I had always liked the 60's look of the original steel wheels with chrome caps and beauty rings that BMW used on several cars, including some of the prewar 328 and Mille Miglia cars.
New version of original steel wheels
- Thread starter Bmachine
- Start date
The e12 came with a set but they were only 14”. So I decided to see if I could assemble a 16” version of that idea.
I started by acquiring a couple of sets of the e12 wheels so I could use the center cap.
I then started removing the old yellowed car emblem which was very difficult as they were installed with some industrial strength glue which was still incredibly tenacious 50 years later. Heat gun and acetone eventually forced them into submission. Fortunately these emblems are still available new from BMW
I started by acquiring a couple of sets of the e12 wheels so I could use the center cap.
I then started removing the old yellowed car emblem which was very difficult as they were installed with some industrial strength glue which was still incredibly tenacious 50 years later. Heat gun and acetone eventually forced them into submission. Fortunately these emblems are still available new from BMW
Then I searched long and hard for some 16” versions in 5x120 with a useable offset of around et20 or less. This is far from easy as most recent BMWs have much deeper offsets. But, with some pointers from member Rouge in France, I finally found a set sold by the Swiss company Alcar which is meant for use on older 5 series with ET20. I ordered them from a site in Germany
Once here, I had them painted body color like the prewar cars.
Once here, I had them painted body color like the prewar cars.
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Next was the issue of how to get the hubcaps to fit on them since these newer wheels do not have any provision for that. So I designed some clips in CAD and 3D printed them. Since, like the originals, this is a pressure based fastening system, it was pretty tricky to find the correct amount of clipping power and elasticity. But the result is reasonably successful so far
Finally I needed to get some 16” beauty rings since I obviously couldn’t use the original 14s. I found those from a wheel shop in L.A.
Finally I needed to get some 16” beauty rings since I obviously couldn’t use the original 14s. I found those from a wheel shop in L.A.
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Here is the result
So subtle and classy!
Absolutely stunning. Love those wheels!
What a look - what a vibe - those are beautiful - great work!
Very unique Bo,
well done
well done
Love this!
Oldbmwcoupes
Well-Known Member
It’s so good you might have a sellable product! A very classy look and a better ride I suspect. Great vision and execution!
it’s such a nice change of pace and something fresh to the e9 scene. I love your small spoiler as well. It’s very much in line with what bmw would have installed on an upgraded car at the time, had they had the vision. Just superb!
it’s such a nice change of pace and something fresh to the e9 scene. I love your small spoiler as well. It’s very much in line with what bmw would have installed on an upgraded car at the time, had they had the vision. Just superb!
Thank you very much, everyone. I enjoy coming up with tasteful upgrades (or at least alternatives) wherever possible
That spoiler was another (very) challenging and time consuming project. I'll have to do a thread on it at some point
Understated elegance, bravo! First time I recall seeing this done to a Coupe!
Doing this popular in '02 community Neue Klasse wheels, stock 14 x 4 inch or re-barreled 14 x 5.5 to resembling the 1800 TiSA.
Doing this popular in '02 community Neue Klasse wheels, stock 14 x 4 inch or re-barreled 14 x 5.5 to resembling the 1800 TiSA.
was this original ?
I think so. That looks like a 2.5CS which, I think, was made in 1975 only. All those cars were pretty stripped down so it makes since that it has steel wheels and hubcaps verses the alloys were familiar with. The car pictured did get at least one option, an automatic.
