I was fortunate to have Botond give me a set of bottle caps for my 1990 325i. Here's the mystery: They don't fit! I've had three different shops try to put them on. The tie rods rub against the rim of the 14" wheels, but there is no problem with my 15" wheels. I even tried using 5mm spacers but even that wasn't enough. I've checked the parts numbers for the tie rods and the wheels and they both check out as OEM. I do have Bilsteins and OE E30 M3 struts on the car, but my BMW shop tells me that shouldn't matter. What the **** is going on?
Hmm, never in my life have I seen that. Can you post the part numbers for the tie rods? Some brands will label the part with the OE number for reference, but it is not truly OE. I am guessing the bottom of the tie rod end is what rubs, right?
Well you can do that all you want, but there is no money involved; it was free. Besides, you offering to shake me down is kinda creepy... Paul, all Bottlecap wheels are the same throughout the E30 years, are they not? I'm thinking he got some kind of aftermarket tie rods as you seem to be suggesting, which may not be OEM spec. I don't think the fact that his car is slightly lowered would affect anything, would it?
Yes, all bottlecaps should be the same. Yes, you can lower away and they should not hit. My guess is that the bottom of the ball joint cup is deeper. I looked up the part and it fits all E30, so it should not be an issue with interchange.
I'm reporting the part number that was on the bill of the indie shop I used last year: 32111125186. That checked out on realOEM.com. He charged me $56 per rod, so that seems to be in line with OE prices. I didn't notice which part of the end of the rod was rubbing, but I'll ask the mechanic when I talk to him tomorrow morning. Wow, if Paul never heard of such a thing that really makes this a mystery!
Bet they are aftermarket. Your mechanic simply reported the BMW part number, purchased aftermarket parts and charged a hefty markup. Ask me how I know...
Crap. But it will still be cheaper to get the tie rods replaced than to buy a set of 15" wheels and new tires. Besides, I don't want to have to look at Botond in t mouth (you know what they say about gift horses...). http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/117000.html
Yup, most off brand tie rod ends have less clearance then OEM. Thankfully I found a shop willing to install my parts at reasonable prices.
Let me know how you fare with it. If you have no use for the wheels, then so be it; I tried to help but it didn't work out with your setup. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out your mechanic did what Paul said. Lots of mechs do that around here. They loooove their money, but then again, who doesn't?
Well, parts is how we make money as well, so it is not surprising. We usually can save the customer money vs. buying OEM, but we only do that if the parts are quality replacements, and we do give the choice.
Shady mechanics deserved to be bashed. Hey Paul, who/what is the character in your avatar flying from?
I wouldn't call that practice shady unless he assured the buyer that it was the OE part. When we can, we pass the savings on to the customer. If we only bought stuff from BMW, cars would take at least 3 days to get fixed since the dealer will not get us parts overnight, the repair costs would be greater, and the customer would not get the 6 month warranty we offer on our parts. Did I mention that shops actually get less of a discount on parts from BMW than CCA members? BMW hates independent shops, and yet many of the dealers do not want to work on the older cars. We cannot afford to eat any labor costs if we make no money on parts that fail (it happens with OE and aftermarket) in our warranty period. Many times we will get a part from our supplier that came off the same line as the parts they ship to BMW, but they have had to grind off the part number and roundel in order to sell them to anyone else. That is where the win-win situations come in. The customer saves because we get it cheaper and we make a little money to cover warranty costs. BTW, that is Fry from Futurama riding the Scootie Puff Junior
Shoot, for a second I assumed this was the "Best BMW for a 18 yr old" thread. I know its from Futurama but have never seen it. I hear you. Off topic and anybody has every right to throw me to the wolves for hijacking but this phony shop quoted me $1250 for a aftermarket cat converter for my E28 after I had it for a few months. I wonder what crack he was on. Scootie Puff Junior....I need to get one for Peyton
OP here: Hey, let's back back on the stick here folks! With due apologies to Botond, I just can't make this work. I suppose I could invest in installing a set of OE tie rods--but what if for some weird reason the wheels still don't fit? I'm resigned to go to Plan B. I'll be buying a used set of 195/60R15 Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 on Saturday. Maybe I'll put them on my current Ronal LS Mesh for the time being (hate to run those in the winter). In the meanwhile I can look for some used OE 15" wheels. Anyone want a set of free bottle caps that don't fit my bottle?
OE tie rod ends will fit the bottlecaps, though I have run into situations where some aftermarket tie rods have different threads than the OE, but that situation is super rare.
I don't recall that there ever were any 15" 4x100 E30 OE wheels for the U.S.? - maybe overseas? Did the ix have a 15" oem option? Tire rack has some 15x7 E30 rims for $88 each. I saw one auction on ebay for 2 15x7 basketweaves w/ 4x100 that the ad claims is for an M3 - if they had a more detailed pic, I'd bet they're actually 14" 'is basketweaves. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Car...ries?_trksid=p4506.m20.l1116#ebayphotohosting But, also when I searched ebay, I found a pic of an E30 M3 wheel - 5 bolt holes.
If you want basketweaves in 4x100 in 15", you're gonna have to import them from Germany like I did. Basketweaves for the E30 in 4x100 only came in 14" or 15" with a high offset (for ix models). M3 baskets are 5-lug. It's probably gonna have to be an aftermarket wheel that you buy for it. Paul, that eBay auction is highly incorrect. M3's have 5-lug pattern; that one is clearly a 4-lug. Trust me, I've searched high and low for 4x100 15" basketweaves in low offset but there are none, only in Europe.
