E36 wheel fitment comes down to one number more than any other: offset.
The bolt pattern is 5x120 with a 72.6mm centre bore on the six-cylinder cars and the M3 (four-cylinder 318i and friends are 4x100 unless converted to 5-lug), and the chassis is happy with offsets roughly in the ET35-47 window — the factory M3 wheels sit around ET41, and staying near ET40 with a mild drop is the no-drama zone
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