E 36. Different size spare

Only as a must. But even then I would only put it on front end. The more if you have LSD diff (not likely, but still).

will be 0,7 % less to fast, that means when tacho says 60 mph, you areacutally doing 59,6 :-)

-- It's a good idea to drive a little Japanese/Ford/whatever shopping machine once a year to remind yourself why you're in a BMW for the rest of the year. by John Burns. '98 328i coupe t.

Revolutions per mile are virtually identical for those two sizes. For example, the Continental CH95 specs at 833 for the 205/60R15 and 835 for the

225/50R16 - a difference of about 2/10 of one percent.

Tom K.

Thanks guys That was a lot of help. I had imagined that a different tyre radius (ie 15 or 16) meant a different circumference, but it just seems to be a different size hole in the middle of the tyre!

Thanks again

Yes. They are approximately the same diameter and, therefore, circumference. 225/50-16 wheel sets came on that car with the sport package.

Yes. Same circumference means the speedo reads the same.

The 205/60x15 and the 225/50x16 are functional equivelents. The speedometer won't care. The difference in the overall diameter is less than 0.2 inches.

Yes, the 15 was more than likely the standard tire, somebody decided to upgrade to 16s. The "right" way to upgrade would have been to buy 5 new tires and wheels, that's what I did when I upgraded my E36 to 17s.

yabbut... will the wider 225 tire fit in the spare tire well? When I had 225/50x16's on my '95 325i I had the OE steel 15" spare in the trunk. Never tried to fit the 16" wheels in there.

Mine too. Makes more sense to me. I used the spare once in 5 years of ownership.

I've owned mine 5 years now as well, and the spare has yet to be mounted to an axle. knocking on wood...

It fits into my spare tire well just fine. Remember, the spare tire well is designed to fit the diameter, and 15 or 16 have nothing to do with that because when the rim gets larger, the sidewall gets narrower, making the diameter the same.

Yea, it was the width I was concerned with. But if yours fit OK then I guess it will accommodate the extra 2 cm width. I've never tried...