[bmw] re:Torque wrench/'89 535i

["Chris Pawlowicz" <cpawlowicz@xxxxxxxxx>]

Gerry asks
>The questions I have now is about my spare.  Is is okay to keep the stock
>15" as my spare or should I go ahead and purchase another 17" wheel

it's ok to keep the 15" as the spare.. the outside diameter of your
wheel/tire combination is 'the same' (or pretty close) between the 15" and
the 17" setup, so the car doesn't really see any difference

the wheel's weigh differently etc etc, and sometimes (like with the 'donut'
mini spare tires) BMW tells you to turn off traction control when using them
(because they are so different in size) but you should not have any
problems.

one thing people don't think about though is lug bolts - sometimes they go
to wider wheels with spacers and need longer lug bolts.. then when they go
to mount the spare, the bolts penetrate too deep and interfere with the
brakes! in that case make sure to carry the original shorter bolts with you.
I don't think that's a problem in your case.

>Also, the car seems to be
>tracking perfectly straight but I was wondering if I should look into
>getting my alignment checked with the new wheels and tires.

everybody will probably have a different answer here.. some of us are always
swapping wheel/tire combinations (summer/winter/track) and just take 'em off
and put 'em on.. BUT it certainly won't hurt to get things checked out (and
usually pretty cheap too for the piece of mind)

what usually happens is someone puts on 17" with wide tires and the car
wanders all over the place.. what was 'good enough' alignment for skinnier
15" setup is not good enough for the new wider tires.. but you sound ok


Chris Pawlowicz
Stebro Stainless Performance Exhaust
http://cpcperformance.com
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