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94530inh
08-10-2006, 08:57 PM
I bought some replica m paralells off a friend with an e36 m3. they hit my strut when I tried to put them on. What kind of spacers do I need. They fit on his m3 just fine. theyre 18s
Blitzkrieg Bob
08-10-2006, 09:05 PM
too dangerous.

You'll see one of your wheels pass you on an off ramp one day.

I thought about this too when I was offered a nice set of Z3 wheels, but an inch+ spacer and god knows what kind of bolt to hold it all on the hub....naw.
uflnuceng
08-10-2006, 09:09 PM
I believe you need 20mm spacers. Get them from Turner Motorsport (H&R). They will hold up and you won't have any "wheel passing you" issues.
Ausmpower
08-11-2006, 04:29 AM
HMMM.......can you get longer wheel bolts can you????

25 mm spacer NOOOOOO thanks!
emw525E34
08-11-2006, 05:40 AM
Depends on what offset the wheels come in. If there are ET42 then you need 20mm spacers and long bolts. H&R sells nice sets but are a bit pricey.

I got M-Parallel replica 17s which are ET18. Even so, I can put my 12 mm H&R spacers on them. Looks great and handles well with the rear stepping out somewhat. E34 wheel arches have lots of tolerance if you dont have lowering springs. Fantastic ride and traction compared to stock 15s!.
uflnuceng
08-11-2006, 11:01 AM
yeah... they aren't cheap from TMS (H&R spacers) and you can get longer bolts as well. I think its about $100/pair + cost of bolts. Look to be out $250 by the end of it... still... I have a set of E36 staggered M 5-spokes on the car. The H&R spacers are licensed for race cars in Europe so they are very strong and can definitely stand up to whatever you would put on them on the street.
Jon K
08-11-2006, 12:16 PM
Theres nothing wrong with spacers! VW guys run 40, 50, 60 mm spacers. Just need longer/stronger lugs is all. It may wear the wheel bearings oddly, but the wheel isn't going to fly off if you've got it bolted on correctly. Myth.
GoldenOne
08-11-2006, 01:09 PM
Theres nothing wrong with spacers! VW guys run 40, 50, 60 mm spacers. Just need longer/stronger lugs is all. It may wear the wheel bearings oddly, but the wheel isn't going to fly off if you've got it bolted on correctly. Myth.

I concur! I have 25mm(or 22mm dont remember) spacers up front and I havent had to wave at my wheels yet....
uflnuceng
08-11-2006, 01:10 PM
Myth.

Yep
94530inh
08-14-2006, 06:15 PM
i had to drop 200 bucks for eibach spacers... hopefully its worth it
Yaninnya
08-14-2006, 06:22 PM
too dangerous.
You'll see one of your wheels pass you on an off ramp one day.
Could you explain why you think that? I'm asking because from technical point of view there is nothing against using spacers (of course i'm not saying about "home made" but spacers from well nown producers like Eibach or H&R).
Jan
Blitzkrieg Bob
08-14-2006, 06:55 PM
http://www.bmwccaclubracing.com/Archives/2005Series/bulletins/0100.htm

I have have seen a few sheared & torque twisted lugs, wheel rubs mostly from extreme or improper use, stacking, washers etc. or the use of hardware store studs and nuts or bolts. (I'll admit the wheel didn't fly off, but it wasn't on either.)

I've used spacers before, but I did a conversion to studs and lugs to get the added length to hold it all together. The stuff that was mentioned from Turner motor looked better than most of the stuff I have seen. you'll notice that the really thick spacer bolted to the hub and the wheel bolts to the spacer, not just 30mm of alloy with holes in it.

But now I avoid using them since I became an ol' geezer and grew out of making things fit.
Bellicose Right Winger
08-14-2006, 07:24 PM
Interesting that the Club Racing rule makers didn't ban them outright. I'll stick to the "homemade" variety.
http://www.bimmer.info/bmw/pshovestul/BMWSPACR1.jpg

Paul Shovestul



http://www.bmwccaclubracing.com/Archives/2005Series/bulletins/0100.htm
632 Regal
08-14-2006, 07:36 PM
wouldnt it be better to spend the additional ~200ish on correct wheels?
i had to drop 200 bucks for eibach spacers... hopefully its worth it
Bellicose Right Winger
08-14-2006, 07:39 PM
If the spacer restores the offset to what the mfr intended for the car, then there won't be any change in wheel bearing load. That is using a 20mm spacer on a wheel with a 40mm offset results in the original 20mm offset and no change in bearing load.

Paul Shovestul


........ It may wear the wheel bearings oddly, but the wheel isn't going to fly off if you've got it bolted on correctly. Myth.
Blitzkrieg Bob
08-14-2006, 07:44 PM
Sometimes a deal turns out to not be a deal
Bellicose Right Winger
08-15-2006, 06:47 AM
Better? I'm not so sure. Each of us has to determine the cost effectiveness. Clearly the safety issue has been put to rest with evidence the Club Racers are allowed to use them. More importantly they're allowed to use them inspite of evidence of improper tightening. Spacers make available all those cool E36 & E46 wheels that youngsters seem to change more often then some change their underwear. Being able to run 3 series wheels likely triples the pool of wheels you can now use. Lets see now, a set of base E36 wheels for the winter tires, M3 Contours for the summer....hmmm, I wonder what's on Ebay.

Paul Shovestul



wouldnt it be better to spend the additional ~200ish on correct wheels?
Eric Clark
08-15-2006, 01:17 PM
Some states have limits on the size of spacers that can be used. I agree that I would have spent my $200 on getting correct wheels.
TWISM
08-15-2006, 02:58 PM
too dangerous.

You'll see one of your wheels pass you on an off ramp one day.

I thought about this too when I was offered a nice set of Z3 wheels, but an inch+ spacer and god knows what kind of bolt to hold it all on the hub....naw.

If it's to dangerous as you say, then why do raceteams use them??

A race team I know uses 20mm spacers for there race-cars...;)

And they race with an E46 M3