Fitment Calculator. Offset, Tyre Stretch and Speedo Error | Will They Fit

DIsclaimer: I am content with the idea of rolling fenders, pulling fenders (if it is slight and the metalwork well executed), and trimming fender liners.

My goal with my car was to have similar fitment to my M5 (flush with no gap) but with more rubber for rim protection on roughroads; think WRX - EVO meaty and aggressive fitment. For ride height, I wanted to eliminate the gap from fender to tire but didn't want to worry about scraping on driveways, creeping over speed bumps and other slight setbacks. Also, the ride height needed to be high enough to throw my dedicated snow setup on and give me enough clearance to drive in normal snowy conditions.

My current setup is 19x9.5 255/40 square with et33F and et20R. I had both front and rear rolled, trimmed, and slightly pulled. The most substantial rubbing I found was on the forward part of the rear bumper and rearward part of the front bumper. This bumper plastic will wear itself down over time but I trimmed some off to expediate the process.

My front setup is the ABSOLUTE widest/meatiest you can run if you are on coilovers at my height, this will depend on the brand of coilover and thickness of the spring and collar but with my situation let me explain what absolute means: the inner sidewall of my front tire was literally rubbing on the collar at the bottom of the spring. the raised lettering on the sidewall was shaved down and became level with the rest of the sidewall. With trimmed liners, rolled, and slightly pulled fenders, my fronts would rub a little during aggressive highway speed compressions (about 15-20% of total driving depending on the conditions of roads. Lastly, under full steering lock the edge of the tire slightly rubs on the middle of the liner.

My rear setup could be wider with a higher-offset wheel to filling in the inner space of the wheel well. Matt (M5this) was running a 10.5" et43 and it looked like he had a 7-8mm before the inner sidewall would contact the medial side of the wheel well. In terms of outer fender-wheel fitment my 9.5" et20 is just a hair too aggressive; after the roll and slight pull it just barely rubs on the most rearward part of the metal fender (right where the rear bumper meets the body). There is moderate rubbing on the rear bumper. If you look at your OEM rear bumper, and run your hand along the forward edge facing the wheel, there is a small lip that runs along the edge of the bumper and is shaped much like an L or 7, on my car this is almost completely rubbed off on the top 5 inches of the bumper. When considering the rear camber I think this would be significanly minimized with just a few mm of higher offset; for those who are familiar with tight fitment it is a synergy of width, tire(stretch), camber/wheel path.

With all of the information I gathered I think it is possible to run 11" rears on the E61, I however didn't have the balls since the question mark for me was regarding the clearance between the wheel and inner wheel well under hard compression. As noted previously: Matt's car had about a finger's width between the rim and inner liner but considering the inward wheel path during compression I was not willing to risk the possibility of the rear wheel bottoming out on the wagon's body.

Some of the newer wheel setup which are 19/20x9 et3XF and 19/20x10.5 et4XR seem to be a pretty good fit for our cars, with reasonable tires mounted (keep the xi system happy by calculating overall diameter) you will likely only need to slightly roll the rears if you are at stock height or slightly lowered like me. You can always go with a more conservative setup and add spacers as needed.

I however like to push the envelope and have ordered a set of Forgestar F14 SDC 19x9.5 et24F and 19x10x et32R As of now I plan on running 245/40F and 275/35R. I think the rears will be perfect (especially since my bumpers are all rubbed away) but the fronts might need a little more work. I changed my front bumper and fenders to OEM M5 parts so I have an extra 10mm of fender clearance to work with but my fenders are currently unrolled and liners untrimmed. Since the fenders are aluminum (as opposed to steel) I am more cautious with the fender work and it will truly be a fine dance making the front fitment come together. It will be close. It will be tedious work. But MAN will it look sick with a F14 SDC on the front.

I hope this helps,
Evan


M5 fitment


E61 Pre-M5 front end 1


E61 Pre-M5 Front End 2


With M5 front bumper and fenders (not the best for fitment but the best I have now)

6speed

ucsbwsr....
wow, this is awesome information!!! Your write-up answered so many of questions. Thank YOU so much!!!

6speed

ucsbwsr....
wow, this is awesome information!!! Your write-up answered so many of my questions. Thank YOU so much!!!

Since ours are 4WD and you are swapping to M5 front fenders, have you thought about using the same et20+/- and the same width for all 4 corners? This way you can rotate tires between front and rear? I am pretty good with fiberglass work, so I am even thinking about adopting some fender flares (not too too aggressive) to make the wheels as concave as possible and also making all four corners the same width and offset. But, that is if I ever got the time to make this project happen... lol...

Also, since you are changing to new wheel setup, are you selling your current setup? If so, I will be interested if you can give me a deal....

Thanks again!!!

6speed

oh, btw, ucsbwsr

Can you also share what suspension setup you got?

Thanks.

ucsbwsr

6speed:
I am on KWV3 coilovers.

I considered running a square setup but I wanted some meat in the rear and a 10" square setup is excessive IMO. My tire options are pretty limited with a staggered setup (and tight fitment) but the performance should be great.

Funny you mention my current setup, I got a message yesterday that the Forgestars are ready and I plan on listing my Miros/Hankooks in the classifieds momentarily. Send me a PM and we can discuss details, you get first stab at them if you like.

I am glad to give back to the forum.
Evan

Lotus99

Wow, with your mods, esp. the suspension ones and wide tires, do you plan on tracking your car?

Better not be all show... Want to see how this bad boy does at the track!

6speed

PM sent

MillerLite

Just installed 20x8.5 30offset and 20x10 offset

Fots really well no rubbing at stock height but im sure I will need fender rolling on the rear after drop. H&R springs going in soon...