[themanthatcan]

Hey guys,

I fitted my spacers this evening, 12mm front and 15mm rear with standard 19" MV4s. The fronts seem fine but I appear to be getting arch rub on the rear when cornering, not even heavy cornering, just typical turning off a roundabout for example.

I thought this was recognised as the defacto spacer setup that people went for with standard wheels and suspension? Or have I got it wrong?!

Cheers,
Andy

[AlanYoro35i]

what tyres sizeare you running?

[themanthatcan]

The standard 225/35/19 front and 255/30/19 rear Bridgestone run flats.

[dy63]

i think spacers is such a big 50/50 topic. i put them on my e90 no mods. MV3 with 2254018 and 255 18 on back aswell. put 15mm on back and rubbed all the time where as some other guys run the same and dont get rub at all!

[Sparky68]

You might have a knackered shock or spring. Be worth checking as gentle cornering should not really give you an issue. Mine is lowered a lot and with 20mm spacers on the back and get no rubbing at all.

[borinous]

will also depend on how much camber you have set?

....also different tyres (athough they are the same profiles) do have slightly different shoulder profiles.

[richk84]

ive been running 12mm all round for a while now, 313s (same offsets as mv4s) with up-sized tyres. When i did my research that was considered the best, also keeps the front and rear track the same

[themanthatcan]

Well I've just driven into work and the worst of the rubbing seems to be on the right-rear, usually when that side is loaded up while I'm turning left. It must be only just catching on the liner as there's no sign of marks on the tyre.

I'm wondering if I might just follow Rich's suggestion and go 12mm on the rear. The 15mms do look awesome though:

[borinous]

if your springs are alright it could be a shot shock? not giving enough damping so there is more suspension travel?

could be play in the bushes? turning left will load up the Tyre so that it will push the bottom of the wheel in towards the car therefore pulling the top out towards the arch. if there is play in your rear suspension bushes this movement will be magnified.

Hence also why the amount of camber you have will affect it compared to others peoples cars. others may have the same play but more camber therefore more space between tyre and arch before turning and loading on that suspension area

[themanthatcan]

It had a full service and vehicle check at BMW only a month ago and I'd have thought they would have noticed that kind of thing, but it might be worth getting it double-checked as the car has done 56k miles now.

[borinous]

depends to what tolerance they check things...you can get through a MOT with advisory of worn bushes. they may well be perfectly fine but there will be movement built into the suspension geometry it could never be 100% rigid for a road car the NVH would be horrendous. If you have a lower negative camber say -1deg coupled with the natural lateral movement of the wheel turning cornering it causing it to touch slightly.

Does it rub when going in a straight line?

IIRC the drivers side sits ever so slightly lower than the passenger by design (basically corner weighted to left hand drive but never reversed for the UK market)

[themanthatcan]

Ok cheers bud, I'll get it booked in for a geometry check. Can the rear camber be adjusted on these cars?

It does rub in a straight line but only when going over a speed bump or a decent-sized bump/pothole in the road.

[borinous]

no worries im by no means an expert on BM's but im going on what ive learnt since owning one and reading up on the forums. Hope you do get it sorted as 15mm on rear does look good

[Phil325i]

If you remove the wheel you'll see it's probably rubbing on the liner and the rear quadrant of the wheel arch. The arch rubbing can be cured by having it rolled, but I haven't found any way to sort the liner rubbing (other than removing the liner, which I wouldn't want to do). 12 mm spacers will probably cure it.

[Jase 320d]

Strange

Im running 20's on the rear and 15's on the front

But using mv3 18" spec wheels and tyre sizes

Also on the saloon version

[themanthatcan]

Originally Posted by Jase 320d

Strange

Im running 20's on the rear and 15's on the front

But using mv3 18" spec wheels and tyre sizes

Also on the saloon version

Is your car an MSport or SE buddy, because the MSports (and SE 335i/d) run lower suspension?

[Jase 320d]

Was on se now running msport springs

My alloys are aftermarket but have same widths and offsets as bmw mv3 18" alloys

The 19" mv4 wheels may be wider so thats maybe where your getting the extra width from








The rear camber is also adjustable so your maybe running too much positive camber. Try a 4 wheel alignment

[themanthatcan]

Well I've fitted 12mm spacers to the rear to see if that helps and I'm now only getting the slightest bit of rub on the right-hand side when taking a left-hand turn and hitting a big bump in the road, that's with a full tank of fuel.

Thankfully the wheels still fill the arches nicely, in fact I'd say it looks better with the 12mm than it did with with 15mm.

What I can't believe is how much bringing the wheels out ever so slightly has improved the handling of the car! It now feels much more planted and flat around corners, it's a dream to drive!

[RajB]

Spacers are a tricky one to get right. They will always help handling as you've just widened the track even if it does appear to be quite negligible.

Saloons I'm under the impression have a slightly bigger arch hence can run slightly wider spacers etc (but not 100% sure on that but just seems to ring true from somewhere).

Looks spot on either way and hopefully the slight rubbing you're still getting can be sorted.

[Theador]

I think Pre LCi have narrower axle and can run wider spacers than LCI cars. I say I think, I don't know. I just remember reading something like that somewhere.

[mjn77]

8mm on each side on the LCI E90.

[AWSAWS]

Very hit and miss. Some rub, some don't.
As suggested may be camber of the wheel, bad shock, spring or bushing. I got some rubbing with a 15mm spacer on my near side rear wheel.
Just had to roll my arches with some after market alloys as well. All the different tyres can vary in size as well. Some 255s being more like 265s.