Maximum Wheel Widths

Here is some information I got from a person who had a very low and stanced e9 before, I asked him directly many years ago when my plan still was to go with big wheels.

"The BBS were 18x8.5 et13 and 18x9.5 et13.
In the rear, you cannot fit a wider wheel, nor a 9.5 in any other offset. It clears both the inside and outside of the fender by about 1mm.
When I swapped to the HREs, I went with 18x8 et10 and 18x9 et10 for a little extra room, and I was glad I did. Those are the sizes I recommend if you're going for that look"

Cheers,
Hey man, do you by any chance have a picture of the hre under the car?
 
Here is a link to pictures of Mike's coupe with the previously mentioned 18" HRE wheels.
Oooh did you buy the e9 from Mike? It's after that offset I'm after! So it's the same specs?
I'm rebuilding these but was kinda stuck with the specs.

Thanks for the reply BTW, really appreciate it!
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this is an interesting discussion, but i never worry so much about the wide wheel fitting in the rear, its the width of the tire required to fit the width of the wheel. that is fitting between the rear suspension and the fender. the taller the wheel, the better chance the wide width has of clearing the suspension. we know that on @vince 's coupe, he has a 9" wide - 17" dia. RC 090 with i believe 245/40-17" tire ... and i believe 3mm of clearance. the tire is 9.8" wide

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Oooh did you buy the e9 from Mike? It's after that offset I'm after! So it's the same specs?
I'm rebuilding these but was kinda stuck with the specs.

Thanks for the reply BTW, really appreciate it!

Yes, that's his specs for the 18" BBS he ran first, and the 18" HRE's he ran later.

No, but Mike's e9 (when sitting on the 18" BBS wheels) was what made me determined to find and buy an e9.
So when I finally found my project coupe the goal was definitey to go very low and with big wheels, but in the end after 5 years of restoration I just wasn't into that anymore.
I'm not discouraging you, I still like low e9's, but it's just not for me (I'm getting old) :D

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Yes, that's his specs for the 18" BBS he ran first, and the 18" HRE's he ran later.

No, but Mike's e9 (when sitting on the 18" BBS wheels) was what made me determined to find and buy an e9.
So when I finally found my project coupe the goal was definitey to go very low and with big wheels, but in the end after 5 years of restoration I just wasn't into that anymore.
I'm not discouraging you, I still like low e9's, but it's just not for me (I'm getting old) :D

View attachment 151305

Yeah it's almost 4 years here.. Getting close to paint.. Not sure if I'll keep driving it low.. But definitely gonna make it low once.. Have had the e9 on hre's as background for years as inspiration to keep me going and I at least want 1
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Screenshot_20221007_142951_com.instagram.android_edit_147002079854652.jpg
picture of mine in the same way/stance .
I'm allready in to deep to stop now.
Any way thanks for the reply!
Have a nice day/ weekend!
 
Yeah it's almost 4 years here.. Getting close to paint.. Not sure if I'll keep driving it low.. But definitely gonna make it low once.. Have had the e9 on hre's as background for years as inspiration to keep me going and I at least want 1 picture of mine in the same way/stance .
I'm allready in to deep to stop now.
Any way thanks for the reply!
Have a nice day/ weekend!
I have to admit that I am somewhat ol'skool when it comes to wheels/tires/stance on a vintage car. To me, a 50 year old car just doesn't go with double dubs and rubber band tires. The beautiful, classic shape of an E9 is the polar opposite of a set of the tires and wheels that are being delivered on a new performance car. To me they are a contrived combination on an E9. Maybe like wearing a pair of running shoes with a tux.

However, with the relatively small diameter wheels, and tires with beefy sidewalls, DIMI has pulled off the radically lowered stance while still being true to the theme of an E9. The car still looks vintage...but racy and updated. This works...and works well! I'm hoping something similar will be on the finished product.

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BTW, the interior looks like something Singer would do. :cool:
 
However, with the relatively small diameter wheels, and tires with beefy sidewalls, DIMI has pulled off the radically lowered stance while still being true to the theme of an E9. The car still looks vintage...but racy and updated. This works...and works well! I'm hoping something similar will be on the finished product.

I’ve also liked low e9’s. @floridabmx had a really nice and low Sahara CS polished massive BBS. He’s a good resource to question. I must say that I agree with @Dick Steinkamp in liking the low with factory wheels. It would set the car apart in both communities. Of course both would hate it but I like! ;)

More and more e9’s are getting restored. The vast majority are “tastefully modified”. These tasteful mods are the same that happened in the 80’s. Only our tastes have hanged. I think it’s nice to have a small percentage of very custom and often polarizing e9’s. Something different from your run of the mill batmobile clone with a big motor. I find it interesting that most of those track toys and C&C queens have mods that are far less reversible than suspension updates with big wheels. Even so, people fawn over group 5 clones with full cages, side exhausts, and fuel cells.
 
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