Bmw Wheels

[gonein67bird]

seriously what is the deal with bwm wheels I am not affraid of the 120 mm thing but all the places I call to order from say the center bore might not fit, does anyone that has done this on a first gen. camaro firebird have any thoughts or pics of back side of wheel, some say they are hub centric what the heck is that and does it mean something will be sticking out and have to be cut off??

[TonyL]

This is covered in the sticky at the top of this forum "Have a wheel tech question?"

But it bears repeating.



see the center bore?

the wheel should locate itself onto this part of the hub. THATS what centers your wheel assembly. NOT THE LUG NUTS.

if your wheels need the lugs to center it up, you've got issues.

the bmw hubs will work on newer GM cars, on older cars, take your new BMW wheels to a machine shop and have them lathe out the hubs to match the outside diameter of your hubs or vice versa. (take your hubs in..)

I hope that clears it up.

[gonein67bird]

If I'm not mistaken the rear drum does not have a hub its flat, the front discs wich I don't have yet is another story, what is the hub diameter of a first gen.?

[gonein67bird]

ok ok I was wrong the back does have a ring but its about 2 3/4" and the bmw wheel has a 72.56mm bore which is 2.85 inches larger than 2.75" correct?

[Colin Frolick]

if your wheels need the lugs to center it up, you've got issues.

how though, if you have tapered seat lug nuts, will the wheel NOT be centered by the nuts?

i had this 'problem' on my 02 mazda protege... i bought aftermarket wheels that vibrated badly once installed. i blamed it on a bad balance, the supplier said i needed 'hub centric rings' to center the wheel on the hub. i said bs, rebalanced the tires, and the problem went away. so on that car, with the current 17" aftermarket wheels, the wheels are not centered by the hub, but rather by the lug nuts.

the point about drum brakes is also valid, they do not have such a 'hub'. the rally II wheels on my pontiac don't even have a hub 'receptacle' or center bore as in the diagram above.

[TonyL]

why? Because then the entire load of your car is riding on the lug nuts. Not as solid as hubs. Even with drum brakes there is usually a hub the brake drum centers on. its this hub that you want your rim to fit over.

its about 2 3/4" and the bmw wheel has a 72.56mm bore which is 2.85 inches larger than 2.75" correct?

yes. you could have a machine shop make you up a "ring" to take up the difference.
slap that over the gm hub and then slide the wheel on that, and you're ready for the track!

[TonyL]

see Martin's site

http://www.pro-touring.nl/camaro/camaro13.html

[Rolling_Thunder]

Well mopars came without hub centric wheels from the factory (kelsey hayes, magnum 500's) and they were fine.... never really a problem but they can be slightly off when mounted even with tapered lug nuts... giving vibration at speed.

[TonyL]

the use of "hub centric" wheels is a decidedly optional thing. lets just say that it's more "pro-touring" than not. While many older muscle cars came stock without hubcenteric wheels, they also came with bias ply tires and 4 wheel drum brakes. The manufacturers have learned a bunch since then, and so have we. Its an issue of extreme use, and safety.

Never gonna drive your car hard? Never gonna push your luck?
Ever want to see your front wheel bounce away from you on a track going 80 mph?

Theres ALOT of tech behind the idea of using hub centric wheels. Its very solid science that is beyond dispute.

Can you run a muscle car without this tech? Sure.

Should you?

I challenge you to find ANY manufacturer that doesn't do this now.

[gonein67bird]

My point was that by these measurments the wheels should bolt on with no work? and then I could get a ring made to take up the diff. which I will do.

[TonyL]

yep. they will indeed bolt right up.

[Damn True]

Which BMW wheel were you thinking of running?

[nova65ss]

Funny you asked this question I got my BMW wheels today and they fit perfect. Granted I have a nova and it has aftermarket late model Camaro front disc brakes w/ original drum brakes in the rear. The hub fit perfect in the front and the rear hub was slightly bigger on the wheel than the drum. I don't believe it was enough to have a spacer made maybe a 1/16 of an inch. I'll have some pictures up later if you like.

Jimmy

[GetMore]

I have a set of wheels on my VW that the PO used on a Honda (light car) without hubcentric rings. The front wheels had elongated lug holes. This was from hitting potholes and other bumps.
Get the centering rings.

[gonein67bird]

The Wheels I Am Looking At Are The Asa Ar1 17x8 Et18, My Tires Are Already Here 255 45 17, 235 45 17 But The Rack Is Out Of The Wheels Until 4-1-06.

[Gonzostyle]

I have a set of BMW wheels on my 63 Nova right now. They are only to move it around until my other rims arrive. A couple of thoughts that you may want to consider. BMW has deep back spacing (the rears on mine are 17x8.5 - 6.25 backspacing, fronts are 17x8 - 6" backspacing). To get the fronts to fit I had to run a 1/2" spacer to clear suspension parts. It is likely that you will have to run a spacer to get them to fit properly on your firebird. I highly recomend that you run the hubcentric spacers.
Also, the front hub on an early F-body (Nova is similiar) protrudes further than a BMW . So what happens is you lose the ability to run the center cap. I can take a picture of what I mean if that did not make sense.

Do you know which BMW series are you looking at using the rims from (3 series? what year?)? The new 5ver's might work for you. The backspacing usually is not as deep.

-Jeremie

[Martin71RS]

As Tony said.... read my page (start here) http://www.pro-touring.nl/camaro/camaro20.html and see the protruding axle......

some 5/7 series are good, all 3 series have too much BS

[gonein67bird]

THE WHEELS ARE 17X8 WITH ET18 WHICH SHOULD MAKE THE BS 5 1/4" WHICH WILL WORK ON THE BACK FINE, WILL HAVE TO RUN A 1/4" TO 1/2" SPACER ON THE FRONT, DON'T KNOW IF THE HUB WILL STICK OUT YET. i THINK THE WHEELS ARE FOR 5 SERIES, THEY ARE THE TIRE RACK.