Baby's New Shoes
Treating the old girl to a new look and feel.

With the possible exception of the Bangle Butt, there is no more powerful change to be made to any BMW's appearance than to add a new set of wheels. You only have to look at current Bimmers with their Conestoga-sized rims to know that wheel diameter and design have come a long way since my 633CSi left the factory in December 1982.

My silbersix came new with curiously sized 390mm rims shod with Michelin TRX rubber (220/55VR390). Although crisp-handling (in the dry), their unique 15.3-inch diameter made these tires an oddity. Twenty years later, it remains a mystery as to why Munich chose to equip various 5, 6 and 7 Series' with metric wheels that could only be fitted with custom-sized Michelins.

The TRX was not a bad performer in its day, but tire technology has come a long way in 20 years. Today, should your older BMW still wear metric rims, you will pay dearly for replacement TRXs, now listing for over $200 each. A lot of bucks for rubber in any case, but especially when the technology is two decades old.

My Sixer's previous owner had invested in a new set of TRXs only a year before I bought the car, so I thought I was getting a great deal. I soon learned the metric-wheel facts of life when BMW supertech David Ogden eyed my rims as I pulled into his service bay. "Well, I see you got ripped off," said David, with a wry grin. After a couple minutes of enlightenment, it didn't take me long to decide to sell the TRXs and find some new shoes for the Sixer.

I discovered there's an active market for used TRX tires. Finding a buyer for the metric Michelins was short work, but selling the 390mm rims took awhile. Deciding on replacement wheels took even longer.

Buying new wheels is great fun, but you really don’t know before installing them what they'll look like on your car. Unfortunately, my choice of contemporary 16" Italian rims & new tires from The Tire Rack was revealed to be a mistake when I saw them on my 633. Instead of integrating aesthetically with the subtle elegance of the Sixer, the new wheels stuck out like a sore thumb. The thought of driving my classic coupe day after day with those wheels prompted a quick call to the nice folks at Tire Rack for return authorization (I hadn't driven the car with the new tires). Close call, but better to return the wrong wheels (with a restocking fee, of course) than to live with an unfortunate choice.

Plan B: A Roundel ad revealed a ‘78 630 in Oklahoma City that was being parted out. The old Sixer wore a set of factory-stock 14" BBS/Mahle alloy cross-spokes that were BMW's pre-TRX choice for the early 6 Series. A nice looking original BMW wheel and a perfect aesthetic match for the Sixer. If memory serves, the owner (whose killer E36 sported a nitrous kit) sold me the set in very good condition for $30 each. Got them home, cleaned them up, repainted them with lacquer and clearcoat, mounted a set of correct-size 205/HR70-14 Bridgestone RE92s, and there you have it. A beautiful, car-enhancing package of BBS wheels with modern rubber, for a little over half the cost of a replacement set of TRXs alone. And just about paid for with my sale of the original TRXs.

Four years and 22,000 miles later, silbersix is as beautiful as ever. The Bridgestones remain a quiet and comfortable tire with about 60% tread remaining, not extremely crisp but well-suited to how I drive most of the time. And they wrap a set of BBS rims which, though small by contemporary standards, look just right on the car.

End of story? Not quite.

Blame (or thank) a phone conversation I had a few months ago with Bob Roemer while he was researching his fine March ‘02 Roundel feature on the 6 Series (thanks, Bob). I quickly discovered we were of one mind regarding Chris Bangle's influence on BMW styling and the terrible aesthetic he is bringing to the entire line, including next year's new 6 Series. That got us to talking about Sixer aesthetics in general. Bob agreed with me that the classic proportions of the original Sixer would suffer from the huge 18/19/20-inch rims on contemporary BMWs, but that 16" or perhaps 17" rims offer a just-right visual and handling upgrade to the classic coupe.

That conversation encouraged me to take a second look at my stock 14" wheels. It didn’t take long to decide that the combination of increased diameter, low-profile tires with a wider footprint and modern yet aesthetically-pleasing rims would do the old girl proud, both visually and dynamically.

Enter Roundel and an ad from Bekkers Import in Albany, Georgia. There in living color were several wheels, one a 19" rim ($599 each) for the new M3. A bit over the top for my Sixer (and most other Bimmers), but a few wheels below the 19-incher, I saw a striking evolution of the classic BBS cross-spoke design already on silbersix. The wheel looked much like the racing BBS rims on current F1 cars (though not the O.Z. wheels run by BMW-Williams).

