17" ALPINA rims in open lug old style design

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wokke

17" ALPINA rims in open lug old style design

Post by wokke »

as already posted on the other forum:
I "converted" a set of 8.5"/10"x17" ALPINA rims to the older 16" open lug design for a customer of mine. At the beginning I was quite sceptic but now I'd like to keep them for myself

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Drew

Post by Drew »

that looks like a nice job, does it just involve painting the hub section black and fitting an Alpina badge in the centre?
If so that is quite simple and a good thing to do!!

I much prefer the open lug wheels on a 6er
wokke

Post by wokke »

Drew wrote:that looks like a nice job, does it just involve painting the hub section black and fitting an Alpina badge in the centre?
If so that is quite simple and a good thing to do!!

I much prefer the open lug wheels on a 6er
yes, that's pretty much it. The main issue was to find a cap big enough to cover the center hole. Another issue is that this cap only fits with spacers (mandatory on the 10" rim anyways to reduce the offset from 28mm to 18mm) because otherwise the hub of the car will be in the way.
Fitting the spacers is another issue though because you loose the possibility to center the rim via the hub and spacers less than 20mm thick do not have their own centering ring. There are actually large washers.
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Brucey
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Post by Brucey »

nice job!

I suppose that it leaves onlookers in doubt that they are genuine Alpinas, and tells them exactly what type of anti-theft lug nuts you have too....

Easy enough to convert back too....


I suppose its not going to work on the Alpina with the hollow spokes and the valve in the wheel centre tho.....

cheers
~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sixracer

Post by Sixracer »

Those look GREAT! If I hadn't just received my beautiful BBS RC035/038 from Wokke I would be jumping on these. He does great work and is a pleasure to deal with, I would like to add.
wokke

Post by wokke »

Sixracer wrote:Those look GREAT! If I hadn't just received my beautiful BBS RC035/038 from Wokke I would be jumping on these. He does great work and is a pleasure to deal with, I would like to add.
Thanks Justin :wink:

Cheers
Wolf
DRPM635CSi

Post by DRPM635CSi »

Looks a bit odd to me without the centre cap being the raised version like on the front 16" wheel pictured on the car. Looks strange having the centre cap with logo recessed that far back into the hub. Still, nice work if that's what the customer wanted.
JT

Post by JT »

Why would the hole in the center be any bigger? They're all the same bore, aren't they? Regardless, they look great.
wokke

Post by wokke »

JT wrote:Why would the hole in the center be any bigger? They're all the same bore, aren't they? Regardless, they look great.
Quite simply because on the covered version the center bore is drille all the way through while it isn't on the original open lug version. The center bore as such is indeed the same.
jrcalvin

Post by jrcalvin »

Actually the center bore of the later style Alpinas is not only larger in diameter but the opening at the face of the bore has a very slight taper to it as well. It makes the modification to accept the earlier style black plastic cap just a little more difficult. Still working on it though.......
JT

Post by JT »

Yeah, I went out to the garage and took a look at my spare set of 16" open lugs, and could see the taper in the bore towards the outside of the wheel.

BTW, John, I'll be contacting you about the e39 seat. I was trying to line up an alternative shipping method (a friend who's a trucker), but found out last night he doesn't travel that far north...
mikeB7
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Post by mikeB7 »

I was thinking about this driving last night. Possible to machine a black plastic insert ring to allow the mounting of the usual open lug center cap?

I'll have to investigate on my rims here, but in the meantime, any thoughts on that, Wolf?
79 Alpina B7 Turbo #096, 79 Alpina B7 Turbo #124, 80 635csi, 80 323i Baur
jrcalvin

Post by jrcalvin »

Mike, I think the earlier e12 based sixers have more room between the rim hub face and the cap for the bearing on both the front and rear wheels to allow enough depth for a modification to accept the black plastic caps.

That would work for my 1978 sixer ...but it already has vintage open lug Alpina rims. It is my later 1987 B10 3.5 with the 17x8.5 and 17x9.5 Alpina rims that I want to convert to black cventers and original black Alpina caps.

Unfortunately, my later 17" Alpina rims are the common "flat face" 17" Alpinas. But I have occasionally seen early 17" Alpina rims (usually 17x8.5 and 17x10) that have the same common type of return lips on the rims exactly like the 16" Alpinas vintage open lugs rather than "flat face". I have tried to buy a set once or twice but always got outbid.

That earlier style return lip on the 17" Alpinas would just make the 17" rim size appear more subtle and at first glance appear to be 16" Alpina vintage rims. I think all the e24 Alpina coupes look better with the black center, plastic cap Alpinas. But 16x7 et11 Alpina rims seems a little "wimpy".
jrcalvin

My version of 17 Alpinas with 16 plastic center cap instld

Post by jrcalvin »

I do like the look of the later 17" 8.5 & 9.5 Alpinas with covered centers with locks. But I also like the look of the black center vintage Alpinas with the black plastic cap. Especially on older Alpinas, e12, e21, e28 and e24 models.

