Tires for 16" staggered Alpina rims, fender rolling.

kentvonseverin

Well-Known Member
Site Donor $
Messages
176
Reaction score
72
Location
Los Angeles
I recently procured a set of restored Alpina rims staggered 16-7, 16-8, though I have yet to buy tires. Any of your input on what your running on these rims or a like sized rim would be appreciated.

Also: I will need to roll the front fenders or all four?


Thanks in advance!

-kent
 
first, take a look at the FAQ section on tires / wheels for the right sizes for the coupe. 16" wheels with the standard size tires are a little firmer than the 195/70-14's (stock size), but they are 55/50 series tires which are still very comfortable compared to the rubber bands on modern cars (35 series tires).

as far as rolling the fenders - with 16" wheels in the std sizes, you do need to roll the fronts and it is also recommended that you install the camber plates from Carl Nelson (bimmerdoc.com). no reason to roll the rears as there is plenty of room.
 
Tires for 16” Alpinas would be 205/55/16 on the front 16x7 et11 wheels and 225/50/16 on the rear 16x8 et24 wheels.

Michelin has the Pilot Sport All-Season in both those sizes and I’m also a fan of the Continental Extreme Contact Sport.
 
I second the Contis recommendation. The sidewall and tread edge shape is more rounded than the Michelin’s and looks a little more like a period tire.
IMG_3407.jpeg
 
Third on the Continentals. I don't have them on my coupe but run them on my M5 and M3, great looking and performing tires.
 
This may not be popular but I got the least expensive tires that looked good I could get. America tire company out the door $490! Hancock Ventus V2 concept 205/55 R16 and 225/50 R16. Some one on the forum gave me the adive: on a 50 year old car is tire performance that important? For me it was not and I am very happy with the tires and no one has ever said "oh those are cheap tires" I do get lots of comment on the Alpina wheels
 

Attachments

  • IMG-5488.jpg
    IMG-5488.jpg
    509.8 KB · Views: 130
  • IMG-5556.jpg
    IMG-5556.jpg
    441.8 KB · Views: 118
first, take a look at the FAQ section on tires / wheels for the right sizes for the coupe. 16" wheels with the standard size tires are a little firmer than the 195/70-14's (stock size), but they are 55/50 series tires which are still very comfortable compared to the rubber bands on modern cars (35 series tires).

as far as rolling the fenders - with 16" wheels in the std sizes, you do need to roll the fronts and it is also recommended that you install the camber plates from Carl Nelson (bimmerdoc.com). no reason to roll the rears as there is plenty of room.
first, take a look at the FAQ section on tires / wheels for the right sizes for the coupe. 16" wheels with the standard size tires are a little firmer than the 195/70-14's (stock size), but they are 55/50 series tires which are still very comfortable compared to the rubber bands on modern cars (35 series tires).

as far as rolling the fenders - with 16" wheels in the std sizes, you do need to roll the fronts and it is also recommended that you install the camber plates from Carl Nelson (bimmerdoc.com). no reason to roll the rears as there is plenty of room.

Thanks for the input
first, take a look at the FAQ section on tires / wheels for the right sizes for the coupe. 16" wheels with the standard size tires are a little firmer than the 195/70-14's (stock size), but they are 55/50 series tires which are still very comfortable compared to the rubber bands on modern cars (35 series tires).

as far as rolling the fenders - with 16" wheels in the std sizes, you do need to roll the fronts and it is also recommended that you install the camber plates from Carl Nelson (bimmerdoc.com). no reason to roll the rears as there is plenty of room.
first, take a look at the FAQ section on tires / wheels for the right sizes for the coupe. 16" wheels with the standard size tires are a little firmer than the 195/70-14's (stock size), but they are 55/50 series tires which are still very comfortable compared to the rubber bands on modern cars (35 series tires).

as far as rolling the fenders - with 16" wheels in the std sizes, you do need to roll the fronts and it is also recommended that you install the camber plates from Carl Nelson (bimmerdoc.com). no reason to roll the rears as there is plenty of room.
 
Third on the Continentals. I don't have them on my coupe but run them on my M5 and M3, great looking and performing tires.

Nice. I am running the CN36 Pirelli at the moment. The Continentals don't look too modern.
I second the Contis recommendation. The sidewall and tread edge shape is more rounded than the Michelin’s and looks a little more like a period tire.View attachment 163262
 
Remember when the hot thing to do to high performance cars was to cut the rear wheel wells in order to install larger tires? On C2 Corvettes and other sports cars the fronts were also often cut. When that trend went out of style and prices of original looking cars were appreciating, body shops were busy returning wheel wells to stock. I think the same may happen with the current trend of rolling fender lips for taller and wider wheels and tires. It's easy to roll them, but I think it will be expensive to return them to stock if history repeats itself.
 
Last edited:
With 356 Porsche’s we cut the trans hoop. While it approved the appearance of the car, handling was about the same…
 
Back
Top