What is the widest wheel and tire that we can fit on a 135?

[joeking1978]

I'm looking to buy a seperate set of track wheels and tires and have been pondering going up a size from 7.5 and 8.5 to 8.5 and 9.5 respectively. I have also found a guy locally selling porsche SSR's that are 8 and 10's, but the rest off the fitments match.


Anyone know?

Also... anyone swap out to 17's for track use? how does it feel? a lot different?

Is the fit good? Hows the look (you got to look good to go fast, right!? )


Thanks!

[Whiplash]

I run 17x8.5's with 245/40-17's all around. It leaves a little bit more fender gap but I prefer the ride of this set-up as opposed to the stock run-flats! It gives you a little bit more grunt with the smaller rolling diameter but it's certainly not a dramatic change.

Here it was at O'fest this year with the 17's...



It doesn't look like there's much fender gap in the photo because I was turning right so the left side is loaded.

[joeking1978]

I run 17x8.5's with 245/40-17's all around. It leaves a little bit more fender gap but I prefer the ride of this set-up as opposed to the stock run-flats! It gives you a little bit more grunt with the smaller rolling diameter but it's certainly not a dramatic change.

Here it was at O'fest this year with the 17's...



It doesn't look like there's much fender gap in the photo because I was turning right so the left side is loaded.

the more research I've done... the more I've decided to go with 17's as well for my track tire. I'm trying to see if I can fit 9's in front and back, or if I should go smaller in front still which would affect my ability to rotate the tires.

[ModBargains]

We carry VMR VB3 CSL style wheels with a fitment of 18x8.5 +40 front 18x9.5 +45 rear, if you are interestedin 18"s.

Rcommended tire sizes are 225/40/18 front 255/35/18 rear.

Here are a couple pictures in 19", same fitment:

[natedog1959]

Those wheels look fantastic on the 1er but the tires leave a lot to be desired. I would look at a 245-265 on the front and a 265-285 on the rear. It almost looks like the tires are stretched on the rim. Not something that is conducive to high-performance driving. If you can fit 17's over the front brakes, I would definitely go that route. You're wheels will be lighter and you will be able to tuck more tire. The tires will also be considerably less expensive. Nate

[mryakan]

Those wheels look fantastic on the 1er but the tires leave a lot to be desired. I would look at a 245-265 on the front and a 265-285 on the rear. It almost looks like the tires are stretched on the rim. Not something that is conducive to high-performance driving. If you can fit 17's over the front brakes, I would definitely go that route. You're wheels will be lighter and you will be able to tuck more tire. The tires will also be considerably less expensive. Nate

I though for high performance driving you don't want to go too wide anyway, at least not on the fronts!

[drivrswntd]

TC Kline is currently running breyton gts-r's 18x8.5 all around and they have Hoosier r6 245/35/18's on them. When I talked to them, they said you could run 255/35/18 in most other tires but the hoosier's due to the width of the hoosier.

[Fair]

We put 18x9s on a 135 and they sort of fit, but we didn't have the right offset for the rear. They need to go inboard a bit more out back than this ET41 we have. D-Force is working on a new rear wheel for the 135i now.



As you can see the rear isn't "right" and needs more backspacing to fit. There's room for a 18x9.5" or maybe 18x10" in the rear, easily, but the front is pretty snug. BMW wasn't as generous with the front fender contours on the 1 series as they were on the E36 or E46 3 series cars.

These heavy cars need as much tire and wheel width as you can stuff under the fenders for track/autocross use. 17" offers weight and cost advantages as well - going to 18" is just for looks until you get over 255mm tire widths, which the 1 series can only hope to fit out back. Staggered tire width use tends to induce understeer.

Someone needs to make a slightly flared front replacement fender for the 135i so you could fit 18x9.5's or 18x10's all around. Now that would work WELL.

[aak1997]

http://www.evolutionracewerks.com/index.php#37
Evolution Racewerks is working on a wider front fender. I's at the shop like a month ago and it's all done and fitted to their race car. It looks Good! The link above, you can see the painter tape around the fender coz they aren't 100% done w/ the fender yet
Now all they need is to take it off the racecar and make mode out of it. It's on their list of To Dos, not sure when they'll get it released.

[scottn2retro]

245s is about the most you can go without fender rolling

We have 17x8.5 wheels with 255/40x17s on all four corners, but aggressive fender rolling and lots of front camber.

[mblaucoupe335]

We carry VMR VB3 CSL style wheels with a fitment of 18x8.5 +40 front 18x9.5 +45 rear, if you are interestedin 18"s.

Rcommended tire sizes are 225/40/18 front 255/35/18 rear.

Here are a couple pictures in 19", same fitment:

So does this set up work OK without any rubbing in the rear? I currently have the CSL rep wheels 19X8.5 with 235 tires on the front and 19X9.5 with 265 tires in the rear. The offsets are 40 in the front and 45 in the rear. Do you think this will work without any rubbing? I did a test fit today with the rears and it looked awesome, but it was real tight! I didn't try driving it yet.

[ModBargains]

So does this set up work OK without any rubbing in the rear? I currently have the CSL rep wheels 19X8.5 with 235 tires on the front and 19X9.5 with 265 tires in the rear. The offsets are 40 in the front and 45 in the rear. Do you think this will work without any rubbing? I did a test fit today with the rears and it looked awesome, but it was real tight! I didn't try driving it yet.

Should be good! you might need to run a stretch tire though.

Kevin

[mblaucoupe335]

Should be good! you might need to run a stretch tire though.

Kevin

What exactly is a stretch tire? Also, I should mention that I have the BMW performance suspension on the car which I think lowers it by about 1/2 or so. Will this affect what size rear wheels/tires I can run?

[jibaholic101]

best wheel setup on the 1er ever for max performance and driving= 18x8 and 18x9

if you want to go wider, add half an inch to the width

[ModBargains]

What exactly is a stretch tire? Also, I should mention that I have the BMW performance suspension on the car which I think lowers it by about 1/2 or so. Will this affect what size rear wheels/tires I can run?

Stretch tire refers to stretching a narrower tire over a wider wheel, the sidewalls stretch from the lip to the tread

here is an mild example I borrowed from a simple google search



Kevin

[mblaucoupe335]

Stretch tire refers to stretching a narrower tire over a wider wheel, the sidewalls stretch from the lip to the tread

here is an mild example I borrowed from a simple google search



Kevin

OK, that's what I thought you were referring to, but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

I'm thinking to have enough room in the rear with my wheels, I may need to go to a 245 tire, which I believe will fit a 9.5 inch wide wheel. Does this mean I need to go with a 215 tire on the front wheels (they are 8.5 inches wide)?

best wheel setup on the 1er ever for max performance and driving= 18x8 and 18x9

if you want to go wider, add half an inch to the width

What offsets would work the best for these sizes?

[Eddy@ApexRaceParts]

We make an 18x9.5" rear that allows for a 275 r-compound tire to fit on the rear of 1 series with no need to roll fenders. The front 18x8.5" can fit up to a 255/35/18. camber plates are needed to fit anything above 225 onto these wheels, but that's the point, since 1 series pushes terrible with out camber plates.

These wide 1 series wheels will be available around January 25th (3 weeks). They're available in 4 colors and are ultra light. The 18x9.5" wheel is right around 18lbs (i'll be able to confirm when it arrives).

you can see more info on them here: http://www.apexraceparts.com/ARC-8-1...ment_p_54.html

Here's test fitment photos on the BERK 1 series

[Phiberglass]

All depends on the offset, I'd probably only go to 10" though.