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Bit of a problem with the new BMW - hoping someone may have some advice to offer! The car needed new rear tyres when we bought it, and I went and had a pair fitted this afternoon - I went for the Avon ZZ3 because a) I'd heard lots of good things about them and b) they're the cheapest decent-name tyre I could get - the pair (inc. fitting) cost £240. (I could have got ditchfinders for £150, but sod that...) Anyway, I bought the same size tyre as was on there - 255/35 R18 - but it didn't occur to me that the angle of the tyre shoulder would be different, so while the old tyres had enough clearance, the Avons have a much more vertical sidewall and they rub like a b*stard on the arches. All the time. So, I went to a bodyshop to ask how much they could roll/trim the arch lips for - the guy seemed totally baffled by the idea and told me to come back next week to talk to a panel beater. I went to another (possibly slightly better) bodyshop, and the guy said that if it was a newer car then rolling the arches would be a piece of cake, but because there's a little bit of rust in the arches (which you can't see from the outside), they'd need repairing and respraying too - he's calling me tomorrow with a quote. Of course, that's not the only option. So, a long-winded intro into a plea for advice on one or all of the following points: -- Does anyone have the equipment/skill/wherewithal to cheaply roll/trim my arches? -- Can anyone recommend a 255/35 R18 tyre with a more sloping sidewall? (I can't buy the ones that were on before - they were Bridgestone Potenza RE050 runflats and I just can't afford them.) -- Does anyone have a decent set of slightly smaller BMW wheels/tyres that they want to swap for some 18" AC Schnitzers? -- Any other solution I may not have thought of...    Also, at this stage they pointed out that I had a wheelnut missing on this corner. What size nut would this be?  Thanks for your help. I feel like a right dunce. |
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craig1010cc
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,993
Club RR Member Number: 35
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Are you coming to the gathering? We are rolling all 4 arches on my MX5 to get the banded steels to fit and will be using Si's proper arch roller (rather than a scaff pole  ).I'm sure that there will be willing hands to give your arches some love. Failing that, I have seen it where you put a load of paper between the tyre and arch and jump up and down in the back and that gains clearance (the paper acts as a slider and the tyre acts as a arch roller) which for the prob small amount you need could work. I had a similar prob a few years back, swapped out a bald set of Falkens for a set of Yoko A539's on the back of my corrado and had clearance issues (so Falkens could be a good one to look for if you go down the buying more tyres route), dam good tyres as well, few mates used to race on them and one of my mate specifically chooses them for his 2003 M3 |
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Are you coming to the gathering? 'fraid not - the timing's not perfect, as we're going on holiday for a few days tomorrow (and driving the BMW to the airport, brilliant). How exactly does that paper thing work? Basically using the tyres themselves to smash the arches out of the way? |
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I've used the method in the video on two cars. The way he's doing it you will remove the paint front the arch, if you jack the whole corner up then use another jack to lift the suspension back towards to arch you can then turn the wheel and the tube will roll between the tyre and the arch without scraping... heat the paint slightly and you may even get away without any cracking!
If you remove the spring and bumpstop from the corner you're doing then it makes it much easier! Plus you can see how close the tyre can actually come to the arch and where more rolling may be needed.
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1997 TVR Chimaera
2009 Westfield Megabusa
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skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,546
Club RR Member Number: 11
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I had the same issue on the Polo but i just too a grinder to the arches instead!!
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Check out falken ze512 ziex, have a sloping sidewall and let me get 17's on my old golf with a hefty slam. don't last that long though  |
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Cut the return lip off with an angle grinder.
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See if your lower arms are set to their maximum camber. The stock BMW arms have a small amount of adjustment so see if you can get anymore out of them, they work on like an eccentric washer so get it down to an alignment center or something? Failing that then as mentioned above, roll the lips in, they do have quite a large lip on them iirc too they're double skinned so they shouldn't split too easily. Although in saying that I don't think you would need the fully pushed in, just slight
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'84 Honda Civic 1.3 AH The Daily
'86 Nissan Leopard F31 The Weekend Cruiser
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Cool, thanks for all the advice chaps. Unfortunately I have to park the car out on the street (and there's no parking allowed outside my place, so I park in a nearby street  ) so I can't get out there with any power tools (and I don't own any anyway). I'll see what quote the guy gives me tomorrow to roll the arches - I can't do it myself out on the street! - and if it's prohibitively pricey then I'll go to my local tyre place and see if they've got any Falkens or similar that'll fit better, and have to take the hit and sell the Avons as used. ...or just buy a set of slightly smaller BMW wheels & tyres and sell the Schnitzers.  It's all making me very sad. Until I can sort something I'll just have to make sure I drive only on straight, flat roads to avoid the agonising graunching sound! |
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Ive never used em'but would those towing spring assistors stiffen up the rear a bit short term?
Probably a daft idea but just putting it out there ;D
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silly question,but have you tryed put them on the front?
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MrSpeedy
East Midlands
www.vintagediesels.co.uk
Posts: 4,786 
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Is there any reason why nobody has suggested 235 or 245 tyres instead  |
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Ive never used em'but would those towing spring assistors stiffen up the rear a bit short term? Probably a daft idea but just putting it out there ;D You know what I never thought about that and I actually had to do it myself on my BM when i'd put my 10's on the back before I'd gotten my coilovers. Not an ideal permenant solution but good to get you out the sh*t quickly |
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'84 Honda Civic 1.3 AH The Daily
'86 Nissan Leopard F31 The Weekend Cruiser
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,867
Club RR Member Number: 174
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What offset and size are the Schnitzers?
Matt
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Stu_B
Posted a lot
Investing in rust!
Posts: 1,266
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Just roll them yourself! My jetta's so low I could only fit a trolley jack handle in, got my G/F to roll it backward & forwards really slow & I rolled the bar, it just tweaked the arch lip out of the way & only a tiny bit of paint flaked away, heat it first as suggested above & you might even get away with no paint damage. It's a 5 minute job.
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Is the height adjustable? Raise the ride a little.
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TOWING SPRING ASSISTORS!!! i fitted em when i had the same problem with the loon, They are absolute magic! the stop that small amount of travel that makes them scrub, But you still have the movement, Also has the cool factor of stiffening up the back end so people think you have coilovers ;D these are the ones i got... You just jack the car up. Push em in and twist so they go round on themselves and back to you. then use the supplied zipties to secure them. Done.  takes all of 5 mins using a just a trolley jack and a pair of cutters for the zipties  www.towsure.com/category/6462-Coil_Spring_Assistors(make sure you measure as per the instructions on site)
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MrBen
Part of things
Posts: 89
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If you decide to go for a more 'slopey' tyre, yes the RE050 run flats are expensive but I run the RE040 non-run flats on my 330 in that size. I think I paid about £300 for the last pair, but you might find them cheaper with a bit of shopping about, and they have quite a slope on the sidewall:  (apologies for curse word attempt at a photo in company car park!) |
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Toy: 2001 Porsche Boxster S - almost retro!
Daily: Modern BMW 435i - less exciting but quick!
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If it were me. I'd probably bite the bullet and get the body guy to roll the arches, at least you've then 'future-proofed' them, so to speak so that any tyre of that size will fit in future. Otherwise the problem will rear it's square-shouldered head the next time you have to buy tyres. Is the problem with the rears only?
Should be an easier fix than trying to get 16's on an E21...
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).I'm sure that there will be willing hands to give your arches some love.
Ax GTi Turbo
) so I can't get out there with any power tools (and I don't own any anyway).
takes all of 5 mins using a just a trolley jack and a pair of cutters for the zipties 
