Nice big steelies

[voteforpedro]

I saw a dark blue Bora the other day on white steelies and it looked pretty cool, so I figured I would try it. Steelies are cheap.

I am looking for 17s ideally, but I can only find them in BMW fitment. Merc do 16x7.5" which are tempting, but I'm worried about the larger tyre size to fill the wheel arch gap.

Does anybody know if there are any Audi or Merc steel wheels that are 17" or even, gasp, 18"?

 

[Siena]

Never seen any VAG steel wheels larger than 16".

 

[voteforpedro]

Never seen any VAG steel wheels larger than 16".

What about T5 wheels? Or are they 5x120?

 

[stapo69]

The onyl way to do 17s or 18s is buy up 4 space saver steel rims and have them banded to make them wider, it has been done, PVWs Passat runs a set of wide *** 18" steels sometimes, have a search on wheel-whores.com

 

[Siena]

^^^ True.

Problem is, banded wheels are illegal, have been so for quite a few years.
A buddy of mine had a set built for his Golf II G60 (LHD).

His insurance company said they'd revoke his policy if he ran them on his car, so he got rid of them.

 

[stapo69]

Think they're a bit of a gray area, as usual! Found this in relation to someone asking about widening steels.

There are no specific regulations in the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, as amended (C&U) relating to the type of work you propose.
Regulation 100 of C&U does require that all parts fitted to a vehicle are not likely to cause a danger to the user of the vehicle or other road users.

Additionally, you will need to ensure that the wheels do not protrude from the wheel arches, or that modifications are made to the bodywork of the vehicle to ensure that the wheels do not protrude.

 

[voteforpedro]

Definitely not going down banded steelies route!

Merc do some 16x7.5" ET51 - how would they fit and what's the smallest tyres I could get on a slight (20mm or so) drop?

 

[Siena]

Just one of the areas I wouldn't tread in.

Would be a shame if you were involved in a smash, and your insurance company declined to make a pay out.

Now, that would suck big hairy balls big time.

 

[Siena]

You'd need spacers of at least 15mm to get them to look close to normal in your B5 arches.

And spigot rings - Mercedes centre bore is much larger than the 57,1mm the B5 needs.

 

[aragorn]

Stock offset is ET45 and 7".

The wheels are half an inch wider than stock, which means at ET51 the wheels would sit 12.35mm further inboard (the outside of the wheel would be roughly in the same place), seen as the clearance on the inside is generally the issue on the B5 you'll need at least 10mm or as siena says 15mm spacers to get them to clear.