When we bought our 1991 BMW 318is for $450, it had a myriad of issues, namely, a very broken engine. After completely rebuilding and hopping up our engine thanks to our friends over at Metric Mechanic, we set out rebuilding the suspension and brakes. Now, it was time for wheels and tires. The tires were old and unusable, and the wheels, while not super-heavy, had seen …
Loved those wheels when I first saw them on a mk2 scirocco back in the mid 2000s. They look great on the e30, subtle, but OEM+ like.
Notice the stud conversion on the e30
One wheel is worth more than my entire E30.
In my world $505 better be a set of four, never mind how nice they look.
No wonder I was confused...in this post from the other day it says the wheels are 14" . https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/project-bmw-318is-finishing-t/155648/page1/#post2771364
Tim Suddard said:
The original tire size for our 318is is 195-65/14”, making for a 24.0” diameter original tire size. We want to stay as close to 24" overall, as if we were to go bigger or smaller, we'll mess up our car’s gearing, plus the odometer and speedometer will be off.
We did some research and found that a 195-60/15” tire is 24.2 in dimeter, a 205-50/15” is 23.1” in diameter and a 205-55/15” is 23.9” diameter. Bingo. The E30 M3 came with this rather odd 55 section tire and tires in this size are available. We picked Vredestein’s Sportrac 5 tires in this size.
Factory tire size on my 325iX is also 205-55/15", but winter tires are hard to find in that size so I use 205-60/15" instead. At least on my car, I've actually found the odometer and speedometer read more accurately.
Love the look with the 15s but I would have gone for +2 fitment...and probably 215/45 for 23.6 inch diameter or 225/45-16 for 24 inches exactly. Bet with correct offset there would be no clearance issues and the extra grip would pay off when you actually have to run against that M3. Wheels might cost more....but if you didn't flinch at 500 per wheel money is no object. Just sayin
EDIT: nvrmind.
The E-30 coupe, just gets better looking with every year, and more valuable. Glad I still have my 91' 318is & 325i.
Now does anyone make 5-lug hubs for E-30's, or know of conversion parts.
This refreshed 318is, is worth the $2,000+ investment in wheels.
$2,020 has to be a small fraction of the total investment in this restoration/refresh that is likely worth north of $15,000-plus, now.
TreDeuce said:The E-30 coupe, just gets better looking with every year, and more valuable. Glad I still have my 91' 318is & 325i.
Now does anyone make 5-lug hubs for E-30's, or know of conversion parts.
Use e30 M3 front hubs, and rear trailing arm / hub assemblies from an e36 318ti. http://clavinzero.com/e30-5-lug/
stuart in mn said:TreDeuce said:The E-30 coupe, just gets better looking with every year, and more valuable. Glad I still have my 91' 318is & 325i.
Now does anyone make 5-lug hubs for E-30's, or know of conversion parts.
Use e30 M3 front hubs, and rear trailing arm / hub assemblies from an e36 318ti. http://clavinzero.com/e30-5-lug/
You can also use all the E36 front suspension pieces as well. Just need to also use the offset front bushing for the control arm to get the caster back into spec.
I may be wrong (I've been out of the E30 game for awhile), but I was thinking people were using the other E36 front pieces because there were issues with just trying to use the E30 M3 hub?
EDIT: Just read the link, as I remembered, you have to have the entire E30 M3 front setup (I think the strut tubes alone are approaching $800 each). You can't just throw the E30 M3 hub on the non-M E30 spindle and have it work.
Were 8" wide wheels an option? If so, you could've gone with 15x8s or possibly even 17x8s. You could run 225/45R15s, or 215/40R17s. Those are 23" and 23.8" diameter respectively.
GameboyRMH said:Were 8" wide wheels an option? If so, you could've gone with 15x8s or possibly even 17x8s. You could run 225/45R15s, or 215/40R17s. Those are 23" and 23.8" diameter respectively.
THey definitely fit. I ran 17x8 ET25 Work wheels on my 318is. With 215/40/17.
You can easily fit 235/40/17s on the same wheel with no rubbing problems.
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