F3x 3 & 4-Series Wheel & Tire Fitment Guide

2013-2019 3-Series sedan (F30) and Sports Wagon (F31) and 2013-2020 4-Series coupe (F32), convertible (F33), and Gran Coupe (F36)

 

VS-5RS // Front & Rear: 19x9" ET30 with 245/35-19

View all F3x 3 & 4 Series images

Vehicle Covered in this Guide:
2013-2019 3-Series sedan (F30) and Sports Wagon (F31)
2013-2020 4-Series coupe (F32), convertible (F33), and Gran Coupe (F36)
Fitment between all models is identical.

Chassis Introduction
The F3x 3 and 4 series marked a huge advancement in chassis and powertrain development, making them excellent everyday cars that can still hold their own on the track.

For those considering 17" wheels:

Brake clearance is tight with certain stock brake calipers when running 17" wheels on the F22 chassis. The optional brake packages with 370mm front rotors available on some cars will not clear 17" wheels. Cars with 345mm rear rotors will have extremely tight clearances with the vibration dampeners on the ends of the brake pads and caliper to barrel clearance as well. 17" wheels will clear the calipers themselves, but debris may be caught between the rear brake calipers and the barrel of the wheels which may cause scratching on both components over time. 

Caliper color alone is not a viable way of identifying which brakes you have! If you are unsure which brake package your car is equipped with, you can review Bimmerworld's technical article here for information on the various brake packages by model. 

Available Wheel Designs 
All APEX wheel designs are available for this chassis.

 

Forged Designs		Flow Formed Designs
ARC-8R Order Here	EC-7R Order Here	ARC-8 Order Here	EC-7 Order Here
VS-5RS Order Here	EC-7RS Order Here	FL-5 Order Here	SM-10 Order Here

 

Bolt Pattern	Thread Pitch	Center Bore
5x120mm	M14x1.25mm	72.56mm

 

 

OEM+ Fitments

SM-10 // Front & Rear: 18x8.5" ET35 with 245/40-18

These fitments prioritize (in order):
1. Ease of fitment
2. Aesthetics
3. Performance

Ideal for the driver who wants a no-nonsense direct bolt-on fitment. These fitments are a small step up from stock wheels and tires, and offer a small but noticeable performance improvement.

Square Setups
Recommended for most types of street and performance driving. Allows proper front-to-rear tire rotation to extend tire life & improve handling balance.

• Front & Rear: 17x8.5” ET40 (ARC-8) with 235/45-17 tires
  • Available in: ARC-8
  • Does not clear 370mm M-Sport brakes.
  • Cars with the optional 345mm rear M sport/M performance rear brakes will likely see scratching between the rear brake calipers and wheel barrels with 17" wheels. To identify which rear brakes you have, consult this article: https://www.bimmerworld.com/About-Us/F30-M-Sport-Brakes/ 
  • Direct fit.
  • 245/45-17 tires can also be used.

• Front & Rear: 18x8.5” ET35 or ET38 (ARC-8) or ET40 (VS-5RS) with 235/40-18 tires
  • Available in: ARC-8, EC-7, FL-5, SM-10, VS-5RS
  • Popular fitment.
  • OEM 225/45-18 tires may be used.
  • 245/40-18 tires can also be used.
    
    
• Front & Rear: 19x8.5" ET35 with 235/40-19 tires
  • Available in: ARC-8, EC-7, SM-10
  • OEM 225/40-19 tires may also be used.

Staggered Setups
Maintains stock-like handling characteristics, tires can only be rotated left to right. Maximizes both front and rear tire width.

• Front: 18x8.5 ET38 with 235/40-18 tires
  Rear: 18x9” ET42 with 255/40-18 tires
  
  • Available in: ARC-8
  • Direct fit.
  • Popular fitment.
  • OEM 225/45-18 front tires may also be used.
  • xDrive requires 225/45-18 front and 255/40-18 rear tires.

 

 

Aggressive Street Fitments

VS-5RS // Front & Rear: 19x9" ET30 with 245/35-19

These fitments prioritize (in order):
1. Aesthetics
2. Performance
3. Ease of fitment

Ideal for the driver who wants to fill out the wheel wells with the widest possible rubber and perfectly flush offsets. Sometimes these fitments are a direct bolt-on, but often times require small spacers, negative camber, or rolled fenders for the sake of dialing in the perfect blend of function and form.

