Most regular people dont know about the OEM E30 rim and tire selection. Most E30 enthusiasts know only the main stream rims (basketweaves, bottle caps, alpina, etc.) but most dont know about the time correct tires (that were installed from factory) and other rims available OEM for e30’s. Here ill try to cover most of this information.

During the generation of the E30 and between 1982 and 1990, BMW installed Michelin MXV tires. Depending on region (15 inch euro weaves vs 14 inch  north american basketweaves) there were different sizes issued:

First number is width, second number is profile (height) ratio/percentage of the width, and the third number is the rim size the tire is meant for.

175/70 R14

195/60 R14

195/65 R14

205/55 R15

The tires replaced the previous generation Michelin XVS/XVS2 tires and provided better wet traction and rolling comfort.

These two rims are probably the most recognizable because they are the most popular rims offered on the e30, one dubbed “bottle cap” (lower) and basketweave (upper). The bottle cap came in a simple 14 inch by 6 inch wide size 4×100 bolt pattern. The basketweaves came in:

14×6.5, 4×100 (north american)

15×7 4×100 (ix 4 wheel drive e30, non interchangeable with other e30’s without spacers because of high offset)

15×7 4×100 (Euroweaves fit on all e30’s offered in Europe, hence the term euroweaves)

15×7 5×120 (E30 M3 5 lug)

Another OEM rim almost no one knows about is called the “STAR-SPOKE STYLING (STYL.10)” and came in 7JX15 ET:24 (15 inch by 7 inch wide)

Alpina E30 16 inch rim front 7J x 16 H2 rear 8J x 16 H2 (front is 7 inches wide back is 8 inches wide)

Hartge rims 16 inch by 7.5 inch wide 4×100

AC Schnitzer E30 M3 5 lug 5×120 17 inch by 7.5 inch wide

These are by no means OEM but rather especially exquisite examples of fine rim pieces that can be mated to an e30:

First is the BBS RS rim in 17×8.5 on the left and BBS RZ (one of my favorites) on the right black car.

This entry was posted on August 10, 2010 at 1:52 am and is filed under Do it Yourself, Interesting Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.