jkozlow3

So I was in the parking lot at work and decided to measure the wheel gap of a 2006 330i (not the Xi AWD) and compared it to a coworker's stock TSX. The 330i had 17" wheels with 225/45/17 tires.

Anyway, my measurements weren't terribly scientific, as they were done with my fingers, but it seems that the BMW's wheel gap was ever so slightly more than the TSX's.

On the BMW, I easily fit 3 fingers between the rear wheel & fender and 4 crammed fingers on the front wheel.

On the TSX, I could easily fit 2 fingers (3 crammed) on the rear and 4 crammed fingers on the front (albeit less easily than I could fit 4 fingers on the front of the BMW).

So it appears that the stock 330i has the same or slightly MORE wheel gap than the TSX. How is this possible? Everyone is always talking about how BMW has such little wheel gap, but our TSX doesn't appeat to have any more. Is the offset of the wheels playing a role in the BMW's "appearance" of less gap?

Thoughts?

dom

I saw an 06 330 the other day and in fact commented in another thread about how it had no wheel gap.

Certainly less than my TSX. I would have been lucky to stick 2 fingers in there.

PixelHarmony

maybe the BMW was parked on an incline? I've always seen BMW's as cars with low stock height.

jkozlow3

Nope...neither car was parked on an incline.

I know it SOUNDS weird, and the 330i also appeared to have a little less gap, but I found that wasn't the case after measuring with my fingers.

TSX6one9

The BMW's wheel gap does look alot less than the TSX due to the wheel wells being more flared out.

jlukja

Are you elephantman_nosefacehands and did you check the wheel gap with your huge hands?

dom

As long as it appears like it has less thats all thay really matters to me.

jkozlow3

LOL...I KNOW it sounds weird, but I'm telling you the perceived smaller gap must be an optical illusion or something...possibly due to the fenders being flared like TSX6one9 mentioned.

At least this was the case on the 330i I measured. I'm sure that if it had the sport package installed the gap would have been less than the TSX though. This one must have just had the stock suspension.

waterrockets

You'd have to make sure to standardize your test as much as possible. Keep your fingers horizontal so you're not just measuring from the tire edge to the fender edge. You want to essentially flatten the measurement to a 2d problem, as seen from the side.

ianS

My 328 with sport package sit lower than my tsx a-spec. And E46 sure has less wheel gap than TSX. They park 2 car side by side in my gaurage. But maybe E90 is different.

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I saw a 330i and it has no wheel gap 18 INCH RIMS.

The TSX is a Aspec suspension if you could only fit 2 fingers in.

3 for me...when I tested the aspec.

LannyM

I like talking about gap................

I saw an '06 330i Sport Package car, 18"s, and it was a tight two finger gap front, a little less in the rear. For comparison, a stock TSX is a four finger gap in the front and three rear for me. With Tein FLEXS and 225/45/17s (smaller than stock), I have a very tight one finger gap front and rear...........with stock size tires it's almost tucked....

One of the cool things about the BMW, apart from the arched fenders, is the fact the the wheelwell wraps all the way around the tire, as opposed to tapering off like the TSX. At the bottoms of any TSX wheelwell you'll see like a four finger gap, whereas BMWs and other German cars are a couple of fingers all the way around, which just looks better.

I have seen non-Sport-Pack 3 Series cars with 4 finger gap....

ILoveMyHonda

I might be off on this one. But I always thought that perhaps BMW's and the like appear to be lower because of how they design their fenders. With the exception off those outfitted with the sport package.

But, I think the cars are stock height and the fender is designed to be more flush with the wheels, giving the appearance of a "drop". Thats why I think when you lower BMW's and such cars they appear like they are in the JTCC/BTCC, especially with aftermarket wheels. Is it me or when people lower their BMW's they look slammed.

Nikki

What matters is how it looks, and the BMW wheel gap certainly looks less to me.

Here is the 330i non sport




and here is the 330i sport

jlukja

It looks pretty big from this angle.

BlackAcTSX

I got to test drive the 330i w/sport and man, that thing handles like its on rails

Nikki

find a picture of a tsx at the same angle.

jlukja

I think this is roughly the same angle:



The gap looks the same to me.

Nikki

the tsx looks bigger, but the angle is much lower.

pizzaman555

i think the newer bmw might just have a bigger gap then the older bmws

gsrthomas

The BMW has less wheel gap mang.. And it has 18's

Benz_05_TSX

iTrader: (1)

ya... i've seen a few E90s around and it definitely looks it has smaller wheel gaps too.....or maybe it just have softer springs, so when we see it on the street with people in it, the car looks lower~

stphy32

Throw the "sport package" on the BMW and its way better than an ASPEC suspension for the TSX

nzk

who cares? whats next? a long thread about windshield washer nozzle flow rates? what a worthless discussion.

theElio

If you don't have anything nice to say or worthwhile to contribute...

stphy32

Then stay out of the thread!

Nikki

the new 3 series is lower than the last gen, everyone has been complaining about not clearing parking blocks.

Newplay1

Interesting thing I read Honda says the new civic wheel gap is smaller then new bmw 5 series kekek..

LannyM

I'll go along with that.

We were at the local Honda dealership the other day, and a new 4 door Civic rolled by on its way out for a test drive. With 3 people inside rolling along, it looked positively slammed. I checked out a parked one to see if I was seeing things, and even without passengers there's not much gap; it looks like the TSX should look from the factory.

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hahhaah....flow rates. Wow! funny