spacers on the front?

[kusee pee]

I want to push the front wheels out on my E36 Evo saloon as they just look too inside the arches for my liking. Am I being ridiculous considering putting some small spacers on the front? Anyone else done it?

[ASBO]

kusee pee said:

I want to push the front wheels out on my E36 Evo saloon as they just look too inside the arches for my liking. Am I being ridiculous considering putting some small spacers on the front? Anyone else done it?

It's actaully quite a common practice in the track fraternity as coilover kits are notoriously obstructive, meaning that you have to fit spacers to avoid the wheel fouling the strut.

As above, you will need longer studs and most importantly, good quality hub-centric spacers. The last bit is important, any old vaguely circular bit of steel will not do. You need proper TUV certified hub-centrric spacers. Porsche have been using these for years, so it isn't necessarily a bad thing to do, just make sure you do it properly.

Having said that, you will also need to increase the rear track to compensate and then have the car geometry realigned to suit. Simply sticking on a set of fronts will have an adverse effect on the handling balance of your car.

Any wheel specialist or suspension guru who knows his onions will be able to lead you in the right direction.

HTH

[scz4]

ASBO said:

It's actaully quite a common practice in the track fraternity as coilover kits are notoriously obstructive, meaning that you have to fit spacers to avoid the wheel fouling the strut.

As you know I'll be fitting my Eibach coilover kit, my understanding is you only require spacers if your winding down to lower it by 40mm+. Is this correct?

Graeme

Edited by scz4 on Thursday 26th June 08:05

[dan101smith]

Was talking about spacers to Roy at CA Automotive, he commented that he's never seen an E36 on coilovers that hasn't required spacers.

Word of warning though - make sure you buy decent ones! I've got spacers on the front of my M3, and on a track day a month or so ago the spigot ring sheered off the front passenger spacer, the wheel nuts flew out under the resulting load and I lost a wheel at 100mph on the back straight.

Now replaced with Eibach 10mm spacers and new bolts - you have to swap to extended nuts.

[kusee pee]

Cheers guys, think I'll go for it and use quality spacers. Thanks.

[clabcon]

So if you have 10mm hubcentric eibach or h and r spacers on the front would you need to put a set of 10mm spacers on the back to improve handling too? Also where would one get locking wheel bolts that are 10mm longer..

[dan101smith]

If you're only using 10mm spacers then I wouldn't bother putting them on the rear as well - I don't think it's a big enough difference to warrant it.

You can get extended locking nuts, typically from the same place that you get the spacers from.

[ASBO]

dan101smith said:

Was talking about spacers to Roy at CA Automotive, he commented that he's never seen an E36 on coilovers that hasn't required spacers.

Well I'm running AC Schnitzer race coilovers and I don't need spacers (standard rims). However, I'm inclined to think that this is down to the amount of castor and camber that's been dialled in .

It's also worth mentioning that IIRC Eibach and Bilstein will supply a cone shapped spring which often mitigates the need for spacers should you be experiencing clearance problems.

Oh, and one last thing, I would also reccomend you get the Geo re-set after fitting spacers.

[m12_nathan]

No need for a geo reset when fitting 10mm spacers on the front, no need for rear spacers either - this set up should reduce understeer a bit.

[french]

AS above 10mm does'nt warrant throwing money away on a geo set up & as rightly pointed out running this way WILL reduce the understeer

[kusee pee]

Thanks guys - 10mm would be all I need so I'll go for it and see how it handles before deciding what next. Reducing understeer and improving turn-in would be great.

[clabcon]

what do you do though if your camber on one side is 0.2 degrees more negative that the other side on the front? lower the coilover on the other side to make it more negative?

Also with regards to geometry line up where do you recommend I go, I have heard so many things about putting weights in the car and having a full tank or fuel but is this required on a lowered car? Finally are the angles of camber / toe etc. valid as the distance between the bottom of the rim and wheel arches have changed?

[ASBO]

clabcon said:

what do you do though if your camber on one side is 0.2 degrees more negative that the other side on the front? lower the coilover on the other side to make it more negative?

Also with regards to geometry line up where do you recommend I go, I have heard so many things about putting weights in the car and having a full tank or fuel but is this required on a lowered car? Finally are the angles of camber / toe etc. valid as the distance between the bottom of the rim and wheel arches have changed?

Bottom line: get the geometery done. These cars are now pushing 10 years old. Most will have seen no more than Kwick Fit's laser monkey. Therefore it is adviseable to get the Geo re-done properly either at BMW or at an independant with a KDS machine. Trust me, it's worth it.

[m12_nathan]

clabcon said:

what do you do though if your camber on one side is 0.2 degrees more negative that the other side on the front? lower the coilover on the other side to make it more negative?

Also with regards to geometry line up where do you recommend I go, I have heard so many things about putting weights in the car and having a full tank or fuel but is this required on a lowered car? Finally are the angles of camber / toe etc. valid as the distance between the bottom of the rim and wheel arches have changed?

Simpson Motorsport.

And you don't measure camber and toe using the bodywork!