Rear spacers for facelift Z3 + new head unit

komis · Post by **komis** » Sun 25 Nov, 2007 15:16

Guys, I need to decide on some Xmas prezzies for my Z. I was looking at some pics of my Z and started thinking the rear wheels could do with some spacers to fill the arches more nicely.

Anyone know what size I should go for? I was thinking about 20mm H&R from www.motorsportworld.co.uk (they sell Powerflex bushes as well so I was thinking of getting them as a bundle). Would that size of spacers fill the rears nicely or do I need a bigger set (24mm)?

My rears are 8.5J X 17 ET:41

Also I'd like your opinions on two head units I've been thinking about (since my old Chameleon died). The Clarion is technically more advanced (has bluetooth) where as the Pioneer is more retro...

Thanks for any replies!!

Lazeodoom · Post by **Lazeodoom** » Sun 25 Nov, 2007 17:07

The Clarion looks better in the dash, but the fitting seems a bit gappy. If it fits fine and thats just a result of the piccy, then go with that one.

I like the dash colour there. Is it a standard one or one you found on fleabay?

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Sun 25 Nov, 2007 19:06

Clarion gets my vote

Justin Time · Post by **Justin Time** » Sun 25 Nov, 2007 19:28

clarion for me too

never noticed the gap on the rear arches. will have to look into this too. Would be a nice change

komis · Post by **komis** » Sun 25 Nov, 2007 22:04

Thanks guys,

My photoshopping must be getting better if you couldn't tell it was a copy-paste job

Both pics are photoshopped, so the fitting would probably be much better (I hope). I thought the Clarion would be cool because of the shark gills, luckily its illumination is also customisable so it should match the dash nicely.

The centre console was a factory option (Matt Chrome interieur) and includes door trims (hockey sticks) in the same colour. I think it can be ordered as a retrofit, according to realoem HERE, apparently it's not too expensive and probably much better than the stick-on trims..

c_w · Post by **c_w** » Sun 25 Nov, 2007 22:13

20mm wheels spacers (if you meant 2x20mm spacers and not 20mm total track increase) will be too much. You'd be surprised how much different they will look with 10mm spacers either side, and that's about all that's needed to bring them closer to flush. Probably best to mesaure it by putting something of 10mm or 15mm on the edge of the tyre and then looking down from above at the wheel arch and look at the position.

komis · Post by **komis** » Sun 25 Nov, 2007 22:48

Thanks, I meant 20mm total (i.e. 10mm each side)

)))) Not trying to build a monster truck here!!

Unfortunately the car is abroad so I can't really measure it, but I was wondering if anyone had gone down the same route here and could recommend a size (and hopefully share some pics).

Having searched the forum, the closest thing I found were some pics by Matt_C for his pre-facelift but i don't know if the body/axle dimensions would be the same and also his alloys were copies (same width, but no idea what the offset were).

benelvin · Post by **benelvin** » Tue 27 Nov, 2007 18:54

How do spacers work and are they expensive? (Sorry for the girly questions

)

c_w · Post by **c_w** » Tue 27 Nov, 2007 19:05

komis wrote:Thanks, I meant 20mm total (i.e. 10mm each side) )))) Not trying to build a monster truck here!!

Unfortunately the car is abroad so I can't really measure it, but I was wondering if anyone had gone down the same route here and could recommend a size (and hopefully share some pics).

Having searched the forum, the closest thing I found were some pics by Matt_C for his pre-facelift but i don't know if the body/axle dimensions would be the same and also his alloys were copies (same width, but no idea what the offset were).

10mm spacers will be fine then, make sure they're hubcetric (not sure if H&R spacers are at 10mm, but Eibach are from here: http://www.europerformance.co.uk/pages/ ... category=1).

komis · Post by **komis** » Tue 27 Nov, 2007 22:33

Benlevin, spacers put more distance between the axle and your wheels, effectively widening the rear track by pushing the wheels out. Depends what you define "expensive" to be, I'm looking at about £60 to get a set from a reputable maker.

