Possibly the dumbest question ever about my 2004 330Ci w/Sport Package

[fleiscd]

Hello and feel free the laugh.

The Sports Package comes with the following wheels/tires

"wheels, 17 x 7.5 front, 17 x 8.5 rear; 225/45R-17 front, 245/40R-17 rear performance tires"

I bought the same size snow tires for the winter (they worked ok, but I still couldn't make it up some medium sized hills). I had the snow tired removed recently and had the original tires put back on.

From what I'm reading above, the wheels are different sizes and the largers wheels go in the back the smaller go in the front. The guys at the tire place told me the wheels were all the same size and it didn't matter (again, we're talking about the wheels (rims) not the actual tires).

Do I have to worry about what wheels go where?

 

[northstar]

Hello and feel free the laugh.

The Sports Package comes with the following wheels/tires

"wheels, 17 x 7.5 front, 17 x 8.5 rear; 225/45R-17 front, 245/40R-17 rear performance tires"

I bought the same size snow tires for the winter (they worked ok, but I still couldn't make it up some medium sized hills). I had the snow tired removed recently and had the original tires put back on.

From what I'm reading above, the wheels are different sizes and the largers wheels go in the back the smaller go in the front. The guys at the tire place told me the wheels were all the same size and it didn't matter (again, we're talking about the wheels (rims) not the actual tires).

Do I have to worry about what wheels go where?

http://www.sizes.com/home/automobile_wheels.htm

The above link shows the description for the wheels.

Since you are using 245mm width tires for the rear then you should use the 17 x 8.5 rims for the rear. This is needed for the wider rear tires. If the statement by the guys at the tire place were true, BMW would have given you 17 x 7.5 for all four wheels.

 

[codex57]

Your tire guy prolly doesn't know BMW's and sports cars. Some cars come with different sized wheels. Not all do, but some BMWs do. Smaller goes in front, bigger goes in back.

I'd also try and find another tire guy.

 

[MyHarley]

OK I"m confused by the replies...................

wheels versus tires

The tires are bigger in the back and smaller in the front as my tires are 18 in the front and 18.5 in the rear...............BUT........... the wheels are the same size all around, only the tires are of different size........right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it is possible to have the same size wheels all around, but what makes the difference is the size of the tire.........you dont get 18" wheels in the front and 18 1/2" wheels in the rear..........see what I'm saying Kemo Sabi!!!

 

[northstar]

OK I"m confused by the replies...................

wheels versus tires

The tires are bigger in the back and smaller in the front as my tires are 18 in the front and 18.5 in the rear...............BUT........... the wheels are the same size all around, only the tires are of different size........right? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it is possible to have the same size wheels all around, but what makes the difference is the size of the tire.........you dont get 18" wheels in the front and 18 1/2" wheels in the rear..........see what I'm saying Kemo Sabi!!!

Long Ranger, I am sorry but I am some what confused by your post.
Lets take your vehicle(2003 330cic) for example. I am assuming from your post that you have the 18" wheels options. In front: 18 x 8.0 wheels and 225/40R-18 tires; at the rear: 18 x 8.5 wheels and 255/35R-18 tires. Both the front and rear are 18" wheels. The extra 0.5" wheel width(8.5) for the rear wheels is required for the wider tires in the back(255mm) wide.

18 x 8.5 = diameter x width

I apologize for any confusion. May be some of the senior members can help me out or correct me if I am wrong.

 

[bmwrocks]

I think the answer is stated somewhere in these posts. On the factory sport packaged '04 330ci vehicles, the rear wheels and tires are larger than the front wheels and tires. Period. You cannot rotate or interchange front to rear. Period. Well I guess you could exchange them front to rear, but it would muck up the performance for sure.

Note that with the 17" sport wheels, you get a front wheel and tire for a spare, so it is OK and safe enough to put that spare in any location for a short time.

 

[Average Jae]

i believe the word you are looking for is "staggered" and that means you can't rotate them as mentioned by bmwrocks. tell your tire genious that your tires are staggered, and it does matter where you put what tire.

also, since your tires are probably directional, you'll need to put the rims back where they belong.

bmws with their sports packages also have different width rims for front and back. some times 7.5 front to 8.5 in the back, or 8.0 front to 8.5 in the back.

Dan, when you got your snows, you should've gotten the same size all around with rims. (if you haven't, too late now ) and btw, not all snows are created equal, so i don't really know what you can blame for not making up a medium sized hill. your ride height and amount of snow on that particular hill also makes a difference.

 

[kormax97]

It's a rear wheel drive.. why even bother having snow tires and driving it in the snow?

The difference between 225/45R-17 and 245/40R-17 is about 6mm in difference in height of the total rim+tire. So not-so-technically speaking, front and rear is same in height.
However, the width of the tire is 20mm in difference. You CAN put the tires on either front or rear rims BUT that'll just mess up everything. They needed to be on the wheel it was on before the winter tires were on. So no, your mechanic don't know jack about tires.

 

[///M SPEED]

Look at this way if your rims are all the same you can buy the same size tire all around however, it is recommended to still not rotate the tires.

If you have different size rims front and back (back is bigger) you will need to put larger tires on and definitely you should not stagger. The stock camber on BMW is pretty big and it would be noticeably different if you did rotate. It would be unstable...

P.S. In the snow you would want skinner tires. They give better traction....