Wheels 'N Deals

As you'll be reading about in Roundel, I bought this 1985 635CSi, 200k, 5-speed, Recaros, badly sun-damaged Burgundrot paint, no rust, and an electrical problem that made it die, for $500. The root cause of the electrical problem turned out to be a bad voltage regulator. Once I addressed that and a low oil pressure condition, I began driving it around, developing the punch list of things to sort out.

The car wore a set of period-correct 14" gold BBS basketweaves. In theory, if both the wheels and the Burgundrot (metallic burgundy) paint were new, the gold would pop against the paint, but both were long past their glory days. Plus, someone had painted the rim lips white (ick) and the tires were 195/70 14s which gave the car a skinny-ankles look. So I went looking for other wheels and tires.

A set of 16" E38 Style 5 "V2" (with the rounded centercap; see http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/?felge=51) basketweaves from a '98 740i showed up on Craigslist in an ad that said "$100 will deliver." I jumped all over that puppy. They were straight and shiny and had all four hubcaps and the tires were in great shape, but I hadn't done enough research to know that the 235/60 16 tire size for the E38 is too tall for the E24 (which, for a 16" rim, prefers 225/50 16). Also, these E38 wheels are offset ET23 and the E24 prefers ET20, so they sit a little inboard and may rub up front unless you use a spacer. Certainly they're beautiful wheels and well worth the hundred bucks, but by the time you add in the cost of tires (even used ones), the $100 to mount and balance, and spacers, you're talking real money. For dressing up a car, it's always far more cost-effective to find a set of tires already mounted and balanced on wheels.

So I put the E38 wheels under the porch. While I was under there, I saw a mound of wheels under a tarp. Geez, which ones are these, I struggled to remember. I pulled off the tarp and saw... a beautiful set of 14" E12 radially-spoked Alpina-style wheels with perfect center caps. I'd had these on my '73 3.0CSi for many years until I scored the set of 16" staggered Alpinas that the coupe now wears. Forgot all about these. They were even still wearing meaty 225/60 14 Yokos. I pulled them out, cleaned them off, and put them on the E24. They gave the car a great stance. They looked beautiful. So nice, in fact, that I decided that I didn't want to leave them on the car when I eventually sell it. The wheel search went on.

I responded to another ad a guy had on CL for a set of E34 basketweaves. There wasn't a lot of info, but by swapping e-mails I learned that they were 15x7s with 225/60 15 Michelin MXV4s with about 60% of the tread left. Unfortunately they were out in Gardner -- about an hour away. I asked the guy to send me a pic, and was glad he did because he saved me from a disappointing drive -- they weren't Style 5s, they were the "honeycomb" Style 7s (http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/?felge=70). I looked all over the web to find a pic of an E24 wearing them, and couldn't. I TM'd the guy saying thanks but they're not what I'm looking for. A day later he TM'd me back saying "I need to get them out of my garage $100 and they're yours." But having two sets of E24 wheels under the porch, I thought... no, let me look for what I want.

Then, last weekend, I went to Vintage at Saratoga in upstate NY. There were 15 sharks there. It was a great chance to look at wheels and take a lot of pics. Then I saw Boston Chapter president John Sullivan's beautiful dark blue E24... and it was wearing Style 7 honeycombs. I pulled out my phone and checked the pic. They were the same wheels. They looked much better than I expected on the E24. When I got back, I called the guy back, verified the wheels were still available, drove out to Gardner, and scored the Style 7s and mounted MXVx for a hundred bucks. These aren't the E24 wheels of my dreams, but for a hundred bucks, they dress the car up nicely.

So the E12 wheels will lie in waiting, like Sleeping Beauty, for the right car to kiss them. The gold 14" BBS basketweaves with the white lips will probably sit until I need something to throw on a roller. And the E38 basketweaves... if I find a used set of mint hundred dollar 225/50 16 tires, perhaps they'll be united with their destiny.

Lastly, some perspective is always a good thing. When I was at Vintage at Saratoga, I hung out with CCA member Bill Riblet from Virginia. Bill's a great guy. And it's always gratifying to meet someone who is worse than I am. Bill has nine cars. And 48 wheels under his porch.