Wheel adapters

[sdremsw]

Hi everyone, does anyone have experience with Bloxsport (https://e30sports.com/product/bmwvwa...5x120-adapter/) or 42 Draft Design (http://www.42draftdesigns.com/vw-aud...l-adapter-set/) adapters for an E30?

Could someone also please explain what the thickness means and whether you'd have the same on the front and back? What's the center ring size on a standard E30 325is 4x100 hub?

Thanks!

[superj]

I dont but i can tell you what the numbers mean.

The thickness is how thick the spacer/adapter is, or, how far it will move your rim outwards from its current position.

You can have tje same on front as back, or you can go thicker on back to give your car a staggered wheel look, like vettes and other sports cars sometimes have.

If i remember right, you want a 57.1 centerbore. That is so the spacer/adapter sits centered and doesn't move causing balance issues for you. Also, it gives you a ring on the rim side so your rim sits centered and isn't mounted a little up or to the side causing your car to vibrate when driving.

I have 20mm spacers on my car. It makes the car's wheels sit a little wider, which is a look i like. It probably helps in turns also but i don't autocross anymore so i don't use stuff in that way anymore.

You need to find out the backspacing on the rims you want to buy so you know what size adapter/spacers to get. You might need to also measure how much space you have from the strut to the fender and from the shock to the fender so you don't get wheels that are to wide for the spacer/adapter.

[Geoffzie]

I'm just now getting into this with my car ... a 1988 BMW E30 Convertible. The biggest problem with the factory 14"wheels is ... finding 14" tires for them anymore!

I originally wanted to use some nice 5-bolt wheels from a 1998 BMW 525i I found at the local Pull-a-Part. But after a lot of on-line research, I noticed a lot of folks (especially BMW'ers) are not real fond of the "4-bolt to 5-bolt adapters" ... primarily because one of the 4-bolts interferes with one of the 5-bolts ... which creates an "engineering challenge".

For that reason I stayed away from them ... and went with 4-bolt wheels (4 x 100mm).

I'm on a budget, so I had to keep it cheap. I found 4 Motegi MR7 16: X 7" - 4 X 100mm wheels at Pull-a-Part ... mounted on a 1993 Honda Prelude that looked like it had been sitting for about ten years. I got them for $100 but I'm going to have to sandblast them and repaint them (there's a lacquer-based Aluminum Blast Paint for wheels that works great). I'm going to use 205-50 x 16" tires ... I don't want anything real big.

Since they're from a front-drive car, I measured, and I had to purchase 10mm (about 3/8") aluminum spacers with 57.1 center-bore to clear the struts ... I mounter the wheels (no tires) on front and rear, and the 10mm spacers work perfect, and the wheels clear everything. I'm going to check all four wheels for straightness on a front hub ... before I mount the tires.

I also purchased a 61mm stud kit ($29.99 on Amazon) ... to eliminate the stupid lug bolts that Germans seem to like using (they recommend you Loctite the studs in place) ... and I had to also purchase 57.1mm to 73.1mm aluminum centering rings ($2.97 on eBay) ... (I'd stay away from the plastic centering rings since it seems a lot of people have problems with them).

The only problem I ran into was ... the 10mm spacers wouldn't go flush against the discs, because the BMW hubs stick out about 1/2" front and rear ... and the recess in the back of the spacer is only about 3/8". For the rear, I just jacked the car up, removed the wheels, placed jack stands under the car, turned the engine on, and put it in reverse at idle ... instant lathe! I just used a grinder, and cut down the excess hubs by about 1/8" and beveled the corners. I did the same on the front ... but had to spin the hubs by hand,

It worked great, it doesn't really affect anything ... and the factory wheels will still bolt on and register on the hubs.

While I'm getting the Motegi's sandblasted and painted ... I mounted the factory 14"alloy's on the car using the studs and 10mm spacers ... everything works great for those too. I also had to use the externally-splined locking lug nuts on the Motegi's ... since the bolt-hole diameter was so small ... but I already had a set, including the socket.

Good luck with your wheel endeavor!

[Geoffzie]

Here are the wheels I've got ...
Motegi MR7.jpg

[superj]

Those will look great on the e30.


For anyone interested in e30 spacers, jet.com (a weird Asian Wal-Martish website) has a bunch of different thickness spacers with the 57.1 centerbore and proper 57.1 diameter lip on the outside (for something like 40 bucks a set for 20mm, not sure on other size prices)

And I ended up just buying studs from some other site. I cannot think of the name but on stock wheels, 20mm spacers make the car look good.

And eBay has stock tire sizes for cheap. I bought both of my kids uniroyal tiger paw full sets for their e30 in stock width for 140 shipped to my door. I also bought my camry stock tires in a nanking brand and 15" size for 150 shipped to my door.

[sdremsw]

Those will look great on the e30.


For anyone interested in e30 spacers, jet.com (a weird Asian Wal-Martish website) has a bunch of different thickness spacers with the 57.1 centerbore and proper 57.1 diameter lip on the outside (for something like 40 bucks a set for 20mm, not sure on other size prices)

And I ended up just buying studs from some other site. I cannot think of the name but on stock wheels, 20mm spacers make the car look good.

And eBay has stock tire sizes for cheap. I bought both of my kids uniroyal tiger paw full sets for their e30 in stock width for 140 shipped to my door. I also bought my camry stock tires in a nanking brand and 15" size for 150 shipped to my door.

Thanks for the info! I'm going to be putting BMW Style 15s on my E30 which are a 16x7.5 5x120 wheel. I believe they should fit and clear everything fine with the 20mm adapters.

http://i.imgur.com/ccD0PkR.jpg

[superj]

cool