BMW M-Parallels on a '69 Camaro or Firebird

[mklinger]

I am thinking about putting a set of staggered m-parallels on my '69 Firebird. I would love to see a pic of these wheels on a '69 Camaro or Firebird. If you have a pic please post. Thanks.

[srh3trinity]

I don't know if I know of any, but both Fikse and Formula 43 have a split 5 spoke wheel that looks very similar and there are plenty of pics out there of those wheels on first gens.

[mklinger]

So it's been a while since my first post on this so I thought I would share some progress. I secured a set of 'real' M-Pars and had them stripped and powder coated Black Chrome. I used a single stage with a clear overlay. They look even better in person. Can't wait to get them on the car.

[srh3trinity]

The color looks great

[Plain69]

mklinger,

What are the specs on those wheels? They look great, the center emblem is a nice touch as well.

Thanks

[mklinger]

Copied from another post >

The rears would fit better if they were a 5.25/5.5" backspace, and the fronts would fit better if they were a 4.75/4.875" backspace. At these measurements, you could run a 245/40/18 front, and 275/40/18 rear



As others have said the only ways for a wheel to cause vibration is 1) if it is bent or 2) if it does not fit properly on the hub.

Damage to suspension would only occur if the offset is way off and it rubs on something. Not something you should have to worry about with e38 or e39 wheels unless you do something crazy with tires.

style 37 e39 m pars
If you buy e39 m pars they will bolt up with no problems. Only possible issue would be if you mounted tires sizes that were way off. Just stick with normal sizes and you will be fine.

wheels info
Front 18x8 offset et20 74.1mm hub part # 36 11 2 229 635
Rear 18x9 offset et24 74.1mm hub part # 36 11 2 229 640

style 37 e38 m pars
If you buy e38 m pars you will either need to take them to a machine shop and get the centers bored out from 72.56mm e38hub size to the e39 74.1mm hub size or buy spacer adapters. I know turner and ecs sell them (looks like they have em in 15mm or 20mm). There is a very tiny chance you could get a vibration with spacer adapters. But plenty of people run them with no issues. Just make sure everything is clean and you run the correct longer bolts you should be fine. see attached photo for example

Some people have also bored out wheels themselves, but personally I'd go with adapters or have a machine shop do it as these wheels are hub centric and neither of those options are all that expensive.

wheel info
Front 18x8 offset et13 72.56mm hub part # 36 11 2 227 631 or part # 36 11 2 229 730
Rear 18x9.5 offset et25 72.56mm hub part # 36 11 2 227 633 or part # 36 11 2 229 731

The style 37 m pars were also available on the e34 5 series and the e31 8 series

Use this to look up all the diff bmw wheels & what cars they came on
http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/

Use realoem or bmwfans to find part numbers

Another option is to buy replica m par style 37 wheels. Do some searches for replica m parallels or replica style 37s.

Bottom line e39 or e38 m pars will be just fine tons of people run them. With the e38s you just need to get them bored out or run adapters. Also if search you will find a ton of info on these wheels as they have been talked about a lot.

[mklinger]

To clarify. I am using the E38 M-Pars with the 72.56mm hub ID.

These specs >

Front 18x8 offset et13 72.56mm hub part # 36 11 2 227 631 or part # 36 11 2 229 730
Rear 18x9.5 offset et25 72.56mm hub part # 36 11 2 227 633 or part # 36 11 2 229 731

I purchased hubcentric spacers to get down to 70.3mm hub on the Firebird (Camaro probably the same). I am pretty sure I am going to need 3/4" adapter in the rear. I feel like the fronts will be OK and if anything will require a 1/4" spacer

[Wall]

Looks really good, and I like the Pontiac center caps! Can't wait to see pics of them on the car!

[domcenzo]

Coming from an e39 M5, I can't wait to see how this turns out. Good idea.

[mklinger]

So I was at the Mooresville, NC car show this afternoon and was just getting home to put the Firebird away noticing the evening light was just right to capture a great picture to show off the M-Pars.

[T_Raven]

Looks good. I've always liked these wheels. They look a lot like the Fikse Profile 5s wheels I've got with out the big price tag. I like the custom color you put on them.

[CKreations]

Looks great!

[nocturneTA]

That looks great! What was the final setup you used to make the wheels fit? Have you had any issues with the difference in bolt patterns?

I have a 79 TA and have really been considering the BMW wheels due to the style options available.

Again the car looks bada$$.

[mklinger]

On the rears I had Lenny at Motorsport Tech make me a pair adapters - Hub & Wheel Centric 5x4.75 70.6 to 5x120 72.56, 21mm) to get from the bird to the M-Pars. The 21mm set the wheels out just right. Rather then imperial size studs I went metric using 12mm x 1.5 (You'll see why shortly). On the fronts I removed the discs and pressed out the 7/16-20 studs and replaced them with ARP-100-7715 wheel studs for a Lexus IS-300. These are 12mm x 1.5 as well. The knurl on these is .558. I redrilled the holes in the rotors with a 35/64 (.546) bit. This was only .010 larger than the factory hole and left .012 for the new studs to bite nicely. I had Motorsports Tech make me a pair 8mm hubcentric spacers to set the wheels where I wanted them. Now that the studs on the car are all metric I was able to use a set of Bimecc DV6LE PCD variation lugs on the front to keep the stress off the studs. I also purchased a matching set of standard lug nuts for the rears. I feel like this was a solid way to mate the M-Pars and not have to worry about a wheel taking off without me.

[nocturneTA]

that is very helpful information. thank you. I have seen the wobble nuts before and thought they would be a good option to offset the difference in bolt pattern.

if you dont mind, how much were the adapters and studs/nuts?

[redefined]

Here is my car with black powder coated M-Parallels I also have a set of AC Schnitzer wheels I'm thinking about refinishing to use as my silver/polished wheels, heh.

[Munssey]

Although this thread a bit older, the info is still greatly helpful. It seems like a small by relevant market gap for a 7/16-20 variation (wobble) bolt to avoid having to convert to a metric stud \ nut. Then again, maybe it now exists but I am just not looking deep enough.

Either way, great info.