[Expert@ApexWheels]

F30 3-Series Staggered Fitment – Wide and Mildly Aggressive

Front: 18X9” ET42 EC-7. Rear: 18×9.5” ET43 EC-7

If you want a wider, more aggressive, and spacer-free fitment and your F30 isn’t too low this is a great setup for you. What’s wrong with low cars? Nothing; but our F30 is at 25.25” (this is low) in front and we get a little rubbing on the fender liner. It looks great, and we think the minor rubbing is worth it, especially since there are no other compromises*. We could always choose to raise our F30 a bit or use 235/40 tires in the front, but probably won’t. To us, it’s perfect just the way it is.!



Our F30 came with 17X7.5” wheels with 225/50 tires. By moving to the 18×9 and 18×9.5” wheel package we are able to run 245/40 and 255/40 tires front and rear, while saving 13 lbs. over the original wheel and tire package, even with larger and wider wheels, and wider tires. This weight savings is significant as it is rotational mass, which impacts performance far more than static weight. The new tire sizes are not only a great width** for our upgraded setup but they are a near-perfect overall diameter for the F30, which is taller than the previous previous 3 Series. Using a 9.5” wheel in the rear in combination with the 9” wheel in front allowed us to use a wider 255/40 tire in back and add more concavity with a profile 2 EC-7. The staggered setup is more aggressive looking and works well with the F30.

As a test, we drove our F30 328i, lowered on KW V3s, with the new wheels and tires on an over 700 mile round trip to Bimmerfest 2013 in Pasadena, CA. It was remarkable how much nicer the car was when we would do the “Look Back Test.” It also got a lot more looks. There was no rubbing in the front*** that we could hear and that was ith 3 people and luggage in the car. Although we know it contacts the fender liner in front there is absolutely no rubbing in the rear with this specific tire and wheel size.



The Rubbing
Once the tire wears away at the plastic in the fender liner, the rubbing stops as the front tires self-clearance themselves. We know that sounds a little silly but life is about compromises and the low ride height and wider tires look so good.

We believe the rubbing would be reduced on F30s that are not as low as ours at 25.25” from the center of the fender to the ground and you could choose to run a 235/40/18 which could reduce or eliminate the rubbing.


* This is a direct fitment with no spacers required front or rear ** By using a 235/40/18 tire on the 9” front wheel you will reduce the risk of rubbing the fender liner. *** We now know there was some minor rubbing. Staying at a 25.25” or higher ride height could significantly reduce the rubbing or completely eliminate it

Specifications:

• Car/chassis: 2013 F30 328i.
• Wheel model: EC-7, Race Silver, 18X9” ET42 Front and 18X9.5” ET43 Rear.
• Tires: 245/40/18 front and 255/40/18 rear Toyo Proxes T1-Sport.
  • A 235/40/18 tire on the front, 18X9” ET42 wheel would likely eliminate the minor rubbing
• Suspension: KW Variant 3 Coilovers.
• Camber: -0.7 degrees without camber plates in the front and -2.0 degrees in the rear.
• Ride Height: 25.25” front and rear.
• Spacers: None.
• Fenders and body modifications: None.
• Brakes: OEM. No clearance issue
• Clearance
  • Front: Rim – Strut; 7mm, Tire – Perch: 4mm, Tire – Fender: 3mm.
    
  • Rear: Rim – Strut; 45mm, Tire – Strut; 41mm, Tire – Fender; 5mm.

Details: Tires, Suspension, Camber Plates, Spacer, Brakes
Tires
In comparison to the 225/50/17 stock tires, the 245/40/18 and 255/40/18 on this fitment are significantly wider. The TOYO T1 Sport isn’t a particularly meaty tire but it doesn’t run narrow either. You can feel comfortable choosing almost any non-extreme summer or R-compound tire in these sizes, knowing they could fit. Some makes and models of the same size could run wider and cause inner and outer clearance issues with their wider arc when turning or under compression.



Suspension
KW helped us with our F30 project by sending us their V3 Coilovers. We fell in love with them because they’re a high quality, street-oriented system that is very comfortable and controlled while having great high performance characteristics. You can use them in their default setup from KW for the street or dial up the rebound and compression for track use and high performance driving.

This fitment, with the V3s on the F30 has 4mm of clearance from the tire to the lower spring perch in front and 41mm in the rear. There is no issue with spring clearance.

