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Wheel trim/beauty ring question


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I would like to try some chrome trim rings on my original 13" steel wheels on my '02... Will 13" rings from an E21 fit? Are there other options that some of you have used successfully? Thanks-

Adam in Nashville

'74 2002tii, '90 E30/S52, '72 Alfa GTV, '86 Alfa Spider Veloce, '05 E53 X5, '06 E90 325i,

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9 hours ago, RenaissanceMan said:

Will 13" rings from an E21 fit?

They must fit, since my car came with E21 steelies/beauty rings.

The rims are basically the same, aside from being half an inch wider (5 1/2"), with an off set of ET19, instead of the O2's ET29 .

 

I like the rings fine on mine, but one thing I will say is that they scratch the crap out of the paint, with all the little spring tabs that hold them on.  It is sort of like, once you go beauty rings, you can't go back to plain wheels... unless you paint them over again.  Mine are due for paint and I may run them bare for a while.  At least until the paint fully hardens.  hth.

Tom

     DISCLAIMER 

I now disagree with some of the timing advice I have given in the past.  I misinterpreted the distributor curves in the Blue Book. 

I've switched from using ported-vacuum to manifold, with better results. 

I apologize for spreading misinformation.  

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8 hours ago, '76mintgrun'02 said:

They must fit, since my car came with E21 steelies/beauty rings.

The rims are basically the same, aside from being half an inch wider (5 1/2"), with an off set of ET19, instead of the O2's ET29 .

 

I like the rings fine on mine, but one thing I will say is that they scratch the crap out of the paint, with all the little spring tabs that hold them on.  It is sort of like, once you go beauty rings, you can't go back to plain wheels... unless you paint them over again.  Mine are due for paint and I may run them bare for a while.  At least until the paint fully hardens.  hth.

Tom

 

That was going to be my response initially but I figured that the difference in size was all on the outside and so the e21 rings could be too deep. 

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Carbs: They're necessary and barely controlled fuel leaks that sometimes match the air passing through them.

My build blog:http://www.bmw2002faq.com/blog/163-simeons-blog/

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Hey guys, will you post pictures of your steel wheels with the beauty rings?

Thanks.

 

Here is mine without the beauty ring...I do not know what the offset of mine are...I'll look tomorrow.

IMG_3632.thumb.JPG.138eb91a68977a1d80d9969a4d9add49.JPG

Light is seriously underrated.

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Funny, my answer above made more sense to me this  morning, than it does right now.

 

I guess I don not know how the E21's difference in width and offset relate to the 2002 wheels.

 

I also do not know if I have 2002 rings or E21 rings.

 

I am happy to take measurements if that will help.

 

1 hour ago, BeMyWay said:

 

Hey guys, will you post pictures of your steel wheels with the beauty rings?

 

old photo, but it gives you an idea of what they look like.

004.thumb.JPG.e0822d5f1a846f38ca127b110a0111a4.JPG

     DISCLAIMER 

I now disagree with some of the timing advice I have given in the past.  I misinterpreted the distributor curves in the Blue Book. 

I've switched from using ported-vacuum to manifold, with better results. 

I apologize for spreading misinformation.  

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9 hours ago, '76mintgrun'02 said:

Funny, my answer above made more sense to me this  morning, than it does right now.

 

I guess I don not know how the E21's difference in width and offset relate to the 2002 wheels.

 

I also do not know if I have 2002 rings or E21 rings.

 

I am happy to take measurements if that will help.

 

old photo, but it gives you an idea of what they look like.

004.thumb.JPG.e0822d5f1a846f38ca127b110a0111a4.JPG

 

To add to the list of "definitely maybe's", I looked at RealOEM.com and confirmed that trim rings are shown for e21 cars whereas none are shown for '02's.  Here's the link to the e21 part:

 

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=2934-USA-03-1976-E21-BMW-320i&diagId=36_0000

 

On the other hand, '02 owners were running the trim rings from ca. 1976 onward -- and I was contemplating it at that time -- and I cannot believe that 100% of them were simultaneously upgrading to e21 rims.  But I could be wrong about that.  They were simply buying the trim rings at their BMW dealers.  I assumed they were '02 rings, but now I suspect that assumption was wrong, and they were e21 rings.  I'm now guessing that there only were e21 trim rings but that they fit on an '02 rim!