C_W thanks for your tips and the link, I will get the Eibach set but just out of curiosity, is there a quick way to tell hubcentric from non hubcentric? Also any ideas what bolts I might need from the options here http://www.europerformance.co.uk/pages/ ... r=grayston

Sorry for the annoying questions, I wish I had the car here so I could actually sort this myself...

c_w · Post by **c_w** » Tue 04 Dec, 2007 13:16

A hubcentric spacer has a central lip that the wheel sits on to keep it centrally located (basically an extension of the original hub spigot/lip). A non-hubcentric spacer is just a flat spacer that is clamped between the wheels and it's only worth using 3mm ones to get slight clearance for brakes etc.

Icecube · Post by **Icecube** » Tue 04 Dec, 2007 23:27

I have the pinoneer head unit in my z3, the sound quality is stuning however i am using different speakers and amps.

Just to note that as the Z3 headunit hole is rectangular as such the fitment is not totally perfect. Depends how important this is to you.

Kiwi · Post by **Kiwi** » Wed 05 Dec, 2007 00:39

Re the spacers, I have fitted Rogue Engineering spacers (from the States - great quality pieces and obviously not a good idea to skimp when it comes to spacers) to the back of my 2.8.

Spacers were 12mm - the wheels I am running jut outwards 2mm over stock so with the spacers, they are protruding 14mm over stock. Very happy with them - not sticking out past the arches but filling them nicely.

Wish I had a decent picture to show you - only ones I have since the spacers went on a couple of years ago are from a cruise (and car is back in NZ while I'm here in London) - if you squint a bit you can see the rears aren't protuding at all - mine is the black one in the corner. Can compare the look to the other Zed's around it which are all standard. Hope that helps a little ...

c_w · Post by **c_w** » Wed 05 Dec, 2007 09:27

Something to consider when thinking about spacers is the ride height too because if the car is lowered a lot the top of the wheels goes further in (very noticeably on non-MZ3s too) so you might want a larger spacer, but a standard ride height car might not need as big a spacer - either way I think 10mm is a safe bet.

komis · Post by **komis** » Wed 05 Dec, 2007 18:35

Thanks to all of you guys, much appreciated. I ordered the 20mm (10 on each side), waiting to see how it looks.

I'll leave the stereo for now (got an E46 M3 steering wheel instead, I promise to post pics of how it looks in the car soon, if it fits!!)

I think the spacers will definitely be an improvement over stock, Kiwi, your staggered set up is the dog's

How wide are the rears?

Kiwi · Post by **Kiwi** » Wed 05 Dec, 2007 23:32

komis wrote:Thanks to all of you guys, much appreciated. I ordered the 20mm (10 on each side), waiting to see how it looks.

I'll leave the stereo for now (got an E46 M3 steering wheel instead, I promise to post pics of how it looks in the car soon, if it fits!!)

I think the spacers will definitely be an improvement over stock, Kiwi, your staggered set up is the dog's How wide are the rears?

Cheers Komis - the rears are only 9 inch rims (18s with 255 rubber) - but have a decent dish for a 9 inch wheel. There's some more pics of the wheels (pre-spacers) here:

http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... highlight=

Keep us posted on how you get on with the E46 steering wheel - good luck with it.

komis · Post by **komis** » Thu 10 Jan, 2008 11:40

Well I fitted 10mm EIBACH spacers on each side (total track widening = 20mm). Happy to say that they don't look chav at all, actually, the whole setup maintains a very OEM appearance. The spacers helped my alloys fill the arches much better than before and they were a very tight fit and there's still some clearance to prevent rubbing etc. I think that 12mm would have been OK as well and 15mm would be pushing it right to the limit.

I took the car to a tyre&rim workshop to get them fitted as I couldn't be arsed to do it myself, and the guy commented spontaneously that he had never seen such a good fit for spacers on the hub ("almost as if BMW made these themselves!").

But the most surprising change was the improvement of the car's behaviour around corners. Don't get me wrong, it still kicks its tail out when I ask it to, but it somehow feels more sure-footed and less eager to do so on its own (e.g. when downshifting in the wet).

Not content with just one xmas prezzie for my Z, I also fitted an OEM BMW shorter gear knob (aluminium) and a new stereo - granted, that was an el-cheapo Pioneer, but I think it looks really good against the matt chrome console

In short - I heartily recommend the spacers to anyone, as they really do make a positive impact on the handling (and the car looks better too)