E30 + widened steelies?

[silversleeper]

I will add some. Diamond Racing wheels are lugcentric. They therefore have to be balanced via the lugcentric method. That's probably where the vibration comes from. Also, since they are lugcentric, they would be used best with studs and the correct angled lug nuts. That would assure the wheel is properly centered.

very good point there! maybe most ppl that experienced the vibration never had their wheels + tires properly balanced to begin with. I find it hard to believe that without hub centering the lugs are not able to accomplish the same task.

[thejimlab]

Totally incorrect. All 4x100 VW's have the same 57.1 centerbore as e30's. I know this for a fact because I own a mk2 Golf. A set of widened VW steelies would work fine as long as when you widened them you got the offset and backspacing correct. Most of the guys with vibration issues are either using steel racing wheels like what you would get from Diamond Racing which are lugcentric and not hubcentric or they did a poor job widening stock wheels.

I will add some. Diamond Racing wheels are lugcentric. They therefore have to be balanced via the lugcentric method. That's probably where the vibration comes from. Also, since they are lugcentric, they would be used best with studs and the correct angled lug nuts. That would assure the wheel is properly centered.

[32.5i]

a simple correction would have been fine

[E30SPDFRK]

You got some toe out on the rear there.:)

[Bitburger]

I have looked way into this, and my conclusion is this:

Our cars are hubcentric unlike our VW friends who are lugcentric. So all those steelies are made from VW steelies and don't work with hubcentric rings. So basically they will vibrate really bad at speed

Totally incorrect. All 4x100 VW's have the same 57.1 centerbore as e30's. I know this for a fact because I own a mk2 Golf. A set of widened VW steelies would work fine as long as when you widened them you got the offset and backspacing correct. Most of the guys with vibration issues are either using steel racing wheels like what you would get from Diamond Racing which are lugcentric and not hubcentric or they did a poor job widening stock wheels.

[32.5i]

I remember you were looking into that^ i still think it would look bad-ass

[SoCal Life]

I have looked way into this, and my conclusion is this:

Our cars are hubcentric unlike our VW friends who are lugcentric. So all those steelies are made from VW steelies and don't work with hubcentric rings. So basically they will vibrate really bad at speed.

There is one or two guys that are running them and I have PMed them and asked them. They both said that theirs vibrate.

The only option for this to work correctly is to get the only steel wheels that were stock on an e30, from a '90 318i (not 318is), and send those to Stockton wheel in Stockton, CA and they will make them to what ever size you want. They can even turn them from 14" to 15" or 16" widened steelies. I think they would charge you around $600 to make them into 16x9 if you send them the wheels.

That's the route I was going to take, but the only steel wheels I could find were all in the midwest and they were all jacked up. And I just decided to keep my BBS RS's and widen those.

Good luck.


The wheels you photo shopped were from BHR- BHR Steelies

[silversleeper]

^ that is the site I was looking at actually... but I want 16 inchers instead of the 15s. I wonder if the 16X10 can squeeze in with some good fender rolling. I am curious about the rims being lugcentric as opposed to hubcentric as well.

[AlarmedBread]

I actually like some of the steel racing wheels available, you just have to make sure you get wheels intended for oval/road course, not just drag or they will bend under heavy cornering loads usually. Plus, you can get 15x12 ;)

http://www.diamondracingwheels.com/

[silversleeper]

I'm considering different wheel options like a few others on this forum and one that particularly interests me is the widened steelie thing that the vdub peeps do.

I nabbed these steelies off a Golf and PS'ed em on my car. These are chromed barrels with black centers of course. Anyone have some actual pics to compare to though, or would you agree that this is a fairly accurate representation of the wheels on my car?

If you got em, please post up actual pics of wide steelies on an e30 of your choice (preferrably alpine), or show me your best photoshopped rendition. Much thanks in advance!

I can't seem to get the diameter correct, and I have not adjusted the whitebalance to match either.