Hi guys,
One of the first things I said when I found out from our rep at Race Technologies that Brembo would only be doing a 15" all around on the E92 M3 was, "What about the guys that track their car and don't want to have to sell a kidney to pay for 19" R-compound tires"?. There are quite a few wheels with clearance for the spokes. The problem is the inside diameter of the barrel.
Well, I've been doing research for a few weeks and i have some options I know will work. Here is of 18" wheels I have either test-fitted myself or confirmed with the manufacturer will work.
- Volk TE37s in 18x9.5 will fit. I have a set I used on my E46 M3 that I test fiitted this past weekend. See pics below. I have spoken to our rep @ Mackin and plan on driving done to do more test fitting to see if there are any other applications that will work.
- CCW Corsair series. Corvette guys have been running the Brembo/CCW combo with great success for a while
- HRE Competition Series. The Rolox/Tax Heuer of wheels and is a beautiful wheel. Due to cost, might not be the track wheel of choice, but a great option on the street if you want the cushier ride of an 18" tire.
I will be advertising wheel/tire packages in the for sale section soon. Please PM if you'd like a personalized quote.
Bob
The yellow time attack stripes are vinyl stickers. I had yellow AP Racing brakes on my old E46 M3.
Close-up of the front of the car
Clearance in the rear is no problem at all.
Note: I used blue painter's tape to protect the finish of the caliper while I was test-fitting the wheel. There is somewhere between 5 and 10mm of clearance between the bridge of the caliper and the barrel. Race Technologies has confirmed that 5mm of clearance is fine.
Close-up of the bridge of the caliper
Lower portion of the caliper clears with no problem, too
Another pic of the bottom of the caliper
Top of the caliper. it was too tight to pull the painter's tape off with the wheel on. It does give you an idea of how much clearance there is at that point. It's close, but it works.