MV2 Confusion

[enuff_zed]

Yesterday at the East Anglian breakfast meet I noted that Crazy Harry had the same wheels on his car as are on Val's new E85.
But then I noted they weren't quite the same.
On CH's 3.0 they appear the same front and back, with a 'square' set up.
On Val's 2.5 the rears are noticeably more dished and fill the arches much better.
There are no spacers fitted on the car.

They are sitting on the same size tyres (245/40 x 18) front and rear.

Personally I think they look great as they give the car a lovely stance, but of course now I am concerned about tyre sizes.

So,why are Val's wheels different to CH's?
Are the tyre sizes ok (it certainly drives well)?
What would be recommended tyre sizes to fit?
The wheels are due a refurb and the tyres aren't the best of makes so when they get done I want to do it right.
I don't think I can go any bigger on the back anyway, but should the front be narrower? Or is it acceptable to have 'square' tyres on 'staggered' wheels?

[mr wilks]

Hhmmm , the rears with the dish could be off a 5 series which were all 4 x 8j et 22 but the fronts look to be flatter faced
Could be a set of reps i guess but looking at the rear finish with arch that would tally with 8j et 22
You would really need to remove a front + a rear to check the numbers then go from there with tyre sizes

[enuff_zed]

Hhmmm , the rears with the dish could be off a 5 series which were all 4 x 8j et 22 but the fronts look to be flatter faced
Could be a set of reps i guess but looking at the rear finish with arch that would tally with 8j et 22
You would really need to remove a front + a rear to check the numbers then go from there with tyre sizes

Thanks for the quick reply.

Yes I do accept the it's mostly theorising until I can read the numbers. To me I think it looks good.
Rear tyres don't look overstretched which I guess would match with your theory.
Fronts, whilst a tad wide, do not seem to cause any issues.
Val is more than happy with the way it drives, and I love the way it looks, so I guess we'll live with it and I'll endeavour to find somewhere other than my gravel drive to get it up in the air and check the figures.

Most importantly, you didn't shout 'woah' and point out some terrible issue, so at least I know it's viable as it is right now.

[brillomaster]

MV2s are normally staggered, 8" front, 8.5" rear. My guess is CHs car is just the fronts, which is why they look flat, whereas vals has the correct staggered fitment.

Standard sizes on a staggered set are 225/40 and 255/35, but a square setup of 245/40 would work fine on either an 8 or an 8.5. 255 is too big for an 8" rim though.

[enuff_zed]

MV2s are normally staggered, 8" front, 8.5" rear. My guess is CHs car is just the fronts, which is why they look flat, whereas vals has the correct staggered fitment.

Standard sizes on a staggered set are 225/40 and 255/35, but a square setup of 245/40 would work fine on either an 8 or an 8.5. 255 is too big for an 8" rim though.

Keep the info coming.
On a wheely steep learning curve here.

Just toying with the idea of explaining to Val that "Well it's a woman's car dear, of course it's wider at the rear."

Wish me luck! You're all invited to the funeral

[Mr Tidy]

I bought a set of MV2 replicas a while back for my nephew's 3 Series as a back up after one of his OE ones cracked!

Anyway the replicas are a square set of 8J x 18, with an ET of 40 so maybe Crazy Harry has something similar.

[Crazy Harry]

I bought a set of MV2 replicas a while back for my nephew's 3 Series as a back up after one of his OE ones cracked!

Anyway the replicas are a square set of 8J x 18, with an ET of 40 so maybe Crazy Harry has something similar.

Sort of feel I need to post a pic of my wheels now!

Crazy Harry's Zed.jpg (88.42 KiB) Viewed 1621 times

Best I can do without going out in the dark - sure I'm running genuine MV2s. Did the genuine wheels have a number cast into the outer face - or am I going to have to take my wheels off as well?

[enuff_zed]

I bought a set of MV2 replicas a while back for my nephew's 3 Series as a back up after one of his OE ones cracked!

Anyway the replicas are a square set of 8J x 18, with an ET of 40 so maybe Crazy Harry has something similar.

Sort of feel I need to post a pic of my wheels now!

Crazy Harry's Zed.jpg

Best I can do without going out in the dark - sure I'm running genuine MV2s. Did the genuine wheels have a number cast into the outer face - or am I going to have to take my wheels off as well?

Ha ha! Opened a can of worms it seems.
My fronts seem to have nothing on the outer face but the rears have a raised '1' on them.
Will try to get them off this weekend, weather permitting, and get some figures.
At this point I have no idea if mine are genuine. they do have the 'm' badge set into them?
My guess would be genuine, but not genuine Z4. We'll see....................

[Clarkie]

All - I have a set of MV2's - definitely a staggered set up - and all four have a number cast into the faces near the centre cap (I think this is the factory code) - the part numbers etc are on the inside face.

Great resource on BMW OEM wheels here http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/bmw/135

[Warming]

That's right as Clarkie said, an indicator of genuine MV2 wheels is there will be a little number 13 embossed in the casting of the wheel just around where the bmw centre cap goes.

All - I have a set of MV2's - definitely a staggered set up - and all four have a number cast into the faces near the centre cap (I think this is the factory code) - the part numbers etc are on the inside face.

Great resource on BMW OEM wheels here http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/bmw/135

[Crazy Harry]

That's right as Clarkie said, an indicator of genuine MV2 wheels is there will be a little number 13 embossed in the casting of the wheel just around where the bmw centre cap goes.

All - I have a set of MV2's - definitely a staggered set up - and all four have a number cast into the faces near the centre cap (I think this is the factory code) - the part numbers etc are on the inside face.

Great resource on BMW OEM wheels here http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/bmw/135

Yep thought that last night - just rubbed the dirt away and all mine have a 13 cast into the front face - thanks for confirming that. Don't suppose I can check square or staggered without taking them off. I bet the number is in the centre so I can't use a mirror on a stick!

[enuff_zed]

Then it seems the ones I have may be replicas.
Can't say I'm too bothered cos they look good

[enuff_zed]

Well finally, I got all the 'really important (apparently)' garden jobs out of the way and was allowed to play with the cars this weekend.
So off came the MV2s on Vall's E85, for a spruce up of the calipers and hubs and a good wheel cleaning session. Sadly the fronts have been a bit neglected and whilst I've made a huge improvement, they will still need a refurb at some point.

Anyway, the point is, I managed to remember to note the sizes.

Fronts are 8J x 18, ET 47. These do not have any numbers on the outer face, but are genuine BMW according to what is on the inner face.

Rears are 8J x 18, ET 20. These have a raised '1' on the inner edge of the front face. They are marked on the inner face as BMW but also as BBS.

I have no idea what these rears are from, but I can say that they fit the wheel arches perfectly.

I have 245/40s front and rear, which are fine on the 8" widths. Vall says she is happy with the steering so I suspect I'll stick with those sizes.

EDIT: So, I just referred to Clarkie's link and it says my rears are off a 5 Series (E60+), not 4x4. They apparently weigh 0.7 Kg less than the 8.5" ones that should be on it. That's got to be worth a few nano-seconds off the 0-60

[Mr Tidy]

No wonder the rears sit so far out.

OE rear MV2s for the Z4 are 8.5J ET50!

[Crazy Harry]

So does that mean that my MV2's are correct - or will I have to take them off the car to check