Wheel width worries

[AYB280 0]

Ive upgraded my E36 318i from 15 x 7 ROH alloys which had 205/60/15 tyres on them to genuine E36 M3 wheels, 17 x 8 front and 17 x 8.9 rear with 215/45/17 and 235/40/17 tyres. Depending on the camber of the road it pulls to the side a bit, and on poor roads it follows the odd ridge or bump. Just wondering if I should be worried about this? Or whether the wider wheels will have adverse affects on the car e.g. suspension? And if anyone could recomend a good but moderatley priced tyre in the 235 size, have lost 2 now to the gravel roads!!

[martyyn 2]

With staggered wheels its common to experience whats called 'tramlining' and by the sounds of it thats what your getting.

Slightly unnerving when it happens the first couple of times, but there is nothing you can do about it other than change to the same tyre size all around.

As for the tyres it all depends what you want out of them. Try a search, there are plenty of threads on tyres in here

[westy 614]

It could just be the brand of tyre you're using.

Some tyres are really bad and some are sweet.We had tramlining disappear on both cars with a tyre change.Both running 17x8.

Your front tyre may also be a touch small at 215.Could be making it worse.

Imo the wheel width is fine.

[AYB280 0]

Thanks for that, its good to hear the tramlining isnt anything to worry about. And yes, I can see the merits of going back to my old wheels, but my original reason for replacing the wheels (apart from wanting some unique 17"s) was that I live on a long windy gravel road with a lot of sweeping corners. I enjoy releasing all 85 or so kw (lol) and with the old wheels, found myself pointing the wrong way after a paticuarly enthusiastic corner more than once. With the new tyres I have found I can get to school a lot faster, and turn in on the gravel is sharper. I also dont have ABS, and have had a few dodgy moments on wet tarseal before, the wider tyre width has made a noticeable difference. The tyres werent standard size, and Im not too sure if anything wider than what I have now will fit without rubbing. I assume the M3 has a lot more space for wide wheels than my car. I can live with the slight understeer and tramlining, but its good to hear its not doing anything bad to the suspension.