1988 M6 wheel/tire help

[firstturn]

My dad purchased a 1988 BMW M6 new and since it rolled off the lot back in 1988 he has put a whopping 40,000 miles on it. In the last six years I think it has been driven three times, so that he can get is smog certificate (required here in CA). Anyway he mentioned the other day that he needs to get new tires and that he thinks new wheels will be in order as the size of the stock OEM wheels is not common. He really doesn't want to go any bigger than 18" and would like something that is not too outlandish. Anyone have any suggestions on wheels for this vehicle?

Thank you,

[Bentsdl]

I would say 16" of 17" open lug alpina', like this:

(thoma's m's beautiful car)

I think most people here would agree that 16 and 17'' are the best compromise between looks, handling and comfort. The bigger you go the faster you suspension will wear too.
I personally don't like the look of bigger rims either, it doesn't seem to fit a older classic like a six, but that's a matter of taste.

[DGM635csi]

I would also not recommend going any larger than 17" wheels. 17" is about the largest you can run and still maintain the original overall diameter of the tires without going to a really narrow super low profile tire. This way you dont mess up how your car is geared. The overall weight of the wheel/tire combo has the most affect on suspension wear, and as the rims get larger, generally the weight of the combo goes up, but you can work around most of this by getting high quality lightweight wheels. Another factor to consider is tire availability. There are far fewer tire brands and sizes available in a 16" size than in a 17" size. This was a problem for me because I want to run a staggered setup on my M635, and I could not find tires with enough width for the rear that had the correct overall diameter. It was also more difficult to find 16" tires in the performance category that I was looking for. My personal favorite wheels are also the 16" or 17" open lug Alpinas. My car has 17" Breyton Magics: 17 x 9.5" with 255-40-17 tires in the rear, 17 x 8.5" with 245-40-17 in the front.

[CW6er]

OEM rims off of other BMW's is a common source. The 2 piece BBS style 5 rims (off of an e39) would be a close match to the original rims, if that matters. Here is some general info that may help:

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The size of the original rims and tires that came from the factory:

..................................... Rim Width x Diameter - Offset or "ET" (mm) - Tire Size
Stock wheels ('76 to '81) ............ 6" or 6.5" x 14" - ET22 with a 195/70 -14" tire that has a diameter of 24.74"
Stock wheels ('82 on) ................ 6" or 6.5" x 14" - ET22 with a 205/70 -14" tire that has a diameter of 25.30"
TRX (165mm x 390mm) ............... 6.5" x 15-3/8" - ET22 with a 220/55-390 tire that has a diameter of 24.88"
TRX (195mm x 415mm) ............... 7.6" x 16-3/8" - ET19 with a 240/45-415 tire that has a diameter of 24.84"

The typical replacement rim is

7" or 7.5" x 16" - ET20 or less with a 225/50-16 tire that has a diameter of 24.85"
7.5" or 8" x 17" - ET20 or less with a 235/45-17 tire that has a diameter of 25.32"

The Tire diameters range from 24.8" to 25.4" .

The rears have plenty of space and can take an 8", 9" or even a 10" wide rim with the proper offset and tires of 255 or 265 unless you have the SLS accumulators, in which case the 255 and up can hit them in hard cornering. It is the front that is the most critical and an 8" wide rim is generally the largest without a spacer or a smaller ET.

The larger the rim and tire the more stress that is put on the front suspension and the more likely to inroduce a shimmy into the front unless the front suspension is tight.

All BMW's (except the e30) use a 5 x 120mm bolt pattern and are "hub centric", i.e. they are centered by a lip on the hub, not the bolts. They all have the same size hub hole (72.56mm) with the single exception of the larger hole in the e39 which will still fit fine, but they will need hub centering rings (not spacers), $15 from Discount tire. Most after-market rims have hub rings also. The 3-series rims generally won't fit because the offset is too high, running around ET40/48 and the 7-series with an ET of 23 will generally need a hub centric spacer of 5-10mm depending on the width of the rim. Sometimes a narrower tire (215/205) can be fitted to the 7-Series rim without a spacer and not rub also (but I think is depends on the rim width).
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Here is a good Rim/Wheel Size Calculator:
http://www.wheelsmaster.com/rt_specs.jsp

