LS400 Alternative wheels

[Howplum]

I spotted this 1999 car for sale on eBay, but what interests me is that it has BMW X5 wheels, albeit with only 4 nuts holding the front wheels on!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255203235741?hash=item3b6b4c579d:g:PkEAAOSwQexhfWcN

I thought the PCD on BMWs is 120mm against the Lexus's 114.3mm. Also, I assume the offset would be different. The Lexus's is ET45 whereas the BMW's is probably about ET40, so either places the wheel further out, or further in, I'm not sure which.

Is there something I'm not getting?

 

 

[Malc]

probably 

Malc

[steve2006]

Dangerous is the first word, probably forced on then used “wobble nuts” to get them bolted up to the hub, obviously an MOT failure with just 4 nuts fitted so straight insurance accident rejection.

Another method is to use hub adaptors which bolt onto the hub with the correct 114.3 PCD and the wheel studs are at 120 to enable the wheels to fit correctly but again iffy.

The wheel bore on Lexus IS generally 60.1mm (the size of the hole in the middle of the wheel which fits over the hub centre). If the BMW wheels have a larger bore you can fit spigot rings to reduce it to the correct diameter but I doubt this is the case with this car.

Finally Lexus used a particular type of wheel nut which run parallel through the hole, other manufacturers use “tapered” nuts, using the wrong type can cause serious damage including the wheel coming off!

[Cotswold Pete]

I wonder what state the original Lexus wheels are in.  Seems darned dodgy driving as is.

Also it looks far too tidy a car in the photos, and if I lived in Stoke On Trent I would be curious enough to look.

But have put it on 'Watch List' to see if it goes

[steve2006]

My 1994 is on there now also 😀

[jamesie]

I've recently bought a LS400 and viewed this car before I bought mine. It's pretty tidy but has had some paintwork done by the seller.

It uses hub adapters, which provided they are a decent brand made using quality materials, aren't dodgy. Porsche have seen fit to use them sometimes on the back of their hotter 911s for example.

The front wheels on this car stick out beyond the arches, which seems to often happen on these because the front calipers are wide - so many aftermarket wheels need to be spaced out or specced with a low ET and good spoke backspacing in order not to foul. That pushes the rim further outboard than it really ought to be. Usual solution is to set front camber to the minimum using the knuckle adjustment bolts, and lower the car, thereby tucking the top of the rim inboard somewhat. If that's not enough then the arches are rolled and if necessary pulled / stretched too.

The seller has the OE 16s for it too. So you could return it to standard and sell the BMW wheels, whatever they're worth.

For info, wobble bolts will cope with perhaps 1-1.5mm of misalignment, so they would enable fitment of Audi / Merc 5x112 wheels for example (personally I wouldn't, but people must buy them or they wouldn't be made and sold). They don't have enough wobble in them to enable fitment of 5x120 wheels (or going the other way, 5x108 wheels) onto 5x114 hubs.

[H3XME]

25 minutes ago, jamesie said:

For info, wobble bolts will cope with perhaps 1-1.5mm of misalignment, so they would enable fitment of Audi / Merc 5x112 wheels for example (personally I wouldn't, but people must buy them or they wouldn't be made and sold). They don't have enough wobble in them to enable fitment of 5x120 wheels (or going the other way, 5x108 wheels) onto 5x114 hubs.

Wobble bolts are the worst thing you can do 😂 Proper PCD converting hub-centric spacers are the way to go. 

[jamesie]

Quite agree. Just saying that going from 5x114 to 5x120 is beyond their scope. 

I've never fitted them myself and never will!