E36 M3 wheels on my R53...

[Partsman109]

...is a reality now, finally...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7312.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7311.jpg

[Infamouscrew02]

I like it. I take it a lot of work went into the 5 lug conversion or was it already 5 lug?

[Partsman109]

Thanks... it was quite a bit of work to convert it.

[SilverBeam]

Those look really good, kudos to you for doing something totally unique and different.

[Partsman109]

Thanks...I am happy with it.

[bluefox280]

Thanks... it was quite a bit of work to convert it.
Made-to-order custom hubs or something else?
I would LOVE to get out of 4x100mm bolt pattern; wheel choice in a 17" diameter is limited.

- Erik

[beaner06]

Nice work!

[Partsman109]

Made-to-order custom hubs or something else?
I would LOVE to get out of 4x100mm bolt pattern; wheel choice in a 17" diameter is limited.

- Erik
The fronts are factory MINI hubs, I just increased the diameter and redrilled and tapped for the BMW pattern. They are easy because they come apart.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_5590.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_5588.jpg


...after being turned on a lathe and redrilled/tapped...also in the picture below is the hub ring I machined to fit the MINI 56.1 on the ID, and the E39 74.1 on the OD...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7303.jpg

[Partsman109]

Nice work!
Thanks man!

[bluefox280]

The fronts are factory MINI hubs, I just increased the diameter and redrilled and tapped for the BMW pattern. They are easy because they come apart.

...after being turned on a lathe and redrilled/tapped...also in the picture below is the hub ring I machined to fit the MINI 56.1 on the ID, and the E39 74.1 on the OD...
Very slick and good to see the work and how it was done.
What was done with the brake rotors for the bolt-pattern change?

- Erik

[Partsman109]

The rear rotor center hole had to be machined on a lathe to fit the E39 hub, and the hub itself drilled and tapped for the MINI rotor bolt. Once the rotor was bolted to the hub, centerpunched from the back and drilled with a flat face cutter on a Bridgeport miller.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7280.jpg

The fronts just needed to be centerpunched and drilled.

[BMW mania]

http://www.minimania.com/bmw/awesome.jpg

Helluva Job.. :alright

[Partsman109]

Haha, thanks man!

[RRSperry]

Not to be a shoodgnick, but those E36 DS2 wheels weigh about 25lbs a piece. There has got to be a better lighter option.

[Partsman109]

No, not at all man...you're right, there are lighter wheels available. I have always just like the look of the DS2s, plus I got them cheap.

This is my daily driver(60 highway miles to and from work) so I am not all that concerned with wheel weight. I am sure that I will try different wheels in the future...but for what I did to get these on, i'll leave them for a while.

[MINIGURU]

Looks good but you should put MINI center caps on it

[graphite9]

Looks awesome!

[bonzilla]

dsIIs fit really well with this car. I have been wondering for a while what e36 wheels would look like on a mini. you have many options now!

[Partsman109]

Looks good but you should put MINI center caps on it
Thanks Way, funny you say that as I had the same discussion with a guy on my local board. I don't ever change center caps with any of the wheels I put on my car, I always use the ones that are originally supposed to be there.


Looks awesome!
Thanks very much!

dsIIs fit really well with this car. I have been wondering for a while what e36 wheels would look like on a mini. you have many options now!
Thanks...I wasn't absolutely sure how they would "fit" until I put that first front one on, then I was like...damn, that looks pretty good.





Adapting the E39 M5 front hub to the rear trailing arm was a little more involved.

The BMW hub is not only bigger than the MINI one, but about a 1/4" inch shorter so I machined this adapter plate out of a 1" thick piece of steel that was 4"x4" to locate and space out the hub...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMAG0038.jpg



...after I drilled it for the E39 mounting pattern and cleaned up the corners, my good friend Scott who owns Nutmeg Tool tacked it to the arm so I could drill the holes in the trailing arm. We used a flat face cutter normally used in a Bridgeport miller in a cordless drill...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMAG0045.jpg


...Scott was invaluable with his involvement in my project, he is a master welder/fabricator and my car was in his metal/machine shop for a whole week...without him, I wouldn't have been able to do this.


...all welded up with a fresh coat of black...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7297.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7298.jpg



...E39 hub mounted using the correct bolts for the hub, shortened by me...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7300.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7301.jpg

...I still have to relocate the wheel speed sensor, but i'm glad the hard part is done.

I don't why my posts just "automerge"...but this one with the pics was separate from my multi-quote replies.

[graphite9]

Whats so awesome is your the only guy running them. I dig it.

[Partsman109]

Whats so awesome is your the only guy running them. I dig it.
Right...thanks man.

[JT///M3]

wow, thats insane. Now you can pretty much run any rim! Choices choices!

[Partsman109]

wow, thats insane. Now you can pretty much run any rim! Choices choices!
Yup...and i've been lookin' too.

[Partsman109]

New wheel project...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7655.jpg

Style 42, 17x8, et20, E39 fitment...when i'm finished they will have an offset of about 27-28, still tossing around color combos.

[beaner06]

you are sick. i love it!

[Partsman109]

you are sick. i love it!

Haha I know man, it's a sickness now...I can't help myself.

[beaner06]

i hear ya. i had a set of HRE 18's for the street, a set of SSR type C-RS's for rains, and two sets of Kodiaks for Hoosiers. $5 horse and $50 saddle?

