Tire Experts...?

[Biggins]

Will a 205/50/15 tire work relatively well and even work at all on an E36? They would go on the OEM BMW 15x7 wheels.

The size of my snow set and the crap all-seasons that are on my current "summer wheels" are the standard OEM E36 205/60/15. I guess it would change my rolling diameter by 20mm, but are there any serious issues that you guys think could arise by changing the tire size so drastically?

There are just ZERO options for a good summer tire in the 205/60 and 205/55 sizes. Any expertise would be greatly appreciated!

[Optimus Prime]

Will a 205/50/15 tire work relatively well and even work at all on an E36? They would go on the OEM BMW 15x7 wheels.

The size of my snow set and the crap all-seasons that are on my current "summer wheels" are the standard OEM E36 205/60/15. I guess it would change my rolling diameter by 20mm, but are there any serious issues that you guys think could arise by changing the tire size so drastically?

There are just ZERO options for a good summer tire in the 205/60 and 205/55 sizes. Any expertise would be greatly appreciated!

my math could be off, but wouldn't that change your rolling diameter by 41mm?

I don't anything about your actual question, sorry. Just wanted to make sure the actual dia. difference was known.

[Nick M3]

You'd be almost an inch lower, your gearing would be about 7% shorter, you'd have big wheel gap, and you'd have marginally lower heat sinking capacity.

So really, none of those is serious on a car that's out of warranty.

[rumatt]

There are just ZERO options for a good summer tire in the 205/60 and 205/55 sizes. Any expertise would be greatly appreciated!

Get 16" wheels?

[operknockity]

From the tire size calculator at http://www.powerdog.com/tiresize.cgi

http://forums.carmudgeons.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5122&stc=1&d=1268630363

[Rob]

Get 16" wheels?

:+1

[Rob]

From the tire size calculator at http://www.powerdog.com/tiresize.cgi



That's cool. At least you know what you are getting into.

[bren]

Get 16" wheels?
Or wider tires.

[John V]

It's not just summer tires. It's hard to get good all-seasons in 15's anymore. I just changed out the Jetta's wheels to 16's for this reason.

If you're not interested in doing that, the shorter tire will be OK. It'll look funny, though.

[Terri Kennedy]

From the tire size calculator at http://www.powerdog.com/tiresize.cgi

If you want one with a graphical view of the 2 tires overlapped, you can use the one at Miata Net (http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html).

[Biggins]

I'll scour bimmerforums and craigslist for another week or so to see if anyone wants to trade my winters or these all seasons for a set of OEM 16s. If not, I'll just throw the 205/50/15 on there. I don't care about the gearing, wheel gap, etc.

[iateyourcheese]

Any interest in 17" E36 M3 wheels? PM me if you could see your E36 on the M3 DSII wheels. I need to get them out of basement now that the E36 is gone.

These are the wheels (not my car or wheels, obviously). http://img295.imageshack.us/i/helrot37vx.jpg/