NOTE: The KW V3′s use progressive, conical springs. Progressive springs have a V shape and can reduce inner clearance because the spring grows in width from the bottom up. This can cause fitment issues with the tire hitting the spring. Additionally, there are some coilovers that may cause issues with the tire hitting the spring or lower spring perch because of a long spring that pushes the lower perch down to the widest part of the tire and sometimes below.



Camber and Camber Plates
Adding negative camber (camber angle) with camber plates is almost always recommended to customers looking to run a wide, meaty tire in the front of a BMW. As of writing this (07/`5/2013), there are no camber plates available for the F30 that we can recommend.

We currently run a 245/40/18 on our F30 with -0.7 degrees of camber. In examining fitments and mounting wider wheels on the front we can see a 255/35/18 easily fitting if we had camber plates. Although we would have to test it, it looks like -1.5 degrees of camber would be plenty to get the wider tire to clear. If we raised the ride height by ¼-½”, used a shorter and straight-wound (linear) main spring, and added -2.5 degrees of camber, it wouldn’t be surprising if a 265/35/18 fit. We’ll test these and let you know in another article.

Other Benefits of Negative Camber
Additional negative camber balances a BMWs handling and significantly increases its performance. Racers typically run an additional -1 degree of camber on the front compared to the rear, sometimes more. From the factory, BMWs typically have +2 degrees more camber in the front compared to the rear. Although this is done to give you early warning in the front tires when you’re going a little too fast in corners it biases grip to the rear tires. By adding negative camber to the front you can more perfectly balance a BMW’s handling by creating similar levels of grip, front and rear.

Wider front tires also contribute to perfectly balanced handling on a BMW. If you want to run aggressively wide tires in the front, negative camber (commonly referred to as “more camber”) is almost always necessary to help clear the front fender by tucking the wheel under it.

Spacers
This is a spacer-free fitment. The fitment is as flush as you can get without the tires rubbing or requiring you roll your front fenders. There is no functional need to push the wheels out more with these summer tire sizes.

Brakes
Although we are using the non-Sport OEM brakes this fitment was tested with StopTech’s 345 ST40, 355 ST60, and the 380 ST60 BBKs for the 335.

• Tested with Stoptech 355 ST60 and 355 ST40s for an F30 335 with over 5mm of clearance at the spoke and rim.
• Tested with Stoptech 380 ST60s. Requires a 5mm spacer to clear the rim. This setup isn’t possible to run in the front unless camber plates are used with approximately -2 to -3 degrees of camber.
• At the date – 08/02/13 – of writing this article StopTech does not produce a BBK for the F30 328i but will soon.

Wrapping it Up
Much wider tires, better performance, concavity, better aesthetic, are all reasons why this fitment is a great choice. If the 1 minor drawback of rubbing on the front fender liner isn’t ok with you, we feel it could probably be eliminated by raising the car a ¼-½”, although we would have to test this to be sure. You could also choose to run the 18X9” ET42 EC-7 up front with a 235/40/18. You could also use the 235/40/18 on our 18X8.5” ET35 EC-7, which looks exactly like the 18X9” EC-7 with a 245/40/18.

[rallybull]

Awesome thread. Wonder what is the ride height with the M Perf suspension. I know it is 20mm lower than base model.

With that lowered suspension, is there any chance at all of rubbing with 8.5" in front with 225/45 tires? (And 9.5 255 in the back)

[JN1]

NOTE: The KW V3′s use progressive, conical springs. Progressive springs have a V shape and can reduce inner clearance because the spring grows in width from the bottom up. This can cause fitment issues with the tire hitting the spring. Additionally, there are some coilovers that may cause issues with the tire hitting the spring or lower spring perch because of a long spring that pushes the lower perch down to the widest part of the tire and sometimes below.

This could be corrected with just a lower offset in the rear, right?

[RSXDC5]

Thank you for putting in the time to write this up, it is very helpful, especially when determining inner clearances.

[RJK993]

is it safe to assume these will clear the OEM m-performance brake option?

edit::

will the ARC-8's also fit?

[Expert@ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by rallybull

Awesome thread. Wonder what is the ride height with the M Perf suspension. I know it is 20mm lower than base model.

What that lowered suspension, is there any chance at all of rubbing with 8.5" in front with 225/45 tires? (And 9.5 255 in the back)

There should not be any issues with rubbing with the 18x8.5" ET35 EC-7's with 225/45/18 since the 18x8.5" ET35 will only extend towards the fender by 1mm, but the narrower 225/45/18 also reduces the diameter by 0.63 inches, so the wheels and tires will not be as close to the fender liner as our F30 with the KW V3's was. We believe that the 235/40/18 tire size would also fit without issue, though we have not tested this yet.