[puckalb]

got these e46 style depo's from eAs with aurora angel eye V2 built in
6k hids

[Partsman109]

i hear ya. i had a set of HRE 18's for the street, a set of SSR type C-RS's for rains, and two sets of Kodiaks for Hoosiers. $5 horse and $50 saddle?
Haha, i don't have quite that many...yet!

[Helen09]

http://www.gouptoday.info/avatar3.jpgThanks... it was quite a bit of work to convert it.

[Adrianl]

Damn that's cool! What awesome work!

[Partsman109]

http://www.gouptoday.info/avatar3.jpgThanks... it was quite a bit of work to convert it.
Thanks...I think. haha


Damn that's cool! What awesome work!
Thanks very much, I appreciate it.

[jdholder]

Simply awesome - sent you a PM which you can ignore - I found it!

Amazing work - want to sell it? :)

[Partsman109]

Simply awesome - sent you a PM which you can ignore - I found it!

Amazing work - want to sell it? :)
Thanks a lot man...I can't sell it, got too much into it.

[Partsman109]

This link has a little better write up and a few more pics...

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3226214/2003-mini-cooper/page-4

[SR20Fastback]

Wow, those DSII's look great on your R53. I bet you could make a killing if you offered a 5 lug swap. The wheel choices for these cars are slip pickin's.


I bet you could make MORE of a killing if you could do an E36 M3 brake conversion with that 5 lug swap :alright

[arabsensation10]

Nice. I think I saw a Mini on Contours before as well... that was pretty sweet.

[aga080]

I came in here skeptical... Looks very nice though and props on doing the conversion yourself.

[Navy550i]

good job bud!!

[Partsman109]

Wow, those DSII's look great on your R53. I bet you could make a killing if you offered a 5 lug swap. The wheel choices for these cars are slip pickin's.


I bet you could make MORE of a killing if you could do an E36 M3 brake conversion with that 5 lug swap :alright
Thanks a lot...I looked into the E46 330 brakes a while back, but with the R56 JCW running 316mm diameter front rotors with 4 piston Brembo calipers now, that swap would be a lot easier to do. All I would have to do is drill the rotors 5x120 and bolt them up, plus they have a matching rear setup(single piston) with a larger rotor.

I thought about doing a kit, but I don't really have the time(or the initial capital) to do it right now. Plus, I kinda like having the uniqueness.



Nice. I think I saw a Mini on Contours before as well... that was pretty sweet.
Thanks...I don't think i've seen that car, I bet it looked nice. I'm sure I will try a set of those at some point.
The next set that i'll be running are Style 42s...I like using wheels that are easily recognized as BMW wheels.


I came in here skeptical... Looks very nice though and props on doing the conversion yourself.
Thanks very much, I appreciate it.


good job bud!!
Thank you sir!

[KeysCoupe]

Have you thought about a set of 4 front Roadstars from a Z3M? That should be "recognizable" as BMW! I may have to consider this after I get my big lathe back on line.

[Partsman109]

Have you thought about a set of 4 front Roadstars from a Z3M? That should be "recognizable" as BMW! I may have to consider this after I get my big lathe back on line.
You're right, the Roadstars definitely are. If I come across some, I just might try them on.

[Partsman109]

Picked up the barrels from my powder coat guy today after work(finally)...they came out pretty nice.
Sorry for the crappy pic, the sun was going down and the flash makes them look like they are different shades...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7707.jpg?t=1343869962

...I should be getting the centers back from my paint guy on Friday, can't wait to see how the Dark Silver centers will look bolted in there, stay tuned for "E39 wheels on my R53"

[Partsman109]

My wife picked up the centers from my paint guy today, I love her...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7722.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7719.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7716.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7715.jpg

...I just set them in to make sure there was no interference, and they all dropped in with no problem.
I didn't have time to bolt all 4 together tonight, so I won't have the tires mounted for a few days...my work schedule really sucks.

[slocar]

Saw your car in the BavAuto catalog and I was wondering how it was done.

Very cool! The wheels fit the car really well.

[Partsman109]

Saw your car in the BavAuto catalog and I was wondering how it was done.

Very cool! The wheels fit the car really well.
Thanks very much...it was pretty cool to win that photo contest, I was surprised when they told me...i'm guessing it was the wheels that did it.

[Old city bimmer]

Very nice. It great to see an idea come to life. Choices choices...now

[Partsman109]

Very nice. It great to see an idea come to life. Choices choices...now
Thank you...and you are right, it was great to finally pull the jack out from under the car after bolting on the last wheel.
All the planning, research, time, money and work I put into it was definitely worth it.

[Partsman109]

Just off the lift, sorry for the iPhone pic...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/photo3-5.jpg

...definitely needs more camber in the front and more low in the rear. I'll post a better pic after I make the proper adjustments.

[Partsman109]

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/a2Z77.jpg

[Partsman109]

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/Jt22u.jpg

[Partsman109]

http://i.imgur.com/7GQWF.jpg

[beaner06]

sweet image! how did you do it?

[Partsman109]

sweet image! how did you do it?
iPhone app called "ToonCamera"...

http://i.imgur.com/c1KUT.jpg

[Partsman109]

Took some new pics, a photographer i am not...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7994.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7995.jpg

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h181/PARTSMAN109/IMG_7998.jpg