Wheel Rubbing rear arches

[parvy]

Hi Guys,

I have 8.0 J x 16" BBS RS1's wearing 225/45 16 tyres on the front, these are running fine. However, on the rear I have 9.0 J x 16" BBS RS1's wearing the same 225/45 16 tyres, these seem to be rubbing the rear arches when passengers are sitting in the rear and the car is pushed.

Are there any ways I can eliminate this problem. I believe some people have rolled their wheel arches, what are the pros and cons of doing this? Does this change the shape of the arch? How much does this roughly cost for the two rear arches?

I have also heard of skimming the rear arches, has anyone done this? Is this recommended?

Your advise will be most appreciated!

[vlad]

225/40/16 would be ideal size for 9x16 rim...

what's the rims offset? Yes, you can roll the lip on the rear quarter panel if it rubbs

[CAOSyAMOR]

could it be a suspension issue?

[parvy]

I actually 8.5J in the front, I will check the offset and let you know!

I want to get this sorted quickly before it starts shaving the tyre wall!!!

btw, I dont think its a suspension issue.

If I was to put a 40 profile tyre on, do you reckon the rub will still be there? I reckon it will, but wont be that significant.

[chutrain]

It's not the suspension. The 40 profile might work, but you might as well try to roll the rear quarter panels first. Make sure you do it soon because burning through the paint should be your major concern. It should be cheaper to roll them than getting two brand new tires. See what the offset is though.

[///Mflossin]

It could certainly be that your suspension is too low. I ran 225-45's on my 9" wide wheels and that is with a 5mm spacer and no rubbing (net ET19). You have to have the correct offset and the correct suspension height.

[parvy]

Right guys, I have finally got round to checking the actual measurements:

Fronts are = 8.0J x 16 ET 20 (Tyres = 225 45 16)
Rears are = 9.0J x 16 ET 24 (Tyres = 225 45 16)

I think I have decided to live with it for the mean time, because I dont really want to roll the arches or modify the rims in any way. Its only a real issue when the car is full and when its under heavy acceleration (which I dont do very often).

Does anyone know of any original 16's for sale?

[chutrain]

I looked at some of the pictures of your car. Like you said, it shouldn't be any problems if it was just you and a passenger in the front. You have a good amount of clearance in the rear without anyone in the back.

However, you said that it rubs under hard acceleration, or is that also with people in the back?

[parvy]

The car is running on standard M3 suspension and I intend to keep it that way. It only rubs when there are passengers in the back otherwise it is fine.

Thanks for the info

[ChewM3]

This is the deal
The tire package that you have is the preffered race setup by some (according to most documents that bmw as printed in the past). The wheel width is ok as well depending on the offset. with that said. As long as you have the adjusted lower control arm bushings (in the front) you will be fine unless you are turning and hit an agressive dip it will rub and may even pull the front fender some. On the rear to prevent any rubbing it is better to cut/trim the fender as sometimes rolling it will can cause fender distortion. if you want pictures let me know. The wheel and tire setup that you have i had on my m3 as well. Just my 2 cents

[e30s50]

Hey guys, Not sure if I can post here about non M3 e30's but if anyone can help with this please, if not let me know and I'll remove the post... I'm finally in the finishing stages of my s50 swap and refurb of an E30 325is, while testing it yesterday the rear tyres started rubbing the wheel arch, forward of the wheel, say the 10 o'clock position as you look at the wheel (strange place to rub) when the spring is being heavily compressed (like cornoring hard or over crest with a slight lefthand turn) the upper archs have been rolled, if not it would have rubbed there also. It seems to be happening more severly on the drivers side but I think this is due to most of the hard cornoring being done on left hand bends. I'm running 4 stud, 215x40 R17 tyres, wheels are ET20 offset (R17's were needed for BBK up front as was the ET20 offset, R15 previously fitted), the rear beam has been made camber and caster adjustable, rear suspension has been poly bushed, Bilstein dampers (can't remember if there called sport or sprint, but they are the ones with higher dampening), H+R Springs with 25mm drop for 325is, I have tried some spax and bilstein rear spring for a 325is with the same result. Before It seems as it the spring force is too low or maybe the offset is too low , any help would be great