Wire wheels...

[Ephriam K. Williams]

Anyone got any pictures of a coupe with wire wheels on it? I really would like to see it. I'm thinkin..... some nice Dayton's on a coupe with chrome fender trim would look really good!????? What do you think? I am not a stickler for originality as I ride 20" Alpina Dynamics on a 79' 630 cs (now a 638cs). I'm thinking maybe some wide 17" or a 18"rear and 17" up front?????? What do you think??? I think it would look really good. Or should I just hook up the ole' style #5's BBS ( gold 3 pieces) to the girl? The BBS's are 16" x 7" all around. When I had them on my 6er. I ran 225/50/16 all around. Does this apply to the 3.0? Can I staggar the tires?205/55/16 up front and 225's out back?? Sigh...... decisions.... a picture and some input from you guys would help out alot! TIA!

Regards,

 

[MichaelP]

Apparently, the first 2000CS that Alpina built for the street came dressed with Borrani wires. This site has some itty-bitty photos that don't seem to link to anything larger, but here you go (click on the Alpina and Bilder pages):
http://www.2000cs.de/index.html

Personally, I think they look out of place. No, wait.. they look ridiculous.

As far as the BBS wheels go, if they're true 3-piece, I'm guessing they're RS1, not later BMW (E34+) Style 5s. If they're the ET11 version, they'll fit perfectly. Not sure staggering the tires would be a good idea, as you'd be adding understeer. E9s are already nose heavy enough. Lotsa folks use staggered Alpinas (8.5R, 7.5F) but the best handling balance seems to be attained by using the same size tire all around. I've found this to be the case on both the E9 and E28 with Alpinas and BBS RS1s.

 

[corsachili]

Ugh.................wire wheels on an E9? Ugh.................sorry, I just don't see how that works................

Just my $.02

Ugh.............I'm still shuddering thinking of that image. = (

 

[pj]

I seen a blue coupe in town (Aptos) with Borrani style wheels with knock offs just after the new year and even though its not my cup of tea , it didn't look to bad.

Each to there own if you want to do it go for it.

PJ
73 csi (slightly modified)
87 325is ( modified)
73 2002 ready for a new owner

 

[Peconga]

Keep in mind that converting to wire wheels will add many pounds of unsprung weight on each corner. The bigger the wheels, the more weight you add. The more weight you add, the more the car's handling suffers. Most bolt-on alloy wheels weigh in the range of 16 to 24 pounds; a typical 16" steel wire wheel with knockoff adapter assembly will weigh almost twice that. Since bolt-on wires are too cheesy to even consider, the only real option for significant weight reduction would be alloy wire wheels (Dayton or Boranni) with a custom knockoff hub conversion instead of bolt-on adapters. Everything is possible, given sufficient time and lots of money.

BTW, I test drove a silver 2000CS in Los Altos (?) back in the spring of 1981 which was equipped with a set of true knock-off 14" Boranni alloy wheels. It was running dual downdraft Solex carbs, and the sheet metal was identical to a production 2800CS with quad headlights, not the flush mounted headlights seen on most 2000CS. At this remove, I don't recall the story on the car, nor whether it had German gauges, etc. I thought it was a very attractive combination, and the resemblance to a Ferrari 330GTC was very striking, especially from the rear. Unfortunately, it had a lot of rust in the usual places so I reluctantly passed on it.

Best regards,
Peconga in Boise, Idaho

1987 BMW M6
1973 Triumph TR6
1971 Mercedes Benz 300SEL 6.3
1969 Opel GT 1100
1967 Alfa Romeo GTV
1963 Maserati Sebring 3500Gti

 

[YBNormal]

The real thing cost$$$$

I will second Peconga and PJ on the Borrani's, as the real deal in 7 x 14 or 15 would look good on an E9. I was curious enough to call Dayton, and in rough numbers it would be about $5K for Borrani's if you could get them, and about half for the Dayton chrome bolt-ons, which do nothing for me. So I bought a set of un-restored 14" Alpinas for $500, no nicks or anything requiring welding.

If the bling-bling chrome Daytons suit you, so be it, it's your "hot rod." But don't expect admiring glances from other coupe owners, or BMW folk in general.