[sirdaft1]

As more and more of us turn our e90's into dedicated race cars, I wanted to document this issue as its an issue that turb0mik3, soursamo and I have encountered as we throw much wider meat up front on our e90's.

Beyond the typical fender rubbing issues associated with wider wheels which can be remedied with a wide body kit... there is a body/firewall limitation up front if you're wanting to run a 265 or wider wheel package.

A 265 or wider tire up front requires either a lower offset wheel or a spacer to push the wheel away from the suspension (rubbing). This push outward increases the radius of the outer part of the wheel, beyond OE spec and causes it to rub parts of the firewall when wheels are turned.

That said, here's a quick reference guide I put together from what we've discovered. This is only for the e90 chassis (sorry can't comment on e92's) and it doesn't take into account width variances between tire manufacturer. This also assumes proper wheel offsets.

E90 Front Tire Widths:
245 or under: No modifications needed
255: Possible fender roll (depending on suspension setup/drop)
265 - 285: Widebody/cut fenders + cut out firewall seam weld
295+: Widebody + extensive modification to firewall

Passenger side front wheel well. Notice the seam weld behind the tire:


Highlighted the rub area in red. Fortunately this part can be removed fairly easily:

[soursamo]

Good thread.

There is also a small hump in the inner rear section of the front wheel well that can rub too.
Thankfully nothing in that area is highly critical so it can take the brunt of a big fucking hammer :P

[sirdaft1]

Originally Posted by soursamo

Good thread.

There is also a small hump in the inner rear section of the front wheel well that can rub too.
Thankfully nothing in that area is highly critical so it can take the brunt of a big fucking hammer :P

Why... do you mean this hump right here?

[soursamo]

Originally Posted by sirdaft1

Why... do you mean this hump right here?

That's the one!

[Lshaw]

For what it's worth. I just put on a 255/35/18 MPSS on a 18x9 et31 wheel. I have an 09 e90. Im sitting on KW V2s, almost max height. It cleared all fenders and such, I'm rolled, and running only 1.2 camber that's all. However the MPSS is a fatty of a tire so over large dips I would rub hard.

I can easily run any other summer/all season 255 tire with zero issues. So basically a 255 MPSS is sized more relative to a 265.

So a 265 and up would fit imo with certain tire brands and a little bit of camber. The 255 mpss was pretty much flush if anything it poked a tiny bit.

Hope this helps anyone

[Greyfox]

Ran a 255/40/17 square setup on 161's that were 8 1/2 with 37 offset with zero mods front or rear with no issues.

[sirdaft1]

Originally Posted by Lshaw

For what it's worth. I just put on a 255/35/18 MPSS on a 18x9 et31 wheel. I have an 09 e90. Im sitting on KW V2s, almost max height. It cleared all fenders and such, I'm rolled, and running only 1.2 camber that's all. However the MPSS is a fatty of a tire so over large dips I would rub hard.

I can easily run any other summer/all season 255 tire with zero issues. So basically a 255 MPSS is sized more relative to a 265.

So a 265 and up would fit imo with certain tire brands and a little bit of camber. The 255 mpss was pretty much flush if anything it poked a tiny bit.

Hope this helps anyone

Originally Posted by Greyfox

Ran a 255/40/17 square setup on 161's that were 8 1/2 with 37 offset with zero mods front or rear with no issues.

Thanks for the input. 255’s up front definitely depends on suspension drop. I ran 255 PSS’s up front with -1.5* camber on my previous 335 with a pretty aggressive drop on Eibach pro-kit springs and I had fender rub even with rolled fenders. That said, no issues with firewall clearance or rubbing.

Now that I have a 275 width up front, firewall clearance is EXTREMELY tight (as the photos above show). soursamo is running a 265 front and mentioned that he had to cut out the seam weld and pound in the firewall hump to avoid rubbing.

If anything, this was something I had never heard mentioned before. It’s something to be aware of and worth double checking fitment for anyone planning to run an aggressive wide front tire.

[soursamo]

I think the internal rubbing really boils down to wheel width; I could clear a lot of those bumps if the wheels were narrower and higher offset, but then you can't run as big a tire.

[mantis]

this is great info as i go towards a squared setup, and trying to get as much meat as i can

2011 lci with rolled and pulled fenders, thinking about coil overs with camber plates, hotchiss end links, eibach sway and possibly bigger brakes