Thought I would share some photos of the latest wheels I picked up to refinish and will probably use for winter use. I fell into a good deal on e30 325ix wheels in 15x7 et41 4x100 hb 57.1 style 5, basket weaves or whatever you want to call them. After cleaning all the track compound brake dust with some easy off oven cleaner they are pretty much down to primer currently.

I picked them up with 195/65/15 tires on them sized for the e30. I thought I would test fit to get a rough idea of what tire size I could run and general fitment with the stock r53 brake and suspension components. I am still on the fence what color I am going to have them refinished in to go along with the space blue on my 06 mini cooper s.

Inspiration/ other cars that I found with a quick goooogle search:

R53 see here https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...75-post93.html


R55 - "Only mods are KW V1 coil overs and 195/50/15 Toyo R888's on some old 15 inch euroweaves." From s14.net... Euroweaves are 15x7 et 24. See here for some pics https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-post3487.html


My car with over sized tires 195/65/15's with stock suspension
compared to enkei bortex rpm2 in 18x7.5 with 225/40/18 also over sized








195 left vs 225 right


More photos to come with properly sized tires and refinishing of the wheels. Thanks for looking. Hopefully make this easy for the next guy thinking about this to find some info.

.

 

I got the tires off and started cleaning up the minor curb rash on the wheels. I am going to get quotes this week on either paint or powder coating the wheels. I think I am going to go with either a nogaro silver/gunmetal, semi gloss black or hyper black like my enkei wheels. The e30 bmw 325ix wheels weigh 16.8 pounds which isn't to bad for a late 1980's factory wheel.



I wish I would have taken before pictures, still not bad for 24 year old wheels with factory finish that were covered in a couple mils of track pad dust when I got them.

 

Le old school badass. Looks awesome.

Personally, I would go with gold powdercoat

 

Those look great! I think a color similar to your Enkeis' would be spot on.

On a side note, do you know if e30 wheels like that would also fit on an r56 cooper?

 

Polish them up and rock not painted wheels.

 

Very classy look.

 

I already have a set of gold center/polished barrels on my e34, wife says that's enough... Already ps'd the style 5's on the mini..lol

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/7391078520/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/7391078520/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/mckchr67/, on Flickr

NOTE- style 5's/bbs rc090's would not look like this on a mini, these wheels are 17x8 et20 with 15mm spacers on the e34 with 235/45's...


Yeah I am really leaning towards a gunmetal grey or hyper black. The white car above is a r56 s so yeah I'd assume they fit.
Hey fellow e34 brethern The polished barrels on my e34 are enough to keep my fingers busted and busy... I don't have the gut to get a quote on full polish with a powder clear... lol
Thanks

Anyways, I got a quote for $40 per wheel from a local guy/shop that does coating for public clients on the side when they are slow...Now I just need to go check out what colors they actually have in stock... to get these wheels rolling....

 

Didn't put much time and effort into this one, but I wanted to see what all gold basketweaves without center caps would look like with stock fender gap... Quality and color of the gold crap but I was using a huge wheel photo to scale down to a small car photo.



example of someone other persons all gold 16" bbs rz (e39 spec), only example I could find without a polished lip.



I actually think I have made up my mind that I am just going to go with a nogaro silver or a gunmetal looking at different colors of wheels for the past week.

 

Well I went with a dark metallic silver powder coat for the wheels. I picked them up this evening and was running out of day light to get decent photos.



The e30 325ix wheels use a 171mm center cap that was only used for this wheel and the e28 m5 wheels from my understanding, which are also called euroweaves... Anyways apparently they are hard to find used and for not a retarded amount of money. So I thought I would try some alternative center cap solutions until I find a good deal.

 

Those came out fantastic, I really think I am going to have to borrow(steal) this idea.

 

Nice job.

I like the can lid as a center cap.

What are you thinking about for tires?

 

Thanks guys. I went to the local gas station and measure can tops.... and a red bull pounder will be the can of choice unless I find something else and the beer and soda distributor.

As for tires I am still on the fence about what these wheels will be used for. I have been currently running 225/40/18's with stock suspension and I like the look. I am still unsure if I'll get coil overs in the spring.. so...

