# M parallel spoke 66 problems



## Fifty_Cent (Sep 17, 2003)

My car came with these alloys fitted. Btw, my car is an E46 320i. these alloys are 8x17, and the alloy manual of BMW has them as optional alloys for the E39 5 series!!! Now, dont ask me how they got into my car, i dont know, but they are there. 


I am abit worreid about the tires though....As I have installed the 225/45R17, as recomended by bmw for the model. BUT, these are for the 7.5x17 alloys, not the 8x17 5 series ones. 

Will this affect anything?? 



Thanks and regards, :dunno:


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## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

You have _these_ wheels on your E46 320i?









Are you sure?

According to all the BMW wheel catalogs I've ever seen, those wheels are only made with an offset to fit the 5-series and 7-series. They should stick out of the wheelwells of your car and your tires would rub against the fenders. I've never even seen replicas of this wheel. 

Here's a link to Pacific BMW's listing for this wheel that shows that it's a 5-series wheel only...
http://www.pacificbmw.com/catalog/wheels/detail.asp?offset=36&pid=40


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

225 tires on 7.5in rims should be OK. But as PhilH pointed out, unless these rims are replicas/fakes, the wheels won't fit properly on your car.


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## Fifty_Cent (Sep 17, 2003)

elbert said:


> 225 tires on 7.5in rims should be OK. But as PhilH pointed out, unless these rims are replicas/fakes, the wheels won't fit properly on your car.


Guys,

My wheels are NOT 7.5X17, they are 8x17, and yes, they are the original m parallel spoke 66. I dont know how they got there, but yes, they are there.

No, they dont rub anywhere, and they are actually perfect fit. Only thing, they stick out abit more than the optional E46 alloys, giving more of an M3 look, rather than a sport look.

They are polished also.
Now, if I can upload a picture, i will show i to you.

My only worries is that, since I installed the 225/45 R17 michelins as it says in the manual, the tyres are abit bending inwards(if you know what I mean) since the tyre for this alloy is 235/45 R17.

I ll see if I can upload a photo, to show it to you all.


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

The standard Sport rims are 17x8, so 225's should be OK. You probably have some spacers to make the rims work.


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## Fifty_Cent (Sep 17, 2003)

elbert said:


> The standard Sport rims are 17x8, so 225's should be OK. You probably have some spacers to make the rims work.


NO, no spacers, nothing.
They are direct fit.

Here are some photos.


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

They are fakes. Sorry.

The E39 has almost no offset (approx 13mm), while the E46 has about 50mm. If you look closely at the photo that PhilH posted you will notice the center area is slightly different than your wheel. Your wheel protrudes slightly more, which is needed to give more offset than the E39 rim has.


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## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

I want to see a pic of your entire car with those wheels on it. I love those wheels, and I'm interested to see how they look on an E46.

I can't really see the difference that elbert does between your pic and mine. Could be real... :dunno:


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## Fifty_Cent (Sep 17, 2003)

elbert said:


> They are fakes. Sorry.
> 
> The E39 has almost no offset (approx 13mm), while the E46 has about 50mm. If you look closely at the photo that PhilH posted you will notice the center area is slightly different than your wheel. Your wheel protrudes slightly more, which is needed to give more offset than the E39 rim has.


So thats whyh they are a perfect fit...cause they may be the m parallel spoke design, but, they were made for the E46!

No problem, that is reassuring.

Thanks for making this clear to me guys.


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

PhilH said:


> I can't really see the difference that elbert does between your pic and mine. Could be real... :dunno:


No, your initial suspicion was correct. Look at the center cap area and how the spokes come from the outer rim area. Hard to tell since the photos are different angles, but 50 Cent's wheel sticks out more, while the E39 rim is more concave-ish.


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## Fifty_Cent (Sep 17, 2003)

Cannot find any difference though...


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## Fifty_Cent (Sep 17, 2003)

Here it goes..


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## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

Looks good (from what I can see  ). :thumbup:

I really think they might be real BMW wheels, and since you have a non-sport suspension, it never gets close enough to the bodywork to rub. It looks like they might stick out a bit more than proper E46 wheels do. :dunno:


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## Fifty_Cent (Sep 17, 2003)

PhilH said:


> Looks good (from what I can see  ). :thumbup:
> 
> I really think they might be real BMW wheels, and since you have a non-sport suspension, it never gets close enough to the bodywork to rub. It looks like they might stick out a bit more than proper E46 wheels do. :dunno:


Yes, thats what I think too. They stick out because the Offset is for the E39, not the E46. But, even lowered, i dont think that my car would have any problem on those wheels.

So, I guess we learned something new! M parallel 66 goes for the 3 series as well as the 5 series.


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## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

Other people have reported rubbing problems with 5-series wheels.

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?threadid=110107

I think yours don't rub because of the non-sport suspension.

However, if they're 5-series rims with the wrong offset, your car probably handles a little funny compared to a car with proper wheels.

You may have suspension problems in the future as well, as the weight of your car is probably not supported correctly...although this is just a guess from someone who is not an engineer.


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## Fifty_Cent (Sep 17, 2003)

PhilH said:


> Other people have reported rubbing problems with 5-series wheels.
> 
> http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?threadid=110107
> 
> ...


Phil, i have read the post. This guy obviously is in alot of trouble, since he installed breytons 18X8.5 meant for the 5 series. Now, breytons are known to be sticking out, so I dont really know if its wise to install the wrong one here.(IHe installed the 5 series one)

I have seen those on a 5 series, they stick out even on that car, but they dont rub because of the correct offset. Now, on a 3 series, its a completely different story. He stated that they stick out half an inch!!! This is outrageus.

Mine actually, dont stick out at all, not outside the wheels well at least.
I will show you a photo to see what I mean:

As for the offset, yes, it is wrong, but ther car does not handel at all funny, it just feels abit more sporty. What is possible to happen, is to cut a bolting screw of a wheel, when i hit a road bump or something.

I plan on putting some nice MV spoke replica ones soon, but i really love these wheels so much.

As for the rubbing, there simply issnt any. I have travelled fully loaden, with 4 people, + 3 big luggages( the car was practically full) but no rubbing has ever taken place.

I wonder if the wheels are not replicas.....
having seen them on a 525i sport (E39) they look exactly the same.

I wonder....


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## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

OK, this makes two times that I've seen the Style 66 wheels on an E46. :yikes:





































Judging from these pictures, either someone makes a replica of these wheels with the correct offset for the E46, or BMW has started making the Style 66 for the E46. These wheels aren't sticking out at all.

http://www.autotrader.com/findacar/...used&advanced=n&start_year=1999&color=&cardis

I like them... :eeps:


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

PhilH said:


> OK, this makes two times that I've seen the Style 66 wheels on an E46. :yikes:
> 
> Judging from these pictures, either someone makes a replica of these wheels with the correct offset for the E46, or BMW has started making the Style 66 for the E46. These wheels aren't sticking out at all.


Here's one possible answer:

http://www.thewheelexchange.com/products/wheels/03_by_make/3_series_03/3_series_03_17_index.html

Like I've said from the beginning, I think they're fake.


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## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

Ah!...you got it. Never knew they made replicas of that style. 

Anyway, they look good on the E46.


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

They have a *lot* of rims available on eBay. After seeing 17" M3 replicas on an 528i, I took it as a sign. 

The 66's do look nice on E46's, better than on the E39.


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