Alloy Wheels

I've been looking for some decent XM alloys for a couple of months now, without real success. My front tyres were near the wear-bars anyway, so with autumn/winter approaching it was getting more urgent. The XM ones I've been to see were firmly into the 'full refurbishment required' category, which made an expensive proposition.

After a bit of research and a lucky find on fleabay I've now got a lovely set of brand new alloys on the car with brand new GY Eagle NCT5 tyres, 205/55/16. And mighty fine they look too!! (IMHO). All 4 wheels & tyres were just £100!!

So if anyone else out there needs some cheering up in the alloy wheel department - I can confirm that for a total outlay of £151 - Alfa 166 alloy wheels & tyres (direct from the Alfa dealership- the customer didn't like them on his new 166!)-£100, 4x 10mm wheel spacers (to clear the protruding hub)-£25, 20 x 42mm (extended) wheel bolts-£26. You can do it too.

I've calculated the offset is now 8mm greater, which is not something I've done before but the car tracks fine & I can't feel any difference. Will just have to see how the tyres wear. On the fully low suspension position you can just about get your pinky between the rear tyre and the wheelarch lip, but it doesn't actually touch....phew!!

FYI -

Renault Espace/Safrane and similar 5 stud wheels are the same pcd, but use different size wheel stud. Volvo also the same PCD and SAME size studs. Alfa - as you've discovered are close. Some late Fords are the same PCD, but I'm working on that one.

Whereas the wheels might look quite bland on their original cars - when fitted to a different car they somehow look much better.

This is not a recommendation - but worth checking out for yourself.

I bought a set of TSW spoked wheels about 14 years ago for my XM saloon, and they have been on every XM since! So I am getting good use out of them.

However, I fancy a change now for my next XM and I am actively looking at alternatives. recently a set of Volvo T6 [ 16's ] with as new tyres went for £100 in our local freebie paper.

An alternative to wheel spacers [ Alfa wheels ] is to have the central hole bored out to clear the hub protrusion. If you can find a local machine shop, the guys will generally do it for a "drink". Saves any potential interferance problems between tyre and bodywork.

beachcomber

Yep - when I first tried the wheels on the car....arrggghh!! they didn't fit over the protruding centre hub.

PCD is 5 x 108 BTW.

It was a case of either fitting wheel spacers OR grinding the hub back flush with the disk face. The option of boring out the wheels did cross my mind, but to do it properly would have meant tyre removal / machining, etc and there was also not much land between the stud holes and the centre hole on my alfa wheels - I think I may have been storing up a crack problem for the future if I had these particular wheels bored out.

I've noticed that Volvo wheels normally go for stupid money. All Safrane wheels look crap - in fact all renault wheels look crap apart from Megane RS ones which do fit but are way beyond my price range! Ford mondeo >2000 are nice wheels, but again go for silly money. Jaguar x type wheels are too pricey too. Peugeot 407 & 607 - none about to buy. So Alfa ones it was for me

Post us a foto of the car with the Alfa wheels on! I'm curious how they fit it. I know for sure Volvo 850 T5 16'' fit the specs, but was never quite sure of how the XM will look with them.

regards
George

Nice!

I must admit a good set of alloys certainly does something for an Xm.

Hi Wierdy,

hate to be contentious - but "all Renault wheels look crap" ????

Eye of the beholder I think. Either way you look at it - they will be a vast improvement on the standard XM offerings - that's why you fitted Alfa wheels to your car! The point I was making is that when wheels from one car are fitted to a different make - they look - well - different!

However, that aside - the idea was to alert XM owners that there were alternatives out there.

Not sure what you mean by Volvo wheels going for "Stupid Money"?

I quoted a set of T6's with as new tyres [ x 16's ] for £100 in my local paper - by your terms is that Stupid Cheap or Stupid Dear?

Our local Volvo breaker frequently has wheel sets for around the £100 - £150 mark. The T6 wheels look particularly attractive [ IMHO ] on the XM.

With the Alfa wheels the centre bore is 58mm - the XM centre bore is 65mm - both with the same pcd. Not certain where the additional risk of "cracking" might come from as both pcd's and centre bores would end up the same. My TSW wheels have a standard bore of 66mm - again with a pcd of 108mm.

Just to complete the excercise, the Volvo centre bore is 65mm [ ie the same as XM ] as is the Peugeot and the Ford is 63.3mm. The Lancia Kappa is the same pcd with 58mm centre bore. Oh yes, and if you really want to push the boat out - Ferrari 348. 355 and 512 also have the same pcd and a centre bore of 67mm - so would go straight on without any risk of cracking!

Probably more important is the offsets of the various wheels
Alfa - 28mm
XM - 35mm
Ford- 35.4mm
Lancia - 28mm
Peugeot-35mm
Renault -35mm
Volvo -18.22mm.

There you have it.

Probably of more interest is the fact that given the above data, you could always look at aftermarket wheels for those models. Secondhand Ford wheels are plentiful / cheap here in the Midlands.

