Tyre contacting guard

[Mike.Gayner 0]

Hi, I've just bought a e34 540i, and it appears the tyre is making contact with the guard. This seems to be causing significant extra wear on the tyre (and really should have been picked up in the pre purchase inspection). What are my options here? I really dont want to have to get new wheels, and I certainly dont want to modify my guards to any extent. Am I stuck between a rock and a hard place here? Here's a pic of the wheels on the car. I will get better pictures when it's not raining.

Edited March 3, 2009 by Mike.Gayner

[Mike.Gayner 0]

Here's a picture of the rims, and some close up's of the damage.

The tyres are 285 wide btw.

Edited March 3, 2009 by Mike.Gayner

[Creaver 55]

Your fronts are 285? What size rims?

Edited March 3, 2009 by Creaver

[Guest Spottswoode]

I think the only solution is to sell me those BBS Pitlanes

[Mike.Gayner 0]

Your fronts are 285? What size rims?

I dont know TBH. They're wide though - at an estimate 9".

[Mike.Gayner 0]

I think the only solution is to sell me those BBS Pitlanes

I hope it doesn't come to that

[Graham m5 0]

Good evening

Firstly are the wheels on right, what i mean by that is are the front wheels on the back and back on the front, why i say that is having a 285 on the front will not clear the front inner guards on lock, where as you can get a 285 on the rear if its not been lowered. If the rear tyre size is smaller then the wheels are on wrong.

If they are right the front wheels will be touching the inner guards because they are to wide, and looking at the tyre it has been rubbing on lock rather than normal driving because on that width it will rub a grove into the tyre on the edge of the guard and every time you braked heavily the front wheels would really rub the lip when the car nosedived

How there is a 285 on the front i do not know, but look at the rear size

Also where are you? if you are near me then i will have a look for you if thats any help

Edited March 3, 2009 by Graham m5

[Guest Spottswoode]

Gasp --- unbelievable

Another helpful and enthralling post from you.

[Guest Simon*]

285 does seem pretty wide. For what it's worth I run 9.5" wide rears and only have 265's, and 8.5" fronts with 235's respectively. My rims are 18" and my car sits fairly low with plenty of negative camber helping tuck the rubber in under the guards too.

[hybrid 1039]

So from this:

check the fronts should really be more than 8.5/235 on an e34.

Next thing you can do is buy a champhered tire Like a falkin fk-452 or Dunlop Direzza. You shouldnt be running 285 on the front?!

pics of the side of the tire wall please with the sizing on them. We should be able to work out the rest from here.

If the wheels are correctly orientated then the only things you can do to help are champhered tires (maybe even slight under sizing) and getting your guards pulled.

from the first photo I reckon you can drop down a width sizes easy enough and just run a non striaght wall tire.

Was it bought from a dealer ?

[Mike.Gayner 0]

Hi, sorry about the wrong info, the tyres are indeed 235 front and rear. Hybrid - I bought the car privately, but on the advice of a pre purchase inspection from an authorized BMW dealer. He mentioned uneven tyre wear, and that the car needed a wheel alignment, but failed to notice the tyre rubbing on the guard.

So you think if I reduce to say a 225 with the correct design, I should be OK? Thanks.

[greenday-rulz21 4]

Mate, give us the details of the wheels.

Take one off and post the width, offset and the the tire info on the sidewall.

[steve R 0]

Hi, sorry about the wrong info, the tyres are indeed 235 front and rear. Hybrid - I bought the car privately, but on the advice of a pre purchase inspection from an authorized BMW dealer. He mentioned uneven tyre wear, and that the car needed a wheel alignment, but failed to notice the tyre rubbing on the guard.

So you think if I reduce to say a 225 with the correct design, I should be OK? Thanks.

Which BMW dealer?

[Mike.Gayner 0]

Mate, give us the details of the wheels.

Take one off and post the width, offset and the the tire info on the sidewall.

Will do ASAP.

Which BMW dealer?

Coombes Johnston. I'm not hanging them out to dry yet though - I haven't even spoken to them yet, so they've had absolutely no chance to respond to my concerns at this time. Will wait till I get to speak with them about it before I pass judgment. They were professional and thorough in their inspection, but this is a rather obvious thing to miss in my view.

[hybrid 1039]

Hi, sorry about the wrong info, the tyres are indeed 235 front and rear. Hybrid - I bought the car privately, but on the advice of a pre purchase inspection from an authorized BMW dealer. He mentioned uneven tyre wear, and that the car needed a wheel alignment, but failed to notice the tyre rubbing on the guard.

So you think if I reduce to say a 225 with the correct design, I should be OK? Thanks.

Hmm I would say 225 on a dunlop direzza or falkin. 35% profile tire. Even maybe some guard rolling. However, at the end of the day you have the wrong offset weels for the car. Im not sure what e34 offsets are, but I would say those are wheels that run a much lower offset (they stick out more) and are designed for another type of vehicle.

[hotwire 352]

Looks to me from first pic that the rim is incorrect offset - as Nick has suggested to confirm

[Mike.Gayner 0]

If I can get a tire which will fit without rubbing, will the wheels be OK? I understand that they're probably not correct, but will this cause any issues re safety, or excess wearing of other parts like wheel bearings? The wheels look great on the car and it would be a shame to change them. Ta.

Edited March 3, 2009 by Mike.Gayner

[greenday-rulz21 4]

As I said, give us the info on the wheels. Then we can be informed when we're helping you. Rather than just going by the looks of it.

[Guest Spottswoode]

Enter wheel-whore...

