Wheel spacers

[jgraves]

Finding wheels for a 19 year old E30 that has a bolt pattern of 4 X 100 is not as easy as I thought it would be.  Sure there are tons of wheels out there I could buy, but BBS wheels are what I seem to always come back to.  BBS makes quite a few sets of wheels already in the 4 X 100 bolt pattern, but wouldn't you know it the ones I really want are 5 X 120 the BBS RXII.  The RXII's are offered in 17X7.5, which should not offer clearance problems for an E30.  I could easily buy the BBS RGR's  in bolt pattern 4 X 100  17X7 that I like and are made for the E30's.  I have heard of people buying wheel spacers that will change the bolt pattern to 5 X 120, but which one's would you recommend to buy or is it even worth it?

[DesktopDave]

Do the 5-lug swap!  It'll be safer...especially if you need front control arms like I do...and cheaper to boot.

[jgraves]

Yeah, I know people that have done the five lug swap, but you have to change the brake rotors and calipers also.  That could run into alot of money doing that drastic of a change.

[monty23psk]

5-lug would be the best and safetest from my research. I do know that someone on the other e30 forum that makes a nice spacer, good quality, but not sure on the offset to fit our cars.

[dvmotorsports]

You'd be better off redrilling the wheels rather than running 4 to 5 lug adapters.

[flyinglizard]

The adapters marked "TUV approved" means that the GERMAN DOT thinks that they will stay on at 155mph.  Dont buy no chinese crap.
  I would buy the 4x100 wheels. The big skins just slow the car down, cost more, ride like crap, etc. IMHO.

[jgraves]

I think I'm just going to forget about the 5 lug wheels for my E30 and just buy the BBS RGR wheels.  Everyone I know is advising me against getting any type of wheel adapters.

[DesktopDave]

Yeah, sounds like the best course of action.  Keeping the wheels on my car is a high priority.  I have had them come off on occasion.  New rims will also be straight...and it's a foolproof method, unless you have an idiot on the other end of the phone.

I'll have to take a look at those wheels myself.  I've been contemplating larger wheels for quite some time.

[quinn11m20]

Yeah I heard the 5 lug swap is hard and time consuming. I have put 1" spacers on my car. It sits nice. You know Konig has an old school looking rim called the "rewind" and the "Foil". They both are 4 lug Configurations. Discount Tire sells them for $120 to $150 If my memory serves me right. You should check out Konigs web site. http://www.konigwheels.com. Good Luck.

[4banger]

there are tons of 4x100 wheels around if one is inept enough to look. ive got cheapie tire rack speical 15x7.5 mesh's on my 2 of mine untill i can find a couple sets of 15 or 16in 3 peice bbs's.

[deekay]

Yeah, I know people that have done the five lug swap, but you have to change the brake rotors and calipers also.  That could run into alot of money doing that drastic of a change.

you have to change a lot more than that. and yeah, it is a big cash outlay.

4x100-5x120 adapters are not advisable, they have to be so thick that the wheels you'd want aren't available in the high offset necessary.

if you're on a budget... sportmax time. otherwise save those pennies and browse the vwvortex 4x100 wheel classifieds.

[jgraves]

I'm going to stick with the BBS RGR's.  They make them for the E30's, but there's no way I'd buy them from Tire Rack.  They want $675.00 per wheel.  There's a company I can get them wholesale for $210.00 per wheel, but you have to join their club for $20.00 a month and cancel anytime.

[dvmotorsports]

Or you can get LM Reps for around $650-$750 depending on where you look. The most common one is 17x7.5 4x100.