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[MonteCarloM3]

ever seen this before? new car, about 6 months now.


changing over to winters now and when i tried to take off the spacers...no dice!
had to heat those suckers up with a propane torch to expand the aluminum and lookie what i find.
how can rust develop that quickly! sheesh. using anti-seize from now on with every thing i change! even the wheel bolts are coated now.
just a warning to all those putting on spacers, buy some anti-seize and use it liberally.

[schnell325]

I see you tried a screwdriver to get them off.

Anti-seize is you friend!

[Malek@MRF]

You are not supposed to apply anti-seize to spacer's. It will cause an unwanted vibration.

Of all the spacers I have used however, the H&R and Rogue Engineering have been the best. They have the least problems with zero vibration.

[montreal red]

i dont use spacers but my hubs rust like mad too. i sanded the hub down, cleaned everything up then use spray paint to paint the hub to get rid of the rust. the paint has been holding up so far.

[sor]

Did not use any spacers on my 335 and they rusted as well

[kitw]

dissimilar metal corrosion, from Al + steel together.

A little coating of white lithium grease will prevent this in the future.

You can use a paste or a spray on:
http://www.kpg-industrial.com/produc..._lithium_lube/

[Reedomn]

Switched my over as well today and the anti-seize I used in the spring worked great....wheels and spacers came right off by hand....however have seen some rust along the way.....no big deal.....

[Crazy Bimmer]

Bet Audi wouldnt have rusted. I kidding!

This is common even without spacers. No biggie.

[MonteCarloM3]

Originally Posted by Malekreza11

You are not supposed to apply anti-seize to spacer's. It will cause an unwanted vibration.

Of all the spacers I have used however, the H&R and Rogue Engineering have been the best. They have the least problems with zero vibration.

who said anything about vibration problems?
the spacers work just fine, the issue is rust.
the key is anti-seize, and it will NOT cause vibration problems.

[Daft]

Good thing I read this post now. I'm about to put my winter wheels on (black painted ZCP wheels) and install the MS spacers with them. I'm now looking at rust inhibitors. Thinking about this product: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en
But there's so many other products I could use. See: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows...Penetrants.jsp
I'm also considering the PB Blaster and 3-1 White Lithium greece. The spacers need to come off every season as they won't be used with my summer HRE wheels. Suggestions? I'd prefer to shop from CrappyTire

[chris s]

Originally Posted by Malekreza11

You are not supposed to apply anti-seize to spacer's. It will cause an unwanted vibration.

Of all the spacers I have used however, the H&R and Rogue Engineering have been the best. They have the least problems with zero vibration.

There's not a single spacer maker/vendor that will tell you NOT to use Anti-Seize.

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by MonteCarloM3

ever seen this before? new car, about 6 months now
changing over to winters now and when i tried to take off the spacers...no dice!
had to heat those suckers up with a propane torch to expand the aluminum and lookie what i find.
how can rust develop that quickly! sheesh. using anti-seize from now on with every thing i change! even the wheel bolts are coated now.
just a warning to all those putting on spacers, buy some anti-seize and use it liberally.

What you are seeing is surface rust from the hubs (spacers are T6 Aluminum), which can be wiped off the spacer. Prepping the surface with a wirebrush and a small amount of spray paint will prevent this from happening in the future.

Here's a DIY on the spacers, which show anti-sieze being installed as well.

▀▄ eas | Macht Schnell Competition Wheel Spacer DIY Instructions
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=272915

FYI, even the example in the DIY had a small amount of surface rust - even for a SoCal M3. It's rare to see M3s (much less any BMW) without any at all.

[MonteCarloM3]

Originally Posted by Daft

Good thing I read this post now. I'm about to put my winter wheels on (black painted ZCP wheels) and install the MS spacers with them. I'm now looking at rust inhibitors. Thinking about this product: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows....jsp?locale=en
But there's so many other products I could use. See: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows...Penetrants.jsp
I'm also considering the PB Blaster and 3-1 White Lithium greece. The spacers need to come off every season as they won't be used with my summer HRE wheels. Suggestions? I'd prefer to shop from CrappyTire

picked up this at crappy tire the other day. it's a thick copper-coloured paste. i put it onto the wheel hubs and bolts now, should work well from what i've heard. make sure you put this on liberally with the MS spacers otherwise you will be in nightmare land taking them off just like me.

just finished getting the rear wheel spacers off this morning, whew, what a job. i really had to heat those suckers up with a torch really hot and then they came off with a hammer and screwdriver. chamfered my ass, i'd like to chamfer the guy who markets the MS as easy to remove.

i noticed the MS spacers do not have an indent to allow a screwdriver to pry it out on the 12mm size, but the 15mm sure did.

