1991 BITURBO SPYDER E

[lifes2short]

Hi guys and gals, I'm new to the forum and having just acquired a 1991 Spyder E for my sins I thought it might be wise to join as no doubt I will need some help and advise with this Italian beast, heard they can be rather temperamental.

I have my first question of probably many, does anybody know the PCD of the 5 bolt wheels and am I right in saying that the fronts are 7 inch and rears 8 inch with positive offset of 35 for both front and rear???

 

[safrane]

Welcome, and great to welcome a new member with something different.

Can't help you with the question but I am sure that someone else will soon.

 

[Andyk]

A big warm welcome to you.

 

[Rwc13]

You could give Marios at Autoshield a call. I’m sure he will have that information at his fingertips

 

[Needamaser]

Few guys on here are walking encyclopaedia on bi turbo models. Post the question on the classic section if you don't get a reply soon here.
Welcome in the meantime. Nice to see someone else appreciating the Biturbo .

 

[dickyb]

The PCD on your car will be 5x106, widths and offsets depend on version but generally the fronts are 6.5" wide with an offset of ET40, rears 7" wide with an offset of ET35. All Biturbos from around late 1988 up to around 1991 have these wheels, althought the versions fitted to the 228 have a zero offset. After this time they were changed to the 7 spoke 16" wheels when the range was facelifted with the help of Marcello Gandini. These dates are based on years of manufacture rather than years of registration. The PCD was changed to 5x108 with the introduction of the Ghibli MY94.

 

[conaero]

...and there you go, a proper fountain of BT knowledge appears

 

[lifes2short]

Thanks to all for the warm welcome.

dickyb: thanks for the info, although I am a tad confused which isn't difficult for me. At present I have the boring original 15 inch 5 bolt Maserati alloys, don't know what Mas were thinking but does nothing to enhance car, I haven't had time to take wheels off and check fully the sizes, but I thought they were 7's up front and 8's on rears because the front tyres are 205/50 15 and rears are 225/50 15. I'm looking to change the wheels for something better looking in 16 inch and the option was either sourcing some original Mas 16 inch Star Wheels and/or getting a wheel manufacturer to make some split rim alloys, seen some library photos of the Spyder E with splits and it looks gorgeous

 

[lifes2short]

Must of been day dreaming, spent time taking wheels off only to realise the sizes are noted on the front of the alloys. The current wheels are 7 x15 all round ET35, but from my understanding the later upgrade star wheels were 7 x16 on the fronts and 8x16 on the rears, is this right? and would the offset be the same on the 8 inch wheels at 35?

 

[lifes2short]

Does anyone on here have the Star wheels on their Spyder E that they could check on the sizes for me, would be much apreciated

 

[dickyb]

Unusual to have 7" rims front and rear in the 15" diameter size but there are several different versions of these wheels and can vary from car to car.

The 7 spoke OZ rims as fitted to the later cars such as the 2.24v, 4.24v, Spyder III and Series 1a Ghibli etc are usually 16x7" on the front with ET 35 offset and 16x8" on the rear with an offset of ET32. The Shamal has the same design but different dimensions, 8" wide fronts and 9" rears, You should be able to fit the 8" rims without too many problems but I think you'll struggle with the 9" rims but then you'd be unlikely to find them anyway.

Aftermarket wheels are very difficult to find for the early 5 bolt Biturbos series due to the unusual PCD so probably best to try to find a set of the 7 spoke OZ wheels. Eurospares had a set a while ago and you could also try David Askew who may have some but they're getting expensive now, I would imagine you'd be looking at £800 +.

 

[lifes2short]

Unusual to have 7" rims front and rear in the 15" diameter size but there are several different versions of these wheels and can vary from car to car.

The 7 spoke OZ rims as fitted to the later cars such as the 2.24v, 4.24v, Spyder III and Series 1a Ghibli etc are usually 16x7" on the front with ET 35 offset and 16x8" on the rear with an offset of ET32. The Shamal has the same design but different dimensions, 8" wide fronts and 9" rears, You should be able to fit the 8" rims without too many problems but I think you'll struggle with the 9" rims but then you'd be unlikely to find them anyway.

Aftermarket wheels are very difficult to find for the early 5 bolt Biturbos series due to the unusual PCD so probably best to try to find a set of the 7 spoke OZ wheels. Eurospares had a set a while ago and you could also try David Askew who may have some but they're getting expensive now, I would imagine you'd be looking at £800 +.

Cheers dickyb, I have found someone that has a set which I'm looking to buy off them, plan B was to get Image wheels to make a set of split rims like the old C36 AMG wheels as shown in my previous post at a reasonable figure of £1850, look superb, but my first choice was original ones which I've managed to find

 

[tappets]

Thanks to all for the warm welcome.

dickyb: thanks for the info, although I am a tad confused which isn't difficult for me. At present I have the boring original 15 inch 5 bolt Maserati alloys, don't know what Mas were thinking but does nothing to enhance car, I haven't had time to take wheels off and check fully the sizes, but I thought they were 7's up front and 8's on rears because the front tyres are 205/50 15 and rears are 225/50 15. I'm looking to change the wheels for something better looking in 16 inch and the option was either sourcing some original Mas 16 inch Star Wheels and/or getting a wheel manufacturer to make some split rim alloys, seen some library photos of the Spyder E with splits and it looks gorgeous

Welcome...........Spyder looks great very similar to my 89 Spyder in Nero also. I hear good examples are on the rise value wise, love to hear what you parted with for a classic exotic Italian? If you can PM me for future reference pls? Cheers

 

[lifes2short]

Hello tappets, the photo was just a library picture showing wheels I was considering, I've attached some photos of my car, didn't part with anything it was just an itch I had to finally scratch, would be great to see some photos of yours

 

[tappets]

Wow a free Maserati..................wish I had the same experience I'll post some pics soon.

 

[lifes2short]

Wow a free Maserati..................wish I had the same experience I'll post some pics soon.

I wish it was free, sorry, thought you meant did I have to sell a car to buy the Spyder , unfortunately money did change hands for the car and yes I do think these are sleepers and prices will increase, didn't buy it as an investment, but nice to know that you can enjoy a car and not loose money on it as well, hopefully

 

[tappets]

Welcome to the "Maserati Club"............I'm located in Australia what are they worth in UK?

 

[lifes2short]

That's a gorgeous looking car Tappets, the only thing I don't like about these later models is the boring looking wheels, I decided to change mine to the original Maserati star wheels in 8x16 all round which are far nicer. Iin the UK I would say the later Spyder E if in good original condition throughout, low mileage, not had any bodged repairs and repaint etc somewhere around £15 to £17,000 in RHD, there are cheaper ones for sale here especially earlier models in sub £10,000 but having seen some they tend to be fairly poor with dodgy paint jobs, filler and questionable servicing.
Would have preferred manual gearbox, but this car was in such superb condition that I took a view on that.
What values down under?

 

[Nibby]

There's a nice one coming up for auction at Coys in London soon, can't do a link on my mobile phone at the moment.

 

[lifes2short]

There's a nice one coming up for auction at Coys in London soon, can't do a link on my mobile phone at the moment.

The only known Spyder III in South Africa according to description, looks rather nice#

http://www.coys.co.uk/cars/1995-maserati-zagato-spider-iii-bi-turbo