RE: bmw-digest V9 #249

[Thi VanAusdal <tvanausdal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Hi Digesters,
> 
> I recently bought a nice set a 15x7 BBS 3-piece basket weave 
> alloys for
> my 2002. To make these work without any clearance problems I'd have to
> rework the front & rear wheel well lips a little. That's not 
> a problem,
> because what I'm doing is putting a set of Schnitzer style box flares
> all around. The problem is, the wheels don't extrude "far 
> enough" beyond
> the body of the car so that they'll fill out the new flares. 
> I've talked
> to one of the wheel shops that advertizes in the Roundel and they said
> they can widen them up to two inches, but they do it by cutting the
> inner lip of the wheel and widen it inward, "where I don't 
> want it". The
> only wheel spacers I've seen are from BMP in Texas, and they're only
> 20mm. I want to gain "2" inches outward, any thoughts anyone???
> 
> Is it possible to do something to the front hubs & rear brake drums???
> If someone can be of help please email me, or post to the Digest.
> 
> Thanks,
> Barry Durham

Turn the wheels around (old hotrod trick)!  Okay, I'm silly.

(Assuming you bought them new,) I wonder if you can get a
refund/exchange for 
different offset wheels.  Making up 2" of outward offset is going to be
hard
to do safely.  Yes, widening the wheel would be okay if the workmanship
is good, 
and there's no reason to expect it not to be.  But it would be
preferable to get 
either modular wheels (get a wider outboard section to widen the wheel)
or a new 
set of one-piece wheels.  Adding a large spacer is not high on my list
of Good
Ideas, wheel bearing load being a primary concern, especially with stock
2002
fronts.  Tii struts with their larger bearings are a step up.

 - Thi V.

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