Just to confound the issue, one of my CX pick up conversions was fitted with BMW Alpina wheels - I'll let you work that one out yourselves!

The answer is to check everything out first before taking the plunge - as with any conversion.

I'm crap at posting pix to forums - but would love to see the Alfa wheels on your car as that was one conversion I was definitely thinking of [ the Tele Dial wheels? ].
Anyway, my 965 Volvo might be going to a new home next weekend - that paves the way for a V6 or 2.5TD Estate, so I can play around with some wheels again

BTW - used to sell wheels for a living before I retired.

beachcomber

You should have been able to see a pic of the wheels in my previous post if you've got your computer set up to see pictures on posts? If not, they're not the teledials (they look crap IMO) they're the factory-optional multispokes for the alfa 166 (made by speedline as it happens).

If you know your wheels, you'll maybe know the prob with speedline alfa alloys is the small cast grooves that go along the spokes towards the centre but end just short of the hole. I was just concerned that machining into these would be a stress-raiser and under load would cause stress cracking along the spoke. Incidentally, part of my day job is x-ray non-destructive testing on aircraft wheels and airframe components; the loads and stresses are obviously much higher, the principles remain true, but perhaps I'm being overly cautious

Hey, Ferrari wheels!! .....now that would be good You've posted some great info regarding different wheels that might fit the XM - and your advice about checking everything out is sound, however most private sellers don't like it when you want to 'try-before-you-buy' - they just want a confirmed sale.

Prob I had with SH Volvo wheels is that there seemed to be so many people wanting them, especially if you're looking at 16's or 17's or the ones that go on T5's. I just couldn't find any for reasonable money. If you can get them for £100 in the midlands I'd suggest you buy all you can get and stick them onto e-bay - you'll make some serious dosh for your next project!

I would suggest caution at buying wheels from a breakers unless you see the car from whench-they-came. If the donor was an accident write-off you could be putting nice-looking, but seriously damaged, wheels onto your XM.

P.S - I'll quantify the Renault alloys comment - even if they do look good when new, they'll look crap in 2 yrs time when the pitifully thin laquer begins to erode away. Are standard XM alloys OK for thicker laquer?

Oh, and its 'wirdy' BTW.

Hi WIRDY,

First, apologies for getting the username wrong - Must remember to wear my glasses when responding to forum matters. Strange, I do it automatically for reading, but 9 times out of 10 forget when I'm at the computer - not intentional I assure you!

The Speedlines that you have on your XM are virtually IDENTICAL to the standard 965 wheels on my Volvo! I can assure you that Volvo owners are rushing to get rid of them and put on the later T5 /T6 models, so if you [and others ] are admirers of that style there should be plenty about. Had I been keeping my 965, I would have put some T6's on that a friend has lined up. I recently bought a set from a 740 saloon similar to your Speedlines [ 9 months ago ] for a friends' 760 Estate for £60 with 3 as new tyres and one "runner". I did put the flat 5 spokes off my Espace on to try out the look.

I think maybe you ARE being a little overcautious - as wheels are tested WAY beyond normal usage stresses before they're put on the market. Nowhere near the stresses encountered by the wheels in your day job, but nevertheless serious testing. As long as all the normal precautions are taken [ stress relieving of freshly drilled / milled parts, etc. ], I can't see there being a problem.

I will try to master the black art of putting pix on the forum - I'm afraid the computer age was a little too late for my lifeline.

There are many Volvo breakers around the country advertising wheels - I was on e-bay yesterday and there were many sets available.

As to "try before you buy" - agreed - but MOST people are accommodating enough to allow you to fit at least one wheel before you buy.

Re; the advice to buy all the wheels up and resell to [ presumably ] XM owners - if that looks viable - I'll do it! I am retired from the auto industry, although still act as a engineering design consultant to a German and a UK company. More semi-retired I guess you'd say - but the old entrepreneurial spirit never dies, and if there's a market for XM alloy "different" wheels, I'll take it.

As I indicated in a previous posting, I am in the market for another XM Estate, and as it will live it's life out on the Highways and byeways of Germany it has to be fast, powerful [ I tow a lot ] AND economical. Thus the 2.5 TD or V6 LPG route is preferred.

I WILL be trying out lots of wheel options on that car - I already have in my possession Renault [ sorry ], Volvo, Peugeot and the "Crap" Alfa teledials [ even more sorry ].

I will be fitting all of them in turn and will be quite happy to pass on the results - and pix if I can post them. I'm quite keen to try the late Ford wheels - I'm no fan of Henry, but he does make some exceedingly wonderful wheels [ apologies to Mr. Kipling - cakes not the poet ]. My pal has a set of Cossie wheels that look pretty cool. Now then - there MUST be someone on the forum with enough PC [ not political correctness ] savvy to mock up different wheels on an XM ?

As to the lacquer problem - I don't know of ONE manufacturer that has that problem licked! My advice to anyone is to find a set of wheels you really like and if necessary have them refurbished by a professional. Lab Tec in Birmingham [ no connection ] do an excellent job. MOST refurbishers can stove enamel the wheels in a coulour of your choice, and that is FAR superior to any lacquer coating.

