Possible track wheels?

[97Msedan]

This could be completely crazy, but has anybody ever thought about using Camaro/Corvette wheels on an E36.

I've been looking for some 17x9 wheels and the Chevy wheels have a extremely close bolt pattern (120.65 vs 120 x 5) and the center bores are fairly similar (70.5mm vs 72.5mm not sure about the tolerances). Many of the wheels also have offsets ranging from 45 to 50 mm, which would work for an E36.

Does anybody think this could possibly work for autocrossing, not daily street use.

Thanks! :help

[Spencer]

Yea, it will definetly work. You will need a hub ring, so the center bores on the F-Body wheels fit on the BMW hub. I'm not sure if there are any on the market for this conversion though. If not, you should be able to get a machine shop to make some up for you.

I'm pretty sure the bolt pattern is fine "as is". You might need to slightly drill the holes bigger, but it won't be much.

F-Bodies have some nice wide sizes with great offset though.... :buttrock

[97Msedan]

Thanks Spencer!

That's good to hear. I was thinking about machining out the 2mm from the center bore to make it 72.5mm since I've got access to a lathe and bridgeport.

This may work out afterall. :buttrock

[97Msedan]

BTW, thanks for the great deal on the tires a while back. I finally got around to running them and I won my class the first time out on the tires.

[///3oris]

I have a friend that did this... I'm not allowed to talk about details since what he has 'nobody else has' (that's about all I can say).... but just wanted to give you thumbs up that it's possible :)

Boris

[Spencer]

BTW, thanks for the great deal on the tires a while back. I finally got around to running them and I won my class the first time out on the tires.

:buttrock Glad to hear

So the BMW center bore is larger than the F-Body center body? Meaning, you'd have to machine the F-Body wheel center bore larger? I always thought the F-Body center bore was larger than the BMW center bore... maybe I had it all mixed up.

[vjlax18]

I posted this question almost 1.5 years ago now, and Jim said it wouldn't work. Glad to hear it does. :D

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79746

[///3oris]

I actually wanted to do a similar mod... if anyone can provide machining for the wheels, please either contact me or post over here...

Boris

[97Msedan]

Does anybody think you could fit a 17x9.5 wheel under stock fenders with rolling of course.

It seems like most of the wheels are that width with a 56 mm offset.

[Spencer]

Does anybody think you could fit a 17x9.5 wheel under stock fenders with rolling of course.

It seems like most of the wheels are that width with a 56 mm offset.


You can defintely fit a 9.5" width under the fenders but its really not necessary. A 9" wheel can fit up to a 275 without issues.

That a really aggresive offset. You'll need about a 10mm spacer in the rear and 25mm spacer up front.