 

(Tom, you're running 5" '02 rims.  Correct?)

 

By the by, I believe that generic 13" chrome trim rings were available for decades.  So not all trim rings are BMW trim rings.

 

Good luck and regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited by Conserv

1976 2002 Polaris, 2742541 (original owner)

1973 2002tii Inka, 2762757 (not-the-original owner)

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2 hours ago, Conserv said:

(Tom, you're running 5" '02 rims.  Correct?)

Nope, my car came with 5 1/2" E21 rims.

Three of them are Lemmerz (5/'78)and one KpZ.

I misspoke above, the offset is ET 18, not 19.

     DISCLAIMER 

I now disagree with some of the timing advice I have given in the past.  I misinterpreted the distributor curves in the Blue Book. 

I've switched from using ported-vacuum to manifold, with better results. 

I apologize for spreading misinformation.  

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Beauty rings definitely add pop, in my opinion...

 

Lebowski's car would not be nearly so clean looking without them...

 

IMG_20170504_160915_225.jpg

 

Ed

 

 

 

Edited by zinz

'69 Granada... long, long ago  

'71 Manila..such a great car

'67 Granada 2000CS...way cool

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To add to the list of "definitely maybe's", I looked at RealOEM.com and confirmed that trim rings are shown for e21 cars whereas none are shown for '02's.  Here's the link to the e21 part:
 
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=2934-USA-03-1976-E21-BMW-320i&diagId=36_0000
 
On the other hand, '02 owners were running the trim rings from ca. 1976 onward -- and I was contemplating it at that time -- and I cannot believe that 100% of them were simultaneously upgrading to e21 rims.  But I could be wrong about that.  They were simply buying the trim rings at their BMW dealers.  I assumed they were '02 rings, but now I suspect that assumption was wrong, and they were e21 rings.  I'm now guessing that there only were e21 trim rings and that they fit on an '02 rim!
 
(Tom, you're running 5" '02 rims.  Correct?)
 
By the by, I believe that generic 13" chrome trim rings were available for decades.  So not all trim rings are BMW trim rings.
 
Good luck and regards,
 
Steve
 


Steve, I had done the same realoem.com research, hence my confusion. It appears the only difference between the 2002 steel wheels and the e21's were the wheel widths, so I sort of assumed I could fit them. Obviously the simplest solution here is for me to get my hands on a trim ring to test, but holy moly those rings ain't cheap if you buy them new. [emoji20] I saw a picture a while back of an 02 with the rings and I thought it looked great. I think they would nicely compliment my fjord car.... Thanks for the insight so far.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

Adam in Nashville

'74 2002tii, '90 E30/S52, '72 Alfa GTV, '86 Alfa Spider Veloce, '05 E53 X5, '06 E90 325i,

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1 minute ago, RenaissanceMan said:

It appears the only difference between the 2002 steel wheels and the e21's were the wheel widths

and the offset.

the E21 rims set the tires half an inch farther out on each side, for a one inch wider stantz.

     DISCLAIMER 

I now disagree with some of the timing advice I have given in the past.  I misinterpreted the distributor curves in the Blue Book. 

I've switched from using ported-vacuum to manifold, with better results. 

I apologize for spreading misinformation.  

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Share on other sites

and the offset.
the E21 rims set the tires half an inch farther out on each side, for a one inch wider stantz.


Ah yes, I see that now...

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

Adam in Nashville

'74 2002tii, '90 E30/S52, '72 Alfa GTV, '86 Alfa Spider Veloce, '05 E53 X5, '06 E90 325i,

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