Wheel spacers

[m3f_He||rotItsAnM3]

im deciding how thick of spacers i want for my E36.


Can you guys post some pics of your rides and spacers thickness.

I have coilovers and rolled fenders and i want a more "flush" or agressive look. Im not going for Stance or hellaflush with -978* camber.


ONLY with either CONTOURS or DS2s staggered

[m3f_pMak26_419e5124a5]

you can do a 12mm front and 5mm rear and be fine on stock ds2 staggered.


-978* camber is pretty aggressive though.

[m3f_fiveightan_7e37700daf]

There's a 15mm difference between front and rear track width, with the rear being wider. This is taking stock staggered wheels into account. If you make the front too wide, the car looks like a Civic at the drag strip (read: ridiculous). Separate from that, if you have coil overs, you're hopefully concerned with handling and therefore wouldn't want to screw the track widths up too much.


4 squared 8.5 ET41 LTWs with 245s all around. 12mm spacers up front. -2.5* F, -1.8* R.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8180/8017556772_51398bfcc0_b.jpg


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8182/8017557000_20c43e71b2_b.jpg


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8461/8017556884_96c606ba56_b.jpg


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8299/8017553779_398198ffb7_b.jpg


More here:

http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=421518

[m3f_YAOGinanM3_a6dcbd0afd]

im deciding how thick of spacers i want for my E36.


Can you guys post some pics of your rides and spacers thickness.

I have coilovers and rolled fenders and i want a more "flush" or agressive look. Im not going for Stance or hellaflush with -978* camber.


ONLY with either CONTOURS or DS2s staggered


I know you asked for staggered wheel/tire setups but I offer you these photos of my '95 M3 hoping to help you find that right sized spacer.


My '95 M3 setup: TCKR D/A coilovers 400/500# springs, Vorshlag camber plates set to -2.5 camber 0.00' toe front and -1.5 camber .20' toe rear. Ride height set very close to Euro M-Sport suspension per Bentley Manual measures 12.5" front and 11.25" rear as measured from the top of the wheel arch to the center of the wheel. Square 8.5" BMW DSII wheels with 235/45x17 V12 tires all around. Turner's 10mm front hubcentric extenders with H&R 5mm spacers and appropriate ISO 10.9 extended lugbolts.


I don't see how you can use any spacer at the rear and expect to not have some rubbing unless you have very aggressively rolled and stretched the rear fender tin or use much more negative camber which would not be ideal for handling IMO. In front the problems are minimal with only a moderate 5mm spacer even with the tall fat tires I used but I would not use a wider spacer or set a lower ride height than I have due to the potential for rubbing with less aggressive camber and for most folks NOT on dampers with shortened struts/dampers, ride considerations. There is also the potential to rub the fender liners with the steering at full lock depending on what year the M3 is. My car is a '95 M3 which has different front spindles and different steering rack than 96+ M3s have. I do not have any linner rubbing even at full lock but a 96+ M3 may have minor rubbing of the liner.


HTH!



http://www.bits2pix.com/photos/temp%20photos/M3-1020476.jpg


http://www.bits2pix.com/photos/temp%20photos/M3-1020472.jpg


http://www.bits2pix.com/photos/temp%20photos/M3-1020468.jpg


http://www.bits2pix.com/photos/temp%20photos/M3-1020473.jpg


http://www.bits2pix.com/photos/temp%20photos/M3-1020466.jpg

[m3f_ECSTuning]

Your car, alignment, actually tire size, ride height, your taste, etc all are going to play into what size spacers you should run. Because of this I always suggest measuring for spacers as shown in the video below.



ECS Tuning: How To Measure For ECS Tuning Wheel Spacers - YouTube

[m3f_He||rotItsAnM3]

good info so far. thanks for the vid ECS

[m3f_abcurran_571a4e2c55]

There's a 15mm difference between front and rear track width, with the rear being wider. This is taking stock staggered wheels into account. If you make the front too wide, the car looks like a Civic at the drag strip (read: ridiculous). Separate from that, if you have coil overs, you're hopefully concerned with handling and therefore wouldn't want to screw the track widths up too much.



4 squared 8.5 ET41 LTWs with 245s all around. 12mm spacers up front. -2.5* F, -1.8* R.



If I'm understanding this correctly, you have 8.5" wide wheels up front and a 12mm spacer?



And if I understand the widths and offsets of the car correctly, the extra inch up front adds 25.4mm overall to the the wheel width.



The extra width adds 12.7mm to each end of the wheel. So, looks wise, wouldn't the extra 12.7mm on the 8.5" wheel effectively achieve the same desired effect as a 12mm spacer on a 7.5" wheel, other than the .7mm difference? The outbound edge of the 8.5" wheel will be 12.7mm further than the 7.5" wheel, no?



Then you're running a 12mm spacer on top of that which would bring the total extended outboard to 24.7mm.



I guess my question to you is the 12mm spacer on the front 8.5 necessary to clear the strut or to push the outer edge of the wheel further out?

[m3f_pMak26_419e5124a5]

I guess my question to you is the 12mm spacer on the front 8.5 necessary to clear the strut ?


Yes, A 10mm will get the job done on stock offset and stock alignment.

[m3f_abcurran_571a4e2c55]

Yes, A 10mm will get the job done on stock offset and stock alignment.



How about with Koni Yellow & H&R OE Sport springs?

[m3f_aeronaut_a45ef47b73]

How about with Koni Yellow & H&R OE Sport springs?


...deleted, answered the wrong question.

[m3f_jeremy5000_33855e23ff]

I was able to clear 8.5" DS2s upfront with 245/40/17 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S without at spacer on stock Sachs suspension. When I switched to my TC Kline coilovers I needed 3mm spacers to clear.


With 12mm spacers upfront, it looks great, but not flush at all! I've considered playing around with a 20 or 25mm spacer upfront since I run a decent amount of camber, but am too lazy to order longer wheel studs.

[m3f_YAOGinanM3_a6dcbd0afd]

I was able to clear 8.5" DS2s upfront with 245/40/17 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S without at spacer on stock Sachs suspension. When I switched to my TC Kline coilovers I needed 3mm spacers to clear.





With 12mm spacers upfront, it looks great, but not flush at all! I've considered playing around with a 20 or 25mm spacer upfront since I run a decent amount of camber, but am too lazy to order longer wheel studs.





My '95 M3 with TCKR D/As and 60mm ID springs had 2mm clearance with 235/45x17 V12 tires on 8.5" DS2s. That said my M3 TCKR D/A coilovers were hacked up by TrueChoice in Ohio rendering them useless junk. I got lucky and after some careful measurement had them rebuilt to my specs by ProParts. The coilover tubes had been shortened a couple inches but the damper rods were only shortened 1" and after some measurement and some thought I discovered they should still work fine with a rebuild and some taller springs.



I noticed that fiveightandten's M3 with 12mm spacers and 8.5" factory wheels has more space between the top of the wheel and fender than I do with 8.5" factory wheels with a 5mm spacer. The '95 M3 spindles are different than '96+ M3 spindles maybe this is some part of the difference in clearance?

[m3f_fiveightan_7e37700daf]

If I'm understanding this correctly, you have 8.5" wide wheels up front and a 12mm spacer?


And if I understand the widths and offsets of the car correctly, the extra inch up front adds 25.4mm overall to the the wheel width.


The extra width adds 12.7mm to each end of the wheel. So, looks wise, wouldn't the extra 12.7mm on the 8.5" wheel effectively achieve the same desired effect as a 12mm spacer on a 7.5" wheel, other than the .7mm difference? The outbound edge of the 8.5" wheel will be 12.7mm further than the 7.5" wheel, no?


Then you're running a 12mm spacer on top of that which would bring the total extended outboard to 24.7mm.


I guess my question to you is the 12mm spacer on the front 8.5 necessary to clear the strut or to push the outer edge of the wheel further out?

Correct, 8.5" at all 4 corners, with 12mm spacer up front.


8.5" up front will rub on stock front struts with some tires, it's a tight fit. When I went with the squared OE wheels, I had to space them out. Depending on the tire, you may need anywhere from 3mm to 5mm of space to clear the stock strut. Maybe 7mm to be safe.


The centering ring on the stock hub sticks out about 10 or 11mm if I recall correctly. Smaller spacers (8mm and smaller) do not have centering rings on them. With anything larger than ~3mm, you should run hub extenders so the wheel has something to center itself on. 10mm spacers are an odd size, as it's right around the size of the centering ring. 12mm are a safer bet as they allow for a little more meat on the centering ring.


I could've gone with something smaller, like an 8mm. It would have cleared the stock strut. But, knowing that I was going to be putting coilovers on the car, and knowing that 12mm have a solid centering ring built in, I decided to go with those.


With the spacer the outboard side of the wheel sits 24.7mm (~1") farther out than than the stock 7.5" without a spacer. It sits about 0.7mm closer to the strut, which is plenty of space to clear.


I noticed that fiveightandten's M3 with 12mm spacers and 8.5" factory wheels has more space between the top of the wheel and fender than I do with 8.5" factory wheels with a 5mm spacer. The '95 M3 spindles are different than '96+ M3 spindles maybe this is some part of the difference in clearance?

It looks like i'm running higher ride heights than you (my fronts are about 12.75", slightly staggered side to side). Not sure if the spindles or track width is different. But sedan fenders are different, so maybe that has something to do with it as well.

[m3f_YAOGinanM3_a6dcbd0afd]

It looks like i'm running higher ride heights than you (my fronts are about 12.75", slightly staggered side to side). Not sure if the spindles or track width is different. But sedan fenders are different, so maybe that has something to do with it as well.



I think you may have it, Sedan vs Coupe fender tin could be the difference.