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Wheel setup for 2002

37K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  tjones02 
#1 ·
Can anyone advise me a good rim/tire combos for performance street application on a 76 2002? I am working on upgrading handling and I am unsure about offsets and clearance. Any tips appreciated!

Steven
 
#5 ·
2002 wheel info

I've compiled a number of sourses to make the list below.

2002's have a Bolt Pattern of 4x100; and a Center Bore/Hub Diameter of 57.1mm

Not nessisarily is the biggest widest tire going to grip the best. Tire grip is mostly based on rubber compound and tread pattern. I once had a set of 185/70-13 Michelins that out cornered the El-cheapo 205/50-15 tires that came with a previous set of wheels I had.

BMW Wheels:

13x5 et28 '74-'76 2002 styled steel
Tires: 165/80-13 stock to 185/70-13

13x5.5 et18 320i styled steel, 21 spoke Alpina look alloy, and BBS look alloy
Tires: 185/70-13 standard, some cars and or tire brands may be able to fit 205/60R13 with these wheels.

14x6 et35 3-series '84-'91 "bottlecap" alloy. Widely avalible used, try craigslist.org, or a local wrecking yard. These fit very well and are concidered to be a good cheap way to get "modern" rubber on a 2002. There are many brands of tires avalible in this size, in MANY different compounds from El-cheapo to gummy race rubber.
Tires: 185/65-14, or 195/60-14.

14x6.5 et30 3-series '87-'91 BBS Sport alloy. Similar to above but BBS look and more expensive.
Tires: 185/65-14 fits well, 195/60-14 may have clearence problems.

Better fitting 14' wheels may be able to fit 205/55-14 tires.

15x7 et24 3-series optional BBS sport alloy and six spoke optional alloy. Great wheels but rare and pricey.
Tires: 195/50-15, 195/55-15, 205/50-15, the 205's will need the fender lips rolled extensively to clear with out tire rubbing.

The offsets for 15x7' wheels on a 2002 is from et22 to et28 with et25 being perfect. With rolling of the fender lips a 205 section tire is possible.

With my 15x7 et28 BBS Nardi wheels I have 205/50-15 Yokohama ES100's with a 3mm spacer up front and none in the rear. For suspension I have H&R springs and Koni shocks. I've also rolled the fender lips for clearence.

http://www.double02salvage.com has good deals on used BMW wheels.

http://www.2002parts.com/html/4-lug_wheels.html has a nice selection of the above wheels.

http://www.panasport.com/ has some very cool classic wheels to fit many cars incl. 2002's from mild to wild.

http://www.tirerack.com/ and http://www.discounttiredirect.com have 15' and 16' wheels to fit 2002's as well as a huge tire selection. They may not have ALL the choices up on the web sites so call them to see if there are more.

High quality wheel spacers and extended wheel studs are avalible here:
http://www.bmpdesign.com/

Most but NOT ALL wheels designed to fit the '84-'91 3-series also fit 2002's except for the most extreme mondo sizes.

Other resources for 2002 info are:
http://www.bayarea02.com/
http://www.2002faq.com/
http://www.2002register.com/

There are still many choices for wheels on 2002's out there. Many corner tire/wheel shops will try sell you wheels that they THINK will fit, but they're probably ment for a Honda or Toyota. Just take your time and make an informed decision and make sure they're going to fit properly, with a money back guarantee if they don't!

Tom Jones
Vacaville, CA
 
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