e36 245/40's on 17x8.0 rears

[kiwi328i 118]

I am currently running 225/45-17 as you do and the rears are needing replacement. I aint no drag racer and its a daily driver, but I do love hooning up state H/W 16 occasionally, and I am quite happy with the standard suspension.

I know its more common to either have 235/40's on 8" rims all around or have 245/40's on 8.5", but I have style 42's and I have 8"s all round.

According to Felgen I have a et47.

Am I good to go? I am guessing I am, but as I will buy them second-hand (I know I know) and then putting them on, I thought I would put it out there as an extra precaution.

Cheers

[pjay 8]

225's are the best performance fit tyre for a 8" rim imo.

215's or 205's looks best so far, which I'm running.

235's in my experience look silly with 8's as they stick out a bit past the edge of the rim.

245's would be odd....

Buuuut, thats all just imo. I'll leave the technicalities to the experts

[DrphTa 5]

I was running with 225 front and 235 rear on my 8" rims

Tyres were Goodyear eagle F1's and had no balooning effect in the rears as such.

Looked fine IMO

my 2 cents..

[BM WORLD 1283]

i have 235/40 17" on 8.5" wide rims

Edited March 2, 2010 by Brent HARTGE535i

[bmpower 3]

I'm running 225x45x17 front and 245x40x17 back on 17x8.5" hamann rims at the moment. Handles great!

I have experianced 235x40x18 all round, 225x45x17 all round and 215x45x17 all round and i think my current staggered fit are the best - that is on stock suspension.

Pic of current setup! Rears fit nicely, fronts have a slight stretched look.

[kiwi328i 118]

ok some of you didnt put down your aspect ratio so I am guessing, but it doesnt look like anyone has done the 245/40 on an 8" rim, but I guess 235 is close enough and sounds like the safest bet thus far. But by that account, then 245 is hardly going to be THAT much bigger surely?

I have seen 235/45's on 17x8's all round and boy thats a tight fit, didnt look too bad really and would be the cheapest way to go possibly, but that would be closer to e34/39 specs I think and e36's should be a tad bit smaller.

Anyway still hoping someone who has had 245/40's on an 8" rim on the rear of a E36 will chime in.

I'm running 225x45x17 front and 245x40x17 back on 17x8.5" hamann rims at the moment. Handles great!

I have experianced 235x40x18 all round, 225x45x17 all round and 215x45x17 all round and i think my current staggered fit are the best - that is on stock suspension.

Pic of current setup! Rears fit nicely, fronts have a slight stretched look.

[thorburn 121]

Depends on the offset of the wheels

I have 17x8's with 245s. The tyre bulges out of the wheel and looks a bit not right. I think mine are a +35 offset

I assume you are trying to find out if the tyre will fit in the gaurd

[kiwi328i 118]

Yes,

A bit of both, whether they 'sit' right or look ok on the rims themselves and secondly if they will fit without hittin anything.

Depends on the offset of the wheels

I have 17x8's with 245s. The tyre bulges out of the wheel and looks a bit not right. I think mine are a +35 offset

I assume you are trying to find out if the tyre will fit in the gaurd

[thorburn 121]

sorry told a lie i've only got 235's

[pjay 8]

17x8 ET35 with 235/45's: I had to roll the inner guard lip of my rears.

17x8 ET24 with 225/45's: Do not rub, but the guards were already rolled from the ones above.

[kiwi328i 118]

Thanks guys,

Anyway, I went ahead and put the 245/40's on and I think they look fine, in this application they work fine, they dont look massive or anything, and I got them at a good price. the sidewalls look ok and more importantly feel ok. The footprint in theory seems decent, but in reality it may not be as significant, as the width of the rim controls that to a certain degree and when you factor in roll (turning and side loads) in theory "I" think for sidewall rigidity the 225's may have the edge as the sidewall is in 'tension' whereas the rear 245's are not so much, but for me they dont look too bad, if anything an extra half inch would have to go to the inside of the rim as I have stuff all room on the outside, especailly now, which makes me think these style 42's have the perfect offset really for an 8" rim.

