WTB: 14" spare wheel/tire

[mvliotta]

Bought a '72 tii with no spare. Car currently has 14" 320i alloy wheels.

 

Does not have to be in great looking condition. Just something that will be suitable as a spare

[oh2fly]

Real 320i alloy wheels were 13". Is there a brand stamped  on them? I wonder if a 14" wheel with tire will even fit in a stock spare well? 13s are a pretty tight fit.

[Conserv]

I'm guessing he might have e30 rims if they're 14" alloys, and fitting in the wheel well is of secondary importance!

Steve

[mvliotta]

As you can tel I'm a newbie, so any help is appreciated.

I have P195 HR14 tires. here is a pic

[Conserv]

Right. Those are 6x14 e30 alloy rims. They are certainly too wide to fit into the spare tire well with the trunk floor installed fully. Depending on the tire profile, e.g., 195/70, 195/60, 195/50, the overall diameter may or may not permit them to fit in the spare tire well. But I'm not certain that's super-crucial for you at this point.

For a spare, I believe simply finding a rim-tire combination with the same overall diameter is most important. An original 165/80/13 Michelin XAS, which was the most likely tire to arrive with a new '02, is 23.2" in overall diameter. Once you've looked up the overall diameter of your tires -- you'll need the profile portion, e.g., 195/60, to do that -- you'll know what your diameter target is. There are lots of websites that permit you to calculate/find the diameter of various size tires; tire manufacturers' websites also list these specs for all their tires.

Or...you can simply get another e30 alloy and a tire identical to those currently installed!

Good luck,

Steve

Edited September 13, 2015 by Conserv