Need easy cheap bolt on 18in wheel for m3p with red brembos

[Level8Drummer]

Hello everyone! Second time over the past 3 months that I've been a 20x9 in uberturbine and or blown up a tire on South Carolina potholes.

Does anyone have an easy bolt on recommendation for an 18x9 or wider wheel, preferably stronger than the Uberturbines that will clear the model 3 performance brakes. I don't want anything that needs a centering ring, and would strongly prefer not to have spacers. I also do not want to go with a narrower wheel than a 9 in.

T-sport line makes 18x8.5s, but has no plans on making anything as wide as the factory Uber turbines.
Martian makes 18x10.5s, but they are expensive, and are reported not to fit without the use of spacers and possibly shorter adjustable upper control arms to increase negative camber in the front.
I'm reluctant to buy expensive wheels with the terrible roads in my state.

Any recommendations or new options?

Thanks!

L8D

 

[Pbaker609]

Grab a set of Konig’s in 18x9.5 and use a 3mm spacer. Konig dekagram and ampliform both clear the calipers and are budget friendly. Your options are pretty limited if you’re dismissing wheels that require hub centric rings.

 

[Level8Drummer]

Grab a set of Konig’s in 18x9.5 and use a 3mm spacer. Konig dekagram and ampliform both clear the calipers and are budget friendly. Your options are pretty limited if you’re dismissing wheels that require hub centric rings.

Thank you! Great info. What offset would you recommend?

 

[Pbaker609]

Thank you! Great info. What offset would you recommend?

35 with 5mm spacer

 

[turns2stone]

I have the same car/wheels, but went with the 19x8.5 OEM Sport V2 wheels. Very happy!

I get that 9" looks better, but you have more options at 8.5".

My entire set with new tires + TMPS was $1500. Uberturbines bagged up for some other time.

 

[dafuzztsu]

I'm 100% struggling with this too.

I'm expecting delivery of a new M3P this month and based on all the horror stories I plan to swap out the Uberturbines ASAP. I wish Tesla gave the option for a different wheel in the configurator. I've been drowning in a sea of aftermarket options for days now.

 

[Level8Drummer]

35 with 5mm spacer

Wouldn't they need centering rings though?

 

[Pbaker609]

Wouldn't they need centering rings though?

not if you use a 3+ mm spacer

 

[804son]

After a trip through South Carolina, You need a lifted 4X4 on 35's to handle those pot holes.
Seriously I wouldn't be concerned about "centering rings" they're only there to assist with the installation of the wheel.

 

[tm1v2]

@Level8Drummer I wouldn't bother with 18x9" on this car. The only reason to go 9" wide would be to run 255s, but there is not much selection of 255/45R18 performance tires last I checked. You could run 245s on 9" wide of course no problem, but then you might as well get 18x8.5" wheels. You could also run 255/40R18 but that's a pretty smaller diameter for this car, I wouldn't want that.

245/45R18 on 18x8.5" is my default street recommendation for this car, and is what I'm running right now, for exactly the same reason as you - the stock 235/35 setup is NOT practical for our roads. Our Model S P85 came with a similar 245/35 setup (21s in that case), and one of the rims literally cracked just driving down a rough rural road. (And some of our city roads aren't any better.) I loved the look of the P85 on those 21s, and same for the M3P on its 20s, but I've realized that sizing with rubberband-thin sidewalls on huge heavy cast wheels is all for show, not go.

If you do want to go wide in 18", I agree with 18x9.5" suggestion. Run 265/40R18 on them to closely match stock diameter.

One thing to note, 18" is a pretty snug fit over the brakes on this car, especially the parking brake in the rear. Make sure whoever does your tire mounting and balancing only puts weights on the outside of the barrel! And make sure they do that for all 4 wheels, so you can rotate front<->back. I'm super happy with our 18x8.5" wheels, no regrets, just be aware of that because a lot of tire techs will mess it up if you don't warn them up front.

 

[pdx_m3s]

If your concern is potholes and road abuse, 18x8.5 with 245/45 is the way.

If you search around on here, there are some 18” options in that size that fit P brakes.

 

[Level8Drummer]

One more question about the konigs. I'm looking at the ampliforms. Will the stock Tesla lug nuts work? I see people buying other lug nuts...

 

[Level8Drummer]

Well I've done some research and the answer is no! The recess for the lug bolts in the Koenig Wheels is 29 mm, the size of an 21 mm (stock wheel nut size) impact wrench is 30 mm, so you'd want around a 33 mm recess for the wheel nut and socket to fit around it. This is about what the Tesla's recess size is, I had difficulty measuring it.

