New BMW 2002 Touring/Tii FPS Alloy Wheels Reproduction

[tech71]

Those wheels have a production date of May 2002,  I'm assuming that FPS has discontinued manufacture? Right? If so wonder when.

[saaron]

I think I bought mine in ‘08 or ‘09 from Blunt.  I know they made them for a while after that.

 

Scott

[AceAndrew]

Mentioned in the BAT article.  They were for sale new up until 18months ago.  I bought a couple sets for clients in 2018/2019, they were marked with the 2010 casting.

[Conserv]

On 12/13/2023 at 10:26 PM, tech71 said:

Those wheels have a production date of May 2002,  I'm assuming that FPS has discontinued manufacture? Right? If so wonder when.

I’m pretty certain I saw a set of the modern FPS alloys cast in 1999, so I’ve long assumed that production began around that time. 2012 is perhaps the latest casting date I’ve seen, but, as Andrew notes, they remained available until a couple years ago, so there might be copies cast later than 2012.

I’ll bet that the BMW parts warehouses did not look at casting dates as they pulled rims from inventory. Most normal people don’t look at casting dates on automotive rims… 🙄😳

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

 

[joebarthlow]

On 12/12/2023 at 5:42 PM, AceAndrew said:

So apparently there are two people willing to pay over $4,000 for what are $900-$1200 wheels in current market.  More power to them.

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/bmw-2002tii-fps-wheels/#comments-anchor

 

The rarer alloy wheels must be even MORE valuable!  Oh man!

 

Wasn't expecting to go on a 'Slavs' character arc, but here we are.  I predict multiple options under $1500 within a year  (which still leaves an extremely healthy profit margin for someone making cast wheels).

 

Goes to show you BAT isn't the "market" and people still make unwise, emotional decisions at auctions. I see this in other vehicles on BAT. No, $220K is not the market price for 2002 turbos 🤣

[Gsuffa]

I vote for 14 inch, even though tires are hard to get.

[Stu]

13" x 5" is my vote.  What about center caps?

[MICAH]

15" x 7" et25 would be amazing.
I put a call out on the FB group for someone to potentially make some.

There is definitely enough interest for them.

 

Also, that BAT price for those is absurd. 

i sold a 73 set to a friend recently for $1200

[Blitzen]

So are these a go or no go for production ?

[Djthom]

@Maximillian  Any news on these including target price range?

[Zak]

On 10/6/2023 at 12:26 PM, Maximillian said:

Should we reproduce just the original size of 5x13 or 6x13 or both or ?? 

To maintain proper offset you may have to make the dish deeper as you go wider than 5x13. And, this will change the appearance of the wheels. The original 5 x 13 was designed to incorporate 165/80 x 13 or 175/70 x 13 tires. 5 x13 is not optimum for the 185/70 x 13 tires that most of us use with 13" wheels. The slightly wider 5 1/2" x 13" wheels are the optimum size for 185/70 x 13 tires. And, at 5 1/2" x 13" the optimum offset should be in the 20mm-25mm range, probably 22mm. When you get to 6 x 13, you got to be more exact with the offset as there is less clearance on the inside and outside. It's probably best to look at the offset used by some of the period manufacturers of wheels like Borrani.

 

So, my suggestion would be to make the 5 x 13 for the purists who want the exact factory appearance. But, you should also make the slightly deeper dish 5 1/2" x 13" variant for those of us running the wider 185/70 x 13 rubber, which is the majority. And, you can also make the 6 x 13 in a smaller quantity. The dish will get pretty deep at that width, and the wheels will look different. There are clearance issues with 6 x 13, even with optimum offset.

Edited February 7 by Zak

[Zak]

On 12/12/2023 at 5:42 PM, AceAndrew said:

Wasn't expecting to go on a 'Slavs' character arc, but here we are.  I predict multiple options under $1500 within a year  (which still leaves an extremely healthy profit margin for someone making cast wheels).

That's right. "Slavs" has a point, make them affordable, not just for the established "Collector", but also for the average home mechanic.  Yes, I agree, under $1,500 would be great.

Edited February 3 by Zak

[David Layton]

When I started my restoration in 18, I bought a set through the local BMW dealer.  The total cost was $1,400 including the center caps which was a good percentage of the total cost.  Shod these with 185 x 13 Pirelli's CN36's.