Tyre/clearance question

[L33 LEG]

I know its not a nova but i need some help with the bmw...

Im in the middle of rebuilding the E36 and have changed a few things from last time. I've fitted some new coilovers and dropped the car a bit lower. I needed to fit some 5mm spacers on the front to clear the coilovers and as expected my tyres are on the wing. I've took a few pics to show close it is, im obviously expecting to having to raise it a few mm but im not wanting it to go much higher. How do i clear the wings? At the moment the wheels on the front have 225/45/17s which were perfectly fine last time round before the coilovers (the wheels used to be a few mm away from the arch but never caught).

Is it gong to be a simple case of either get a 225/40/17 tyre on, a 215/45/17 tyre or is it not going to be possible? I had a convertible a few years ago which was probably lower than this and never caught but the tyres were 215/40/17s and they looked tiny and not really the look that i want.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/L33LEG/the%20BMW%20project/bmw203.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/L33LEG/the%20BMW%20project/bmw201.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/L33LEG/the%20BMW%20project/bmw206.jpg

Help me out guys as i need to buy some new tyres :thumb:

[autoworksnovasport]

try some 215/40 17 that should give you the 5mm back youve just added

[pie]

you can get 195 40 17s but they wouldnt look right at all in the bm's big arches

as above try some 215 40's or 205 40's

[L33 LEG]

Like i said, on my old bm i had 215 40s on and it left me with loads of room when the car was even lower than this but they looked stupidly small.

Im not sure which will give me the best outcome in a 215/45 or a 225/40. The front rims on these are 7.5J by the way, the rears are 8.5J but for some reason from factory they have 40s on and the fronts are 45s.

[Jack]

When you say the tyres looked tiny, do you mean in width or profile?

215/45 would probably be your best bet if you don't want the tyre to look too skinny.

[L33 LEG]

This was the other bm on 215/40/17s on the front

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i184/L33LEG/new%20cars/e36cab076.jpg

From this angle they looked ok so i suppose 40s wouldnt be too bad but from other angles they looked really skinny!

[L33 LEG]

When you say the tyres looked tiny, do you mean in width or profile?

215/45 would probably be your best bet if you don't want the tyre to look too skinny.

More to do with the width tbh, just looked like the rim was a few inches narrower than they should be.

A 215/45 should work as it is just basically counting the 5mm spacer out, however i am wanting the car to be at least 10mm lower than last time. I think il probably end up going for those tyres and just raise the car until i have enough room :thumb:

[Benn]

Roll the arches you a little?

[L33 LEG]

Roll the arches you a little?

I did think of that, if all fails il look into getting somebody down to do it. These wings have a rubber running on the inside on the arch which are quite deep, im sure if these were off then there would be room but then i may end up catching it and doing some damage. I need some new tyres anyway so im tempted to get 215/45s, at least then i know that it can be at least as low as it used to be and then il have another think if i cant get it low enough.

Im sure there'll be a simple solution :)

[L14MNP]

The front rims on these are 7.5J by the way, the rears are 8.5J but for some reason from factory they have 40s on and the fronts are 45s.

Standard practice owing to the different rim widths mate. It's so the profile looks the same.

[L33 LEG]

They dont look the same though lol It's obvious every time you look at these cars that they have different profiles.