225 tire on 9.5" rim. What precautions to drive?

[Pesca]

First, some background story:

I wanted to get some 18" rims for my summer tires on the BMW.

A guy who leased a 2011 328 BMW sold his set of GMAX AS03 225/40R18 tires on 18" copycat M3 rims that he bought when he got the car. The tires were shot 2-3 months before returning the car, so he put the General Tire on them. I thought that it was the 8.5" rims.

I did not put too much attention on that point when I bought the set (he told me than he drove same car as me for 3 years with this configuration (same size all around to be able to rotate front and back)), but I am now one week to change the wheels and I am second guessing this idea.



You can see some rims have some scratches as the rubber cannot protect the rim since it is about 20mm narrower than the rim.

My questionning is about to drive on rubber narrower than rim wheels?
Do you have to lean less on the tires in the curbs to avoid ripping the sidewalls of the tires or even the rims? The GMAX AS03 have soft sidewalls.
Any other precautions to use this kind of configuration?


I still have two choices:
- Drive the wheels as they are (with precautions if needed) and try to found a solution in 3-4 years.
- An about other 600$ solution would be to buy two 255/35R18 tires and put them at the rear, so only two tires, the front ones, will have this weird configuration.


The best solution (almost like winning the lottery) will be to find someone with the same rims, but the front ones, the 8.5", so we could exchange two of his front against two of my rear.

Thanks for any help on this matter.

 

[Quattro Pete]

The recommended rim width for a 225/40/18 tire is from 7.5 to 9 inches. Personally, I would not use this tire size with a 9.5" rim. Not only is the rim lip going to be overly exposed, it's a potential safety issue.

Are you sure the rims you bought are not staggered, i.e. 8.5" wide in the front and 9.5" in the rear?

 

[Olas]

225s on a 9.5 will look like this

http://www.tyrestretch.com/9.5-225-40-R18/9.5-225-40-R18-4/

It's not a huge stretch, but as with any stretch you should be cautious, the tyre can pop off the rim and/or the sidewall can blow (if you corner hard enough. Fine for responsible driving styles)

 

[eljefino]

FWIW, tirerack shows 7.5-9" as the acceptable range.

I wonder if this is a result of a tire shop not having the right tire in stock, and substituting this one.

There are punk kids stretching skinny tires on wide rims for some moronic reason, and seemingly getting away with it.

I like your "buy wider tires" idea though.

 

[Chris142]

The low riders pass by my shop all day long with skinny tires on wide Dayton wire wheels and I don't see them with a flat anywhere lol

 

[HerrStig]

Hey, a BMW lowrider....kuel!

 

[Pesca]

Hi,

QP and Olas, unfortunetaly, that is the reality (looks like the picture in the link :-(): He probably had the choice of having the front 8.5", but choose the rears 9.5" instead... all 4 of them (in fact 5, as he bought a spare one).

Since he was not a big fan of staggered tires... like me, I don't understand why he chose the wider ones...

So the idea of not pushing too hard in the corners is not a bad one?

HerrStig, it is not a lowrider as 18" OEMs exist for this car... even 19". It is more a weird rider BMW lol.

What about putting all 4 on 255/35R18 tires? Will it be too hard on the steering to have so wide at the front?
What about the hydraulic power steering?
On my car, It already has a weakness on the left when it is cold (making noise). I tried to bleed the PS but I think I will have to do drain and fill (level is at max... now).

Chris142, from your experience, you think this is ok? What about the idea to put wider tires on the back that Eljefino finds interesting?

Keep the opinions coming please... whatever they are. I am open minded on this matter... for now

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Pesca
What about putting all 4 on 255/35R18 tires? Will it be too hard on the steering to have so wide at the front?
What about the hydraulic power steering?

The only thing I would worry about is potential rubbing against suspension components or fender. Have you verified with some BMW forum that this combination of tire size and rim width/offset will in fact fit with no issues?

The other potential downside is fuel economy hit due to higher rolling resistance, but that's probably the least of your problems here.

 

[ccap41]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Pesca
What about putting all 4 on 255/35R18 tires? Will it be too hard on the steering to have so wide at the front?
What about the hydraulic power steering?

The only thing I would worry about is potential rubbing against suspension components or fender. Have you verified with some BMW forum that this combination of tire size and rim width/offset will in fact fit with no issues?

The other potential downside is fuel economy hit due to higher rolling resistance, but that's probably the least of your problems here.


I completely agree with this. Fuel economy would be the least of my concerns, you can always find a low rolling resistance tire anyway if it is of concern. But if the 255s fit up front then you should definitely ditch those skinny 225s. I don't know how you drive but even if there is an emergency situation and you need grip you don't want to blow your tire of the rim because you have the wrong size tires. You could also consider a 245 up front to possibly avoid the rubbing and 255s in the rear.

It sucks that the person before you "half-assed" the job. If they look like that picture ^ I would never drive on that. It looks sketchy and there is no way you would be getting maximum traction at any point.

I'm not a fan of cheap tires by any means but I think a cheap tire that fits those rims would be way safer and better than ones stretched like that picture. Just my 0.02.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Quote:
What about putting all 4 on 255/35R18 tires?


FYI... I see tirerack recommending 255/35/18 for the rear on this car, but for the front they only list 225/40/18. There is probably a good reason for that.

 

[Pesca]

Yes, re-looking of the file that I found on an UK website, it seems you have to rework the wheel housing and in some occasion, even put a steering limiter for some configuration in the front with really wide tires.

I am going to buy two 255/35R18 tires, for the rear, so I am safer on that side at least.

I will take the opportunity to testfit them in front to check how it looks when I change the tires.

But for the time being, it seems I am stuck keeping the weirdo (and maybe less safe) look at the front until I find a not too expensive solution.

 

[nolesfan]

I thought this tire stretching stuff was limited to the VW stance kids. Nope.

 

[Pesca]

No, as long as they can pay the lease, they will do it, whatever the brand.

Point in case: Previous owner of the wheels is living at his parents'house, leased the car for 3 years, and took it white with no other options = not too expensive lease he could pay.

Nice big wheels (but with narrower tires to buy them 40% cheaper than the 255) is probably a good way to pick up girls at bars.