rims and tires for my 1988 BMW 325 (e30)

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My search for lightweight summer rims and performance tires for my 1988 BMW 325...

rims

While many different kinds of rims and tires can be forced to fit a 1988 325, only a handful are considered a "perfect fitment"--wheels that can be mounted with no spacers or modifications. For a guaranteed perfect fit, I considered only rims that met the following requirements:

Here are the specific rims I considered:

tires

For tires, I wanted something with high-performance for street use and occasional autocross driving school sessions. I considered the following tires:

The appropriate size tires for a 15"x7" rim on an 325 e30 are as follows:

A maxbimmer.com forum moderator ("Mystikal") described the pros and cons of 225 over 205 width tires as follows:

Pros of a 225:

Cons of a 225:

In the end I chose the Falken Azenis RT-615 (205/50/R15, 3.8% undersized), because they're good enough for driving school sessions but also usable for street driving. They have a reasonable tread wear rating (200), and were only $73 each when I bought them. Now that I've driven the 205/50/R15 Falkens I can say that they're increcibly fun, and easily sporty enough for an amateur. The tramlining effect is noticeable even on 205s. I don't think I'd want more tramlining, and I think 225s would be visually too wide on the car for my taste. The 205s look great without seeming like overkill on a sedan.

Here are some pics of the Azenis tires before they were mounted:



mounting pics

My rims arrived from Elephant Motorsports in two separate boxes. Two of the rims were the wrong color, but Jack quickly sent me replacements.


The rims looked fantastic in person. Here's one out of the box:

Let's get these suckers mounted



The winter tire being replaced

Ready to roll!






places to buy tires online

questions about e30 wheels?

If you have any questions about rim and tire sizing for your e30, maxbimmer has a huge thread dedicated specifically to that topic.