I recently bought a used 2006 325i E90. When i had the inspection done, they told me the only strange thing was that the car had E46 wheels on it. They said that wasn't necessarily a problem, but it did mean that the wheels sit about 2 inches further in than if it had the original E90 wheels. Also, these wheels don't have run flat tires, which makes me nervous with no spare in the E90. Anyone know anything about this? I would like to get E90 wheels with run flat tires, but don't wan to drop $2000 just for peace of mind. Thanks, Tim
You want to get run-flats? That's a very exclusive club... It's a lot cheaper if you just buy a spare wheel and tire than to get four new run-flats. Steel wheels are pretty cheap and tires are cheap as well. You could probably buy yourself a cheap steel wheel and tire together for about $130-150 as opposed to at least that much per tire for run-flats.
I could get myself a spare, but where do I put it? The small compartment in the bottom of the trunk wouldn't fit a donut, let alone a full spare. And it'd be a shame to lose most of my trunk space to storing a spare at all times.
Run flats or not, my ultimate question is about the fact that the current wheels on my 2006 325i (E90) are meant for an E46, so the wheel base is narrower. You can look at the side of the car and notice the wheels sit further in rather than flush with the edge of the wheel well. Other than the fact that it looks funny, I'm wondering about possible problems with having those wheels on the car. Other than some slight performance issues, can this cause other problems? Are there safety concerns?
