Rear spaces on 2000 reg Z3 2.0 ltr Auto.

[ARoosterinaRoadster]

Hi to you all. Rear spaces.
I am currently running my 2000 Z3 ".0ltr Auto on BMW Staggered Wheels and wish to slightly widen the stance at the rear so as to bring the outer edge of the wheels to conform with the front wheels.
Question :- Would 1" spaces be a safe option and also not put unnecessary stress upon the longer studs ?

[bertiejaffa]

hi - 1st, offer a piece of wood or pole up vertically to the wheel arch and the measure the distance to you wheel (compare to front if thats the look you are going for). this will tell you exactly the size of spacer you want

2nd, get spacers the bolt to the hub and the the wheel to the spacer - do not get spacers where the bolt passes from the wheel through the spacer and into the hub - these are under much more pressure.

finally ensure the spigots on the spacer are exact sizes match to the inside of your wheels, otherwise get some spigot rings to ensure no vibration

[stevov]

Would respectfully disagree with your recommendation for bolt on Spacers as opposed to bolt through. Would also say make sure they are hubcentric and would recommend 15mm max each side
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/general- ... acers.html
Follow the link in article to the gtr forum for pics plus a search on spacer failure will provide more pics

[Koolflyer]

I put ACS Type 3's onto my 2.8 which was staggered. I'm now running 8.5J front and back with correct ACS spigots. The extra width of the fronts (which were 7.5J) is as near as damn it flush with the wheel arch (using Bertiejaffa's piece of wood method), however I too found that the standard 8.5J on the rear was slightly inboard of the rear wheel arch. By using a 10mm bolt through spacer brings the wheel out flush with the wheel arch, looking (to me) more aesthetically pleasing. Which brings me to ARoosterinaRoadster related question....does a spacer of say 10-15mm put extra stress on the axle?

[ARoosterinaRoadster]

hi - 1st, offer a piece of wood or pole up vertically to the wheel arch and the measure the distance to you wheel (compare to front if thats the look you are going for). this will tell you exactly the size of spacer you want

2nd, get spacers the bolt to the hub and the the wheel to the spacer - do not get spacers where the bolt passes from the wheel through the spacer and into the hub - these are under much more pressure.

finally ensure the spigots on the spacer are exact sizes match to the inside of your wheels, otherwise get some spigot rings to ensure no vibration

Hi bertiejaffa. Thank you for your informative reply. I will go and see my tyre/wheel man at Pemberton Tyres,Wigan tomorrow and see what he can source for me.

[ARoosterinaRoadster]

Hi to you all. Well the deed was done - and dusted. I ended up with 20mm hub centric spaces that allowed the original BMW wheel bolts to be used along with the original locking wheel bolt.
Because of the difficulties in kneeling and stooping down since my total left knee replacement in November 2007 - I elected to get the job carried out at my favoured tyre dealership.
I drove-in,sat and had a large cup of hot chocolate whilst the wheels were removed and the work was carried out,then I paid the bill - £164.00 including the VAT.
The original plan was for spacers that involved all new longer bolts and locking wheel bolts but the better option arrived at the same price so they were used.
The car now looks proper and there is a marginally noticeable difference in cornering stability and especially on one adverse cambered long right-hand bend down and open country rat-run route going out of the village and across the farmers fields towards Ormskirk.

[BladeRunner919]

I assume that cost included the spacers?

[stevov]

http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... =5&t=43892

You must have money to burn

[ARoosterinaRoadster]

I assume that cost included the spacers?

Hi BladeRunner. Yes,it certainly did. Why would you not think that it did ?

[ARoosterinaRoadster]

http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... =5&t=43892

You must have money to burn

Hi stevo. What really makes you think that ? Yes,I could have bought cheaper but I could not have mauled with the car for the reason that I have already stated.
Even so - I don't have a trolley jack to lift the both rear wheels off of the ground at the same time and even if I did there is the space issue as I do not have a garage.

Also,as I have had the complete job carried out by my favoured tyre dealer - if anything untoward should occur then I am back to see him.
I have never been let-down by him and or his business in the 26+yrs that I have been using him.

[stevov]

Why would you need a garage or to lift both wheels at the same time to fit spacers. No more involved than changing a flat tyre.

[gookah]

I have bolt on spacers on mine which I believe are safer. however they are steel and are 20mm wide as opposed to those aluminium ones used on the GTR. I feel more comfortable that it means my setup now uses 10 bolts instead of 5 extra long ones.

I am also not sure there are any extra forces on the bearing as in fact you are making the offset of the wheel nearer to its tyre centreline.

There are many discussions around the effect adding spacers to the bearings, but no one seems to comment much about changing wheels for lower offsets, Each can end up with the same result.

[bertiejaffa]

I have bolt on spacers on mine which I believe are safer. however they are steel and are 20mm wide as opposed to those aluminium ones used on the GTR. I feel more comfortable that it means my setup now uses 10 bolts instead of 5 extra long ones.

I am also not sure there are any extra forces on the bearing as in fact you are making the offset of the wheel nearer to its tyre centreline.

There are many discussions around the effect adding spacers to the bearings, but no one seems to comment much about changing wheels for lower offsets, Each can end up with the same result.

Agree, mine are the same type as yours, Im sure if we search the internet we will see failures of both types. I also agree with the offset comment, the wheels on my M are the ones I have had to buy spacers for as they are aftermarket, personally I would prefer some wheels with the correct offset as the original wheels had. (However I am not overly keen on the original M wheels - I think they look boring IMO)