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[BimmerRookie]

Hey guys, I'm pretty new to the community here and I wanted to ask something that's been on my mind for awhile. As I said, I'm new to the community and also new to modifying my car. I just got my M in December and haven't done a thing to it...I've never been a DIY guy really, and I get real excited when I see some of the amazingly creative things some of the guys here do to their cars. So, I'm relocating this summer and getting a nice new job at an oil company so more money is going to be coming in. With that being said, when my current tires go out I want to replace them and get new wheels.

I want to change out my wheels and tires for something more aggressive. I love the stock 19" wheels that came on mine, but I also love the looks of the EC-7's. I've seen a ton of people running different setups (in regards to wheel and tires sizes), but I'm not sure what to run myself. I understand tire sizes 100%, but what I DON'T understand is:

1) Wheel sizes (like what does ET and the number after that mean)
2) For certain wheel sizes, how do you know if a spacer is required
3) How do you know a tire is too large for the wheel

Also, for those of you who did increase your tires size, do you end up spending more on tire changes than before? Significantly more? The reason why I ask is because I'm a recent college grad, new job, relocating to a new city, and trying to spend sensibly...

Overall, I'm asking: what's the most aggressive (yet reasonable) tire and wheel combo (for the EC-7's) without the need of spacers, on a stock setup, without rubbing?

If y'all could help me out or point me in the right direction, it would be super appreciated. Like I said, I've been meaning to ask this for a long time, but was kind of scared I would get crucified...

Have a great day guys!

[Amirsm3]

ET is the offset. What that means is the relative distance from the middle of the wheel to the mounting surface. So, something that's 18x9+27 has the mounting surface 27mm towards the face of the wheel coming from the middle. The lower the number is, the more "aggressive" your wheels will look (there are more variables like wheel width that affect the stance of the wheel, but that's essentially it).

On stock setup, you can run

18x9.5+22
18x10.5+27

As far as tires, you can get 265/35/18 for the front and 285/35/18 for the rear. That'll maintain the OEM tire width variance.

[IzzyGray]

Originally Posted by BimmerRookie

Hey guys, I'm pretty new to the community here and I wanted to ask something that's been on my mind for awhile. As I said, I'm new to the community and also new to modifying my car. I just got my M in December and haven't done a thing to it...I've never been a DIY guy really, and I get real excited when I see some of the amazingly creative things some of the guys here do to their cars. So, I'm relocating this summer and getting a nice new job at an oil company so more money is going to be coming in. With that being said, when my current tires go out I want to replace them and get new wheels.

I want to change out my wheels and tires for something more aggressive. I love the stock 19" wheels that came on mine, but I also love the looks of the EC-7's. I've seen a ton of people running different setups (in regards to wheel and tires sizes), but I'm not sure what to run myself. I understand tire sizes 100%, but what I DON'T understand is:

1) Wheel sizes (like what does ET and the number after that mean)
2) For certain wheel sizes, how do you know if a spacer is required
3) How do you know a tire is too large for the wheel

Also, for those of you who did increase your tires size, do you end up spending more on tire changes than before? Significantly more? The reason why I ask is because I'm a recent college grad, new job, relocating to a new city, and trying to spend sensibly...

Overall, I'm asking: what's the most aggressive (yet reasonable) tire and wheel combo (for the EC-7's) without the need of spacers, on a stock setup, without rubbing?

If y'all could help me out or point me in the right direction, it would be super appreciated. Like I said, I've been meaning to ask this for a long time, but was kind of scared I would get crucified...

Have a great day guys!

Gonna try to answer to the best of my knowledge:

1: ET is offset. So if it says ET25, it means the offset is 25. ET actually stands for Einpress Tieffe in German.
2: Other than aesthetics, spacers are generally used to clear a BBK or springs(if lowered). There's compiled lists on this site as far as what wheel clears BBK and what tire specs will rub/not rub.
3: Wheel size. Obviously the actual diameter matters. So you can't fit an 18" tire on a 19" wheel(duh!) but the tire width is another factor. So my Forgestars are 11" in the rear and the 295 tires fit nicely. I also have a 10.5" rear wheels for winter and the stock 265 does not cover it well(looks stretched). Another big factor is tire height. I bought a set of 255/55/19 tires and although it fits my wheel, it does not clear the wheel well for the M3(clears an M5 though).

I don't have the EC-7 so I'm unsure what tires would work best. I'm sure someone would chime in soon enough though!

[nicebraces]

No need to be "scared" my friend ... We were all newbies here at one point in time!!! There are plenty knowledgeable gents here on this forum with a wealth of knowledge on our cars ... Congrats!!

[Installsplus]

Originally Posted by nicebraces

No need to be "scared" my friend ... We were all newbies here at one point in time!!! There are plenty knowledgeable gents here on this forum with a wealth of knowledge on our cars ... Congrats!!

well said :