Anyway for anyone else who is thinking of 245/40's on an 8.0" rim, on my style 42's at least, yes it can be done without rubbing issues and in this case at least its a done deal! I did a mild fender roll (not o.t.t, similar to stock really) and that was just as a precaution not for actual rubbing.

In response to 3 pedals, strangely I thought the Pirelli I have on the drivers side was bloody massive compared to the Direzza on the other, it looked more like a 265/40, not that I measured it or anything.

Got some pics.

[zenetti 0]

Hopefully I am wrong but by looking at your pictures I am guessing you bought the tyres 2nd hand? If you have, do you have realise you have an asymmetric on one side and a directional on the other? This is not good for handling and you will fail a WOF for having different tyre constructions on the same axle. The speed rating and load index may also be different which is a failable WOF item as well.

Edited March 9, 2010 by zenetti

[Forrest 35]

Are they not two different pairs front and back?

[zenetti 0]

In response to 3 pedals, strangely I thought the Pirelli I have on the drivers side was bloody massive compared to the Direzza on the other, it looked more like a 265/40, not that I measured it or anything.

Are they not two different pairs front and back?

Not according to his post.

Edited March 9, 2010 by zenetti

[Forrest 35]

Woops sorry Jono I should learn to read better. As you were.

[kiwi328i 118]

Hopefully I am wrong but by looking at you pictures I am guessing you bought the tyres 2nd hand? If you have, do you have realise you have an asymmetric on one side and a directional on the other? This is not good for handling and you will fail a WOF for having different tyre constructions on the same axle. The speed rating and load index may also be different which is a failable WOF item as well.

Nope you are not wrong, yes secondhand, and yes I know exactly what tyres I have on. No problem with the handling funnily enough, much much better than the previous 'legal' pair I had on the rear. I have done 60km's in mixed driving and they are awesome! Handling is a personal thing, and has absolutely nothing to do with a wof inspection, the safe and appropriate operation of the parts that make up your car are though (which effect handling). Tyre constructions are the same (i.e steel belted radial ply, tubeless), open to interpretation but this should suffice, as is size designations (245/40-17) but not the 'same tread pattern type'. Two out of three aint bad, esp the most important two. I could easily argue the third in terms of fitment, but I will just sound like a smart-ass in doing so.

However, the (apparent) killing blow would have been the fact you need to fit asymetric patterned tyres in accordance with the manufacturers instructions, which unfortunately were not on the tyre...bugger, I really dont want to sound like a smart-ass, but you can see how I might argue myself out of that one. So ok, maybe not the killing blow it could be (for them), such are the regs and their ability to be interpreted openly.

The sum of the load ratings of the tyres on that axle well exceed the certified maximum loading of the car...not that I am looking at the specs of the vehicle, cause I doubt it very much the inspector did. Differences between tyres in regards to load/speed ratings are not a consideration to my knowledge. Likewise the speed ratings well exceed those of the vehicle, let's keep in mind O.E it had 'H' rated 15's and again speed ratings are nothing on their own, but are used in conjunction with the load ratings and in this instance, the tyres well exceed those for this vehicle type. The vehicle originally had 205/60-15's, then there is more than a fair chance 15 years later on, your 17" tyres will well exceed whatever the hell was on it originally. There is almost no chance it could be worse on a private motor vehicle. Industrial/commercial possibly, but doubt it.

I think most garages, adhere to the land transport 2001, 32013, 2.3(4), "a tyre must be of good quality and construction, fit for its purpose and maintained in a safe condition."

And thankfully they did today...because they are. I dont mind the regulations at all, and I dont try to find creative ways around them, but commonsense prevailed today and everyone can have their 2cents on this, but it may have been a matter of interpretation of the wof regs and a dose commonsense that got the coupe through. On another day, it may not, and when it comes I will deal with it then. If it didnt pass today, I would just fix it, no sweat.

