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[Robbie!]

I went to the tire store to check out rims today. I had heard that the E90 uses a special rim, and that the e46 wheels WILL NOT FIT. The guy at the tire place heard the same. He asked if I would not mind pulling my car in and he had some e46 wheels that fit. The offset is only 4mm different. my car has 17's ... I want 16's for the winter. the offset is 38 and new offset will be 34 or vice versa. Will this affect at all my handling, speedometer or anything with my car?

The wheel he tested is a 17" but he said there is no difference with the 16". They were also relived that they wouldnt have to order special wheels for just the e90.

So before I buy them, will they work or is the tire store pulling a fast one on me?

So will these work on a 325i with sports package, I am going to buy 16" rather than 17".

Thanks.

[Bimmerista]

I would have them try to fit them, just to make sure, the brakes on the 325 e90 are larger than on the e46. So while the 17 in fit, it does not necessarily mean that the 16 in will.

[xyz123]

Originally Posted by Robbie!

I went to the tire store to check out rims today. I had heard that the E90 uses a special rim, and that the e46 wheels WILL NOT FIT. The guy at the tire place heard the same. He asked if I would not mind pulling my car in and he had some e46 wheels that fit. The offset is only 4mm different. my car has 17's ... I want 16's for the winter. the offset is 38 and new offset will be 34 or vice versa. Will this affect at all my handling, speedometer or anything with my car?

The wheel he tested is a 17" but he said there is no difference with the 16". They were also relived that they wouldnt have to order special wheels for just the e90.

So before I buy them, will they work or is the tire store pulling a fast one on me?

So will these work on a 325i with sports package, I am going to buy 16" rather than 17".

Thanks.

I recall that someone in a different thread here wanting to use his E46 rims for snows on his E90 reported test mounting them and finding that the rears fit but the fronts interfered with the brake calipers.

I found a wheel/tire dealer in a Toronto suburb who brings in rims for the E90 from Tirerack in the USA. So you can go to Tirerack's website and pick any rim that they sell for your car. If it is specified for your car by Tirerack I would be confident that it will fit. I ordered a set of 16" Borbet Type E's for my 325i from the local dealer. If you have not bought yet, I wouldn't wait around too long - tires might be hard to find. His supplier for Pirelli Sottozero's is sold out until January and his local Bridgestone LM22 source is currently out of stock also. He ended up ordering LM22's for me from somewhere in the USA. The cost for the package is the same, maybe even a few bucks less, as all the other tire dealers around here selling replicas and the same tires. It only takes 3 or 4 days to bring the stuff in from the states.

According to the technical information on Tirerack's website, the Borbets are low pressure castings. I don't know how the replicas being sold around here are made; if they are gravity cast, the Borbets should be lighter and maybe of higher quality. Borbet apparently makes OEM rims for various car makers.