My current short list depending on use and suspension:
225/45/15 (23" tire) Hankook RS-3 if autocross/summer
205/50/15 (~23" tire) Yokohama AD08 if just autocross
205/55/15 (~24" tire) Nitto NT 450 if light winter/spring/fall driving
edit - 225/50/15 (~24" tire) Kumho ecsta AST (H) or Falken Ziex ZE-912 (V) is also a possibility for winter/spring/fall driving

I still can't get over how much the tire selection has changed over the last 10 years. There aren't many of my go to tires around anymore in these sizes. lol

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8098684152/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8098684152/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/mckchr67/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8098687028/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8098687028/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/mckchr67/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8098691564/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8098691564/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/mckchr67/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8098693044/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8098693044/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/mckchr67/, on Flickr

 

I have centercaps in case you're interested. PM me.

 

Other tire choices worth considering

Extreme Summer tire
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
205/50-15 $131 each, 200 treadwear, 21 lbs each
or
Bridgestone Potenza RE-11
205/50-15 $138 each, 180 treadwear, 21 lbs each
Watch out, ground clearance is minimal, even worse if you lower your MINI

If you want light weight on a budget-
Kumho Ecsta XS
205/50-15 $104 each, 180 treadwear, 19 lbs each

Tirerack test results for four Extreme Summer tires-
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=118

Ultra High Performance All Season tire
Kumho Ecsta 4X $82 each, 420 treadwear, V speed rated, 19 lbs each
Tirerack test result
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=151
This is one of the better Kumho tires that can be used in light snow, cold, or wet conditions. Good compromise of handling with comfort for three season use.
Much better than the Ecsta AST which has been around for a long time and is a High Perf AS tire.

 

Thanks for adding some current info on other tires here. I have personally put miles on a good bit of the tires I am looking at or have spoke with friends that ran them. I need to get by my buddies shop to see what all tires he has left over from this season.

 

Haaha goos to see another set of ix on a mini
I ran them for a year and half but due to brake clerance.issue with r56 (ix weaves and the pictured r56 with euroweaves has different clearance spec) i took em off.

Decent wheels with good ole school look for sure

 

Right on, That makes sense, the euroweaves were 15x7 et24 I think, and for how they look on the r55. I just assumed spacers were used with ix wheels. The white r55 had from what I assumed are 195/50/15 from the time line of the owners photos. I updated first post with info on the r55 pictured. The clearance in the barrel is tight with the factory big brakes, you just need to get crafty with wheel weight selection and placement for either wheel.

 

i didn't have time to completely read this thread but have you had a chance to drive around with the 195/65/15's oversized tires on?

 

Well I got the itch this week to get these wheels on the car to get some light winter driving in the Mini. I am going to go with the 205/55/15 Kumho Ecsta 4X. They should be on the car mid next week and I can't wait to see how they look and ride.

edit- Thought I'd add the edited photo from above, fender gap will be a little more as this is depicting a ~25" tire. General idea, more photos to come.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8171286148/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8171286148/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/mckchr67/, on Flickr

Yeah, I drove on the tires when I first got the wheels for test fitting. With stock suspension they didn't rub at all with the offset on these wheels, and the tires that I had rode like crap since they were mismatched tires that were junk. Even with liking the gearing with a ~25" tire, the 195/65/15 has way too much sidewall for these cars in my opinion. Even on e30's I never preferred running that tire size.

 

let me know if you decide to part with them

 

Wheels are on the car with the 205/55/15 kuhmo ecsta 4x tires. Photos were right after it came off the jack stands. I'll get some more when it is a little better lighting and with another lens. So far I am liking the wheel and tire combo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8187297272/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8187297272/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/mckchr67/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8186258523/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8186258523/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/mckchr67/, on Flickr

 

Some more photos.

Offset/tire size clearance

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8205399696/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8205399696/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/mckchr67/, on Flickr

around .5" clearance

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8205398852/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8205398852/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/mckchr67/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8204256557/http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckchr67/8204256557/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/mckchr67/, on Flickr

 

I heartily agree.

 

Not sure if serious????

First no one full polishes these wheels for a reason. Second who the hel l would want polished winter wheels.... Dumb...

 

I just mean they look better cleaned up but not painted. Painted wheels look cheesy imo