[Canada Panda]

I'm shopping new wheels for a winter set. I would like to get some extra meat on the tires for all the potholes that pop up during the winter. I see that the spare is 16" - is this the minimum size that will clear the calipers, or does the narrower spare tire offer more clearance than a full 16x7 wheel would?

Anybody tried this yet? "Smaller rims" is probably blasphemy to a whole bunch of you guys.

 

[royal_regal]

It really is, i don't know but most car 16" rim will fit.

just see what size your stock spare tire is and work your way from there, but 16" should generally clear the calipers.

 

[nvsbandit]

ehhh. i feel like weve got some decently beefy calipers.

i would look for a set of 17" BMW wheels with snow tires on em on like craigslist or somethin. this is my plan at least.

 

[Canada Panda]

17" is the largest I'd like to go for a winter set. I've also been checking the local classified sites, but everyone seems to only be selling those thin, five-spoke designs that leave too much of the brakes exposed. If a 16" wheel could fit, this would increase my selection.

Since you are considering BMW wheels, do you know if the center bores are the same, or would we need centering rings?

Also, I have read (maybe even on this site) that some BMW years used a very low offset. This would cause the wheels to stick out on our Buicks with a more common FWD offset, which I think is either 40 mm or 35 mm.

 

[nvsbandit]

the stock offset on the 18's is 42.
it is true that the offsets on older (and even some newer) BMW's are low (some in the negatives) which would look mexibad.

i think if you can land a 32+ offset and higher you should be fine. 32 will poke like crazy but if the right deal pops up i dont see why not.

 

[Canada Panda]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to look locally instead of on eBay so I can at least drive out and test the fitment. Once I do find some wheels, I'll post what worked for me as far as offset, rim width, and centre bore goes.

 

[Canada Panda]

I finally picked up a set a few weeks ago and have been testing them out. They are RTX Berlin wheels, made for a BMW 3-series with a 35 mm offset and a 72.6 centre bore. Centring rings to bring them back to 67.1 mm cost me $17. The tires I got are a set of Firestone Winterforce in 225/60R17. If you use sticky wheel weights, I don't think a 16" wheel would allow the weights to clear the calipers. Wheels cost me $500, tires $350. Both the tires and the car have been shined up by now, but this picture was taken right after installation.

 

[royal_regal]

yeah as for the BMW wheels some of them are in negative offsets.. if i recall the concave wheels thats BMW offer right now on their 6 those wheels are in negative offsets and look pretty sweet on some cars