Type 61 wheels on an E9

sreams

sreams

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Just thought I'd share this with the group.

While hunting for wheel options for my '72 3.0cs, I came across some discussion of the BMW type 61 wheel, which owes some of its design cues to the Alpinas. The nice thing about them... they only come in one size and offset (from a 2000-2001 7-series), which happens to fit the E9 perfectly. I've got a set on my 3.0cs with staggered tire sizes. I think they're a great fit:

http://www.roadrec.com/type61.jpg

And inexpensive for new:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-16-OEM-...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item3a672c40bf

-Scott
 
Very personal

Excuse me for being very rude, but I, personally, think they look awful on the sleek E9 from the 60s. This is very personal, and everyone can fit whatever wheels they like.
 
Well... from my perspective, I think the Alpinas look amazing (but are out of my league at $2500-3000 a set), and the 14" stock wheels look awful (way too small a wheel for the size of the wheel arch, and not a very flattering design). I love the 61s. To each his own.

This is going to be the wife's car, and she loves them as well.

Style-wise, I don't see how going from this:

http://e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2863

...to this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-16-OEM-...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item3a672c40bf

equals the difference between beautiful and awful.
 
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Wheels

I still think BBS RS' look the best. This from the guy who sold his RS' because he had to have Alpinas. Like them, just like RS' more.

And both types suck to clean.
 
I think Alpina's look period correct but I'm impressed that sreams wife see a differents! I could put a set of steel Yugo on the front and set of Cragers on the back and my wife wouldn't notices because there is 4 wheels on the car!
 
Yeah, a nice set of genuine staggered 7X16" and 8X16" Alpinas could get costly, but one could get the Coupeking "Alpinas" for the same amount as the style 61...about $1600. FWIW, the Coupeking wheels are probably even superior to the original Ronal produced rims...modern metallurgy being better than than the rim manufacturing technologies of the 1980's.

Getting back to the BMW style 61's, not bad looking, but...! Lets look at the 2 rims being discussed here, with the only similarity between them being the 20 radial spoke design, otherwise this is how they differ: All multi radial spoke rims look basically alike, so it is the subtle design details that set them apart. The Alpinas have nice deep lips that impart a nice design element, while the style 61's (as well as most modern rims) don't have any lips to speak of. The elegant and attractive shallow concaved spokes of the Alpinas versus the radical deep concaved spokes of the style 61's, this in conjunction with the no lip design do not make for an elegant appearance. Also, the spokes on the 61's are much longer than the Alpinas...going all the way to the rim bead area, thus giving them a much broader face. With this design element of the bigger open face spokes, the oem brake rotors and calipers will look "lacking" due to their relatively small size. Alpinas have nice defined wheel centers, whereas the style 61's lack this...thereby making the spokes look much bigger. The flat bottom shallow bowl painted black centers give the Alpinas a smaller appearance by breaking the spokes into 2 segments (spokes and hub center) instead of the one big "blob" looks of the Style 61's. This is also the exact reason why I don't like the later "capped" Alpinas all that much.

Guess the original Alpina rims designer knew what they were doing heh? Even after all these years, the classic Alpina design cannot be improved upon. FWIW, I'm not one of those "oh my god, it's an Alpina" guy...not all Alpina rims are a must have. Just look at any of the Alpina produced rims since the "20 spoke classic" will confirm this, in simpler terms...all modern Alpinas are UGLY.
 
The type 61s aren't probably something I'd use, but I don't have the same almost visceral reaction that other folks seem to.

Also, since this is a purely aesthetic choice and easily changed out, go with whatever makes you happy and ignore the purists. Of course, if I could remember how to say that in Latin, I'd render it into a crest and inscribe it on my E9.

Big bonus points for having a wife that is interested in cars - my wife hasn't bothered to learn to drive on the right yet.
 
sreams,

I like them and this is coming from a guy who has Alpinas on his coupe. If you lower your coupe some I think your setup would look great. I agree with you that 14" wheels on the coupe look too small.
 
WALTER said:
sreams,

I like them and this is coming from a guy who has Alpinas on his coupe. If you lower your coupe some I think your setup would look great. I agree with you that 14" wheels on the coupe look too small.
Click to expand...