I have yet to go to a garage for a wof and had them write down load ratings then adding them up then looking for the specs of my car whilst checking the tyre pressures with a gauge...and thats because commonsense has to come into play somewhere or your car would take 2 hours to be checked, and to put it bluntly 80% of the cars on the road would fail.

Sometimes we go to get our cars checked and think, how the hell did it get through and have a laugh...and sometimes our cars fail and we think how the hell did that happen? and they get pinged on trivial bullshit.

Today I got the former, but I have also had the later, many many times, so I am takin this one because I do not consider it personally to be a safety issue (lets say less of an issue than the worn falkens that were on it). Its not like I have a rusty brakelines.

Good points Zenetti, as an ex tyre guru I know too well the bull surrounding tread patterns and the marketed and perceived benefits and advantages they apparently hold...dont so much. The proof is found in these cheap imitation tyres made in the second world with out of date potenza tread patterns etc making not one hell of a difference to what is fundamentally a crap tyre. I like to to think "a good tread pattern does not make a good tyre." Asymmetric tyres, well I dont want to go to too far off topic, but its also a little bugbear of mine, and the proof for normal passenger cars is that its a non-issue. If I had a Veyron, I would be less likely to screw with it, but for the majority its just not an issue.

Lets get real, I have a Pirelli P Zero 245/40-17 Y rated with 6mm of tread, there is a directional 245/40-17 Direzza on the other side with 6mm tread on a 15 year old car...is not even worth talkin about, unless someone on here is happy to compare with their 15 year old 205/60-15's H rated 'legal' setup and we will see which setup is superior and safer.

I am guessing inspectors take this into account also?

On another day I may have fitted a more conventional setup, but I (think) I know what I am doing.lol. I wasnt out to take the piss. Sure I could even go back to the 15's, but I dont think so.

I better get that 050a (as in asymmetric) flipped around on the front too, cause that has got through 2 wof's now and is still going against the rotation. Again, better than previous, and its more in my mind than anything, so I will turn it around and see if it makes ANY difference, and I really doubt it will, but then some may argue that it cannot function properly because it doesnt have the corresponding partner on the otherside, which is great in theory just not warranted financially. Yes that does mean I have an entire set of illegal tyres technically!!!

Back to this thread though, the tyre fitted perfectly, no rubbing, look great, performance is much better. So in essence I would suggest for those who want to put on this size go for it, and remember the tyre reg's for your warrants as a side note as you dont want to do all that work and fail at the next check!

Cheers.

[zenetti 0]

All well and good and I don't doubt your knowledge. However as an "ex tyre guru" you may not be aware of the new WOF regs.

You can argue all you want but the WOF laws were updated recently and they state that tyres on a matching axle MUST be of the same tread pattern type ( ie both directional or both asymmetric) and the load index of the tyre MUST be within 2 of each other. IE you can have a 91 and a 93 but not a 91 and a 94. Also the speed rating MUST be the same.

If your WOF inspector is not aware of these laws he can potentially have his licence revoked. In short he should not have given you a warrant, and at the moment your car is technically "not up to WOF level". He or she should go back and read the latest updates.

The Police are also having a major crackdown on this (along with snow tyres) and believe me they WILL give you a green sticker.

Anyway good luck and I hope you don't come across a random police stop.

[kiwi328i 118]

All well and good and I don't doubt your knowledge. However as an "ex tyre guru" you may not be aware of the new WOF regs.

You can argue all you want but the WOF laws were updated recently and they state that tyres on a matching axle MUST be of the same tread pattern type ( ie both directional or both asymmetric) and the load index of the tyre MUST be within 2 of each other. IE you can have a 91 and a 93 but not a 91 and a 94. Also the speed rating MUST be the same.

If your WOF inspector is not aware of these laws he can potentially have his licence revoked. In short he should not have given you a warrant, and at the moment your car is technically "not up to WOF level". He or she should go back and read the latest updates.

