[Hampton]

I'm toying with the idea of going to a non-staggered setup to reduce understeer and be able to rotate tires. Is anyone here running a non-staggered setup? How wide of a wheel/tire can I fit on the front? I actually have a 540/6, but with the m5 fender liners and rolled fenders I'd be in the same boat as you m5 guys.

 

[Luke Pavlick]

Many people run rear wheels and tires on the front so, they have all four the smae size

 

[madyspop]

I ran 19x9.5 on all four corners with 275-30-19 tires and they worked fine and fit perfectly, my car had the Dinan stage 3 suspennsion. Check my gallery if you would like to see pics.

 

[Lscman]

I'm toying with the idea of going to a non-staggered setup to reduce understeer and be able to rotate tires. Is anyone here running a non-staggered setup? How wide of a wheel/tire can I fit on the front? I actually have a 540/6, but with the m5 fender liners and rolled fenders I'd be in the same boat as you m5 guys.

I run style 32 non-stagger 17x9 with 275's all around.

Wheel width means very little when it comes to inner fender clearances and rubbing. A 5" wide wheel can rub if it has the wrong offset.

The max possible wheel & tire width on the front is a function of ride height, wheel diameter, wheel offset and camber setting. Every car is slightly different due to mfg variances.

Basically the 9.5" M5 rear wheel and 540i 9" style 32's will just barely clear the strut housing with the use of 3mm spacers. Offset of these wheels is close to 24mm, so the spacer brings them to around 21mm. The 1/4" deeper backspacing of the 1/2" wider M5 wheel is only possible because the wheel is 1" larger in diameter. If you examine the angle of a strut (loosely called kingpin angle), you'll notice that wheel/tire sidewall to strut clearance increases with a larger diameter wheel.

 

[Hampton]

So do you think a 18x9.5 wheel with an offset of 18mm (or 20mm, haven't gotten confirmation on the actual offset) will work? Or will it stick out too far the other way? Forgive my ignorance I'm new to this whole wheel thing.

 

[Lscman]

So do you think a 18x9.5 wheel with an offset of 18mm (or 20mm, haven't gotten confirmation on the actual offset) will work? Or will it stick out too far the other way? Forgive my ignorance I'm new to this whole wheel thing.

Should be close to perfect with that offset. Is this a custom wheel for the front? It will clearly not fit the rear.

 

[Hampton]

Should be close to perfect with that offset. Is this a custom wheel for the front? It will clearly not fit the rear.

They are not custom. They are Racing Dynamics RD-2 wheels.

http://www.racdyn.com/Localized/International/Series/5/E39/E39_Wheels/RD_Int_E39_Wheels.htm

The website says et=20mm, but my supplier says they are et=18. I'm trying to get this discrepancy sorted out. It's funny you say they won't fit the rear, since it seems they were designed for the rear. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[Lscman]

They are not custom. They are Racing Dynamics RD-2 wheels.

http://www.racdyn.com/Localized/International/Series/5/E39/E39_Wheels/RD_Int_E39_Wheels.htm

The website says et=20mm, but my supplier says they are et=18. I'm trying to get this discrepancy sorted out. It's funny you say they won't fit the rear, since it seems they were designed for the rear. Maybe I'm missing something.

Rear 9-1/2" wheels are generally quoted as 23mm to 25mm. This wheel would stick out about 1/4" compared to stock, when mounted on the rear. As tight as the E39 design is, this could cause a tire to rub on the rear fender lip.

 

[Hampton]

Rear 9-1/2" wheels are generally quoted as 23mm to 25mm. This wheel would stick out about 1/4" compared to stock, when mounted on the rear. As tight as the E39 design is, this could cause a tire to rub on the rear fender lip.

would rolling the fenders take care of this problem, or are you assuming the fenders are already rolled? Would running the same 275/35 tire on a 9.0in wide wheel vs a 9.5in wide wheel make a difference? Finally, if I were to go with a coilover suspension (not likely) I'm guessing I'd have even less room to work with. Am I correct?