Six wheels, three families: how to tell E46 factory wheels apart

Six wheel designs account for most of the "is this the right wheel?" questions we see for the E46: three star spokes, one double spoke and two M double spokes. All of them bolt to any E46, which is exactly why used sets get mixed up: a 16-inch and a 17-inch seven-spoke look alike in a photo, and three of the six come as front and rear pairs that must not be swapped. This guide shows each wheel, gives its size as BMW's European catalogue records it, and lists what to check before you pay.

The short version

• Three families. Star spoke: Style 44 (17-inch, seven spokes), Style 45 (16-inch, seven spokes) and Style 119 (17-inch, five spokes). Double spoke: Style 71 (18-inch, with 17-inch versions in Europe). M double spoke: Style 68M (17-inch) and Style 135M (18-inch). ¹
• Four of the six are square, the same wheel at every corner: 44, 45, 119 and the 17-inch square Style 71. Three are staggered, with a wider rear: 68M, 135M and the 18-inch Style 71. ¹
• The European catalogue lists five of the six for the whole range, Sedan, Touring, Coupé, Convertible and Compact, petrol and diesel. The exception is Style 45, which is listed for no 330 model. ¹
• A catalogue listing is not a factory-fit record. Style 119 and Style 135M were released in 2003 and are still listed for cars built before that. ¹
• Everything here is the European catalogue. US applicability differs for two styles, covered in "The wheel that fits an E46, unless the E46 is American". ¹

Style 44 and Style 45: the seven-spoke pair

These two are the ones most often confused: both are seven-spoke "star spoke" designs from the start of E46 production, and the difference is an inch. Style 44 is 17-inch, 8 inches wide, 47 mm offset, fitted in fours. Style 45 is 16-inch, 7 inches wide, same offset, also in fours. Both were released in February 1998, before the first E46 reached customers. ¹

In the pictures, the 44's spokes are slimmer and parallel-sided to a flat rim edge; the 45's broaden towards the rim on a more rounded face. With a tyre fitted, do not rely on that: read the rim diameter off the sidewall, or the size cast into the back of the rim.

Where they go differs more than their looks. The European catalogue lists the 44 for every E46 body and engine, 316i to 330xd, Compact included. The 45 is listed for every body too, but for no 330-badged car: no 330i, 330xi, 330d, 330xd, 330Ci or 330Cd. ¹ The catalogue gives no reason. The 330 models carry larger front brakes than the other cars ⁴, and forum reports conflict on whether 16-inch rims clear them. ⁴ A set of 45s "from a 330i" deserves a question about the story, not necessarily about the wheels.

Style 119: the five-spoke latecomer

The third star spoke has five broad spokes, not seven. Its size matches the Style 44, 8 by 17 inches with a 47 mm offset, in fours, but it was released in March 2003, with the facelift. ¹

Despite that date, the European catalogue lists the 119 for every E46 body and engine, including the 1998 cars. That is the clearest example of a rule that applies to every wheel on this page: the catalogue draws no era line for wheels. No rim row carries a production-date band, so "listed for" means BMW considered the wheel applicable, not that any car left the factory on it. ¹ A 1999 323i on 119s is a retrofit, and nothing wrong with it.

Style 68M and Style 135M: the M double spokes

A double spoke is a spoke made of two slim arms running side by side with a narrow gap between them; on the 135M each arm from the centre splits in two toward the rim. Neither of these is an M3 wheel: both were catalogued for ordinary E46s, and the M3 has its own styles with different offsets and must be treated as a separate car. ⁴

Style 68M is 17-inch and staggered: 7.5 inches wide with a 41 mm offset in front, 8.5 inches with a 50 mm offset at the rear, from September 1999. ¹ Visually it is five pairs of narrow spokes with a slot between each pair, and an M badge on the cap.

Style 135M is 18-inch and staggered: 8 inches with a 47 mm offset in front, 8.5 inches with a 50 mm offset at the rear, from March 2003. ¹ It has ten pairs of finer spokes to the 68M's five. Count the pairs and you cannot mix them up.

Both are listed in the European catalogue for the whole range, Compact included. ¹ In Germany the 135M was also a factory option from 2004: from March 2004, BMW's German price lists allow the M Sport package II on the Sedan, Touring, Coupé and Convertible with either the 68M or the 135M, and the Coupé's Clubsport package, listed from September 2004, names the 135M in its contents. ⁷ US sources tie the 135M to a US-only performance package on the 330i and 330Ci. ³

A used set of either is only complete with two fronts and two rears: the 68M's differ by a full inch of width, the 135M's by half an inch. Four identical 68Ms are not a set, however good the price.

