Re: Wheel clearances - 17" on 328

[Luis Marques <marques@xxxxxx>]

Thank's for the input, Bubba Duane.  I thought all post-'93 E36s had the
steering limiter.  I'll give it a try non the less and se what happens. 
It seems that I can turn the wheel a full turn (360 deg.) without any
rubbing, so it should be fine for the track.  The plastic fender liner
begins to get in the way after a turn and a quarter (360+90 deg.)  Now,
would it have been so hard for the BMW engineers to design the liner so
that it doesn't get in the way of big tires?!?  There is plenty of space
behind it.  This brings up the question: could I simply cut a big hole
in the liner where it rubs against the tire?  Or are there any long-term
issues to worry about?

I did check the clearance between the tire and the strut.  All seems
fine.  There is a little over a 1/4" of vertical clearance between the
tire and the spring perch and almost a full inch between the side of the
tire and the strut tube, so it looks like I could use some shims on the
bottom strut mounting bolts to increase the negative camber a tad.

Luis Marques
'97 328i


"Duane Collie" <drcollie@domain.elided> wrote:
>
> This is a common occurence on fitting 17" wheels to a non-M3 (E36)
> and to be expected. What you need is a steering limiter that you
> can buy from the BMW dealer for under $ 30.00.  It installs
> relatively easy and reduces the amount of lock to lock steer - 
> thereby keeping the tires from rubbing the inner plastic fender
> liner.
> 
> What you DO want to check is the clearance (car on the ground,
> settled) on the spring perches to see if the inside of the tire rubs
> the strut .  It most likely will not, but if it does you'll need to
> run some spacers on the hub and get longer wheel stud bolts.

------------------------------