The Police are also having a major crackdown on this (along with snow tyres) and believe me they WILL give you a green sticker.

Anyway good luck and I hope you don't come across a random police stop.

Yeah its hard keeping ahead of the game, if there is such a thing, most times you only know, when you fail or are forewarned by someone.

I actually dont want to argue with anyone, I either know or dont know, dont bother me too much, I cant find anything on the latest amendments to the land transport act on tyres and wheels in regards to load index's in your example, but I will keep that in mind. From experience same size tyres have roughly the same load index, if not exact esp in regards to type i.e sport, high performance etc and in my case they are both 91. It would be highly unlikely 2 tyres of the same size even if they were not in the same 'class' would differ more than 1. Not in this size anyway, but with differing ply types and amounts they can differ, i.e a 6ply and 8ply Van tyre would be significant. Ditto on the speed ratings, couldnt find anything, is that all round or on the same axle, and is that enforcable now? I have no idea, and its silly really when all they have to do is at least be equal to what was on the original, but hey I aint making the rules.

If you manage to get the same size tyres on the obviously same size rims on the same axle, anything else is rather trivial, but again I dont make em.

Havent had a sticker, yet, but then I have a fairly std 328i coupe, fingers crossed, we aint 'targeted' tbh.

Thanks for that Zenetti, more good things to consider when I get to my next change of tyres, hopefully my wallet is in better shape and I can be more of a reformist, tbh if I had the money this discussion would not be taking place, its not to take the piss, its much more a case of economics.

Cheers.

[zenetti 0]

I am not trying to start an argument either .

It is actually refreshing to have a decent conversation on here about a serious issue without insults flying and smart ass comments ruining it. As I said in a previous post I don't doubt your knowledge, I was just trying to let you know what the latest updates were.

Froma professional point of view I agree with the new amendments, it makes a lot of sense, especially given the huge and varied range of tyres available in NZ. These new regs have primarily come about because of the whole snow tyre issue.

The speed rating must be the same on the same axle. It makes sense because if you had say a 'T' on one and a 'W' on another that is a huge difference not only in terms of speed but also in terms of tyre construction.

Anyway we probably should keep it on topic like you said. Glad to hear the 245's fited your rims!

Edited March 9, 2010 by zenetti

[kiwi328i 118]

I am not trying to start an argument either .

It is actually refreshing to have a decent conversation on here about a serious issue without insults flying and smart ass comments ruining it. As I said in a previous post I don't doubt your knowledge, I was just trying to let you know what the latest updates were.

Froma professional point of view I agree with the new amendments, it makes a lot of sense, especially given the huge and varied range of tyres available in NZ. These new regs have primarily come about because of the whole snow tyre issue.

The speed rating must be the same on the same axle. It makes sense because if you had say a 'T' on one and a 'W' on another that is a huge difference not only in terms of speed but also in terms of tyre construction.

Anyway we probably should keep it on topic like you said. Glad to hear the 245's fited your rims!

I think our brethren on the other side of the Tasman may be on to something.

Its as easy as 1,2,3.

1, All tyre sizes listed on the tyre placard are regarded as O.E.

2, Any alternative tyre size must have a load rating or load index equal to or better than the minimum stated on the tyre placard.

3. Alternative wheels & tyres must not foul any component at any point over its full range of travel.

This is surely the way forward. Oh yes, those snow tyres really are an issue, they have their place I guess, its just never ever going to be on my car, which is why I believe the 'application' is more important than the hardcore data, only because performance is not a criteria when it comes to w.o.f. Which is why I think that responsibilty should end with the inspector, the car's functionary role is a complex whole of many parts, and on their own they may 'fail' but as a whole they might be just fine.

Having directional/asymmetrical tyres fitted incorrectly is a performance issue, rather than a functional issue. For example, my braking stats were absolutely perfect, and this has to be a better perspective for inspectors rather than tread pattern differences?

Having said that as soon as I get pinged, I aint going to moan, I will just fix it!

Till then I am lovin them!