Which packages brought which wheel, in Germany. BMW's German price lists name the 68M as the wheel of the M Sport package II on the Sedan, Touring, Coupé and Convertible, and the 97M on the Compact; from March 2004 the package could be ordered with the 135M instead of the 68M on those four bodies, not on the Compact. The Clubsport package, an option on most Coupé models from September 2004 at €4,200, names the 135M in its contents. The Lifestyle and Exclusive Editions had wheels of their own: Style 136 and star-spoke 137 on the Sedan and Touring, star-spoke 170 on the Coupé Lifestyle, star-spoke 171 on the Coupé and Convertible Exclusive, and Style 169 or star-spoke 136 on the Compact Lifestyle; the Edition Sport includes the M Sport package II. ⁷

Style 71: one design, two diameters

Style 71 is the one wheel here catalogued in more than one diameter. The version most people mean is 18-inch and staggered, 8 inches in front and 8.5 at the rear with the 135M's offsets, from March 1999; the catalogue now marks it discontinued by the factory. ¹ The design is easy to spot: five pairs of spokes, a wide polished lip and a ring of bolt heads around the rim that gives it a two-piece look.

In Europe the same style diagram also carries 17-inch versions: a staggered pair with the 68M's sizes from April 2000, and a square 8 by 17 wheel from May 2002. None of them appears on the US side of the catalogue, which lists the 18-inch wheel for the 330Ci Coupé and Convertible only; the European catalogue lists the style for every body and engine. ¹ All diameters share the design, so a photo will not tell you which one you are looking at; the stamped size will.

Square or staggered: why it matters when you buy

The six wheels split cleanly:

Style	Diameter	Layout	Front	Rear
44	17	square	8J, 47 mm	same
45	16	square	7J, 47 mm	same
119	17	square	8J, 47 mm	same
68M	17	staggered	7.5J, 41 mm	8.5J, 50 mm
71	18	staggered	8J, 47 mm	8.5J, 50 mm
71 (Europe)	17	staggered or square	7.5J, 41 mm or 8J, 47 mm	8.5J, 50 mm or same
135M	18	staggered	8J, 47 mm	8.5J, 50 mm

All sizes from the catalogue mirror's part pages. ¹

A square set can be rotated front to rear; a staggered set cannot, and its tyres differ in size too. When a seller lists "4 x Style 68M", ask which two are fronts, and ask for a picture of the size cast into the back of each rim.

Two more catalogue habits explain most contradictions you will meet online. The lists carry no engine logic beyond the Style 45's missing 330s: petrol and diesel, four and six cylinders, two- and four-wheel drive are listed alike. ¹ And "discontinued" and "in stock" coexist: the mirror marks the 18-inch Style 71 discontinued while a dealer page we checked listed one of its rims as new and in stock; for the 119 and the 135M front, the same dealer said discontinued. A listing is a dealer's claim on the day it was fetched; the catalogue flag describes BMW's supply, not whether a wheel exists. ⁵

Checking a used set

1. Count the spokes. Seven: 44 or 45. Five: 119. Five pairs, plain rim: 68M. Five pairs with a polished, bolted-looking lip: 71. Ten pairs: 135M.
2. Read the size on the back of the rim, not the listing. It settles 44 versus 45 and the diameters of the Style 71 in one look.
3. For 68M, 71 and 135M, make sure you get two fronts and two rears. ¹
4. Bolt pattern and hub bore are the same on every E46, so any of these wheels mounts on any E46. ⁴ Mounting is not clearance: the 330 models carry larger front brakes, and whether a rim clears them depends on its design, not its diameter alone. The catalogue's "no 330" on the Style 45 is the one documented case.
5. An M badge on the cap proves nothing. Caps are sold separately; spoke count and stamped size identify a 68M or 135M.
6. An M3's wheels are a different subject. Different offsets, wider body, bigger brakes; nothing here applies to it. ⁴

Notes on the evidence

Confidence. Every size, offset, release date and applicability statement comes from a parts-catalogue mirror, corroborated on the European side by a second mirror derived from the same BMW data; no BMW-hosted catalogue was reachable, so nothing here is graded above MEDIUM. Enthusiast and reseller sources supply only common style names and US context, graded LOW. Brake sizes and the clearance remark come from a research note quoting manufacturer specifications and specialist retailers, not a BMW document.

Conflicts recorded. (1) One enthusiast source swaps the 68M's front and rear numbers; two independent listings agree with the catalogue, which is used here. (2) A second, discontinued 18-inch Style 71 pair exists in the European catalogue with no stated relation to the one above; it is left out. (3) Dealer "in stock" against catalogue "discontinued"; the dealer's claim is not adopted. (4) An earlier research description gave the 135M as seven pairs of spokes; the canonical photo shows ten pairs, counted by the owner and measured by us, and the photo is used. ⁶ (5) The first version of this article said the 135M had no factory connection in Europe; BMW's German price lists show it as an option from March 2004, and the text is corrected. ⁷

Not established. Which wheel was standard or optional on which European model and year beyond the German packages and Editions above; the catalogue does not say, our reading of the German price lists covers packages and Editions only, and the forum tables are US model years. Whether any 16-inch rim clears a 330's front brakes, and why the Style 45 is missing from the 330 models. The pictures are Zauberlabs' own canonical images of each design, shown for the spoke pattern only. ⁶

What comes next

Our E46 configurator is live: it shows which wheels fit your car and links to sellers where we've found one.