5stud conversion

Post Sun Jul 17, 2005 3:57 pm

how on earth do i change from 4 to 5 stud wheel patterns. do i have to really change the struts and hubs and all that from an m3 and bolt it to my 318i auto??

Post Sun Jul 17, 2005 4:05 pm

Bolt on adapters. Available in various materials from crappy iron, to steel, to aluminium, to ceramic depending on how much you are willing to spend, and how much you dont want your wheels to fall off.

Bolt onto the hub, then bolt the wheel onto the adapter. Gives a wider stance as well that can look quite nice, or really bad depending on the wheels you choose. Im using a set of ceramic ones to hold on a spare set of E34 525i 16" wheels. Quite nice and easy to fit.

Post Sun Jul 17, 2005 4:11 pm

Have you got any pics of your wheels on the car mate?

Post Sun Jul 17, 2005 4:12 pm

john-rambo wrote:do i have to really change the struts and hubs and all that from an m3 and bolt it to my 318i auto??

Thats about it yeah.

Front struts from an E30 M3 or E36 struts will work.

As for the rear, there is a few different ways. E30 M3 stuff again or E36 Compact stuff.
I keep meaning to check, but I also think you could just use the E30 M3 rear hubs and redrill your 4 stud discs to fit. The rear wheel bearings and handbrake stuff is all the same part numbers for the normal E30s and M3s. Only the hub is different (5 stud). Im not 100% sure if thats right and I just dont have time to check it out at the moment.

A lot of people use the E36 and Compact stuff as its easier and cheaper to get hold of.

You can also get 4-5 stud adapters, but I dont know anything about these. Ive heard some people say they are fine and others say stay well clear.

Post Sun Jul 17, 2005 4:26 pm

cheers lads that has made things clearer where can i get these adpters from and how much r they. sorry no pics of car with rims yet cos i dont actually have them yet!!!

Post Sun Jul 17, 2005 4:26 pm

Havnt taken any photos of them yet because they really dont look very good. These are the wheels http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 08428&rd=1

And because of the adapters, they stand outside of the wheel arches just slightly.

These are the ones that were on it, the stock 14" slightly better than steel wheels http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 41141&rd=1

Only for some reason my car rides stupidly high and with the little 14s, you could fit a basketball between the tyre and the top of the wheel arch. It had cheap knock off 18s or something on it before I bought it but he didnt include them in the sale, so all I can think is that it was sitting high to clear those wheels?

frankly, the lowering kit was $400, and the new set of 4 tyres I needed were going to be a few $100 as well, so I bought the adapters and used the spare set off one of the E34s (the ugly set).

The better of the E34s has the 16" version of those BBS E30 M3 cross spoke wheels, which Im going to have to pinch some time, but until then these will do.

Soon as I get a camera ill take some snaps of the offset left by adapters.

They are pretty damned strong, with steel holes for bolts, and a ceramic surround on them. Sometimes on a steep hill with the handbrake on you can hear a slight creaking from them but I think thats more likely just the fact that there are more than twice as many wheel lugs in play now.

Wheels havnt fallen off yet.

Post Sun Jul 17, 2005 8:51 pm

wots the general oppinion on these adaptors good or bad??

Post Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:30 am

I would avoid them if I had the $$$ and time required to do an M3 running gear conversion, but there is no danger in using them. They make some wheels look bad, they make some look really good (due to the offset). If you used some bigger wheels like 18s or 19s, then it can help avoid rubbing the inner guards at full lock, but it changes the ride slightly as well.

They are reliable, and your wheels wont fall off, but they can be good or bad depending on the wheels.

Post Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:18 am

jmc330i wrote:I keep meaning to check, but I also think you could just use the E30 M3 rear hubs and redrill your 4 stud discs to fit. The rear wheel bearings and handbrake stuff is all the same part numbers for the normal E30s and M3s. Only the hub is different (5 stud). Im not 100% sure if thats right and I just dont have time to check it out at the moment.

If anyone can confirm this it would be great! I have been look for a set of 4 to 5 stud adapter as I have a pile of E36 wheels knocking about doing nothing. But changing the hubs just seems like a more sensible solution!

Post Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:54 am

JazzMan wrote:
jmc330i wrote:I keep meaning to check, but I also think you could just use the E30 M3 rear hubs and redrill your 4 stud discs to fit. The rear wheel bearings and handbrake stuff is all the same part numbers for the normal E30s and M3s. Only the hub is different (5 stud). Im not 100% sure if thats right and I just dont have time to check it out at the moment.
If anyone can confirm this it would be great! I have been look for a set of 4 to 5 stud adapter as I have a pile of E36 wheels knocking about doing nothing. But changing the hubs just seems like a more sensible solution!

Its only the rear hubs that should be able to be swapped. The fronts are different - different size wheels bearings on the M3.
If someone can supply some old M3 rear hubs, then Im happy to try it on mine whilst its off the road. I just dont have the time to go looking for secondhand parts at the moment.

Post Mon Jul 18, 2005 12:30 pm

AFAIK, the M3 uses 75mm rear wheel bearings, as do most, but not all E30s.

I've had an M3 hub on what was reported to be a non M3 rear arm and it fitted fine, I didn't see the car that the arm came off so I wouldn't say 100% it wasn't an M3.

You can't use E36 Compact 318Ti hubs on most E30 arms, because they use the smaller bearing.

The Compact rear hubs will also widen the rear track by 20mm each side, also, I can't find any discs with enough offset to fit the Compact hubs, other than the standard ones, which are smaller than E30 M3 discs. (Same size as 325 I think.)

Post Mon Jul 18, 2005 1:03 pm

i have a full e30 m3 running gear minus front calipers (same as an e28 5 series anyway, and front discs) shocks new, and tca bushes new too

call me if ure interested on 07946 390067

Post Mon Jul 18, 2005 4:01 pm

M3Compact wrote:AFAIK, the M3 uses 75mm rear wheel bearings, as do most, but not all E30s.

From what Ive seen on the ETK, most E30s from 1985 onwards should be the same rear wheel bearings, but as we know, the ETK can sometimes be wrong.
If I can get hold of an M3 rear hub(s) then I will try it and see. Ive got to change my rear bearings anyway....

Post Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:56 pm

how much are the adapters and where from i have 17inch schnitzers in mind will they look gay or not???

Post Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:48 pm

Recently noticed a seller on ebay "dgt international"" do a search on the alloy wheel page , these guys seem to have what you need

Post Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:34 pm

parksie wrote:Recently noticed a seller on ebay "dgt international"" do a search on the alloy wheel page , these guys seem to have what you need

I've run a search, but cant find anything - could you post a link please

Post Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:37 pm

trouble with adapters is they make the already low offset wheels even lower!

Even e36/46 wheels which are et41+ become et4 or lower (well they did in Smithy's case with his adapters)

Post Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:01 pm

john-rambo wrote:how much are the adapters and where from i have 17inch schnitzers in mind will they look gay or not???

Post Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:38 pm

john-rambo

Try this link

www.storesebay.co.uk/DGTInternationalLTD

Post Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:45 pm

Just tried the above link Did'nt work Sorry !!!!!!

Go to ebay Alloy wheels Click on 16 inch, scroll down to Ebay stores on the left of screen, Cick DGT INTERNATIONAL

That works for me.

Post Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:16 am

Think Z3 rear hubs off a 2.0l have the same bearing size check it on realoem...