I’ve not made the change but other forums have beat this to near death … e46 M3 Tire Sizing Thread - NA M3 Forums. and 235/265 is highly recommended (which means no issues)… my next set will be 235/265. After I posted there, I realized I’m on 225/255 (so 235/265 is next).

maw

 

thanks - yes, I have seen these posts on the forum. Agree, that the 235/40/19 front and 265/35/19 rear will be next for me also. However, I seem to replace my rears twice as often as my fronts, so replacing my rears now. Will need to wait another two years to replace all - then I will go with the size increase.

 

However, I seem to replace my rears twice as often as my fronts…

That’s the character of the car… welcome to the club… you’ll always replace rears twice as fast as the fronts.

maw

 

When i ran staggered 19s I had 275 rear and 255 front IIRC.

 

IIRC Dinan ran a square setup. 275 all around, although front rims were 9 and rears 9.5. Years ago had an 84 C4 corvette; ran 10" wheels all around, essentially slapped rear rims on the front and squared it up...Zero understeer, happy happy. YMMV.

 

To state the obvious: generally, square setups are ideal for AWD systems (the last 'optional' sizing I've had were 315s all around on my A12+ GT-R), OR if your RWD suspension set up is modified for it, otherwise, it would be more stress on your stock front suspension, and of course the inherent understeer to be expected. But modern AWD systems with adaptive front/rear/vectoring balancing, again clouds that scenario. (my stage 2 991.2 Turbo S stays stock staggering due to this) Dedicated track cars with the aforementioned suspensions setups to support square sizing, seems would be the only practical application of the setup on a RWD car. I am however thinking of moving to the 235/265 setup for my Dinan M3 for the next tire set.

 

Thanks all, I am thinking the same about moving to

235/40-19 (26.5" dia) and 265/35-19 (26.6" dia) Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4.

Stock tires are 26.3" dia front and 26.0" dia rear - so I am optimistic that the fronts will still clear the lower spring perch.

Hoping some will chime in here who is already running this set up to confirm.

Mike

 

In case it helps, I bought my car used with 245/35R19 (front) and 275/30R19 (rear) and drove this setup for 5 years and replaced the tires just last month with a different brand but same sizing. I do not know if I have stock suspension, but the alignment person states that my rear looks to be slightly lowered.

I realize these are different sizes that the ones posted in the thread but just sharing a data point.

 

Thanks - the 245/35-19 is a popular size. Lots of brand options.

The 245/35-19 has a 25.8" dia which is smaller than stock, so I can see why they clear the front spring perch.

Mike

 

Thanks - the 245/35-19 is a popular size. Lots of brand options.

The 245/35-19 has a 25.8" dia which is smaller than stock, so I can see why they clear the front spring perch.

Mike

Thanks for clarifying.

 

i’ve run several different size front/backs on my 19” rims. the 265 on rear is plenty fine. and looks better too.

 

UPDATE - I went with 235/40/19 front and 265/35/19 rear. Fit is perfect, no "stretch" look for the rears. These should have been the size tires that came from the factory on these cars.

 

glad you went with the 265s and like the fit and look. agreed, 255s look stretched and 265s just look normal. (at least on my CSL rear wheels)

stock M3 CSL runs 265/30/19

 

I run 235/35/19 and 255/35/19 on my OEM CSL set.. i like the small amount of stretch

 

I've been running 245/35R19 fronts, 275/30R19 rears since I bought the car about a decade ago. Rears quite aggressive-looking. (I'm running 10"-wide wheels in the rear.)

 

Thinking about the same sizes! Do you have any pictures? Please send them to my instagram “titanm3.victor” if you have any. Thanks

 

These are the accepted +1 and +2 sizes to keep the tires close to the same circumference.

235/35/19, circumference: 80.0"
and
265/30/19, circumference: 79.4"
or
245/35/19, circumference: 80.9"
and
275/30/19, circumference: 80.1"

I did 235/265 and like it. Car rides no harsher than before due to lower aspect.

 

FWIW I have been running 255/225 on CSL wheels for at least 6 years without any ABS issues.