I have a 01 330i w/ sports package and the tires installed by the previous owner don't look or seem right. The sizes are 205/45/17 fronts and 245/45/17 back. And tere is a big gap between the front fenders and tires - it really bothers me.


My question is, the back does look a bit tall but it's okay I can live with it, what front tire would match the rears and fill the front fender gaps?

So far my understanding is factory is 225/45-17 and 245/40-17 rear


If I want to keep my rear tires, my calculations tell me to get these fronts and should match. am I off?


245mmx.45 = 110.25mm
215mmx.50 = 107.5mm

thats the closes so far

or

245mmx.45 = 110.25mm
235mmx.45 = 105.75
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It should bother you. The current setup is way off, there is a diameter difference of 5.5% between the front and back. What was that idiot thinking?

I don't think you can run 245 on the front, I believe 235 is the max. The 235/45 would probably work, that is also the maximum width you can put on your front 7.5" rims.

The closest sizes in overall diameter to your rears would be 225/50 or 215/50. I don't know if you'd have possible rubbing issues with the 225/50 or the 235/45 (doubt it).

How much life is left on the tires? What kind of tires are they? You might be better off replacing all 4. If they're ContiSport Contacts (OE on our cars), replace them, they suck. There is a very good and very inexpensive tire on Tirerack that comes in the OE sizes. It's the General Exclaim UHP and it's currently the #1 rated tire in the Ultra High Performance Summer category, although it's actually an all season tire (but wouldn't be good in snow, not a real big problem in San Diego, LOL). You could do all four mounted and road force balanced for under $500.

Here's a good site for tire size calculations:
http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp

I think you need to replace the 4 tires with the right sizes.

I think you need to replace the 4 tires with the right sizes.

Good advice. That's what I would do.

Dave: 22,000+ posts? What do you do besides post here? :D :eek:

Thanks for the reply and the link!

The tires are pretty new and probably have about 5k miles or less. The brand name is pretty weird, can't remember but they seem to be at least Z rated tires. The threads look performance oriented and they do feel nice. I'll double check the name when I get home. And yes I should probably replace all 4 but not sure if I'm going to be able to sell them (waste $ is not good).


I think the 225/50 would be a better choice since it has the same width BMW recommends for the fronts. The height may be a bit much though..