So I decided to try to adapt the traditional black plastic center caps to my 17 staggered Alpinas. The nice thing is that I can just remove the plastic caps and install the covered centers for the later look. The black centers are of course not visible with the covered centers installed.

My wife likes the black centers and I like both.

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RBM1805

Alpina Platic Center Caps

Post by RBM1805 »

Mr. Calvin (JR):
I have a staggered set of recently refurbished 16 inch Alpina's currently isntalled with center covers and locks and have been trying to find a simple solution to also be able to show them as early open lug wheels like Wokke's and yours on your most recent post. :?

Can you tell me what pastic center caps you purchased and installed
as shown. Wokke told me he used some AC Schnitzer center caps
and Iwas wondered what you used, where you got them, and how
easily they were installed (i.e. did they need a lot of modification
to fit. :-)

I am looking forward to a reply at your convenience.
Best regards,
RBM1805
jrcalvin

Post by jrcalvin »

RBM1805, perhaps your vintage 16" staggered Alpinas are for an e9 coupe rather than an e24? Just guessing. But if I had an e9 and the later Alpina covered center rims I would definitely want to go with the black centers and Alpina black center caps.

If you look closely at the 3rd pic showing a closeup of the center you can see that the black center cap is the exact same Alpina center cap that fits on the vintage 16" Alpina rims. I just bought new 16" Alpina plastic center caps and cut off the prongs that normally snap into the smaller bore. I then made an adapter to allow the center caps to mate to the larger, outer tapered bore of the 17" Alpina rims. Of course the inner portion of the bore is the standard 72.5mm

I used to have a set of the later 16" Alpina rims with the covered centers and do not remember if the larger outer bore was also tapered like the 17" Alpinas. It probably is.

The difficulty is that the larger outer bore of the later style Alpina rim is not only bigger but is tapered about 15 degrees. On my 1987 e24, the rear axle hub is only about .23 inch below the rim surface. The front axle hub is also about .23 inch below the rim surface and additionally has the axle nut dust cover protruding above the rim surface. This made the adapter a little tricky to design but not impossible.
RBM1805

Post by RBM1805 »

CalvinJR
Thank you for your reply.

My Alpina's are not vintage off an E9 but the later 16" rims with
center covers. I note that you used new 16" Alpina plastic center
caps and I will acquire a set.

As you point out, I will need to make an adapter as I am sure my
center bore is both bigger, shallower and tapered over the vintage
rims. I also have the clearance problem with axle nut dust cover on the front wheels.

I am hoping I can fashion an adapter out of plastic or rubber.

I appreciate your info. :-) RBM1805
Sixracer

Post by Sixracer »

I wonder if these would fit my E46 Touring?
tgriffith009
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Post by tgriffith009 »

Since I am a college kid money is a big deal but i need new wheels asap. If I went with a set of 18x8 Kopi wheels what would I need to do the conversion?
1988 635 5 speed swap #2 - Gone but not forgotten
1988 635 5 speed swap #1 - Gone but not forgotten
1988 M6 - 175k with a pink door and a tired s38
1985 M635 - one owner, 3.8, 39k Miles
1995 540i/6 - Dinan supercharged
e30polak

Post by e30polak »

Wow! Those look amazing!!!! =D>
beam6er

Re: 17" ALPINA rims in open lug old style design

Post by beam6er »

wokke wrote:as already posted on the other forum:
I "converted" a set of 8.5"/10"x17" ALPINA rims to the older 16" open lug design for a customer of mine. At the beginning I was quite sceptic but now I'd like to keep them for myself
What would you say about my project:
These are early 8,5J + 10J x 17 Alpina Classic converted into Open Lug style.

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Any comments welcome :)
dlvad
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Wow!!!

Post by dlvad »

Great Job, einfach Wunderbar!

Your pics are awesome too. Curious what valve stems you used..
Did you also refinish the reverse sides, Any pic's?
DV
Motorsport & Vintage Coupes
ALPINA Oldtimers of Course...
BMW-Classic CCA
beam6er

Re: Wow!!!

Post by beam6er »

dlvad wrote:Curious what valve stems you used..
Valves are standard "chrome ones".
There are 3 lengths. This ones are avarage.
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dlvad wrote:Did you also refinish the reverse sides, Any pic's?
There you go :) :

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dlvad
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Thanks for the Pic's

Post by dlvad »

Locate a set correct SS Alps Valve stems to complete your poject...
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DV
Motorsport & Vintage Coupes
ALPINA Oldtimers of Course...
BMW-Classic CCA
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sharkfan
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Post by sharkfan »

What did you use for the centre caps please - I want to do this on my 17" Alpinas for my M635CSi
2001 Alpina B10 V8 Touring (1 of 12 rhd)
1997 Alpina B12 5.7 L (1 of 2 rhd)
1995 Alpina B10 4.6 Touring (1 of 1 rhd)
1985 BMW M635CSi (1 of 524 rhd)
1982 BMW 635CSiA (1 of 100's left from the 1000's made and still valiantly fighting against a rusty grave)
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