Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Spacers

jrse92m3 wrote

so is safe to use the 12MM spacers all around on a 09 ZCP oem wheels ??
thanks for the help

I was under the impression that u should try to use the same size spacers front and rear whenever possible please correct me if i`m wrong...

I recently took off spacers from the front and rear (F:18mm & R:15mm). I specifically targeted the rear because my 295/30/19 (Yokohama advans) on my right side was too close to the fender. I am considering on putting either the 15mm or 18mm in the front now? Any suggestions? Is it ok to just have a pair of spacers on the front? If so, which ones would suffice on my current setup?

Thanks!

nrand001 wrote

I recently took off spacers from the front and rear (F:18mm & R:15mm). I specifically targeted the rear because my 295/30/19 (Yokohama advans) on my right side was too close to the fender. I am considering on putting either the 15mm or 18mm in the front now? Any suggestions? Is it ok to just have a pair of spacers on the front? If so, which ones would suffice on my current setup?

Thanks!

hey brother after years of racing in multiple classes all I can say is that keep in mind that the different between the E92 220 wheels and the ZCP wheels is 0, notice how BMW kept the 0 difference by adding off-set to the zcp's because they are wider so BMW expands millions on engineering to come up with the right formula that for them is 6mm(street use) difference between front and rear so unless we are talking about race cars with the need for more grip in one particular area (front/rear) I think you should try to keep the difference between front and rear about 6mm if possible, you can make your car as wide as you want but try to keep that difference of 6mm, I seen people on line that uses 15mm in front and nothing in the rear now think about this for a second the car left factory with +31F/+25R and now you bring that front 15mm out and leave the rear the same way, unless if you are drifting this thing I don't see a reason for so much front grip , my street M3 has a set of ZCP wheels on it with 255/275 tires and 12mm spacers on front and rear.by doing this you can drive your car to a track and have some fun w/out having to go back to stock set up.

thanks for the input bud, much appreciated!

Thanks to everyone who gave input on spacers; using almost exclusively the TMS linked guide and this thread (since I am a novice) I am trying to order spacers and had some questions.

1. From this thread, it appears that with my current setup, stock 220m 19" wheels and 255/275 19" Vdredstein Ultrac Sessentas, I will be fine with TMS 12.5MM front spacers and 5MM rear spacers; correct? (BTW- I measured the gaps and I don't think there should be any issues.)

2. I have 25MM stock bolts; I plan on ordering the longer bolts.

3. With a 5MM rear spacer on the back, will I have issues with the stock hub without an extender? TMS notes in the article there are extenders for 10MM or up, is one necessary for 5MM? If yes, is there an extender available?

4. Are there wheel locks available for the longer bolts? If there are, hopefully it is not two different orders because of the different spacer sizes.

Thanks!

sorry , i tried reading through and got lost in the posts...but what's the most popular spacer for the OEM 18" M3 wheels (E92)?

MiamiE93Vert wrote

2. I have 25MM stock bolts; I plan on ordering the longer bolts.

3. With a 5MM rear spacer on the back, will I have issues with the stock hub without an extender? TMS notes in the article there are extenders for 10MM or up, is one necessary for 5MM? If yes, is there an extender available?

I don't know about other vendors, but when I have ordered from Turner, they have the option right there to order appropriately longer bolts, if you need them.

slimflem wrote

If anyone has 15/12 spacers on a stock E92 with OEM 19" wheels, please post some pics. I'd love to see how this looks. thx.

Here is my set set up, just did it today using the spacers I had for my 335is, which I traded for an e90 M3 in December. Looks good but I have an issue.
I had 12.5mm up front and 15mm for the rears (that was 18" 225 f, 255 r).
Was a perfect fit for the 335is-no trouble.

After reading some posts for the M3 set up swapped the 15mm to front and 12.5mm rear. The rear is pretty well flush and looks great. The front looked good, I think, but with about a quarter turn of the wheel she rubs an area of about inch and half wide, two inches high.

Could swap back; I think the rear could go the 2.5mm wider, but am wondering if the 2.5mm less will prevent the rub.

Realized this when I took it on a shakedown cruise late in the day, so did not try to remedy just yet. Any input would be appreciated, as having to go much slimmer will be close to the 10mm dead zone.

I will post what happens.

I'm getting mixed messages on the spacer situation.

I have an e90 on Eibachs - EDC (non ZCP) on 359m wheels with Michelin PSS 246/265.

I'm thinking 15/10 should work here with zero rub - correct?

robotk wrote

I'm getting mixed messages on the spacer situation.

I have an e90 on Eibachs - EDC (non ZCP) on 359m wheels with Michelin PSS 246/265.

I'm thinking 15/10 should work here with zero rub - correct?

I wish my experience could clarify yours, but can't really say as you are running 359's and pilot. I am 220's and conti sport contact 3.

My e90 m3 is non-ZCP running 15mm on the front and it does produce a small rub spot in the middle part at 9 o'clock. I spoke to a guy at a local tuner shop that does a lot of M3's and agrees this is the correct setup and that everyone doe experience this minor rub on the front.

Beem_mup wrote

I wish my experience could clarify yours, but can't really say as you are running 359's and pilot. I am 220's and conti sport contact 3.

