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Chris · A Joined: 21 Jul 2009 Posts: 86

I'm after a set of wheels for occasional track driving, however I'm not 100% sure what I'm after...
I don't want to destroy the Michelins on track as 19's are expensive enough as it is so am looking for a 2nd set of cheap wheels.

I'm not planning on doing a lot of track driving, maybe 1 or 2 events in the year at most. I'm not looking at trackdays in the traditional sense, I was more looking at driver improvement type events on airfields. It's organised by a couple of mates who run those events, its a cheap day out and essentialy teaches you how to powerslide.

That leaves me with two choices, either a full set of 4 wheels or just a set for the rears as they will take most abuse.

If I get a full set, they need to be big enough to clear the front brakes, so I'm guessing 19 inch minimum on a B10 V8S?

I've been browsing on ebay for some wheels, are all BMW wheels the correct size to fit an E39?
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B10 V8S no. 82

olli · Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:46 pm Post subject:

18" will clear the larger V8S brakes no trouble.

The E39 is specific in terms of wheels, as the E39 is the only 5 series to have a larger centre bore, than the other models. For that reason you are pretty much limited to original E39 wheels or need to use 5 series replica wheels. The reps usually come with the larger E39 centre bore, so they can be fitted to all 5 series models.
Or you find a workshop that can open the bore for you. Nearly all BMW have a 72.5 -0/+0.1mm centre bore while the E39 has a 74.0 -0/+0.1mm bore.

Also other models (e.g. 3 series also have different offsets)
all those in the link would work
http://www.bmautosport.co.uk/index.php?catid=49&set_add_ad_cat=0

Chris · A Joined: 21 Jul 2009 Posts: 86

Thanks Olli! Not sure why they didnt use the standard BMW size on E39's Confused

Found some replica Alpina wheels on fleabay, not sure what the going rate is for fakes though. 1 day to go, 0 bids and starting price of £160. He's not far from me either so might be worth a look.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-E39-Alpina-Alloys-18_W0QQitemZ120526830746QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Rims_Car_Wheels_ET?hash=item1c0ff57c9a
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B10 V8S no. 82

Ikule · Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:00 pm Post subject:

sward · ALPI Joined: 27 May 2004 Posts: 368 Location: Birmingham

I wouldn't bother with an extra set of trackday wheels and tyres, from what you have said your aims are: driver improvement. I did 2 full track days at Oulton Park in the B10 and hardly noticed any tyre wear. The B10 3.3 isn't hard on tyres, at least not on that circuit. I obviously don't know if your car is harder on them. I still have the same front tyres on 2 years later.
Maybe if you do more than 2 trackdays a year you will want to get some more track orientated rubber though, but then you are also talking about uprating your brakes, and you get into a bit of a spiral!
Edit: just re-read your original post. Powersliding. OK forget what I just said! Laughing

Petrolhead · Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 2:28 am Post subject:

We did one of these days in the B10, at the start of the day the rear tyres had about 2mm left, by the end they were down to the metal wire, and Chris has another 25bhp to play with!

You will wear the front tyres out faster than normal due to the occasional bit of understeer and faster driving, but obviously nowhere near the same rate as the rears will go.
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Richy_Boy · Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 5:55 pm Post subject:

If you're planning on drifting, then it's best not to plan on coming home on the same tyres at all Wink

Rich
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Richy_Boy
Estoril Blue Alpina B3S Coupe No.19
SPAX Coilovers, M3 Roll Bar, Uprated Brakes, Fresh Bushes, oh and Prins VSi LPG.

Chris · A Joined: 21 Jul 2009 Posts: 86

It's a similar event to what Alex is showing in his avatar, organised by a couple of mates who run those days on another forum we're on.

Went to see them a couple of weeks back, a chap in a Monaro got through two sets of rears, but he was very sideways the whole day Very Happy

Also a spare set of wheels could come in handy next winter (or maybe even this year if things dont warm up soon Confused

)

Got out-bid on those replica wheels so still on the lookout...

sward, are you running Michelin tyres or do you have something else with a very hard compound?
I had Pilot Sport 2's on my old C43 and the outer edges were very worn after one trackday on those , fronts suffered more than the rears too. Although that was at Curborough sprint track, so tight corners and low speed.
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B10 V8S no. 82

sward · ALPI Joined: 27 May 2004 Posts: 368 Location: Birmingham

Yes, Michelin PS. Original style on the front, which I've had on since owning the car! I'm on my second set of PS2s on the rear, and the car came with a decent pair of PS1s on the rear and new ones on the front. I've covered about 45k miles. Unusually for E39s, this car doesn't wear the outside edges of the fronts. Wear is even. And Oulton Park is quite a smooth track!

Petrolhead · Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:39 am Post subject:

All of the times we've used the B10 on a normal track day, the first things to start to wear were the outside edges of the front tyres. The alignment has been checked and the camber is as it should be, but they still wear. One way to sort of get around it is to pump the fronts up quite high, but considering the advised pressures are still too high for optimum grip then this does result in a fair old bit of understeer.
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"If you don't feel out of control, you're not driving fast enough." - Mario Andretti