hey guy was just wondering what is the best way to go about putting some nice bigish German Look rims on my beetle, I have looked around but cant find what I'm looking for that fits the original stud pattern of my 1974
cheers

you won't be able to find anything the size you want to fit he 4x130 PCD bolt pattern...you will need to find some wheels (easiest is 4x100 PCD)that have an offset (ET) that will allow fitting to your re tapped/studded rotors/drums and also not foul the suspension components or body...can be tricky and may mean spending more money than just rims tyres and studs..how much depends on what model etc. do a search on germanlook.net or superbeetlesonly.com and you will get the idea.

look at steve /dave carters L bug & what they did to fit the wheels originally intended for a subaru (5x100 pattern) -not sure on width, or
joel - 4x100 pattern, small front drive jap cars mostly use this, runs 17-18x6.5-8ish? he can confirm
me - 5x114.3 - 17x8s wider guards though to allow more angle when turning
1303 - paul runs 5x130 (porsche) from pics when i checked out his car myself it uses spacers though

camo? - both 5x120 & 5x130 i believe custom wheels though but its on a beam bug
66deluxe - 5x130, dont believe theres any spacers involved but i havent read anything about it for awhile - again beam

keep in mind these are mostly strut bugs, all with custom struts/possibly tapered springs, its the bare minimum unless you can find some 4-5inch wide wheels
on a beam bug i have no idea but i think it involves a fair bit more work than just changing springs/strut housing.
im sure theres more options but those should give you an idea

actually - theres an L bug with custom brakes & struts for sale on here, might be worth looking into, especially if your in brisbane...

I'm in NSW unfortunately. But ill check out those bugs and those sites
thanks heaps

try ringing richard at vforce.
hes who i got my struts and rims through. im running 5x130 16inch fuchs with no spacers required.

cool cheers barls

so could anyone suggest a good stud pattern that would give me a nice amount of options

the ones ive mentioned, the most common across the board is 5x114.3 though, most japanese 5 stud, all falcons, varies from almost neutral offsets to high 50ish positive
5x100 is subaru & FWD toyota like celica - mostly high offsets 40-55ish positive
4x100 is most smaller front drive cars - usually 30-50ish positive offsets
4x114.3 can be interesting, anything from -15 to +40ish
5x112 - mercedes, bay window kombi, a few others
5x130- porsche & i believe ONLY porsche - pricey wheels - fuchs seem to be the only suitable offset without spacers - other people can confirm/prove me wrong
theres others like 4x110 - old rotors i think, check out boostcruising for the wheels section & look up the pattern(PCD) & offset (ET) of various makes, its how i decided on mine
id also suggest talking to richard @ V-force if its an S or L bug

you may require these links to work out the perfect fitment

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html 

http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp 

http://www.autolounge.net/calculators/tirespacing.html 

http://www.alloywheels.com/tyrecalc.asp 

thanks so much STIDUB your a champ

mines germanlook but i ended up going 4x100 as dave said
porsche rims are nice an look the part but unless u drill multiple patterns which is illegal as your sposed to have studs your limited to only porka rims as nothing else uses 5x130

which arent exactly cheap either and havent got a wide range

theres unlimited choices with a mainstream pattern and some nice rim designs
ive had 17s and 18s on mine and they can be picked up for $600 with good tyres
your talking $1000s with porka rims

if i do it over again though ill go 5x100 this time

4x100 seems good ive found some rims i like. might go crazy and get some matte white hahaha.
thanks for the advice joel

If you check out my car at http://clubvw.org.au/david_carter1.htm  it has some photos of when we first put the wheels on. I reckon the best way to do it is to get some blank discs/drums and get them machined with a few patterns. Mine have both subaru and porsche to keep my options open although im in love with the liberty wheels on it now

those liberty rims are really nice. but get blank discs/drums machined with a few patterns doesnt sound to cheap

I'm not quite sure on the price but once its done its done. No worrying about stud pattern. Just put a couple of common ones in and your away

yeah that is true thanks for all the advice
look like ill get money sorted and get some brakes machined up for 4x100 and 5x100

pick 4 or 5 stud, not both, if you really have to get a combo of them anyway, & i wouldnt reccomend it & i doubt an engineer would like it much, the other thing that should be mentioned is that depending on what rear hubs/drums you use if it has 4 sections that are thicker for the original bolt holes, go with a 4 stud option & get them pressed into those sections, that said volksconversions say their flanges are thick enough for any option as they are flat across the back section unlike redrilled standard drums, ive had no experience with them personally though

cheers man