M3 Tyre wall damage - is this supposed to happen?

[petrolhead76]

Mates buying an E46 M3 and the tyre walls looked slightly damaged right at the point where they meet the alloy....the guy told him this is how the tyres are designed i.e. they overhang the alloy slightly to help prevent alloy scuffing and therefore the tyre wall is actually unaffected, it just the additional bit of rubber which makes up the "overhang" tyre


...Now I tend not to believe traders these days, so opinions please !

Edited by petrolhead76 on Wednesday 21st November 15:19

[M3desmo]

The bead is there to protect the rim, but if they are badly chewed up I'd be walking away anyway as it says a lot about the lack of care from the previous owner. How will they have treated the rest of the car if that's how the wheels look?

[petrolhead76]

M3desmo said:

The bead is there to protect the rim, but if they are badly chewed up I'd be walking away anyway as it says a lot about the lack of care from the previous owner. How will they have treated the rest of the car if that's how the wheels look?

To be fair I had a look at the wheels and they are not in bad nick (i.e. minimal scuffing - most of which would polish out) - its just the tyre wall which has a little bit missing - perhaps the size of a 5p coin.