Remeber the "old" Ferrari wheels in that satin Gold? I think they look very trick. I did a set on Minilites in that colour once on an old MG Magnette - pre-Farina.

Now then, just off to trawl e-bay to see if I can locate some wheels to sell on!

ATB

beachcomber

I knew it,

just tried to "attach file" - a pic of the Volvo wheel and it tells me that I can't upload that type of file!!!!

Can anyone explain in childlike terms how I send pix?
Beachcomber

Just to complete the info. - The Volvo wheel which is almost identical is known as the "Centaur" style.

I have a vague feeling that Saab 5 stud wheels are also 108mm pcd?
Beachcomber

Photos - I don't know if there's an easier way...there probably is, knowing me! but I use a totally free photo hosting site called www.fotopic.net (there are plenty of others - so do a search for 'free photo hosting' and you should get plenty of hits). You set up your own gallery, then upload your photos to their site, then you can just copy the link for your chosen photo from their page onto the XM forum.


I think there would be plenty of forum members who would like their cars to be shod with nicer wheels, but have perhaps been apprehensive about fitments, how they'd look, problems with fouling the arches if the susp sinks down, etc. Hopefully this thread will help them.

Once this thread has matured, perhaps it would be helpful to collate the info into a list along the lines of.... 'These wheels fit perfectly=', 'These wheels need spacers=', 'these wheels need minor machining of the centre hole=', 'These wheels need extended wheel bolts', etc?

For those wishing to have a look at what the different wheels might look like on their ~XM....there should be a wheel that is similar, if not identical to try on this site - What will these wheels look like on my XM? Have a play!

Agree with Beachcomber about the late Ford wheels- they seem to be sold and desribed as 'Zetec' wheels most often? some are very nice & we do have a car with 5 studs which seems to keep the boy-racer (4 studders) away

I'd really like to see a set of alfa teledials on an XM - I don't think they'd look right - but you can often be wrong until you see them in the flesh!. One distinct advantage with teledials - they're dead easy to keep clean and with having an automatic XM and the amount of brake dust it generates, this would be a plus. (I must try some low-dust pads next time).

Ahh, MG Magnette - now there's a name I haven't heard of for some years - it seems a travesty now that my dad used to banger race lots of them in the 70's - they used to go exceedingly well with a TC MGB engine fitted! bodily 'tough as old boots' too.

Keep looking for those alloys!!

Thanx for the info. re: pix. I'll give it a try later today.

IMHO ALL of the wheels on the site look too modern [ not "classic" enough? ] for the XM, but thanx for the link.

FYI there was a set of Volvo T5 "Columbus [ the swirly 5 spokes ] on e-bay which went for £150 with tyres, and a set of Centaurs [ wheels only ] for £50.

As and when I get round to fitting various wheels up on my next XM I'll keep notes [ matter of course with me anyway! ] and take some pix. I haven't been able to fit my TeleDials yet due to the aforementioned centre bore problem, but just standing them in palce next to the car - they looked an aesthetic possibility.

Just another note of caution, you can see from the offset data that the Volvo wheel is out of sync with the others. Primarily this is because the Volvo wheels were designed for RWD application. In simple terms, "offset" is what positions the wheel relavant to the hub / bodywork. Always double check that there is no interference with the tyre either on lock or compression. My TSW's are mighty close as they are 7" wide with 225 x 55 tyres, but do just clear. Also bear in mind in a "just clear" situation, that tyres "grow" at speed. Albeit not that any XM will be travelling at warp factor 3, but never the less there will be a growth due to centrifugal force and heat.

BTW - I had my Magnette in the early 70's and it was a "Q Car" of it's day. It was fitted with an overbored and Shorrock Supercharged MGB engine. By today's standards it was pretty tame - my Megane would have out run it - but IN it's day it was the canines' cajones. Guards Red, chrome and those Gold Miniltes - ah I've come over all nostalgic.
Beachcomber

Hi Wirdy

So how does your XM ride / handle on the new 55 profile tyres? I must admit that these days the 15inch wheels on an XM look sort of small. But then again I have 17inch wheels on my Honda Accord (god damn easy to kerb though).

Personally I think that the Alfa wheels look great. I have the later 10(?) spoke wheels and I think that they are nothing special to look at.

Tony

'00 24v

Hi Wirdy,

Must say your XM is looking great with those wheels. It's a really nice colour too, and the wheels just set it off.

I've always wanted nice ones like that, I do have TSW Stealths on mine, which aren't bad, but I want something a bit different. I do like the Saab 9000 'triangle' ones, but I don't know how they would fit / look on an XM. Some of the Ford RS ones are nice too, but as others have said, silly prices....

Here's a pic of my TSW's, sorry for the dull lighting / bad focus, but I can't find a more recent one...





This post has been edited by Ciaran on October 09, 2006 10:56 pm