Wheel fitment question

[quebexicain]

Ok so I'm considering buying new wheels for next summer. My question is what is the max or lowest offset i can go with an e36 non-m cabrio?

[Eurostyle]

Offset alone does not tell you much about fitment. A 7.5" rim will not fit the same as a 10" wide one, even with same offset. Also a 16" will not be like a 19"...and 205 tires are not like 255's...so the combination between ALL of that will determine if they fit, and how they look! Tire profile also plays a big role...

[quebexicain]

Thanks alot!
I'm looking for an agressive stanced look for my e36 cabrio. Not too sure which wheels I want yet, but I do know that I would like bigger lips in the rear than in front, probably 2 or 3 piece wheels.
I also know that I want to go with 17 inch, and probably around 8-9.5'' wide in the back and 7-8'' in the front.
As for the tires, they will probably be stretched so I can lower my e36 around 2.5'' in the front and 2'' in the back. Not to sure if I'll have to roll the fenders or not, I will figure that out once I have the wheels and coils.

With all that said, I'm trying to figure out what kind of offset I would have to look at.

[T.Dot_E30]

http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4

Search for an e36 stanced the way you like it, and note down the wheel and tire specs.

[Jardine]

Originally Posted by quebexicain

Thanks alot!
I'm looking for an agressive stanced look for my e36 cabrio. Not too sure which wheels I want yet, but I do know that I would like bigger lips in the rear than in front, probably 2 or 3 piece wheels.
I also know that I want to go with 17 inch, and probably around 8-9.5'' wide in the back and 7-8'' in the front.
As for the tires, they will probably be stretched so I can lower my e36 around 2.5'' in the front and 2'' in the back. Not to sure if I'll have to roll the fenders or not, I will figure that out once I have the wheels and coils.

With all that said, I'm trying to figure out what kind of offset I would have to look at.

All depends on how much "stance" you want, and how aggressive of a fender roll/pull you're willing to do. I ran 17x8 ET20 front and 17x9 ET26 rear on one of my E36's with 205/40R17 tire all around. The car was pretty slammed, and the tires had good stretch in the front and a lot in the rear. I've seen people run 17x9 ET8 all around on an E36 which is extremely aggressive. For a 17x8 in the front, to have stance, you'll want nothing more than +20 offset. Anything higher isn't really flush with the fender. For a 17x9 in the rear, around 26mm is close to flush. Anything between 10-26mm, and it'll be very flush/slightly poking. Tire size will depend on your lowness and how much you roll the fenders. Rolling fenders works wonders, you'll be surprised at what you can fit on an E36 with rolling the fenders.

Good luck, hope I helped!

[quebexicain]

thanks for the info guys!

[Dr. Flyview]

Like has been mentioned fitment will depend mainly on wheel width and offset.

To get the wheel pushed out the most you would need to 1) roll and 2) pull the fenders (not the same thing). Rolling is not visible from outside as it just flattens the inner lip and pulling is when it actually becomes visible from the outside. I wouldn't pull the fenders.

Having said that, I would go with the most aggressive fitment that does NOT require you to run "small tires". 205/40/17 is undersized for example. The proper size is 235/40/17 or 225/45/17 (both of which are not just wider but taller). This probably means about ET30 on a 8.5" rim.

Use this to play around with offsets:

http://www.1010tires.com/wheeloffsetcalculator.asp

[Dinanstu]

The max tire you can fit on the back without problems is a 255 on a 9"(stock offset).
(9 1/2 will look poor with the 255)....and I would put on 18"

so,
255/35 (9")and 225/40 (8")would match up for rolling diamter and look smashing...

If you lower the car you'll have to roll out the rears..