Tyres of 7 x 14

Original is 175-14 (same as 175/80-14, good luck finding those and these are pretty skinny) but more commonly 195/70-14. It is on the decal on your coupe if it is still there.
 
according to owners manual, stock was 195/70/14, winter tires were 175/14's, other sizes can be fitted but will affect speedometer accuracy.
 
Xwx

I have Michelin XWX 205/70 VR14 on all my cars with 14" wheels.
Expensive, yes! but there is nothing close in all respect (other than price). Michelin makes 2 batches a year. The oldest ones on my cars are from 2005 and they show absolutely no sign of wear anywhere. I will use these tyres for at least 10 years. If used in sunny CA, try to avoid leaving the car outside in the sun for too long. No tyres like the burning sun.
The other day I was doing 85 MPH in heavy rain on an empty country road, with few curves, and I had no worry about the grip. On one occasion I could feel the rear wheels working hard in the pools of water, but the LSD, which I have on all cars, kept full control of the car.
 
Early 2800 / CS had 185 HR 14 and I think Hoffman fitted 175/70-14 to most US deliveries. Don't fit 205/anything to a 6" rim though, since there might be situations where the tyre support isn't sufficient.

In short: but good 195/70 tires or 205/70 if you use 7" rims and enjoy! ;-)
 
pmansson said:
I have Michelin XWX 205/70 VR14 on all my cars with 14" wheels.
Expensive, yes! but there is nothing close in all respect (other than price). Michelin makes 2 batches a year. The oldest ones on my cars are from 2005 and they show absolutely no sign of wear anywhere. I will use these tyres for at least 10 years. If used in sunny CA, try to avoid leaving the car outside in the sun for too long. No tyres like the burning sun.
The other day I was doing 85 MPH in heavy rain on an empty country road, with few curves, and I had no worry about the grip. On one occasion I could feel the rear wheels working hard in the pools of water, but the LSD, which I have on all cars, kept full control of the car.
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The Great White wears 225/60/14 on Alpina 14x7
Really fills the wheel well and according to my GPS, the speedometer is spot on.
 
205s on 6" wheels

I have had the 205s on stock 6" wheels for over 7 years and there are no issues whatsoever. In fact the dimensions of the current XWX in 205 are very, very close to the dimensions of the XWX in 195 that Michelin stopped producing around 1997.
 
pmansson said:
I have Michelin XWX 205/70 VR14 on all my cars with 14" wheels.
Expensive, yes! but there is nothing close in all respect (other than price). Michelin makes 2 batches a year. The oldest ones on my cars are from 2005 and they show absolutely no sign of wear anywhere. I will use these tyres for at least 10 years. If used in sunny CA, try to avoid leaving the car outside in the sun for too long. No tyres like the burning sun.
The other day I was doing 85 MPH in heavy rain on an empty country road, with few curves, and I had no worry about the grip. On one occasion I could feel the rear wheels working hard in the pools of water, but the LSD, which I have on all cars, kept full control of the car.
Click to expand...

I never knew that Michelin makes 2 batches a year! Gives me confidence that I can keep my 14" Alpina wheels
 
pmansson said:
I have Michelin XWX 205/70 VR14 on all my cars with 14" wheels.
Expensive, yes! but there is nothing close in all respect (other than price). Michelin makes 2 batches a year. The oldest ones on my cars are from 2005 and they show absolutely no sign of wear anywhere. I will use these tyres for at least 10 years. If used in sunny CA, try to avoid leaving the car outside in the sun for too long. No tyres like the burning sun.
The other day I was doing 85 MPH in heavy rain on an empty country road, with few curves, and I had no worry about the grip. On one occasion I could feel the rear wheels working hard in the pools of water, but the LSD, which I have on all cars, kept full control of the car.
Click to expand...

My original wheels have 205's on the back and 195's on the front and I think this is correct from the factory ?
 
No E9 model had different tyre sizes front and back. The Euro 3.0 models incl. The CSL came with 195/70/14 tires on 6" rims (7" for the CSL and as an option for the others, but then with 205/70 tires) The earlier option of DR70 was about the same as 205/70/14.
 
decampos said:
It's my understanding that the E9s never had 205/70/14 tyres from new. Was always 195/70/14 apart from the 2.5 CS which had 175/70/14s on steel wheels.
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You are partly right, the E9 was not offered with 205/70/14 by BMW when new. There was a possibility though to let the local dealer fit them on the 7" Alpina rims.... The very first of the 2800CS had 185/70/14 or as an option DR70. Initially it was launched with 175/70/14 on the press day in September 1968. (I have the original press folder for the E3 and E9 on my office shelf)
 
Stevehose said:
They're $440 each at Coker tire....
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I will need to see if they stock 225/60/14. JUST CHECKED the answer is no...
The next idea would be to buy 2 of the 205/70/14 for the front and keep the 225/6014 for the rear.
What do the experts say? Will it look funny or will the apparent sidewall dimension look alike?
 
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