Those rims are 17x8.5 ET13

[jochen 4]

Hi, I've just bought a e34 540i, and it appears the tyre is making contact with the guard. This seems to be causing significant extra wear on the tyre (and really should have been picked up in the pre purchase inspection). What are my options here? I really dont want to have to get new wheels, and I certainly dont want to modify my guards to any extent. Am I stuck between a rock and a hard place here? Here's a pic of the wheels on the car. I will get better pictures when it's not raining.

Check the owners manual to see what the correct wheel and tyre sizes are for your vehicle

If the car has large wheels or tyres fitted than are specified by BMW, then you can expect clearance distances to be reduced and problems to occur.

Also, the suspension geometry and steering geometry is designed for the wheel/tyre combination as specified by BMW

Anything else will be non-standard and may impact the geometry, which may be correctable with a wheel alignment....

In my view as an engineer, I place my faith in the billions of Euros that BMW invest in design and development to produce a vehicle with the correct tyre clearances for all conditions (bumpy as well as smooth roads)

I was sooo glad I had standard profile tyres on my 540i - it prevented lots of rim damage from high curbs and potholes on the crappy Auckland roads :-) (ask Josh about rim damage... he can tell a few stories)

Change from factory to non-standard, and you can expect such issues to occur.

[zenetti 0]

Hi Mike

I have been reading through this post and looking at the comments that have been made to TRY and help you. Some of the advice that has been given seems to be helpful while some of it is complete rubbish, or to use a favourite word form a certain member; Muppets!

To be able to help you accurately we really need to know the following:

1. The size and width of the wheel and the offset: eg as Spotswoode said 17x8.5 ET(offset) +13. This will be marked on the inside of the wheel so you will need to take the wheel off, as Nick suggested.

2. The size tyre you are using eg. 235/45/17. We really need the complete info on the tyre, not just the width, as the aspect ratio is also important in determining the overall height of the tyre.

3. Whether or not the front and rear wheels and tyres are the same all the way around.

What did the pre-purchase inspection say about the condition of the front shocks? It looks from your photos as if the tyre has been rubbing when turning which suggests that either a- your shocks are worn, or b, your tyres are too tall.

If you can supply me with the information asked for above we will be able to give you an ACCURATE assessment of the problem and how best to solve it.

cheers

Johno

Edited March 3, 2009 by zenetti

[540i TOURING 0]

Hi Mike

I have been reading through this post and looking at the comments that have been made to TRY and help you. Some of the advice that has been given seems to be helpful while some of it is complete rubbish, or to use a favourite word form a certain member; Muppets!

To be able to help you accurately we really need to know the following:

1. The size and width of the wheel and the offset: eg as Spotswoode said 17x8.5 ET(offset) +13. This will be marked on the inside of the wheel so you will need to take the wheel off, as Nick suggested.

2. The size tyre you are using eg. 235/45/17. We really need the complete info on the tyre, not just the width, as the aspect ratio is also important in determining the overall height of the tyre.

3. Whether or not the front and rear wheels and tyres are the same all the way around.

What did the pre-purchase inspection say about the condition of the front shocks? It looks from your photos as if the tyre has been rubbing when turning which suggests that either a- your shocks are worn, or b, your tyres are too tall.

If you can supply me with the information asked for above we will be able to give you an ACCURATE assessment of the problem and how best to solve it.

cheers

Johno

Hi Mike I had a similar problem with slight rubbing with the BMW aftermarket M Sport factory wheels on my Touring Wagon mainly in the rear but not as severe as yours by the looks of it.

They were 17 x 8.5 but can't remember whether they had a 20p or 13p offset (Maybe Spottwood wheel whore would know , I think 20p, heres a pic of them on the wagon, you can sort of see how far the front stick out.

Anyway your tyre size should be 235/45/17 which is the correct size according to BMW for the aftermarket 17" wheels on a e34 5 series. By going down to a smaller tyre such as a 225/45/17 you are reducing your rolling diameter which is a fix but not the right fix and from the pictures your wear is fairly severe and covers a lot of the tyre so I would be looking at your suspension as Zenetti said. Theres enough room under the guard of an E34 with std suspension to crawl under and sleep on top of the tyre so you have serious issues going on if it is bottoming out on the tyre that bad.

However if its not the suspension my M Sport wheels were 20p (I think they were) then your wheels being 13p are sticking out 7mm further than mine even though doesn't sound much yes will rub badly. My muppet guess Jono is the 13p wheels are probably off a similar year 7 Series???

[zenetti 0]

However if its not the suspension my M Sport wheels were 20p (I think they were) then your wheels being 13p are sticking out 7mm further than mine even though doesn't sound much yes will rub badly. My muppet guess Jono is the 13p wheels are probably off a similar year 7 Series???

HAHA - your nickname is not Bunsen Honeydew by any chance is it?

We can guess all we like about the likely cause of the problem but until all the info is given to us I guess it is like picking at straws. The wheels may be off a 7 series, but I am also thinking that the tyres may be too tall. We will just have to wait until Mike gives us the correct info and then we can accurately diagnose the problem. You are 100% correct in saying that changing tyres to a smaller diameter is not the right fix.

Edited March 3, 2009 by zenetti

[Mike.Gayner 0]

Thanks for the help guys - I will get the correct info as soon as I can. Currently I'm trying to track down a tool to get the wheel nuts off, as it doesn't seem to have been provided with the car.

[briancol 3]

Thanks for the help guys - I will get the correct info as soon as I can. Currently I'm trying to track down a tool to get the wheel nuts off, as it doesn't seem to have been provided with the car.

Look in the tool kit in the boot lid of your car, there should be one there.