Square Setups
Recommended for most types of street and performance driving. Allows proper front-to-rear tire rotation to extend tire life & improve handling balance.

• Front & Rear: 17x9” ET30 with 245/45-17 tires
  • Available in: ARC-8, VS-5RS
  • Does not clear 370mm M-Sport brakes.
  • Cars with the optional 345mm rear M sport/M performance rear brakes will likely see scratching between the rear brake calipers and wheel barrels with 17" wheels. To identify which rear brakes you have, consult this article: https://www.bimmerworld.com/About-Us/F30-M-Sport-Brakes/ 
  • Direct fit.
  • 235/45-17 tires can also be used.

• Front & Rear: 18x9” ET30 or ET31 (EC-7) with 245/40-18 tires
  • Direct fit.
  • Popular fitment. 
  • Available in: ARC-8, EC-7, EC-7RS, FL-5, SM-10, SM-10RS, VS-5RS
  • 255/35-18 tires may also be used. These may poke at stock ride height/alignment settings.
  • 255/40-18 tires may also be used but may rub depending on ride height and tire brand. Front negative camber and rolled rear fenders may be required.

• Front & Rear: 19x9" ET28 (ARC-8) or ET30 with 255/30-19 tires
  • Available in: ARC-8, EC-7, SM-10, VS-5RS
  • Direct fit with no modifications required.
  • Slight front negative camber recommended.
  • 245/35-19 tires can also be used, but tire models that run wide may cause rubbing. 

• Front & Rear: 19x9.5" ET33 or ET35 (VS-5RS) with 255/30-19 tires
  • Available in: ARC-8, EC-7, SM-10, VS-5RS
  • Extremely close front inner clearance, 3mm front spacers may be required depending on tire brand.
  • Rear fender roll may be required depending on ride height and tire brand.

Staggered Setups
Maintains stock-like handling characteristics, tires can only be rotated left to right. Maximizes both front and rear tire width.

• Front: 18x9" ET30 or ET31 (EC-7) with 245/40-18 tires
  Rear: 18x9.5" ET35 with 275/35-18 tires
  • Available in: ARC-8, EC-7, EC-7RS, FL-5, SM-10, VS-5RS
  • Rear fender roll may be required.
  • 235/40 and 265/35 tires may also be used for an easier fit.
  • xDrive requires 235/40-18 front and 265/35-18 rear OR 245/40-18 front and 275/35-18 rear tires.

• Front: 18x9" ET31 with 245/40-18 tires
  Rear: 18x9.5" ET43 with 275/35-18 tires
  • Available in: EC-7
  • Rear fender roll may be required with lowered cars or tires that run wide
  • 235/40 and 265/35 tires may also be used for an easier fit.
  • xDrive requires 235/40-18 front and 265/35-18 rear OR 245/40-18 front and 275/35-18 rear tires.

• Front: 19x9" ET28 (ARC-8) or ET30 with 245/35-19 tires
  Rear: 19x9.5" ET33 or ET35 (VS-5RS) with 275/30-19 tires
  
  • Popular fitment.
  • Available in: ARC-8, EC-7, SM-10, VS-5RS 
  • Slight front negative camber recommended.
  • Rear rolled fenders or negative camber required.
  • xDrive requires 235/35-19 front and 265/30-19 rear OR 245/35-19 front and 275/30-19 rear tires.

• Front: 19x9" ET30 with 245/35-19 tires
  Rear: 19x10" ET40 with 265/35-19 tires
  
  • Aggressive fitment that mirrors the fit of OEM M2/3/4 437M or 763M wheels. Forum Thread. 
  • Available in: VS-5RS 
  • Slight front negative camber recommended.
  • Rear rolled fenders or negative camber recommended.
  • xDrive requires 235/35-19 front and 265/30-19 rear OR 245/35-19 front and 275/30-19 rear tires.