Originally Posted by JNLBC

This could be corrected with just a lower offset in the rear, right?

The progressive springs would only be an issue on the front suspension, since the rear suspension has the springs and shock separate from each other, so the wheels and tires would not interfere. On the front, a lower offset would not be able to clear the front fenders, so that would not be a viable solution.

Originally Posted by RSXDC5

Thank you for putting in the time to write this up, it is very helpful, especially when determining inner clearances.

We're glad you enjoyed it!

Originally Posted by RJK993

is it safe to assume these will clear the OEM m-performance brake option?

edit::

will the ARC-8's also fit?

The EC-7's should clear the OEM M-performance brakes without any issues due to the design of the spokes. We have not been able to test the ARC-8's yet, but we don't foresee any issues with barrel clearance.

[M.Suka]

Originally Posted by rallybull

Awesome thread. Wonder what is the ride height with the M Perf suspension. I know it is 20mm lower than base model.

With that lowered suspension, is there any chance at all of rubbing with 8.5" in front with 225/45 tires? (And 9.5 255 in the back)

I have the same set up and it fits perfect.

[rallybull]

Originally Posted by M.Suka

I have the same set up and it fits perfect.

Ah! I didn't realize you had the M-Perf suspension too

Will a regular "discount tires" kind of shop be able to install and properly align the wheels? (Not sure what aspects of alignment need to be looked into going from 8" square setup to 8.5" and 9.5" staggered setup, e.g. camber adjustment, etc)

[M.Suka]

Originally Posted by rallybull

Ah! I didn't realize you had the M-Perf suspension too

Will a regular "discount tires" kind of shop be able to install and properly align the wheels? (Not sure what aspects of alignment need to be looked into going from 8" square setup to 8.5" and 9.5" staggered setup, e.g. camber adjustment, etc)

Sorry missed that I just have the stock M Sport suspension, But there is plenty of room for even coilovers.

[LACSTER]

Those wheels look horrible on your car! I think you should sell them to me

[rallybull]

I'm really torn between the 225/45 vs the 245/40 in the front.

I know a number of people (including Number, jbass and a few others) have tried the 245/40 in the front, but none of them have had conical springs (I guess).

I felt the gap with my current BMW OEM wheels (225/45) and there seems to be so little space remaining between the springs and the tire. Really don't want the skinny 225/45 on the 8.5" wheels; at the same time can't figure out if 245/40 will cause rubbing with the conical springs that come with the M Perf Suspension.

EDIT: I also don't understand the rationale behind suggesting 235/40 as an alternative to 245/40. The 235/40 will be 2.5% off (in diameter) compared to rears (255/40). Why not suggest 235/40 instead? (At least that will be off by just over 1%)

EDIT: What is the worst case scenario if rubbing happens? Could you possibly meet with an accident? Could it damage the car in any way? Will it prevent full lock turns?

[ƒ°]

Originally Posted by rallybull

I'm really torn between the 225/45 vs the 245/40 in the front.

I know a number of people (including Number, jbass and a few others) have tried the 245/40 in the front, but none of them have had conical springs (I guess).

I felt the gap with my current BMW OEM wheels (225/45) and there seems to be so little space remaining between the springs and the tire. Really don't want the skinny 225/45 on the 8.5" wheels; at the same time can't figure out if 245/40 will cause rubbing with the conical springs that come with the M Perf Suspension.

EDIT: I also don't understand the rationale behind suggesting 235/40 as an alternative to 245/40. The 235/40 will be 2.5% off (in diameter) compared to rears (255/40). Why not suggest 235/40 instead? (At least that will be off by just over 1%)

EDIT: What is the worst case scenario if rubbing happens? Could you possibly meet with an accident? Could it damage the car in any way? Will it prevent full lock turns?

I am actually running (was running) 245/45 on a 18x8.5 wheel for the front. Jbass is running the 245/40 on an 18x9 wheel.

[RSXDC5]

Originally Posted by rallybull

I'm really torn between the 225/45 vs the 245/40 in the front.

I know a number of people (including Number, jbass and a few others) have tried the 245/40 in the front, but none of them have had conical springs (I guess).

I felt the gap with my current BMW OEM wheels (225/45) and there seems to be so little space remaining between the springs and the tire. Really don't want the skinny 225/45 on the 8.5" wheels; at the same time can't figure out if 245/40 will cause rubbing with the conical springs that come with the M Perf Suspension.

