E46 M3 space saver wheel

[Toilet Duck]

Afternoon all,

Does anyone know the part number or price for the space saver that apparently fits an E46 M3, one came up for sale recently on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

Theres a link in the ebay advert but its to an american site and it doesn't appear to show a part number. I'd quite like to have a proper spare wheel rather than take my chances with the tyre slime/compressed air kit that comes with the M3.

Appreciate any help.

Cheers

[M3CD]

This should give you what you require - basically there is no standard space saver for the M3 - most use the 330i space saver - HTH



Tyre size...as the M3 has electronics that use wheel speed data as input, (traction control, DSC, ABS, CBC etc) as well as the rear diff that takes differing wheel speed as a trigger to lock up, it is essential that any wheel/tyre combination fitted has a similar diameter (rolling circumference) to the others. However a small difference is permitted to account for differing wheel speeds during cornering and differing amounts of tread wear.
The calculation for tyre diameter is as follows (converting to mm):
Starting with the standard 18inch wheel size: 225/45-18;
((225 x .45) x2) + (18 x 25.4) = 659.7mm
A new tyre at 659.7mm has ~ 8mm of tread and can wear down to ~2mm which equates to a "worn" diameter of (659.7 - (6 x 2)) = 647.7mm.
So basically a space saver (SS) tyre will need to have a diameter in the range 647.7 to 659.7mm and preferably somewhere in the middle.

Wheel size...It seems that about every manufacturer uses a wheel bolt pattern (called a "pitch circle diameter" - PCD) that is slightly different from everyone elses. BMW®® use a PCD of 5 x 120mm which means 5 bolt holes with the diameter of the circle that goes through the centre of the bolt holes equals 120mm. Plus of course there is the hole in the centre of the wheel which has to match up with the hub. There may be another manufacturer that uses the same SS wheel specifications as BMW®® but I couldn't find one.
So we have to use an existing BMW®® SS wheel and it has to have at least a 17" diameter to clear the brake calipers and backing plate, which leads to the only suitable wheel I could find which is the 17" SS wheel as used by the E46 330.

Tyre/wheel...Having one wheel size (17") narrows down the SS tyre choice considerably, in fact I could find only one available *in the UK* (I don't know if this tyre is available in the US!) that is close to the require diameter range. The tyre is the spare from a Toyota 3000GT made by Toyo sized 135/80 x 17. The diameter is ((135 x .8) x 2) + (17 x 25.4) = 647.8. This is not the perfect size but it should be close enough.

So you need:

1 BMW®® E46 330 Emergency 17" wheel BM36. 11. 6. 750. 007 £24.15 + vat = £28.38
1 Toyo Space saver tyre 135/80 - 17 £34.50 + vat = £40.54
1 BMW®® E46 jack...I got mine second hand from a BMW®® specialist for = £10.00

I tested it today on the front and rear of my car and it seems fine when driven at a sensible speed (also the tyre puncture warning light didn't come on...which is a good sign). It is important that no excessive loads are placed on the tyre either through acceleration or cornering.

Edited by M3CD on Friday 27th March 18:40

[Toilet Duck]

M3CD said:

This should give you what you require - HTH



[i]"To order if you are interested, contact Pacific BMW at 1-800-909-7278. These prices are about 35% off of BMW dealer price. Delivery was 1 week from order date.

Notes:
• The lug nut wrench fits in the normal tool kit and the jack fits loose in the mobility kit area. I put the jack in a paper grocery bag to eliminate any rattle. The jack is a standard E46 3-series jack and works perfectly with the M3’s jacking pads.

• Spare tire weight is 25 lbs. Works with 19" or 18".

• Flip over trunk mat to rubber side and tire will not slide with cargo-net in place.

BMW Part Numbers:
P/N 36-11-6-750-007 $51.00 Euro E46 3-Series Space-Saver Black Wheel (steel)
P/N 99-00-0-003-134 $134.40 T125/80R17 99 M CST tire (Continental)
P/N 36-12-1-116-326 $1.38 Wheel Valve-Stem
P/N 71-12-1-095-406 $49.50 E46 3-Series Jack
P/N 71-121-179-953 $7.32 E46 3-Series Lug-Nut Wrench
P/N 51-47-9-410-805 $49.80 E46 3-Series Cargo Luggage Net [/i]

Thanks mate, you're a star!

Do you happen to know if these parts are available in the UK? When googling I can't find anything related in this country. I went on the following website and entered the part numbers in your post, but they don't seem to be recognised:

http://www.partsauction.co.uk/Home.aspx

Is the space saver only available from the USA?

Once again, many thanks for the info, much appreciated

Cheers

[Toilet Duck]

Oh you've updated your post whilst I was typing!

M3CD said:

So you need:

1 BMW®® E46 330 Emergency 17" wheel BM36. 11. 6. 750. 007 £24.15 + vat = £28.38
1 Toyo Space saver tyre 135/80 - 17 £34.50 + vat = £40.54
1 BMW®® E46 jack...I got mine second hand from a BMW®® specialist for = £10.00

Wow thats cheap!! Is that all BMW charge, £28.38 for the space saver wheel?? Sounds like a bargain!

For under a £100 all in including a jack seems more than reasonable!

Thanks again matey!

[M3CD]

Sorry did a bit more digging and updated my post above as I realised you didn't want to get it from the states.

If you did want to get it from the states here's the main supplier...

http://www.leatherz.com/Merchant5/merchant.mvc?Scr...

Edited by M3CD on Friday 27th March 18:50

[M3CD]

Toilet Duck said:

Oh you've updated your post whilst I was typing!

M3CD said:

So you need:

1 BMW®® E46 330 Emergency 17" wheel BM36. 11. 6. 750. 007 £24.15 + vat = £28.38
1 Toyo Space saver tyre 135/80 - 17 £34.50 + vat = £40.54
1 BMW®® E46 jack...I got mine second hand from a BMW®® specialist for = £10.00

Wow thats cheap!! Is that all BMW charge, £28.38 for the space saver wheel?? Sounds like a bargain!

For under a £100 all in including a jack seems more than reasonable!

Thanks again matey!

I'm not 100% sure thats a BMW price, but it probably will be as its not be pulled out as saying its second hand.

Alternatively keep an eye on ebay for 330i space saver...


PS Due to the M3 exhaust box size I don't think the space saver will fit neatly into the space...

Edited by M3CD on Friday 27th March 19:00

[mmm-five]

Toilet Duck said:

Do you happen to know if these parts are available in the UK? When googling I can't find anything related in this country. I went on the following website and entered the part numbers in your post, but they don't seem to be recognised:

http://www.partsauction.co.uk/Home.aspx

PartsAuction only lists what they have in stock, so if your part number is not found, it simply means they've not got any.

If you want to check what a specific part number is, then use http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do or http://bmwfans.info

[Toilet Duck]

mmm-five said:

PartsAuction only lists what they have in stock, so if your part number is not found, it simply means they've not got any.

If you want to check what a specific part number is, then use http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do or http://bmwfans.info

Ah OK, thanks for the tip!