E36 wheels on E34??

[Ted K]

What is the hub size for an E36 and E34? I checked E34net and did not see anything that would say the E36 wheels would fit.

[tim s]

i had a set of free m3 wheels given to me i could not use.
tim s.

[motuman]

You need hubcentric spacers (not rings) and extended lugs, like these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7966704660&category=42614&sspagename=WDVW

Track cars use them all the time, and if they are quality parts, should present no problems on the street.

[winfred]

the quanity of these conversions that don't have some problem is very low, it's nearly a inch of spacer and that puts a lot more leavrage on the suspension as the wheel gets further from the hub and wears it out faster, it can alter the handling and make the car follow the bumps and ruts in the road, if your lucky all it does is make the car shimmey at speed

[tim s]

in pennsylvania it is not legal to use a spacer bigger than 1/4" inch.
tim s.

[motuman]

I'm not too sure if you would actually be increasing the leverage of the suspension in this particular scenario. If you take an e36 wheel with an offset of say 40mm, and add a 20mm spacer, then your effective offset is 20mm (the same as a stock e34), and the centerline of the wheel falls where it is designed to be.

On the other hand if you take a stock (20mm offset) wheel and add a spacer, or mount a wheel with 10mm offset, then you are increasing the leverage on the suspension.

As Dennis Miller says, "of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong". Anyone with more experience than myself care to comment on the offset issue?

[Nick.Hay]

I was cautioned about fitting spacers, as the majority of wheels I picked for my E34 were E36 offset, and wouldn't fit... :(

Every BMW-experienced technician I spoke to said that the spacers are a bad idea.

I imagine that an E36 wheel, with a spacer to make it the same as an E34 wheel, should apply the same forces etc to the hub/suspension as an E34 wheel?? Maybe the weight of the spacer/ adapter kit weighs more and throws things out of balance...

[Ted K]

Thanks all. The wheels I saw say they have the 20mm offset with 5 x120 bolt pattern. But are for an E36. He also has an 535 listed. I sure like the wheels but not to sure about the seller
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43957&item=7965965303&rd=1

[pmlmotorsports]

Be careful Ted. somebody recently posted a huge problem with that company that basically has turned into an EBAY rule/law violation. He said he paid for rims, but has been forced to wait over 45 days for the product to be delivered. I do like the Schnitzer replicas, but not if they are coming from questionable origins.

[Ted K]

Thanks for the info. What do you have that are like these?

[pmlmotorsports]

Sadly, I don't have any AC Schnitzer knock-offs, well only in 19" and we don't want to go there unless you own a new 6 or 7 series trust me. I am constantly searcing for 17" options, but as of lately, nothing is being offered. Sorry.

[Ted K]

Thanks for your help.