 

 

Performance Street/Track and Race Fitments

ARC-8 // Front & Rear: 17x9" ET42 with 245/40-17

These fitments prioritize (in order):
1. Performance
2. Ease of fitment
3. Aesthetics

These fitments are effective for both performance oriented street cars and weekend track warriors. The suspension type, alignment settings, and tire brand/size can be changed accordingly to work for either scenario.

Square Setups
Recommended for most types of street and performance driving. Allows proper front-to-rear tire rotation to extend tire life & improve handling balance.

• Front & Rear: 18x9” ET30 or ET31 (EC-7) with 245/40-18 tires
  • Available in: ARC-8, EC-7, EC-7RS, FL-5, SM-10, VS-5RS 
  • Direct fit.
  • Popular fitment. 
  • 255/35-18 tires may also be used. These may poke at stock ride height/alignment settings.
  • 255/40-18 tires may also be used but may rub depending on ride height and tire brand. Front negative camber and rolled rear fenders may be required.
  • Recommended fitment for suspensions with limited inner clearance, see below.

• Front & Rear: 18x9.5" ET35 with 265/35-18 tires
  • Available in: ARC-8, EC-7, FL-5, SM-10, VS-5RS 
  • Extremely close front inner clearance, 3-5mm front spacers may be required depending on tire brand.
  • Additional negative camber recommended up front to prevent rubbing. 
  • Rear fender roll may be required depending on ride height and tire brand.

• Front & Rear: 18x9" ET42 with 245/40-18 tires
  
  • Available in: ARC-8
  • Front 5mm spacers required for stock suspension or coilovers with excellent inner clearance. 
  • 255/40-18 tires may also be used as a direct fit. 
  • Not recommended for coilovers with limited inner clearance, see below.

Staggered Setups
Maintains stock-like handling characteristics, tires can only be rotated left to right. Maximizes both front and rear tire width.

• Front: 18x9" ET31 with 245/40-18 tires
  Rear: 18x9.5" ET43 with 275/35-18 tires
  
  • Available in: EC-7
  • Rear fender roll may be required to prevent rubbing depending on ride height. 
    
  • xDrive requires 235/40-18 front and 265/35-18 rear OR 245/40-18 front and 275/35-18 rear tires.

 

 

Our wheels are popular for winter use because of their unmatched caliper clearance. We recommend a square fitment in order to allow front-to-rear tire rotation, although staggered fitments can also be used.

Square setups

• Front & Rear: 18x8.5" ET35, ET38 (ARC-8), ET40 (VS-5RS) with 225/45-18 winter tires
  • Available in: ARC-8, EC-7, FL-5, SM-10, VS-5RS
  • Direct fit.

• Front & Rear: 19x8.5" ET35 with 225/40-19 winter tires
  • Available in: ARC-8, EC-7, SM-10 
  • Direct fit.

 

Additional Fitment Information

Concavity & Face Profiles
Each of our wheel designs is available in two or three different levels of concavity, which we call Profiles. The Profile is dictated by the width and offset, meaning wide lower-offset wheels will have more concavity, while narrow higher-offset wheels will have less concavity.

Available Face Profiles

ARC-8	EC-7	FL-5	SM-10

To determine the face profile of a specific wheel visit the "Specifications" tab on the product page for that wheel. For example:

  

 

 

Identifying Suspension Types
If you’re using coilovers, see the image below to identify which type of coilover spring you have, as it may effect your wheel fitment.

Aftermarket F3x 3 & 4-Series Suspensions Known To Reduce Inner Clearance
(includes but not limited to):

• Bilstein PSS9 & PSS10
• KW Height-Adjustable Spring (HAS) kit
• KW Variants
• KW Clubsports
• Öhlins Road & Track

About Camber Plates 

Adjustable camber plates do more than just aid in wide wheel and tire fitment. They provide increased grip and reduced tire wear by spreading the load evenly during cornering. Learn more in our blog article, The Positives of Negative Camber, then see our F3x camber plate page here.

Big Brake Kit Clearances

We have tested many big brake kits with most of the wheels listed in this guide. Please email us with any questions related to brake clearance, we’ll be happy to help.

Still have questions?
Fill out our Fitment Recommendation form
Call us: 925-245-0773
Email us: support@apexraceparts.com