Another Wheel Question

[jhjacobs]

Great to see everyone last Saturday for coffee and stories!

While in Mountain View my son showed me a set of wheels he has in his garage that I would like to get some opinions on. They are 14" BMW wheels that look very similar to the Alpina wheels (lots of little spokes, black hub) but with a normal rubber valve in the rim. They have a cast marks showing them to be 1979 (between February and May). One of them is bent slightly from a curb encounter (fixable) and they are all in fair shape otherwise. My guess is that they are from an early 530i

Would these wheel be worth shipping cross country and repairing or should I just forget about them? I have stock wheels today which I have had nicely restored. Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[dang]

Some CS's came with that style wheel and look pretty decent. If you like the style, the cost is probably worth it.

Dan

 

[velocewest]

Those came on almost every e12 sold in the US, and lot of e24's. The e23 7's had the same wheel in 6.5" width. You can pick them up for a song just about anywhere. If it costs more than $50 to ship them, I'd say just find a straight set locally, you can probably get them for $100 or so. Ask on the Firstfives board to see if there's someone near you with a set for sale.

 

[shanon]

hhmmm,

From your description, sounds like they are the 14x6.5" BMW wheels often referred to as 'Turbines'..........if so, as Tony said, try to find a set locally, there are everywhere.

However, outside chance they might be Vails, a nice French(?) Alpina knock-off, kinda rare, wider at 14x7', same size as the 14" Alpina, wider than the 'Turbines' and much nicer looking IMO, virtually identical to the 14" Alpinas. Can't tell the difference unless your changing the tire and see the small Vail logo while changing lugs.

I scored a set of Vails, Put four new 225/60s on and never looked back. Have your son measure the width of the rim to verify type or look for the Vail name.

HTH
-shanon