New to the BMW scene and purchased an 89' 325 I coupe with 5 speed. It's a lot of fun after spending the last 30 years with English cars. I want to buy some 15" wheels for the car but until that time is deemed possible I have to replace the tires on my 14" bottle caps. I am looking for some advice as to what would be the best (size wise) to go with. I plan on driving the spring, summer and fall and an occasional auto cross. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tom
I put a set of voxx rims from discount tire direct. they have the correct offset don't rub. the tires are 255/15 kumo extas the are good on the car and rated all season. the rims were less that 100 bucks each and the tires i bought at a site called tires easy it is a german company with us locations they have the cheapest prices I have seen the tires I think were under 50 bucks each not sure anymore good luck if you what more info email me
TireRack.com is also an excellent resource for tire shopping and comparison - you might want to poke around their website and look at what they suggest, or give them a call.
15 inch BBS Basket Weaves Hello. My preference for e30s is vintage wheels that look great on this model. I have two e30s, an 84 318i, with a lot of modifications and an 88 M3, which is mostly stock. I really like the 15 inch BBS Basket weaves that BMW offered in Europe during the 80s and early 90s. Unfortunately they are not easy to come by. But it does not sound like you are in a hurry. I got my set for my 318i from ebay. Now you will have to check quick often, but I think eventually you would find a set. Be careful not to buy M3 wheels, they look the same, but they are five lug. Also be sure not to purchase the 15 inch basket weaves from a US 325iX. They look similar but their offset is different. You could use them, but you will need spacers and then they would no longer be hub centric and you might have vibration issues. For tires I strongly suggest Tire Rack and I would suggest a size of 205/55-15. That is the stock size for the US M3 and is a good size for an E30. This my first attempt to add a photo, so hopefully you can see these rims on my 318i. Best, Grant
i went w/ the 205/50-15s rather than the 205/55s. the trade-off is between the 50-profile's better steering response vs. the 55-profile having 3/8" more sidewall between your rim & the next pot-hole you run over. also, the 205/50-15s gave me an overall diameter closer to my OEM outfit of 195/60-14s (for less error on the speedo/odo/trip-meter readouts) and were slightly smaller than OEM - the 55s were taller than than OEM & mebbe more likely to rub (but that'd only possibly happen at *very extreme* moments). Either tire-size is gonna be perfectly fine under an OEM spring/shock set.
hi Grant, I really like that pic, & think that an E30 on BBS basketweaves has a 'classic look'. Your 318 looks great w/ the rally-lights & that air-dam. Wait, let me edit that - replace 'great' w/ "damn' sexy!" Where'd you get that rear spoiler? i'd like to replace my rear wing w/ a rear-lip. i've got a set of 7x15 BBS baskets, too, the only prob is that 3 have grey spokes, but 2 have black spokes! As a result, I get a lot of double-takes when folks walk around my car. My MSW baskets (black spokes, metal rims) have a flatter profile across the face - as a result, they don't have nearly the same visual appeal. OTOH, at least they all match! I'll try to grab a pic this weekend, and figger out how to post it here.
I have an additional comment on correct tire size. E30s in the US came with two different tire sizes. Early cars up to around 85 came with 195/60 - 14. All cars after this came with 195/65 - 14 (not including ix or M3). When you go to a plus one, the 205/55 - 15 is almost identical to the 195/65 - 14 tire that came stock on your 89 e30 in terms of tire diameter. So I would suggest the 205/55 size and that is what the Tire Rack will suggest too, (for a more expert opinion). The rear spoiler on my 318i (car in the middle of my picture) is the standard BMW (is) spoiler that came on the 325es, 325is, and 318is cars. I got lucky and bought the car with the front and rear spoiler. I put the wheels and hella fogs on it. The car now has H&R sport springs with Bilstein sport shocks. Lowered the car almost 2 inchs. The picture does not reflect the supension upgrades. All the best. Grant
nice-lookin' car, Mark - but mebbe a bit 'too red' for me! re: tire sizes - for street use, 205-55/15s would be the way to go. You'd want the 205-50/15s (w/ reduced tread-depth) for track or autocross events - but only if you do enough events in a season to make it worth your while to have a set of wheels/tires that are used *only* for events.
Yea, the actual correct stock tire size is indeed 195/65-14. I think the best 15in rims are 15x7 with 20mm offset and 225/50-15 tires - that's what I got on! I love beefy tires! If you guys want those Ronal LS's, get them fast! They're closing their US branch!
Hey Sean, is that your car in the pic? Those rims look like my factory 14's....or do you have different rims on now? Or, do they make a 4 bolt 15" that looks like the factory 14's??
Yep, sure are. No, they're not the stock 14's. lol I'm running 15" BBS RZ's with ET20 offset. Some better pics here: http://photos.e30driven.com/ There are EURO weaves that are 15" and 5 lug, a lot like the e30 M3 weaves though. Kind of tough to find sometimes. You could run IX weaves too, but they would be the wrong offset and spacers would be needed.
You say they're closing the U.S. branch?! Oh no!!! How soon? I wanted to grab a set of those over the summer...are they still available online to be shipped?
If you do know that whatever wheels you might be buying for a car are discontinued - if you can work it into the budget, consider getting an extra for a spare (maybe two if plan on keeping the car for a long time?) - if you bend or trash a rim, if they're discontinued, pretty much your only chance for another may be getting lucky on ebay. A lot of damage can be repaired on a rim, but having a just-in-case spare can be handy if it's ever needed.
Good plan--I just snagged five of the six last Ronals from a dealer in California, just so I could have a matching spare. I think it would probably add to the collector's value of the car, no? But anyway, SO HAPPY!!! If anyone is still interested in those Ronal LS's, The place in california, GTPro, has one left, and Bavarian Autosport in NH has three left (to make a complete set). Check it out: http://www.gtpro.com/index.cfm
hubcentric headaches Anybody know how much trouble i'll have finding properly hubcentric wheels? I'd like a set of fairly light wheels, not insanely expensive, that fit like everything should? Anybody know the hub Ø? i know the 4x100mm bolt circle, but what about proper offset? I'm planning to go to 16" with 225/55-16s, if i can ever find something that i'm satisfied with.
Tirerack.com shows 15 wheels for a non-325ix E30 (I did a search for '90 325is) - Tire rack for sure, you'll be fine with hub-centricity. I don't know that I would expect any problems from any major retailer, but I know Tire Rack makes sure the wheels they offer are appropriately engineered and of high quality. Tire Rack selection shows 1 w/ 35mm offset, 1 w/ 38mm, and the rest w/ 37mm offset. Make sure to click the price tab for more details, AND the 'Closeup/Detail' link, which will show if the wheel requires any additional hardware, such as spacers, or different lugbolts. http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/resu...ver Painted&showRear=no#BBSRG-FSilver Painted
