Advice on wheel spacers and longer bolts

G

glastoveteran

Active member
 Bristol
So I'm gradually getting there with the plan for putting some newly acquired 19" M3 alloys on my Z4MC...

I've realised I need some 10mm spacers for the front. Is there any reason I shouldn't go for these, rather than paying any more?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pr-5-stud-wheel-spacers-10mm-race-rally-etc-/170499823596?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27b294d7ec

And I guess I'll be needing some bolts that are 10mm longer too, but I have no idea what I'm after! Can anyone recommend the exact bolts I'll need?

Thanks! :thumbsup:
 
Not sure about on your side of the pond but Rogue Engineering has them.

http://www.rogueengineering.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=WH
 
glastoveteran said:
So I'm gradually getting there with the plan for putting some newly acquired 19" M3 alloys on my Z4MC...

I've realised I need some 10mm spacers for the front. Is there any reason I shouldn't go for these, rather than paying any more?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pr-5-stud-wheel-spacers-10mm-race-rally-etc-/170499823596?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27b294d7ec

And I guess I'll be needing some bolts that are 10mm longer too, but I have no idea what I'm after! Can anyone recommend the exact bolts I'll need?

Thanks! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

The E Bay ones look like pressed steel (or perhaps some other metal) so I would steer away from them. The Rogue Engineering ones that WLH has identified look like the quality/standard you are looking for. Quick search on the web will identify a good supplier in the UK - yes you will pay more BUT these are critical parts in terms of safety and will be machined as an exact fit for your stud pattern rather than the elongated hit and miss holes on the ones you are looking at.
 
I have to agree with AlanJ, they look like an unmachined casting to me, and of dubious quality.

A very quick look on e bay came up with these Eibach spacers http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Eibach-10mm-Pro-Spacer-Wheel-Spacers-BMW-Z4-Z85-03-/120575487048?cmd at £38, they can also also supply bolts. A hunt around may get you a better price but I would stick with a reputable named item if I were you.
 
Well I spoke to CA Auto who list all the spacers and bolts on their website and the guy there said that 12mm would be the minimum they would recommend on an M car due to it being driven harder....

What's everyone's view on that? I'm happy to go 12mm as due to the offset difference it's only going to mean sticking out 7mm further, but is a wheel spacer going to be under so much stress that 10mm isn't enough?
 
Wheel spacers are an evil thing but necessary on some applications to fit things. I don't follow what you mean about the stress that 10mm isn't enough? The less spacer the better with none being best. The more the greater the stress on bolts bearing and greater the deterioration in steering geometry, turning circle and a few other settings.
 
Thanks CJ - interestingly they are saying the exact opposite - when I was asking about 10mm spacers they said that 12mm is the MINIMUM they would recommend :-?

So now I'm confused.

To clarify, the offset difference on the front M3 wheels that I'm planning on fitting will mean they are 5mm inward of my current wheels. So by using 10mm spacers, 5mm is to cancel out the offset difference and 5mm is to push it out a bit further (only really because the rears will stick out a bit as well).

So should I assume 10mm is ok? Or would 5mm in fact be better? I'm presuming 5mm either side isn't going to make vastly noticable differences?...

Original Z4M wheels:

8.0 x 18 ET 42 front
9.0 x 18 ET 30 rear

OEM 19" M3 wheels style 67:

8.0 x 19 ET 47 front
9.5 x 19 ET 27 rear
 
Let me be clearer. They are recommending a thickness of spacer to make the wheel fit correctly. The figure of 12 mm may be correct. I don't know.

In terms of stress the more thickness the worse the effects, so if 5 mm is ok go with it.. You want the minimum thickness you can get away with, the highest quality and quality bolts of the correct length.
 
Are these E46 M3 19's? If so you won't need any spacers at all, they'll fit straight on like the CSL's do, no modifications required.
 
I had 10 mm hubcentric spacers on my M3.
They were Eibach I think, any good quality is a must.
I had no probs at all with mine and the car looked at lot better.
 
cj10jeeper said:
Let me be clearer. They are recommending a thickness of spacer to make the wheel fit correctly. The figure of 12 mm may be correct. I don't know.
Click to expand...

Well to be honest they said about 12mm being the minimum before I even told them what wheels I was fitting, so it's slightly odd.

dgm said:
Are these E46 M3 19's? If so you won't need any spacers at all, they'll fit straight on like the CSL's do, no modifications required.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong I'd much rather save £150 and not have spacers, but when I ran the offsets above through a calculator it said they would be inset 5mm each side, and surely that's not going to look quite as good? The CSL fronts are half an inch wider so is that maybe why they're ok with no spacers?

I know ali_b had these wheels on his Z4MC and he used 10mm spacers, so I guess that's what I need to do...
 
glastoveteran said:
cj10jeeper said:
Let me be clearer. They are recommending a thickness of spacer to make the wheel fit correctly. The figure of 12 mm may be correct. I don't know.
Click to expand...

Well to be honest they said about 12mm being the minimum before I even told them what wheels I was fitting, so it's slightly odd.

dgm said:
Are these E46 M3 19's? If so you won't need any spacers at all, they'll fit straight on like the CSL's do, no modifications required.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong I'd much rather save £150 and not have spacers, but when I ran the offsets above through a calculator it said they would be inset 5mm each side, and surely that's not going to look quite as good? The CSL fronts are half an inch wider so is that maybe why they're ok with no spacers?

I know ali_b had these wheels on his Z4MC and he used 10mm spacers, so I guess that's what I need to do...
Click to expand...

I'm sure I saw photographs of a Z4M being run on the M3 wheels with no spacers some time ago and it looked fine. Personally I'd give them a go on the car first before shelling out on the spacers.
 
You're right it's gotta be worth a go. I've just checked with someone that put them on a standard Z4 and they looked fine but again that may be down to the offset difference on the actual car?
 
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