I have found some cheap alloys that would be ideal for winter tyres (they look hideous though! :() but they have an offset of 59mm and are 7 inches wide.

Is this likely to cause any problems, or be cause for concern?

likely to fit, but will be sitting much more "in" the arch which may look a bit rubbish?

Q: why put something on your car you clearly don't like?!

Because doing over 30,000 miles a year means winter tyres are a must, but funds being a bit tight (swapping jobs, new bathroom & paying back golden handshake) meant that I had to compromise. Im gunna sand them down and paint them black but going from 18 > 16s is always going to look daft! :p

More tucked into the arches I can live with, less grit and rubbish thrown up the side of the car I suppose

Only concern might be if you use chains as they'll be getting reasonably close to the strut.

Thanks guys, no chance of chains any time soon. Would spacers sort this problem out anyway? (not that i know much about them tbh).

10mm spacers would help (ie take the offset to et49).

It goes without saying really, but if you were spending money on 4x10mm spacers and longer bolts to match, you'd be much better off just getting et50 wheels in the first place.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Golf-10mm-Wheel-Spacers-5-Hole-Universal-5-Stud-x2-/280633072619?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item415708dbeb#ht_500wt_1081

So something like that would be suitable? I am not too worried about it atm, the alloys were only £100.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Golf-10mm-Wheel-Spacers-5-Hole-Universal-5-Stud-x2-/280633072619?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item415708dbeb#ht_500wt_1081

So something like that would be suitable? I am not too worried about it atm, the alloys were only £100.

DO NOT buy these the only safe spacers to use are Hub Centric - these have a centre hole and flange to accurately centre the wheels on the hubs. With non hub centric ones you can easily tighten the wheels off centre and at the very least get very bad ride and can cause serious wear/damage to the wheel bearings/hubs/wheels

Will the extra width of the wheels (7J), will this not offset the...offset slightly? (sorry... :p).

Have a look on www.willtheyfit.com to see how these new wheels will sit compared to your exisitng wheels