<VV> BMW wheel pattern vs. Chevy

[Sethracer at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/19/2007 2:47:36 PM Pacific Daylight Time,  
JVHRoberts at aol.com writes:

DEFINITELY NOT A GOOD IDEA!! You wind up with one hell of a bending  load on  
the studs, and you lose the centering of the wheel, since  the BMW wheels 
have 
a  larger center hole. Given the mismatch of bolt  circles, any chance of 
decent  concentricity is lost. Someone here  listed an outfit that'll 
remachine the  
wheels to correct the bolt  pattern for fairly cheap. 


In a message dated 5/19/2007 2:13:48  P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
chaz at ProperProPer.com writes:

So  BMW 5  bolt rims are only 1/40 " (.025591 mm) off from 4 3/4 GM 5 bolts  ?

The  beveled lug nuts should take up that slack, right  ?

Has anyone done  this ?



It has been done The difference in diameter is .65 mm - For any regular  
steet use, it would probably not matter, I could ONLY concieve of using them  with 
a shank-type lug nut, not a tapered seat type. This will involve some work  
on either the lugs or the wheels. Unless the wheels are hub-centric, the  wheel 
is going to be aligned with the first tapered-seat lug nut you  tighten down 
and then stretched to the other 4.  Remember, also that you  will likely not 
be able to use wheels from any BMW newer than about 1995-6. Just  like the 
later Camaros and Corvettes, the BMW wheels changed to high-backspace  design 
about then. Most of the 16" wheels are of this later design. I modified a  dozen 
of the earlier design (aftermarket) wheels 15 x 7 from the BMW  pattern to 
Corvair/Chevy. A company, Russell Machine in Glendale, CA (I'm  pretty sure of 
this info, my records are at work.) did the machine work. It  involved 
re-drilling the area and installing new steel inserts in the Chevy  pattern. Also, for 
this design to work, you will have to go to longer wheel  studs. The wheels, at 
least the ones I have are too thick for a stock stud to  present enough 
threads for adequate engagement. I used new 3" studs from Moroso,  they also have a 
3/8" unthreaded lead on the stud to allow quick installation of  the wheels 
and lug nuts. 
 
As far as the BMW vs Chevy wheel? - There are lots of Chevy wheels out  
there!   - Seth Emerson



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