The "chamfered" edge on the 12mm MS spacers. Not as nice as the TMS spacer design.


Nicked-up 15mm spacer after removal.


I'm going with turner morotorsport next spring, those have a nice design for prying them off and since these MS spacers are a little nicked-up i want a new set. I may clean and re-use the MS ones however, haven't decided yet, i'll just be sure to use a LOT of anti-seize.
TurnerMotorsport Spacers look nice !

anyone want a set of 12 and 15mm spacers? slightly used

[Daft]

Originally Posted by MonteCarloM3

picked up this at crappy tire the other day. it's a thick copper-coloured paste. i put it onto the wheel hubs and bolts now, should work well from what i've heard. make sure you put this on liberally with the MS spacers otherwise you will be in nightmare land taking them off just like me.

just finished getting the rear wheel spacers off this morning, whew, what a job. i really had to heat those suckers up with a torch really hot and then they came off with a hammer and screwdriver. chamfered my ass, i'd like to chamfer the guy who markets the MS as easy to remove.

i noticed the MS spacers do not have an indent to allow a screwdriver to pry it out on the 12mm size, but the 15mm sure did.

The "chamfered" edge on the 12mm MS spacers. Not as nice as the TMS spacer design.


Nicked-up 15mm spacer after removal.


I'm going with turner morotorsport next spring, those have a nice design for prying them off and since these MS spacers are a little nicked-up i want a new set. I may clean and re-use the MS ones however, haven't decided yet, i'll just be sure to use a LOT of anti-seize.
TurnerMotorsport Spacers look nice !

anyone want a set of 12 and 15mm spacers? slightly used

Well shit I just ordered a set of the 12 and 15mm MS spacers. They are still in shipping transit! I will grease these suckers up real good prior to install and hopefully they won't give me problems coming off spring time.

[M3_WC]

Nothing new. Hubs rust and all spaces can be bitch to get off at times.

[ring007]

they all do that. apply a VERY light coating of grease on the spacers and they will slide right off. Without you might never get them off....trust me

[dvpouldar26]

Always clean the scalings on your hubs with a wire brush and apply some anti-sieze before installing spacers. It'll save time when you want to remove them too. Anti-seize doesnt cause vibrations. A non-hubcebtric ring for a larger spacer, or uneven torquing of the lugs, will though.

[quality_sound]

Next time use some liquid wrench instead of a screwdriver and you need to remove the grease from your lug bolts. If you put anti-seize on lug bolts you can't torque them correctly. Sure, they won't rust but they'll be overtorqued.

[aus]

Originally Posted by montreal red

i dont use spacers but my hubs rust like mad too. i sanded the hub down, cleaned everything up then use spray paint to paint the hub to get rid of the rust. the paint has been holding up so far.

Originally Posted by kitw

dissimilar metal corrosion, from Al + steel together.

A little coating of white lithium grease will prevent this in the future.

You can use a paste or a spray on:
http://www.kpg-industrial.com/produc..._lithium_lube/

I did both of these in back. The rears have the iron brake drums, so there's gong to be rust. A little engine paint after some sanding followed with Lithium grease.

[tha_good_life]

My hub looked worse than yours. I also had a hard time taking of my MS spacers. I end up selling it and getting the new MS with the easy removal. Crossing my fingers they will work!

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by Daft

Well shit I just ordered a set of the 12 and 15mm MS spacers. They are still in shipping transit! I will grease these suckers up real good prior to install and hopefully they won't give me problems coming off spring time.

No need to worry, all current MS spacers have relief chamfers for easy removal:

[elh0102]

A big dead blow hammer will get'em off every time! When you wash your car, the hub and rotor will rust before you can dry the car, so 6 months is a long time. I would urge caution with the anti-seize. It migrates like crazy and will find its way to unwanted places.