Author Topic: BMW Tires & Rims - 5-lug Conversion (Read 1964 times)

Craig · « **on:** November 29, 2011, 05:50:52 PM »

My vehicle is a 1992 BMW 318ic cabriolet (with a 5-lug complete conversion from a BMW E30 M3) with billstein sport shocks, H&R sport lowering springs and a 410 LSD. It is for street use only. The stock bottle cap wheels are an offset of 35mm and the sport basket weaves are 25mm.

My question is: What size rims and tires can I use on this 5-lug conversion, and in particular, what offset parameters can I use? Would like to stay with 17" x 7" because of the low horse power motor, and not go 8" wide.

BBS LM replicas (or real LM's) and style 42's are the looks I like, but am open to all suggestions of what will fit. What brand of BBS LM replicas are the best � esm's, tre's . . .? Also, I am attracted to the BMW Z3 style 42, 16" x 7� wheels, the offset being 46mm. With that offset, are wheel spacers a must, an option, or are they a joke?

Any information and/or suggestions that can be provided would be greatly apprecited.

Thanks, Craig

DesktopDave · « **Reply #1 on:** November 30, 2011, 09:37:51 AM »

With your 5-lug conversion I'd suggest some of the e34 or e38 rims. They're pretty reasonable, available, high quality, lots of choices, hub-centric and designed specifically for German cars. They're usually ~22mm. Avoid e39 rims, they need spacers to fit. 3-series rims typically have too much offset for you, normally ~35mm. The Z3 rims have too much offset for your setup, I'll bet.

If you truly have your heart set on a set of larger offset rims you could run small spacers with longer lug bolts or even a stud kit. I personally would only buy alloy spacers specifically made for the German 5-lug pattern (5x120, 56mm hub). I'd say any spacer over 20mm is asking for wheel balance troubles, geometry issues and heavy bearing wear.

I like to use this calculator...makes it easy to see what's going on:
http://www.1010tires.com/wheeloffsetcalculator.asp

My stock 14x6 bottlecaps are 35mm...and I'd want any extra rim width outside the hub to help with handling...so to keep the same distance from the inside of the tire to the strut mount:
22mm for any 7" rim; the tire would end up 26mm (~1 inch) further out.
10mm for an 8" rim; 50mm (2") further out.

I'm not sure how much space is under the fender wells...if the tire's too wide it'll need the fenders rolled and might scrub the wells at full lock.

Author Topic: BMW Tires & Rims - 5-lug Conversion (Read 1964 times)

Craig

BMW Tires & Rims - 5-lug Conversion

DesktopDave

BMW Tires & Rims - 5-lug Conversion