I have a 2009 Fit Sport that I'm buying winter rims/tires for. I found a set of BBS 14" basket-weave rims that were originally on a 1987 BMW E30 with new Blizzaks on them, but I'm not sure if they'll fit. I have a pretty good car knowledge but when it comes to wheels and tires, I've always left it up to the pros. Anyways, can anyone shed some light on the issue? Will these work for my car?

 

Not too sure on the exact specs of the wheel since most E30 BMWs have 4x100 bolt patterns, some (the E30 M3s specifically) have 5x120. The biggest thing (aside from the wheel's bolt pattern) is finding out what the wheel's width and offset.

These should be stamped into the back of the wheel somewhere as either (using an E60's 17x7 wheel as example) "ET+30", "30mm", "ET30" and so on for offset and the format of either 7x17 (<-- more likely) or 17x7 for wheel size.

Edit: If the offset is numerically lower than +45mm then there is a good chance the tire could rub... depending on the tire's size.

 

I know the BBS rims are 4x100 and from what I've discovered, it looks like they're a 30mm offset. Think it will rub? Are there such things as spacers?

 

Yes, those will defiantly rub if they are +30 offset is much lower than the Sport's factory wheels which are +53mm and the Base's factory steelies which are somewhere in the +45 to +55mm range if I remember right.

Basically, the wheel (and tire) will be positioned at least 15mm away from the car's centerline in comparison to a 2009 Fit Base's steelie (again at +45 to +55mm), 23mm further from center if you previously ran the factory Sport wheels. That extension of the wheel could cause the tire's outer sidewall to scrub against things like your fender liner or fender up in the front of the car and your rear bumper or possibly even the back of the rear quarter panel's lip if the offset is low enough and/or tire is wide enough. Mind you, I have the older GD chassis Fit but have read in several places here that the current GE chassis Fit is more sensitive to lower wheel offsets.

As far as spacers, they do exist. Just to get a basic idea, they're like metal plates that have the bolt pattern already cut/molded into the metal and space the wheel out whatever that spacer's thickness is... so if one were to put a 3mm spacer behind a GE Sport wheel with a +53mm offset, they'd effectively would have a +50mm offset (wheel pushed 3mm away from centerline). Spacers wouldn't be good for your application with these BBS wheels in my honest opinion.

Here is a link to what a spacer is/looks like.

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CHcQ8gIwAg

 

So bottom line - what's your recommendation? The wheels + the tires are $250 w/ new Blizzak tires (needless to say, great deal). Any way to make them work?

 

Pretty much, I'd look for a different set of wheels. I understand that its a steal price wise but the offset is way too low to safely run in my opinion for the reasons in my 2nd post.

It is possible to make them work but the wheel's mounting surface would have to be machined down by at least 10mm and even though that could cause some safety issues as well as isn't really cost effective (unless you have access to a machine shop) in my opinion.

Now if you could find some OEM Honda, Acura, or BMW-MINI (2001 to now 4 lug, year models) wheels you should be alright since they're usually in the +45 to +50 range or pick up a cheap set of steelies or some other wheel and tires from say Discount Tire or Tire Rack.

 

Thanks a lot for your help. My original plan was cheap steelies from Tire Rack anyways - just figured I'd see if I could save a couple hundred bucks.