Let's see here, 7.5" X 16", that's an inch wider and two inches larger than the 6.5" X 14" on the Sixer. Correct offset for the 6 Series, made by German company Rondell, TUV approved, polished rim, $169 each.

With my preemptive foray into Italian wheel design in mind, I then read the following words on Bekkers’ website: Be careful when choosing a rim for your BMW or Mercedes. The wheel you choose tells a lot about you, it is a reflection of your individuality. We want to help you make the right choice and we start by narrowing down your search for the world's best quality wheels by listing "Aesthetically Responsible" designs for your BMW or Mercedes.

Exactly what the doctor ordered, I thought, as I reached for the phone. Anthony at Bekkers told me they had one remaining set of 16" Rondell cross-spokes in stock. It seems they'd nearly sold out of the wheel because it's a popular choice for winter tires, but that many buyers so love the look of the wheel after mounting it they hesitate to subject it to the strum und drang of winter driving. Add a discount of $10 off per wheel and a free set of BMW center caps and lugs, and what's not to like?

A few days later FedEx deposited a pair of sturdy boxes at my garage door, each containing two wheels. It felt like Christmas as I tore open the packing to reveal a beautiful set of polished German aluminum rims. When I trial fit one of the wheels (without tire) on the Sixer, it was apparent that Bekkers had sent the wrong centering rings. A phone call to Georgia got the correct rings (required for nearly all aftermarket wheels) shipped overnight.

Now for some serious research on the Tire Rack website.

Since silbersix is never driven in the snow now and rarely in rain, thanks to my ‘88 Dodge Ram and the Sixer Preservation Society (Sonnenflecke, Sept./Oct. ‘01), I went straight to Tire Rack’s listing of "Ultra-High Performance" Bridgestones and Michelins. There I found a helpful comparison test which pointed to the Bridgestone Potenza RE730 as a very competent performer at a reasonable (for this category tire) price. Z-rated (for those Oklahoma turnpike dashes) and branded with the highest "AA" wet traction rating, the RE730 looked like a good choice with its subtle black letter styling and Plus-2 sizing of 225/50ZR16.

A call to Tire Rack with credit card in hand (no return request this time), a trip to my local tire dealer a few days later to join rubber with rim, and the deed was done. For the fun of it (and to protect the rims), I installed the new wheels in my own garage with no problem.

With her new rims and tires, my 633CSi has a different aura. She’s still elegant, but now has an aggressive edge both visually and behind the wheel. A quick trip down a favorite local road revealed crisp and immediate response to steering inputs, missing since losing the original TRXs. Cornering limits are significantly higher, while the ride is firmer but still reasonably comfortable. I haven't driven it in the wet yet (and don't plan to), but from its design, traction rating and reviews, the RE730 looks to be an excellent rain tire.

In a strange way, I guess I owe a word of thanks for my Sixer’s new look and feel not only to the great Mr. Roemer for his reinforcement of my own aesthetic sensibilities, but to Chris Bangle and his lack of same. Were it not for the hoopla Bangle has created over his weird styling of the new 7 and (shudder) future 1, 3, 5, & 6 Series’, I might never have talked with Bob about Sixer design, specifically about what looks good in the wheel wells of BMW’s older coupes.

Ironically, Bangle’s own description of his rationale behind the new 7 Series is an unintended statement of what former BMW design chief and 6 Series creator Paul Bracq actually accomplished nearly 30 years ago. Bracq brought an integrated continuity of design to the entire BMW line. Contrary to Bangle’s criticism as making “different sized sausages,” that continuity effectively established the marque’s brand identity for three decades. Bracq did what Bangle will never accomplish with flame surfacing and bustle tails, although BMW’s current chief stylist certainly has the vocabulary down: “We wanted to introduce a new kind of line to bring back the elegance we remember from classic cars.”

Good word, elegance. I heartily recommend it to BMW as a worthy goal when the time comes, hopefully sooner than later, to redesign the new 7 with some clothes more appropriate to BMW’s flagship.

In any case, thanks to both Messrs. Roemer & Bangle, I now relish even more every turn behind the wheel of my Sixer. And when I’m not on the road, it feels just fine to sit and enjoy the sight of low-profile Z-rated rubber wrapped around four gorgeous German aluminum cross-spokes.

In the meantime, if you should happen upon a BMW still rolling on TRX-shod metric wheels, please pass the word about a set of classic 14" BBS rims for sale, complete with Bridgestone RE92s.

Time to pay for baby’s new shoes.  -Rick Sparks

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