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Here is a site that lists all of the wheels that BMW made, with pictures and specs and the cars they came on, be sure to check it out:

http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/

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Some of the popular choices
The 2-piece Style 5's. the style 37 - M-Parallels, The style 42 II, The Throwing starts, the Apina's, the Rondell 58's

Here is a thread about style 71's:
http://bigcoupe.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3962

Here is a forum about nothing but Sixer rims and tires:
http://bigcoupe.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=4

A quote from Wokke: "Check out my signature. Those are rear 11x17 offset 6 with 275/40/17 and all I did was roll the fenders.
On my M635CSi I'm running 9x16 with 225/50/16 and 10x16 with 245/45/16 and it feels just perfect."

Here is another thread with pictures:
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1046824

[DaHose]

On my M6, I have 275/35-18's. Speedo error calculates at 1.6 MPH fast at 60 MPH.

Use the wheel comparator linked above, to figure out your wheel/tire affect on your speedo. It's an absolutely awesome tool.

Jose

[gt40mk2]

>>Here is a site that lists all of the wheels that BMW made, with pictures and specs and the cars they came on, be sure to check it out:

http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/

That's pretty awesome - I wonder if they have that for older wheels (it has nothing before E30?). Hard to tell since it's in German.

[master6]

I have purchased a set of style 5's staggered for my car, I am re-finishing them now.

The RC 090, 8 x 17 look the best IMHO.

What is color combo of your Dad's M6?

[GazM3]

There are lots of rims and tyre setup for the e24 m6. I'd favor something similar in design to the 3piece bbs rims that the car came with or go with something nice like the alpinas or style5 rims. Next thing you have to be careful on is the offsett and how far you want the wheels to protrude towards the edge of the guard. On th fronts the 17x8 et-20 just fit (miss he inside suspension by a few mm keep in mind the offsett is how far to the outer edge of the rim the centre axis is. Ie et0 is directly centre et-20 is 20mm to the outer edge and et+20 is 20mm to the inner edge. There are some on line offset calculators. A17x9 et-7 will have the same inner edge than the 17x8-et20 or 17x8.5-et14. On the rear 17x8 et-40 cleares the suspension but leaves lots of room on the Fender side so it looks abit skinny. More common would be 17x9 et-20 which will leave another 8mm of inner clearance or for bigger wheels 17x10 et-15 would fit also.

[ShapeShifter]

Edit: Just realized this thread is from 2010....

Here is a pic of my BBS RX
Wheels are 17x8 et10 and 17x9 et17.
Tires are 225/50 and 275/40.
Fitment is in my eye perfect.
Mine is not a sports car, mearly a grand tourer, its all about looks with this one.
A sheep in wolfs clothing...



I also have a set of ACS type II's in 17x8.5 et13 which is a great fit.
The style of the wheel? meh..

[Roku35]

I really like Porschedudes AC Scnitzers. I would definitely go with ACS Type Is if I had a late model M6. Just more agressive looking as an ///M car should be.

If working with a M635csi, then I favor the ALPINA route. Open lug (like Bentsdl mentioned) or Capped Style works for me too

[ShapeShifter]

You've done a stellar job with that euro! You must be happy....

The type II's I have look to clunky do to the sausage finger appearance of the spokes, they do look allot better in 18's. The spokes appear thinner and less sausage like :-)

And yes, I would love a set of type I's. There is a set for sale on the forum but bad time of year for me even though I'm finally back to work.

[captpkelly]

I just took delivery of a set of OZ Hartge wheels in sizes

Front - 17x9 et19 (builder ran out of et13 barrels)
Rear - 17x9.5 et21

I've been searching all over for info on what tires to buy and your wheels are the closest I've found. Therefore I now know what size tires I'm getting so, thank yo for that! I'm curious though as to the offset specs you're running on the front. Would you happen to have that information handy?

Thanks,
Pat

[M6ermike]

I'm running BMW Throwing Stars (Style 21) 17X8 (et13) with 225/45-17 tires. Without spacers, I had slight rubbing on the front shock struts, so dented them about 1/2" for adequate clearance. Have been extremely happy with both the style and size.

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