I agree that lowering the car a bit would help. I wonder if La Jolla still offers spring sets...
 
I did the same about 6 months ago

http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9759

I found the set of these wheels with tires on it for $400... For the set!
The wheels were perfect, perfect paint and straight... Like brand new.
Craigslist.
I sold the tires for $180 so the set really only cost $220
tires were snow tires and 235/65 r16, so did not fit.

I put 205/55 r16 on the fronts and 225/50 r16 on the rears, Goodyear Eagle GTs. Sidewall on these tires had a wierd step and rubbed on the shock tower slightly, so it needed spacers in the front.

They definitely look better with lowering springs, but so do 16" Alpinas. One might also paint the center area with black.

If you are on a budget, but want the look, it might be a good alternative. And are widely available used and new.
 
If you like the way Alpina look on a E9 but don't want to pay the price for old school open lug Alpina's when you can find them, here's another option. 15" OEM style 32 wheels, they came on E34's, ET 20 offset so they'll fit with no problem.
http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/
For the style 32 wheels, you can run 205/60-15 tires with no speedo error on any old school BMW that came with 195/70-14 tires (E3/E9/E12/E23/E24/E28).

Real OEM still shows a part # for this E34 wheel for Euro spec E34 models (36111092960).
Trust me, you don't want to run the E39 wheel on a non E39 car to the different hub size and the need for hub centric rings. I've never seen a style 32 wheel on a E34 in the US market but I'm guessing it was a special order wheel. US market E34 cars that I've seen came with style 2 (525i) or style 5 wheels (530i/535i).

G-Man
 
14" wheels and suspension issues

Having both 14" and 16" wheels on several cars, I must say that the mid 60s suspension of these cars use the extra air and rubber of the 14" rims as an important ingredient.
I find that the car handles much nicer with the original setup on all but perfectly flat surfaces. Yes, the cornering is more modern on the 16" setup, but all bumps, potholes, concrete joints etc are passed onto the steering wheel and the car takes more of a beating. The outer tie rods deteriorate much faster on parking manouevres as do the steering arms and central tie rod.

Personally I like the fat 60s look of the 70 profile tyres. Ever seen a 60s Ferrari on 16" wheels with "rubber bands" as tyres ???? Nor have I, and they would look terrible that way.

I have the 16" Alpinas on some of the lowered CSL cars and that looks fine and matches the rest. The 350 HP engines in those cars need the low and wide modern tyres, but not the 200 HP cruising coupes which I drive very differently. This is my personal view, and as somebody said, this is so easy to change from one day or week to another.
 
pmansson said:
Ever seen a 60s Ferrari on 16" wheels with "rubber bands" as tyres ????
Click to expand...

To be fair... by today's standards, I wouldn't call 55 series tires on 16" wheels "rubber bands". I can't stand the 20+" wheels with 30-series tires (the real rubber bands) that we see now on so many cars and SUVs. They look completely disproportionate to the cars they are on. On cars that are clearly period classics, I like a taller tire just like you do.

The E9, however, is a timeless body design to my eye. It doesn't need to look "classic," nor does it need to look "modern". It just needs to look proportional. My own taste is for a 16" rim that is 7-8 inches wide on these cars. Nothing larger. It just looks right to me.

On my 1959 MGA roadster, the stock wire wheels with very tall tires look right to me. I wouldn't ever think of changing those proportions.

On my 1966 Volvo 1800S, the stock 15x4.5" wheels with 165 tires (equivalent of an 82 series, like on a VW bug) don't look right... not so much for the tire height or the wheel diameter, but for how the super-slim wheels do not fill out the wheel wells at all. From the rear, the car looks pigeon-toed. I've got 15x6 wheels on the car and 205/65 tires (considering their width, they are equal in sidewall height to the stock tires). I love how this car looks now. I'd bet that the Italian firm that designed the body for Volvo had a wider wheel in mind, but Volvo simply took what they had on the shelf from their 122s and stuck it on. Again, it just doesn't look right.

Having owned several older cars, I find that sometimes the manufacturers really get the proportions right, and other times it looks like they are cutting corners just a bit and not really following through completely with design. I know the purists probably won't agree with me, but the E9 with 14" wheels is an example of that. They may absorb bumps nicely, but aesthetically, they aren't quite there for me.
 
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