Question about E3 wheels

[rblongboarder]

Who was the original wheel manufacturer for the E3? Was it Cromodora?

This photo from another forum discussion is perfect for my question (rim on the left side):

Post in thread 'Wanted 16” BBS Rims'

Jan 26, 2026

Bruce--BBS sells metal valve stems with BBS engraved caps. I bought them for my 16X7 BBS Mahle wheels.

• Drew Gregg

The E3 wheels have remarkable similarity to these Cromodora's for the Ferrari Dino:

No Reserve: 14×6.5″ Cromodora Dino Wheels

Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: 14×6.5″ Cromodora Dino Wheels at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #163,852.

bringatrailer.com

The BMW wheels have 5 vents while the Dino rims have 6... but the design structure is quite similar.

 

[JMinPDX]

Although they look very similar to the Cromodoras, e3 and e9 14” alloys were manufactured by FPS.

Thread 'Stock E9/E3 wheel treatment'

Oct 15, 2022

In this thread, @dave v. in nc suggested using small center caps instead of the larger hub caps on these stock E9/E3 wheels. I like the idea!

@Stevehose showed a picture of that look on stock 2002 wheels. The small center caps came stock on those wheels

I thought the center caps from the alternative stock spoked wheels might work...

All the above wheels have the standard BMW center bore (72.5, 72.6, 72.56mm ....depending upon the source) but there may be other reasons why the above center cap doesn't work...

• Dick Steinkamp
• Replies: 38
• Forum: E9 Discussion

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[rblongboarder]

Thank you for the reference. The "alternative" cap technique is quite interesting.

 

[Dick Steinkamp]

Although they look very similar to the Cromodoras, e3 and e9 14” alloys were manufactured by FPS.

I've owned a few that were made by Mahle. The parts catalog lists both manufacturers.

Post in thread 'FPS clones?'

Sep 17, 2022

That's certainly the Mahle logo on that wheel.

I didn't know BMW sourced that wheel from both FPS (Petrini) and Mahle.

The number on the wheel must not be the actual PN since it is different from that in the parts book.

Great catch, Jon. Thanks!

• Dick Steinkamp

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