pros/cons wheel spacers

[freezey]

Hey so I read/hear mixed things on spacers. I haven't used them before so wondering from people with experience.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by freezey

Hey so I read/hear mixed things on spacers. I haven't used them before so wondering from people with experience.

If you bought wheels with wrong (too large) offsets, or have wider tires rubbing on inside and need more clearance, spacers are the answer.

Otherwise, they are a PITA for swapping wheels in and out.

Especially if you swap out between wheels that require spacers, and wheels that don't need them: you have to wedge them off the hubs (they always stick - you antiseize), or put them back on. At the very least, you will need to align spacers holes with those of the wheels and hubs. Then you may need longer lug bolts as well, so now you have to remember which bolts go with what wheels and spacers.

But if that's the only way to make a set of wheels and tires work for your car, it's certainly less painful then not having any wheels at all !

a

[Oakleyguy]

PRO:
Improves look
Theoretical improvement in handling

CON:
Rocks And Gravel.

[dmk08]

I had a horrible experience w/ spacers on my e90. I hated them and could always feel the vibratoin. H&R. I heard similar stories w/ them.

I put MS 15/12 on my car last weekend and frankly I cant even really feel them. The HUB rings on this car are huge and make it really easy to install. 10 mins per wheel. Car looks vastly better.

[MaynardZed]

Very minor inconvenience when using wheel bolts, might add 10 more seconds per wheel. No difference at all if using wheel studs like in my track car. Just get good quality spacers and stay away from 5-10mm spacers that use the cars hub. 3mm too thin to matter and 12mm+ have its own hub.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by Oakleyguy

PRO:
Theoretical improvement in handling

I would even question that. I would say spacers theoretically make handling worse (if they alter the OEM wheel offset). Most drivers will not see the difference at "public road" speeds though.

BMW designed the suspension around a given wheel offset. Changing that offset will alter how the suspension behaves as it changes the lever arm length of the wheel/tire relative to the springs and dampers.

Further, on the front wheels, spacers also alter the required ackerman angle in the steering as it is turned.

On my E92, I installed 12mm front spacers to improve the looks. I was running -2.8 front camber, so the wheels really looked pushed inward. I really disliked what the spacers did to sterring feel where a lot of feedback was lost. Eventually took out the spacers.