EDIT: I also don't understand the rationale behind suggesting 235/40 as an alternative to 245/40. The 235/40 will be 2.5% off (in diameter) compared to rears (255/40). Why not suggest 235/40 instead? (At least that will be off by just over 1%)

EDIT: What is the worst case scenario if rubbing happens? Could you possibly meet with an accident? Could it damage the car in any way? Will it prevent full lock turns?

I just picked up a set of 245/40/18 BFGoodrich Rival tires (I'm on my stock M-Sport suspension and have 0 rubbing at all), these tires are supposed to spank other high performance tires in the same catagory (re-11, rs-3, etc.) I've been on them now for a few days and they have really really really changed the character of the car. It is now much more direct, grippy, and lively. I picked them up on special (its probably still going on) for $199/each from tire rack. Check them out! There are a few youtube reviews of the tires as well

[rallybull]

Originally Posted by RSXDC5

I just picked up a set of 245/40/18 BFGoodrich Rival tires (I'm on my stock M-Sport suspension and have 0 rubbing at all), these tires are supposed to spank other high performance tires in the same catagory (re-11, rs-3, etc.) I've been on them now for a few days and they have really really really changed the character of the car. It is now much more direct, grippy, and lively. I picked them up on special (its probably still going on) for $199/each from tire rack. Check them out! There are a few youtube reviews of the tires as well

Are you running those on EC-7?? If so, what is the size of your front wheel?

[RSXDC5]

Originally Posted by rallybull

Are you running those on EC-7?? If so, what is the size of your front wheel?

I'm running the squared setup 245/40/18's on the stock staggered M-Sport 18 inch wheels (the fronts are 18x8 +34 and the rears are 18x8.5+47). I figured I needed tires regardless so I pulled the trigger on them and am still deciding on some light weight 18's...looking at the arc-8's & ex-7's as a squared 18x9.5 +35 setup, the problem is that you will need straight linear springs (not conical like the kw's), as well as camber plates (you'll need like -3 in the front and then -2 in the rear). So, really just waiting on camber plates from vorschlag or a good damper set that includes camber plates.

[DVC]

Originally Posted by RSXDC5

I'm running the 245/40/18's on the stock staggered M-Sport 18 inch wheels (the fronts are 18x8 +34 and the rears are 18x8.5+47). I figured I needed tires regardless so I pulled the trigger on them and am still deciding on some light weight 18's...looking at the arc-8's & ex-7's as a squared 18x9.5 +35 setup, the problem is that you will need straight linear springs (not conical like the kw's), as well as camber plates (you'll need like -3 in the front and then -2 in the rear). So, really just waiting on camber plates from vorschlag or a good damper set that includes camber plates.

Might be worth considering square 18x9 ARC-8s - no need to wait for camber plates to shoehorn them in there. (This is the setup I went with)

[rallybull]

Looks like it is either going to be the 225/45 Michelin Pilot A/S 3 OR a 235/45 Conti DWS for the front for me. Which one would be your pick? (Unfortunately the Michelin is not available in the 235/45 size)

Will a 225/45 on a 8.5" rim be too stretched to cause the car to lose grip easily? (rears will be 255/40 on 9.5")

[DVC]

Originally Posted by rallybull

Looks like it is either going to be the 225/45 Michelin Pilot A/S 3 OR a 235/45 Conti DWS for the front for me. Which one would be your pick? (Unfortunately the Michelin is not available in the 235/45 size)

Will a 225/45 on a 8.5" rim be too stretched to cause the car to lose grip easily? (rears will be 255/40 on 9.5")

Yes, a 225 Pilot A/S 3 will be OK on an 8.5" wheel.

(Alternatively, you could just go with 245/40s all around)

[M-terkait]

I have Msport suspension -10mm than standard and Msport brakes
considering EC-7
not sure what sizes would fit in without issues or using spaces and looks good.
not buying it for look am buying it for performance ofc

[Expert@ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by M-terkait

I have Msport suspension -10mm than standard and Msport brakes
considering EC-7
not sure what sizes would fit in without issues or using spaces and looks good.
not buying it for look am buying it for performance ofc

The 18x8.5" ET35 and 18x9" ET42 is the more conservative fitment that some F30 owners have used on their cars without the need for spacers. However, if you're looking for the best look on the car and are not planning to lower the car significantly in the future, the featured fitment of 18x9" ET42 and 18x9.5" ET43 would be the setup to choose!