Alloy wheel question

[Muzz]

Im looking at a set of new alloys from a Z4 for my 97 Z3 will these fit. I keep reading about offsets but dont know what this means.The once ive looked at have an offset of 34 front and 32 rear what does this mean and if they are no good what kind of offset will I need.Thanks in advance,
Dave

[seaDog]

Offset is simply the distance from the hub mounting surface of the wheel to the centerline of the wheel. The diagram below might make it easier to understand


So in your case, the offset of 32 means you are looking at the right hand diagram of the 3 and the length of the red line with the two arrows on would be 32mm (offset 32). Your standard z3 wheels depending on style will most probably be an offset of 46 so if you put the same width alloys on, the 32offset alloys would be 14mm further away from the shocks/struts and extend an extra 14mm out of the line of the wheel arches.

If the z4 alloys are wider than your current z3 alloys then you need to check what difference it will make using an offset calculator like this one

http://www.1010tires.com/wheeloffsetcalculator.asp

Hope that makes it a little clearer and good luck with the new wheels, I think those offsets will be fine, provided they are not too wide.

Jas

[Muzz]

Thanks for that .going on the above I think they might stick out a little bit so might see if I can find some Z3 wheels.But I will look into it further before making a decision.
Thanks

[Jonttt]

Muzz you normally have 10-15mm of additional offset to play with on the non ///M Z3's ie the OEM wheels have an offset resulting in the wheels being 10-15mm inside the wheel arches. ITs common to fit c10mm spacers to bring the OEM wheels out to the line of the wheel arch.

So the front would be borderline but I think OK but the rears may be a little too far out but may look OK.

As stated above though its not just the offset you need to know but also the wheel width (as a different width wheel move the centre line the offset is calculated from)

ps I'm sure someone on here has Z4 wheels on their Z3 and from memory they fitted OK.

[peterandjenny]

z4 wheels on our first z3 offset seemed exactly the same.
now have a staggered set as the wider rears look better , could still do with 10mm spacers though.
I think any e36 or e 46 wheels will fit as well.

[g8jka]

ps I'm sure someone on here has Z4 wheels on their Z3 and from memory they fitted OK.

I had Z4 18" ellipsoid alloys fitted to mine for a short while and they fitted fine but I can't remember what the offsets were. I also have 18's with 35 offset front and rear. Fronts are 8 inch wide and rears are 9 inch wide and they sit perfect.

[Dav]

The offsets on original Z4 wheels are 47 front and 50 rear so the wheels you are looking at are from something else.
What width are these wheels?

[Muzz]

been looking at sooo many and just relised the once I found are e90 wheels 255 width

[seaDog]

They will be too wide me thinks, if they are 9J wheels, thats an extra 39mm closer to the edge of the wings. You need to confirm the full wheel spec before making a decision.

Regards

Jas