My e90 m3 is non-ZCP running 15mm on the front and it does produce a small rub spot in the middle part at 9 o'clock. I spoke to a guy at a local tuner shop that does a lot of M3's and agrees this is the correct setup and that everyone doe experience this minor rub on the front.

That's what makes this so tricky - I see much more aggressive setups than mine running 15mm in the front. It almost feels like a crapshoot.

In the market now and have every question answered. Kudos to you sir!

Just bought some used 19 " ZCP wheels and was going to put on OEM ZCP tires (PS2s).
I had planned on 15mm (front) and 12mm (back).
I was looking at buying Turner Motorsports spacers, but I see they come in 12.5mm, not 12mm. Will this cause any problems with a 2008 stock/non ZCP e93?

cjrivera wrote

Just bought some used 19 " ZCP wheels and was going to put on OEM ZCP tires (PS2s).
I had planned on 15mm (front) and 12mm (back).
I was looking at buying Turner Motorsports spacers, but I see they come in 12.5mm, not 12mm. Will this cause any problems with a 2008 stock/non ZCP e93?

Do you know how thick 0.5mm is? Your question is ridiculous

slicer wrote

Do you know how thick 0.5mm is? Your question is ridiculous

Yeah I know, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. I keep seeing 15/12 for spacer sizing. Never 15/12.5, especially since a lot of people talk about using TMS spacers and they don't have the 12mm. Just wanted to double check and not worry about returning parts. Also didn't know if non-ZCP would make a difference.

cjrivera wrote

Yeah I know, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. I keep seeing 15/12 for spacer sizing. Never 15/12.5, especially since a lot of people talk about using TMS spacers and they don't have the 12mm. Just wanted to double check and not worry about returning parts. Also didn't know if non-ZCP would make a difference.

You will be fine. Turner Motorsports spacers are the best IMO.

I run with OEM 193, 8,5x18 ET 37 , 255/35 rear, and i was thinking for some spacers around 20mm.
After i measured everything, i shood not have any rub to the fenders.
Anyone can give me a better advise if is to much 20mm for that ET?

The GT4 M3 even comes pre-equipped with spacers from BMW.

BMWs are not the only vehicles to utilize spacers. With the minimal amounts we're discussing about on M3 applications, I doubt this is even an issue to be concerned about.[/QUOTE]

What would you consider minimal? For Comp Rims, 12mm & 15 mm???

Hello everyone. I need someone to confirm/correct my calculations. I'm trying to get my stock 18's to have the same stance as an OEM E9X 18" wheel without spacers on an E46. Here are the specs for both wheels:

E46: 8 x 18 Front ET 47
9 x 18 Rear ET 26
E9X 8.5 x 18 Front ET 29
9.5 x 18 Rear ET 23

Now if I did this correctly, the correction is about 23F/9R. So would a 20F/10R spacer give my 18's the same kind of look as if the E9X 18s were on?

Thank you

Kong Sheng Han wrote

Hello everyone. I need someone to confirm/correct my calculations. I'm trying to get my stock 18's to have the same stance as an OEM E9X 18" wheel without spacers on an E46. Here are the specs for both wheels:

E46: 8 x 18 Front ET 47
9 x 18 Rear ET 26
E9X 8.5 x 18 Front ET 29
9.5 x 18 Rear ET 23

Now if I did this correctly, the correction is about 23F/9R. So would a 20F/10R spacer give my 18's the same kind of look as if the E9X 18s were on?

Thank you

You would need a 24mm spacer in the front and a 12mm spacer in the rear in order to have the outside edge of the wheel sitting at the same point. However the same tires on the narrower wheels will be sitting more upright than if they were stretched onto the 1/2" wider wheels. The place that the edge of the tire tread will sit is difficult to predict but you do know that it will be centered on the wheel.

slicer wrote  

Kong Sheng Han wrote

Hello everyone. I need someone to confirm/correct my calculations. I'm trying to get my stock 18's to have the same stance as an OEM E9X 18" wheel without spacers on an E46. Here are the specs for both wheels:

E46: 8 x 18 Front ET 47
9 x 18 Rear ET 26
E9X 8.5 x 18 Front ET 29
9.5 x 18 Rear ET 23

Now if I did this correctly, the correction is about 23F/9R. So would a 20F/10R spacer give my 18's the same kind of look as if the E9X 18s were on?

Thank you

You would need a 24mm spacer in the front and a 12mm spacer in the rear in order to have the outside edge of the wheel sitting at the same point. However the same tires on the narrower wheels will be sitting more upright than if they were stretched onto the 1/2" wider wheels. The place that the edge of the tire tread will sit is difficult to predict but you do know that it will be centered on the wheel.

Thanks. I didn't know there were spacers bigger than 20mm. Sounds too big though.

Kong Sheng Han wrote

Hello everyone. I need someone to confirm/correct my calculations. I'm trying to get my stock 18's to have the same stance as an OEM E9X 18" wheel without spacers on an E46. Here are the specs for both wheels:

E46: 8 x 18 Front ET 47
9 x 18 Rear ET 26
E9X 8.5 x 18 Front ET 29
9.5 x 18 Rear ET 23

Now if I did this correctly, the correction is about 23F/9R. So would a 20F/10R spacer give my 18's the same kind of look as if the E9X 18s were on?

Thank you

Your car looks great the way it is ... don't change a thing Brings back memories of my 2002 e46 ...