thomassteen

Hi All

I am buying a 530d E61 in exchange for my 520i E60. I was thinking about transferring my M172 wheels from the E60 to the E61. I know that the standard setup for E61 on M172 is 245 front and 245 rear, whereas the E60 is 245 front and 275 rear. I think I read somewhere that the 275's wont fit inside the rear wheel arches, but cannot seem to find the thread. I also think I read that exchanging the inner plastic wheel arches to the ones from E61 M5 would allow for the wide wheels?

Am I remembering wrong or?

Note: it is a rear wheel drive E61 - not Xd.

Thanks,

Theo

It is quite possible, quite a few on the board have done so.

Usually with spacers though one member also drove it without spacers and allegedly experienced little or no rubbing.
I wouldn't recommend that though, since the inner tire edge already is the weak point due to the camber.

If I recall correctly 15mm spacers in the rear will do the trick.


Added:
I've found one of the threads: e61 and doppelspeiche 172

thomassteen

Thanks for the quick reply! I don't know about those spacers. Although approved by TÜV will that not put additional wear on the wheel bearings?

What about the M5 touring - doesn't that have the wide setup on the rear as a standard?

mmitev

Yes, it does, with lower ET, which is equivalent to a spacer...

A 15mm spacer will do nothing to the wheel bearings. We have plenty of members who run 20mm and often even thicker spacers without any problem.

dess

I drive with rear rims/tires BMW style 128 10J ET14 with 275 on my e61 and no spacers used and the wheels fit perfect in the wheel arches.

thomassteen

Thanks for the responses. I need a little more confirmation... I looked up what the M5 touring is running, and it is 9" wide with an offset of 17mm. My E60 wheels are 9.5" wide with an offset of 32mm. Adding the 15mm spacer effectively reduces the offset to 17mm (same as M5) - right? But my wheels are still 0.5" wider than the M5 wheels. Are those 0.5" centered such that it is 0.25" closer to the inside as well as the outside? Meaning same loading on the bearing?

Theo

Hello Thomas,

I appreciate your thoroughness on the matter but I'm afraid you're splitting hairs with regards to the bearing load distribution: the difference in moment arm is what counts in this I guess and it's negligible.
Additionally wheel bearings are not known for being a weak point on these cars and /or requiring frequent replacements, even more so since there is a large population of E61's fitted with spacers and logging many miles without apparent problems associated with these.

I would feel perfectly safe mounting 12mm or 15mm if I were you. Don't forget to post some pics after the swap...

Good luck!

thomassteen

I know. It's just that the BMW engineers went through so much trouble creating these fantastic cars that I would hate ruining it... It is a bit weird that the M5 sedan runs on 0.5" wider wheels than the M5 touring. There has to be a reason?

Anyway, I agree that wear on the bearings should not be a problem. I will go ahead and try it out. I will go for the 15mm as it will bring it to same ET as the M5... Any idea for a good source of spacers in the EU?

I will post pictures - but will have to wait a little. I am importing the car from Germany (got a really good deal). I will get it in a few weeks. Then have to go through import process into Dennmark.

Thanks for the help (and patience )

mmitev

Engineers? What about the marketing people, and the accountants, and...
Like with any other business, what is created with so much passion by the engineers or development guys, is being ruined by marketing, management, accounting and regulations.

Right now my car handles and feels on the road better than ever. Its more comfortable, sportier, safer and more enjoyable. Why? Because I have completely removed and replaced the "running gear" from what was installed in the factory. The only parts remaining original are the rear air springs. And I will replace them soon with OEM, but differen modification air springs. In detail:
- Wheels: E63 size front and back
- Tyres: E63 size all round, and NON-RFT
- Shocks: Koni FSD
- Front Springs: Eibach
- Rear air springs: see above
- ARBs: H&R adjustables
And some more is coming: UR bars and M5 braces, if i find them...

All aftermarket components above are higher quality than the OEM parts they replace, and with better and more versatile function.

Driving the car, it really has not much common with how i bought it. A different league. And so much more enjoyable. And better looking (and lower by only ca. 1 cm).

Feel free to improve yours as well, it will be worth it, that's the joy of modifying

EDIT: Last time I shopped, larkspeed.co.uk was a good, competitive and reliable site for spacers and other parts.

thomassteen

You are right that the stock setup can be improved - but I have seen many cases of mods that did the exact opposite thing. You have to really know what you are doing! When I do mods I tend to stay with retrofits of standard options. In this case though I will give it a try with the spacers. Thanks for the help and the link to larkspeed. I will check them out!