5 x 120 conversion?

[Mike-]

Thought the title might get some attention for people telling me to use the search bar!

HOWEVER, I know the work involved with this and frankly it's far too much to justify.

I really want to keep my E30 stock-looking, but the BBS wheels from E30s are a bit weak, I'd like something with a bit of dish, which has me looking at E34 items, which of course are 5x120.

eBay Wheels

See above for an example.

I've heard of wheels in the past having the bolt holes welded and then redrilled in the correct PCD. Is this something anyone has done before? As there's centrecaps it'll cover up any of the mess - or is this quite dangerous, along with steel banding etc.

Or are there any 4x100 wheels I've missed that are similar to these? Gotta be OEM

Opinions welcome.

Mike.

[Cook318IS]

What if the wheels look pretty OEM but aren't?

[shanehaward]

hub adaptors?

[Mike-]

I thought adaptors but E34 offsets will already be pretty low without having them spaced out another 25mm. I want to keep chunky tyres to keep it OEM so running stretch isn't an option.

[fearlessphil]

im not actually that fussed about 'oem' in fact i hate alot of VW OEM enthusiast' (ok even though modern parts are 1000 times better than origonal in every way i must keep it origonal because im a comlete ****!!!) but i do like wheels that look like they could be OEM but most are 5x120 i wouli love to know if welding is an option or if a 5 stud convertion is viable?

[jmc330i]

Filling and redrilling is possible, I know of 1 person on here (cant remember the name) who has had it done. Whilst he has had no problems, there will always be questions regarding welding ally on something as important as a wheel.

[Jozi]

You can get 18mm thick adapter from a US crowd, they look like a good job and not as thick as some others. You could look for 4x100 RS' or RM's and widen them?!

[Mike-]

I've had splits in the past and can't really be bothered with them! 18mm might be OK, I'd feel safer with those than redrilling.

[Jozi]

Not sure if this works:


These guys have them: http://www.8380labs.com/products/42-dra ... s-adapters

[fearlessphil]

they seem good except the price! $200 a pair i suppose thats not to bad though

[Motorhole]

e30.de do hub adapters too iirc, but for the price you're as well doing the complete 5-stud swap. I'm sure the weld filling is perfectly feasible but would expect it to set you back £50-£100 per wheel.

[shanehaward]

would vw hub adaptors fit ok? ive seen loads of golf etc running e30 wheels...

[Phill172]

Go with adaptors, if your dead set on 5 x 120, honest opinion it's alot of effort for some pretty boring wheels, there are lots of oem looking wheels in a 4 x 100

[jmc330i]

would vw hub adaptors fit ok? ive seen loads of golf etc running e30 wheels...

VW are 4x100, so the E30 wheels fit anyway (other than offset being slightly out). I think the 5 stud VW is 5X112, so the adaptors are better as there is no overlap - 1 hole will overlap slightly when going 4x100 to 5x120.

[shanehaward]

would vw hub adaptors fit ok? ive seen loads of golf etc running e30 wheels...

VW are 4x100, so the E30 wheels fit anyway (other than offset being slightly out). I think the 5 stud VW is 5X112, so the adaptors are better as there is no overlap - 1 hole will overlap slightly when going 4x100 to 5x120.

i know, i ment would vw 4x100 work?

[jmc330i]

I'm confused.... You want to use VW 4x100 adaptors to run E30 wheels which are 4x100??

[shanehaward]

no!!! lol

asking about the vw adaptors(4x100 to 5x120 or 5x130 etc ect..)because they are always on ebay second hand, just asking if you can use them because the centre bore is different

[jmc330i]

Lol, it was late!

I've asked that before, but no answers. I guess it could be same as using the G60 discs on an E30 - you need to open the centre bore up a little, but I don't know if that would work or could be done on the adaptors.

[harry_p]

The vw centre bore is exactly the same as the e30 one. Vw adapters will work fine.

5x130 adapters are not that expensive as the 130mm pcd is wide enough that the holes don't clash.
4x100-5x100 are again easy as they just share a hole.

4x100 to 5x112 or 120 are tricky because no matter where you try and align the studs there will always be an overlap which means some sort of insert so the adaptor can bolt over the top of the stud.

[jmc330i]

The vw centre bore is exactly the same as the e30 one. Vw adapters will work fine.

I cant find the particular WMS brake kit thread, but it says the centre bore of the VW discs used in their kits need enlarging to fit the E30 hub.

[harry_p]

Because the BMW hub is wider where the disk sits. The actual hub that the wheels sit on is exactly the same size.

People have been bolting BMW wheels on vws and vw wheels on bmws for decades.

[jmc330i]

Because the BMW hub is wider where the disk sits. The actual hub that the wheels sit on is exactly the same size.

Ah, I think I get you - the hub tapers out at the disc mounting face, so the inner 1mm of the disc need removing?

And yes, wheels have been swapped between BM and VW for years, but people have also swapped wheels with the wrong centre bore for years (without using spigot rings etc) like BM wheels on Rovers, so just wanted to clear up any confusion.

[leeparkes]

I really want to keep my E30 stock-looking, but the BBS wheels from E30s are a bit weak, I'd like something with a bit of dish, which has me looking at E34 items, which of course are 5x120.

Or are there any 4x100 wheels I've missed that are similar to these? Gotta be OEM

How about 4x100 BBS Mahle's? 15x7j ET13 so chunky rubber can still be used, they have a 2" dish and they were OEM, albeit they were on E21's but still OEM.

Ive had a couple of sets on E30's

Here's my current set that were found in a cellar in Germany.





They now look like this..




Some old pics of my E30 with a staggered set on (7j & 6j)

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 29&start=0


Expect to pay about £250 for a rough set and around £500+ for a good set, a mint set sold for £800 on here last year but thats the most ive ever seen them go for, but the were in perfect condition.
My last set (the ones in the link) sold for £550 and the guy traveled all the way down from Scotland to the midlands to collect

Cool old skool wheels FTW