This means they only left you space for 19 mm wheel nuts, which I am not going to run. If Tesla thinks a 21 mm nut is necessary then that's what I'm running.

I will be contacting Apex and see what their recess sizes for the ec-7 wheel.

 

[mpgxsvcd]

My recommendation is go with 18x8.5 wheels especially if you want plug and play wheels, tires, and TPMS sensors.

I have the T Sportline TS5 18x8.5 wheels with the 235/45/18 Michelin PS4S tires package. They ship the wheels with the sensors and tires mounted and balanced and there are no clearance issues with the Performance Model 3.

This really is the best option if you want truly plug and play for a reasonable price.

TS5 18" Tesla Model 3 Wheel and Tire Package (Set of 4)

TS5 18" Tesla Model 3 Flow Forged Wheel & Tire Package. Tesla Model 3 18" TS5 Zero G style flow forged wheel is manufactured exclusively for the Tesla Model 3. Get Tesla Model 3 wheels now! Order lightweight flow forged wheels for your Tesla Model 3 at T Sportline home for Tesla Accessories...

tsportline.com

 

[tm1v2]

Well I've done some research and the answer is no! The recess for the lug bolts in the Koenig Wheels is 29 mm, the size of an 21 mm (stock wheel nut size) impact wrench is 30 mm, so you'd want around a 33 mm recess for the wheel nut and socket to fit around it. This is about what the Tesla's recess size is, I had difficulty measuring it.

This means they only left you space for 19 mm wheel nuts, which I am not going to run. If Tesla thinks a 21 mm nut is necessary then that's what I'm running.

I will be contacting Apex and see what their recess sizes for the ec-7 wheel.

@Level8Drummer If you're open to $2k forged wheels, the Titan7 T-S5 I'm running in 18x8.5" are a direct fit on the M3P. No rings or spacers needed, and you can reuse the stock lug nuts if you want, that's what I'm using. I think all the wheel brands you listed are good btw, not trying to steer you away from any of them.

(And yeah I'm aware one can carefully mount "lug-centric" wheels without a centering ring, but there are times in life I can't be there when my car's wheels need to be remounted.)

Note since the stock lug nuts are open-ended they look kinda ugly without a cover. I got a set of $8 plastic lug nut covers from Amazon that very closely color match the "satin titanium" finish of my wheels. If you look really close the $8 plastic covers look cheap of course, but you shouldn't be getting that personal with my wheels anyways.

Overall a nice set of quality steel aftermarket closed end lugs would be nicer for sure, but if you're not swapping wheels often, the covers tidy up the look for very cheap. (If you ARE changing wheels often, e.g. frequent autox or track days or such, don't waste time fiddling with covers of course.)

 

[Level8Drummer]

I appreciate the info. I just don't want to go with skinnier wheels, or wheels that don't have clearance for full Tesla sized lug nuts.

I talked to apex and the ec-7 wheels have appropriate clearance to accept factory lug nuts and an impact socket and have proper clearances for the model 3 performance brakes. They also have a large enough center bore (70.5mm) to go around the outer lip of the model 3 performance hub (70.1mm), so they shouldn't need spacers.

18x9.5

18x9.5" ET35 APEX EC-7 Mustang Wheel

www.apexraceparts.com

More info to come! I appreciate everyone's help.

L8d

 

[DOOLMTR]

Great choice with the EC-7’s. Get the hubrings and centercaps from Apex while you’re at it.

 

[pdx_m3s]

Apex is the real deal. I wish they made the ARC-8 in 5x114.3. They take me back to my BMW days.

 

[Level8Drummer]

I remember those days too!

Now the Apex rep is saying you need 3 mm spacers for them to fit, and one of the sales reps is saying they go right on. The Apex rep says the barrel won't clear the inner spindle without a spacer but I find that pretty hard to believe.

 

[tm1v2]

I wish Apex would come out with actual M3P specific wheel fitments. I like a lot of their styles and their forged wheel prices are on target for being a US company using cheaper-foreign-labor manufacturing. (Which I have no problem with btw, as long as the price is appropriate.) Apex was on my short list, but ultimately I didn't see a reason to mess with Mustang fitments, when there are comparable forged wheel brands (not saying better, just comparable IMO) that offer actual M3P fitments at about the same price point. Namely, Titan7 and Martian.

I'm not saying I wouldn't ever use a Mustang fitment with rings / spacers. I'm just saying that at any given price/quality/pedigree intersection, if there are direct fitments available, those will be my preference.