Wheels for E46 Sedan

I want to buy a set of staggered 19's (will post the wheel specs once I get them) for my 2003 BMW 320i. It's all stock right now.

What is the offset range that I can fit on this car without having any fitment issues and no rubbing? and what's the maximum width I can fit in the front and back?

Do aftermarket wheels removed from a E46 coupe usually fit the same way on a sedan or are they different

Proper sizing for your car would be a 19x8.5 ET40 and 19x9.5 ET45. There are a number of wheels that are available in that sizing, I recommend looking into Velocity Motoring. We can do 18" and 19" wheels for your car with tires preinstalled for a ready to go package. Sedans do have slightly less rear fender clearance than coupes but it doesn't change the offset requirements.

Generally for your car we recommend going with square fitment, but some customers of ours like to go staggered. An 8.5" wide front with offsets ranging from +35mm to +40mm will work without any issues, and if you wanted to go staggered I would go with a 9.5" wide rear with an offset of +45mm.

For tires, we recommend going with a 235/35/19 for the front and 255/30/19 rear if you went staggered. Generally coupes have a bit more room than sedans, so they can run a 265/30/19.

Would a set of the following 18" staggered wheels work:

front: 18x8.5 ET 15 with 225/40/18

rear: 18x9.5 ET 15 with 235/40/18

Those are very aggressive for your car. Even on an M3 that looks pretty aggressive (with exception to the tire size). The fronts would be sticking out almost an inch from what we recommend, and the rears are over an inch. I wouldn't recommend going with that setup at stock height.

What about***********:

Front: 19x8 ET 35 with 235/35/19

Rear: 19x9.5 ET 25 with 275/30/19

The front is okay, the rear is too aggressive and would require rolling or fender mods at best.

Even if I am at stock height? Where would it rub exactly, on the inner fender or on the body

Most likely you would be rubbing on the fender side. A higher offset means the wheels will sit more inward, with the respective widths being the same. For a non-M we recommend a 19x9.5 ET45 for your comparison, which means that our wheels would sit 20mm more inwards compared to the set you're looking at.

What about the following M6 replica rims:

front: 19x8.5 ET 35 with 235/40/19

rear: 19x9.5 ET 35 with 265/35/19

They were on a newer 3 series, will they fit my 2003 BMW 3 series

Fronts are ok, rears will rub bad.

Also, tyre specs should be 235 35 19 front and 265 30 19 instead.

Kevin @VMR, i'm planning to get BBS LM DBK Replica, The specs for the front is 19x8,5 et38 and for the rear is 19x9,5 et35. I also planned to get 235/35 tires for front and 245/35 for the rear one. will it cause problems on the rear side? i dont mind if i do a bit of fender rolling, i'm a bit confuse because the seller kept saying it will fit well on my e46 sedan. thanks in advance

PS : Already dropped my car with eibach pro kit springs

Originally Posted by VMRWheels

Generally for your car we recommend going with square fitment, but some customers of ours like to go staggered. An 8.5" wide front with offsets ranging from +35mm to +40mm will work without any issues, and if you wanted to go staggered I would go with a 9.5" wide rear with an offset of +45mm.

For tires, we recommend going with a 235/35/19 for the front and 255/30/19 rear if you went staggered. Generally coupes have a bit more room than sedans, so they can run a 265/30/19.

I just bought a set of 19 inch vmr 715 staggered. Tires are Kuhma Ecsta SPT235/35 and rears are 255/30. offset is 38 and 45 in the rear. my suspension is kw2's. I installed the wheel and tires and my rear left tire is rubbing.
Now my question should I just dial up the suspension and roll my fenders or will I be okay just rolling the suspension. Keep in mind that my drop with the suspension was an inch at the most.

Originally Posted by stanleylivaldi

Kevin @VMR, i'm planning to get BBS LM DBK Replica, The specs for the front is 19x8,5 et38 and for the rear is 19x9,5 et35. I also planned to get 235/35 tires for front and 245/35 for the rear one. will it cause problems on the rear side? i dont mind if i do a bit of fender rolling, i'm a bit confuse because the seller kept saying it will fit well on my e46 sedan. thanks in advance

PS : Already dropped my car with eibach pro kit springs

Those fronts will fit no problem, but the rears may need some fender rolling. It's hard for me to say how much work is necessary in order to fit them since every car is different, but with that tire size you should have extra clearance. We generally recommend a 265/30/19 for coupes and 255/30/19 for sedans to put that into perspective. The wheels are probably the correct bolt pattern, in which case the seller is right when he says they will "fit", however the sizing is not really recommended for your car.

Originally Posted by 2003330i

I just bought a set of 19 inch vmr 715 staggered. Tires are Kuhma Ecsta SPT235/35 and rears are 255/30. offset is 38 and 45 in the rear. my suspension is kw2's. I installed the wheel and tires and my rear left tire is rubbing.
Now my question should I just dial up the suspension and roll my fenders or will I be okay just rolling the suspension. Keep in mind that my drop with the suspension was an inch at the most.

I would get an alignment before anything and then see if you need rolling still. Once you've determined how much rolling you need to do, go from there. If you play with the height too much you'll have to get an alignment anyway so if you like the height I would suggest doing so if you haven't already. We only guarantee rub free fitment at stock height but if your rubbing isn't too bad some fender rolling should solve it.

[QUOTE=VMRWheels;13085415]Those fronts will fit no problem, but the rears may need some fender rolling. It's hard for me to say how much work is necessary in order to fit them since every car is different, but with that tire size you should have extra clearance. We generally recommend a 265/30/19 for coupes and 255/30/19 for sedans to put that into perspective. The wheels are probably the correct bolt pattern, in which case the seller is right when he says they will "fit", however the sizing is not really recommended for your car.

The bolt pattern is 5x120, so you're saying that if i do a bit of fender rolling with the 245/35 tires, it definitely won't rub when there are full passenger on my rear seat?

I cannot guarantee that those will fit with a full car because every car is different and the clearance you will have depends on what fender work you do. Those would be sticking out 10mm further than our wheels do, but we recommend a tire that is 10mm wider than those. So there's a good chance that they will fit with minimal fender work but again every car is different.

What about a set of 18" style 193 wheels:

Front: 18x8 ET 34 with 225-40-18

Rear: 18x8.5 ET 37 with 255-35-18

Those should fit fine.

My friend just put OEM e46 M3 wheels on his 330 sedan with 245's in the rear and 225's in the front. He's rubbing pretty hardcore in the rear on stock height without his fenders rolled. Not sure what the offset on those M3 wheels are though. I'd suggest a square setup with 8.5" et40 or et45 wheels and 245 max for the tires. If you plan on lowering, I'd go with 235 tires and roll the fenders. My friend was over about an hour ago showing me his new setup, and he is going to have to roll his rear fenders even with 245's on stock height.