# Finally! Here's pics of 16" AT Italia Type 5's on a 330...



## OBS3SSION (Oct 1, 2002)

In all the threads that come up regarding snow tires and wheels, the 16" AT Italia often comes up as a great choice for winter wheel because it's 16" and it actually fits over the 330's large brakes. But... whenever anyone asks what they look like on car, there's never a photo available.

Well, not any more. Here you go... mounted them last night in preparation for tomorrow's apocalypse, er, I mean snow.



















As you can see, they fit perfectly, and IMO look great. Helps that they are a BMW replica as well. Oh, and those are OEM BMW centercaps I picked up at the parts department for a few bucks. They fit perfectly as well.

Please don't mind the road grunge which has made my car far less than clean.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

The M contours are some of my favorite rims, and those replicas look very good!


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## ff (Dec 19, 2001)

OK, I'll post mine too! Yeah, I know, my car is filthy.


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## IndyMike (Dec 19, 2001)

ff said:


> OK, I'll post mine too! Yeah, I know, my car is filthy.


Well, let's just say your garage floor looks pristine in comparison.


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## Andy (Jul 16, 2003)

Those are my favorite style wheels on the E36 M3s!! Those look really good!! :thumbup: Almost makes me wish I would have got those instead of my type 44s for winter.


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## SARAFIL (Feb 19, 2003)

Andy said:


> Those are my favorite style wheels on the E36 M3s!! Those look really good!! :thumbup: Almost makes me wish I would have got those instead of my type 44s for winter.


I'm partial to the type 44s. I'm one of those that believes that E36 wheels should stay right where they are-- on E36s. Also, I think those wheels look very small on the 330 (after getting used to seeing all these pics of cars with 17s, and ZHPs with 18s). The style is nice, though, and I'm sure having a 16 inch wheel has its benefits. However, I'll stick to 44s on our E46. :thumbup:


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## Dale Pickle (Apr 22, 2003)

Very nice, I have the same setup on my car and I just tested it out in the snow. Its my first time with RWD in the snow and it felt pretty good. Its pretty slick out there and I didn't slip around at all on the way home.


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## fkafka (Mar 12, 2002)

So how tight are these things to the calipers? Millimeters? Centimeters?


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

It's looking very good, especially on Tourmaline :thumbup: :bigpimp:


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## ObD (Dec 29, 2001)

Bah, sacrilege. M68's. :bigpimp:


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

ObD said:


> Bah, sacrilege. M68's. :bigpimp:


 :tsk:

:amish: :stickpoke


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## IndyMike (Dec 19, 2001)

Dr. Phil said:


> :tsk:


Ahhh, Phil, he's obviously bitter that this will apparently be another winter w/o Type 73's on his ride. :stickpoke :stickpoke

:angel:


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## ObD (Dec 29, 2001)

IndyMike said:


> Ahhh, Phil, he's obviously bitter that this will apparently be another winter w/o Type 73's on his ride. :stickpoke :stickpoke
> 
> :angel:


Nah, Doc has always been jealous of my TiAg. :rofl: :stickpoke


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

ObD said:


> Nah, Doc has always been jealous of my TiAg. :rofl: :stickpoke


 :rofl: You got me.



IndyMike said:


> Ahhh, Phil, he's obviously bitter that this will apparently be another winter w/o Type 73's on his ride. :stickpoke
> 
> :angel:


Yep I want these back :bawling:



















:eeps:


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## ff (Dec 19, 2001)

fkafka said:


> So how tight are these things to the calipers? Millimeters? Centimeters?


It's very, very close. ~ About 3 to 5 mm clearance.

I'd check for exact measurements, but the wife took my car to get her haircut.


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## KP (Apr 16, 2002)

Hm, interesting. I always thought the 330s couldn't handle 16" wheels because of the brake caliper clearance (least that's what tirerack says, for marketing purposes or not, I do not know).


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## AF (Dec 21, 2001)

I love the M contour !!!

Here is a picture of a set of 17" OEM M contours that were supposed to be my winter wheels . . ends uyp every wheel was bent so I returned them to the seller . .. too bad because they looked good !!!


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## AF (Dec 21, 2001)

Here's 3 more . . .


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## andy_thomas (Oct 7, 2002)

KP said:


> Hm, interesting. I always thought the 330s couldn't handle 16" wheels because of the brake caliper clearance (least that's what tirerack says, for marketing purposes or not, I do not know).


What BMW says is true. 16" wheels cannot be guaranteed to fit - if only one or two 16" wheel designs will "fit", you cannot say that "16-inch wheels will fit" because someone will fit any other kind of 16" wheel, bugger the brakes, and demand recompense from BMW.

As it is, the 16" wheels in the thread will "fit" provided they don't have wheel weights inside the wheel. If they do, then depending on the size of the weight, they will rub against the caliper. Some people think this is OK. Call me old-fashioned, but I regard that as "not fitting".

If anyone gets all upset that they have to buy 17" winter tyres, then (a) they shouldn't be buying a car like this if they can't handle the extra running costs it comes with and (b) if they asked they'd find that BMW makes cheap steelies available in 17" anyway.


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## OBS3SSION (Oct 1, 2002)

KP said:


> Hm, interesting. I always thought the 330s couldn't handle 16" wheels because of the brake caliper clearance (least that's what tirerack says, for marketing purposes or not, I do not know).


Generally, they can't. There are only a couple 16" wheels that work on the 330, and this is one of them. For some reason, this wheel has a larger inside diameter (which clears the brakes) that other 16" wheels don't. I don't know if AT Italia made this wheel specifically to fit on a 330 as a snow wheel or not, but I'm glad it fits. I like the OEM look, and the fact that I have a larger selection of snow tires. Plus... the wheels and tires cost less than 17" equivalents.

I see running a 16" wheel on my 330 in the winter as having 2 benefits:

1) More "cushion" between the wheel and the inevitable New England potholes.

2) Cost less than 17" (both wheels and tires), plus 16" tires have road hazard warrantees, 17" don't.


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## OBS3SSION (Oct 1, 2002)

Alex Baumann said:


> It's looking very good, especially on Tourmaline :thumbup: :bigpimp:


Alex, you'd probably like 20" chrome spinners on my car just because it's purple.


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