"New" shoes for the "Old" man

[SnakeyesTx]

Finally made the trek out to Humble and picked up my style 19's... rings on and no rub at either lock! Tires were about a width and a half wider than the 14's I took off, which made an already heavy steering feel even heavier! :p After seeing them on the car, I'm hard-pressed to take them back off and powdercoating the center's anthracite now, but if the weather cooperates, I might just get that over with too.

Despite the shockingly close apperance of the third and forth picture, there's actually about an inch gap between the tire and the inner wheel well... just couldn't get my camera at a good enough angle to illustrate.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l273/Tenki-Kun/LMNR1.jpg

This pic makes the paint look a LOT nicer than it really does up close. (My other E39, 528i in the background)

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l273/Tenki-Kun/LMNR2.jpg

Front wheel well clearance (actually about an inch, I know it looks pretty tight here)...

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l273/Tenki-Kun/LMNR3.jpg

Front wheelwell, backside, still an inch to spare there as well... tires are a 235/45/ZR17 Sumitomo HTR III. They grip like no tomorrow and are very responsive, but they do tend to wear pretty fast. Price is incredible for the performance you do get out of them.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l273/Tenki-Kun/LMNR4.jpg



Oh yeah.. anyone in the houston area got a pair of E34 bumper cover "take offs" after doing an M5 or other style bumper upgrade? I'm looking for a front and rear, foglights would be a plus, but the covers mainly. Would prefer white or red since they'll be a bit easier to blend but I'm not picky. Also need at least 1 side of E34 headlights for a fitment experiement.. doesn't have to be in immaculate shape as long as its somewhat intact.

[sal_park]

Hi Snakeyes,

can't help but ask, what's happened to the alloy in the last picture ?

Looks like a hole has been knocked in it ? I can see they are split rims, but I don't get why there appears to be another separate layer of alloy under the hole....


sal

[SnakeyesTx]

The bead part of these have a thick clear-coat on them which heat and age has taken it's toll on. I took apart the 5th wheel and stripped them and polished it (I think you can see it on my e39 in the first picture with anthracite painted center). The weather wasn't really cooperating last weekend so I couldn't refinish the other 4.

[Tiger]

Looks kinda out of place... I like it on the E34 better. I guess it was on your E39 and then you upgraded the E39 and put them on your E28>

[SnakeyesTx]

Looks kinda out of place... I like it on the E34 better. I guess it was on your E39 and then you upgraded the E39 and put them on your E28>

More or less... the story goes, I had a bad alignment on the E39's rear end, and the tires wore out pretty badly. Replacing them would have costed me only 150 dollars less than I paid for the M6 wheels that had new tires on all 4 of them and I ultimately was going to buy a set anyway. For about two months after I swapped wheels, I actually had the Style 19's posted on sale at several places, however most bites were incredible low-ballers or people that were shocked once I calculated the shipping costs and decided against them.

Just about then I started having an interest in E24's and E28's. Originally I wanted to find a 86+ 635CSI with the can cooler in the back seat in white with a 5-speed and paint the centers of the Style 19's to body match Alpine White. Shortly afterwards, I saw an E28, Alpine White, with E34 bumpers and headlights on color matched Style 5's with polished beads and was hooked. Sure the 6er's a playboy's coupe, but the 28 was ultimately more practical, and all I've ever had were 5ers before anyway so the transition wasn't a big deal. The one thing I couldn't get past was what I thought was a goofy tall roofline, but in certain colors it's really not that strange to look at. With tucked bumpers (some people Lipo them, some get M5 style bumpers or Euro ones, and a very tiny few do the E34 bumper swap) the roofline doesn't really seem that bad.

As you can see here, I couldn't find a white one with a 5-speed like I originally wanted, but this Cinnarbar/auto IS just fell in my lap and the deal was too good to pass up. When I was scouting for an E39, I was adamant on a Arctic Silver with 6-speed but the Canyonrot was again, way too good to pass up. I'm actually glad I ended up with the Canyonrot as it rubs off less as a "businessman's 5-series" with the typical Black, White or Silver that most people buy and drive. I'm pretty sure the Cinnabar will have the same effect, although I'm considering recoloring the car to Imola red once I do the bumper swap.

Here's a picture of what that adaptation looks like for those who're curious..

http://bmwpower-bg.net/forums/files/3_359.jpg