Spacers, lowering and rubbing on the liners

[MartinP]

Hi All,

Just wanted to post my experiences for fitting eibach lowering springs and adding spacers to inform others considering this route.

My Z is a 3.0si sport 06. I wanted to improve the stance and look of the car. There was nothing wrong with the car prior to doing the modifications.

So I ordered and fitted the springs and fitted the spacers at the same time. (note to self) don't change 2 things at the same time!

The body roll was improved and the wheels filled the arches better (15mm up front and 20mm rear), but i noticed the car became more twitchy over bumps and I thought I heard some rubbing.

I figured the camber was affected by the lowering, so I had the geo checked. It was way out.



After the alignment was completed, it felt better, but the twitchness was still there. More worrying was the pulling to the curb on heavy braking on uneven roads. I found myself gripping the steering wheel very tightly and didn't feel the same confidence inspiring handling I'd had prior to doing anything. Also, I noticed the front liners had a wear patch where the liners meet the bumper/wheelarch. I also noticed that over big bumps on the road, that the bump stops were being hit. (could this be the extra leverage effect by adding the spacers??)

So I have just removed the spacers. I didn't expect the ride to improve over big bumps, but the shocks seem to be coping better, despite the reduced shock travel (lowering) and there is no rubbing whatsoever. The handing is back to where it was, which is great!

So lesson learnt, BMW know how to set up suspension and even what you might consider is a minor modification, (in my head and some of the comments made by other "just a few millimeters!"), it can have big (safety) consequences.

So, I'm happy, but I'd still like to make the wheels fill the arches a bit more... I assume that getting correctly off set/ET wheels which are slightly wider might result in wheel looking better/being more flush with the wheel arches, but I am concerned about the rubbing happening again.

Any thoughts??

Cheers,

Martin

 

[Mr Tidy]

I've had a slightly similar experience with my MC that I bought in December, except I bought it like that!

It came with CSL Replica 19" wheels, 15mm spacers on the front, 10mm spacers on the rear and was on H & R coil-overs that were at least 35mm lower than standard! I couldn't drive it over a speed bump without it grounding - which may not have been a problem in Rutland, but definitely was in the South East. And I could see rubbing on the front arch liners, but not too bad as the coil-overs had only been on it a few months.

So the 1st couple of jobs were to get the car over to Ross at RBM Hampshire to get the spacers off and the coil-overs set as high as they would go, which means now "just" a 23mm drop at the front and 19mm at the rear compared to OE.

Admittedly many on here thought it looked better low and spacered-up but I bought it to drive, not to look at, so it's good to be able to get over speed bumps without any scraping noises and not hear rubbing from the front!

And as the CSL Replicas are half an inch wider at each end than the 224s it would have had as new they do sit slightly further out even without any spacers.

It feels like it drives better now, but that might just be me getting used to it - time will tell when I can use it for more than going to the shops!

But an alignment is definitely on the "to-do" list.

Getting back onto 3.0Sis, I bought a set of staggered 18" E89 wheels for my previous 3.0Si Coupe that had different ET, but they were a bit extreme at 18mm front and 10mm rear which didn't help with tram-lining - even if they did look good!

I think we just need to be selective when it comes to modifications. :roll:

Good to hear your handling is back to how it should be, Martin.

Cheers, Iain.

 

[AC5L4T3R]

Have you got any pictures?

 

[MartinP]

Have you got any pictures?

Are you asking me or the other reply "Mr Tidy"? Of the wheels, the scrubbing?

 

[Mr Tidy]

Have you got any pictures?

I was wondering the same thing as MartinP!

If you meant mine, there are before and after photos on my thread here:- https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=119564

 

[DaveD]

My car is running standard sport springs, B6 dampers and f30 3 series wheels so ET34 offset with 45 section rather than 40 section tyres (M tyre size). If it was lowered it would rub. However interestingly I found that the wider front track (greater offset) improved the steering feel - less twitching than normal. This is also the case if I fit 15mm spacers on the original Z4 wheels. I run this set up hard over rough B roads and no rubbing and good use of available travel without living on the bump stops. It’s all a compromise... try a few things and see what works best for you and your car.

 

[MartinP]

My car is running standard sport springs, B6 dampers and f30 3 series wheels so ET34 offset with 45 section rather than 40 section tyres (M tyre size). If it was lowered it would rub. However interestingly I found that the wider front track (greater offset) improved the steering feel - less twitching than normal. This is also the case if I fit 15mm spacers on the original Z4 wheels. I run this set up hard over rough B roads and no rubbing and good use of available travel without living on the bump stops. It’s all a compromise... try a few things and see what works best for you and your car.

It had occurred to me that the tyres could well be worn unevenly due to the poor geo I had put right and the spacers merely amplified the issue. I have Goodyear f1 assy 2 on the front and conti Sport 5s on the rear, which is also not ideal. I've ordered some 12mm spacers for the front, will put 15mm on the rear (were on the front) so that will minimise the the track difference between the 2 axles. I'm also going to try to adjust the liners and if needed, use a hot air gun to try and mold the liners to tuck back behind the bumper.

I know this is purely an exercise in make the wheels look better in the arches, but WTF else can I do in the evenings beside watch box sets!!

 

[MartinP]

So, 12mm fitted to the front and 15mm to the rear and its not as bad as 15mm@Front and 20mm@rear, but there was still a noticable effect of bad road surface, dips in the road on the curb side that pulled the car towards the curb. Was not confidence inspiring and definitly worse than the wheels with no spacers.
Re rubbing, there is still rubbing on the liners. I put gaffa tape on the areas that were rubbed by the 15mm spaces and again there was rubbing. The liners need to adjusted as I don't think they are out as far as they could be to sit nicely into the wing's arch/lip. Will try to adjust tomorrow and see if that makes any difference, but I think I'm pissing into the wind on this one!

 

[MartinP]

Had the front wheels off this evening. Managed to adjust the liners by loosening off all the retaining screws. With some pulling on the liner outwards, I managed to get the liners sitting better in the wheelarch's lip. Then used a heat gun to warm up the area contacted by the tyre. I then used a wooden handle to then press on the offending area to gently reshape it inwards. (be careful not to heat any paint and cause irreparable paint damage!!)
On the nearside, the plastic was worn too thin and it cracked a little. I watched this video on https://youtu.be/gRCMIDILfEI?t=718 showing how zip ties (ABS plastic like the liners), can be melted with a soldering iron to build up the material again. This might be helpful to others who have worn their liners, or if the gap is a big one: https://youtu.be/yg9j-No0Fhc
The result: