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[anidjare]

Since it has been discovered and extensively discussed, that 10mm and 12mm spacers can crack due to the height of the ring on the actual wheel hub, I was wondering what other options e90/e92 owners have for spacers shorter than the 12.75 mm hub.

With that said, my question is can we use a spacer that is say 5-8mm wide that has no hubcentric ring at all, with only the ring on the car's hub poking thru?

that way the height never comes into play and the car's own hub still supports the rim.

By the way, I have 12mm RE spacers that are brand new and never mounted if anyone is lookin for these.

[HRC]

5mm spacers offer no hubcentric ring, as it uses the hubs.


Danny

[anidjare]

so these are safe?

[2323]

My shop already calculated that 5mm flat spacer is about the max you can go without any hub centric ring.. But his calculation is based on my car E90 320i.. Not sure about E92... Basically you can measure it your self.. as long as the wheel can still hang into the original hub ring, it should be OK... but each wheel (aftermarket) has different bevelled angle on the face of hub hole.. This what even 1mm makes a difference...

FYI, I use 10mm H&R spacer on my rear.. and I have to grind a little bit of my original hub ring to make some clearance...

[anidjare]

Originally Posted by 2323

FYI, I use 10mm H&R spacer on my rear.. and I have to grind a little bit of my original hub ring to make some clearance...

See, thats the weird thing, when I mounted my rims, I put one of the 12mm spacers on the hub to see if it sat flush, and it did. So I figured it would be ok, but then I thought, why take a chance.

Could it be that the hubring on the e92 is shorter than the e90? If so, maybe my 12mm spacers will fit?

[Chesmu]

I've got 18mm RE on the rear...sit flush. No problems. How much space is there between the wheel and the edge of the wheel well on the e92?

[ALTWheelsE90]

Anytime you use spacers larger than 3 - 5 mm, you should always make sure that they are hubcentric, both to the backside of the wheel and to the car. That way you wont have to use a hub centric ring. Makes the fitment a lot better. You can get them custom made or you can use the ones from H&R or Eibach since they are usually hubcentric because they often make several sizes for a lot european vehicles.

[Getagrip]

Originally Posted by anidjare

See, thats the weird thing, when I mounted my rims, I put one of the 12mm spacers on the hub to see if it sat flush, and it did. So I figured it would be ok, but then I thought, why take a chance.

Could it be that the hubring on the e92 is shorter than the e90? If so, maybe my 12mm spacers will fit?

The hub contour height may be different on the E92. Just measure it. I did make a mention in one of my posts for members to measure their hub contours and post the results. I measured mine and posted them, but that is based on my E90xi. Others could be different.

[purity]

Originally Posted by anidjare

Since it has been discovered and extensively discussed, that 10mm and 12mm spacers can crack due to the height of the ring on the actual wheel hub, I was wondering what other options e90/e92 owners have for spacers shorter than the 12.75 mm hub.

With that said, my question is can we use a spacer that is say 5-8mm wide that has no hubcentric ring at all, with only the ring on the car's hub poking thru?

that way the height never comes into play and the car's own hub still supports the rim.

By the way, I have 12mm RE spacers that are brand new and never mounted if anyone is lookin for these.

Hi Anidjare,
Nice E92.

Regarding spacer,
I use custome made 3,5mm spacer and my M5 Replica wheel is 100% still hubcentric.
But with the same 3,5mm spacer my original style 160 factory is not "sit" fully,if you know what I mean.
That is because the chamfered part (do I spell it right),of the wheel is not the same on aftermarket and OEM wheel.I am sure it also differ between different aftermarket wheel.

So the best way to make sure it is safe is,Try mount your 12mm spacer and the wheel you gonna use and tighten them up like you are going to mount them permanently,

But the trick is to do not install the center BMW cap cover logo on the wheel,so you can measure it.

and then use measuring device ( I use digital caliper) to measure how much is the gap now between the car hubcentric axle and the wheel (the part where it suppose to sit on the hubcentric ring).So you now then what is the maximum spacer (withouth hubcentric ring) that you can use.

Because everyone have different wheel,so what work for other might not work for you.
That is how I come out with my 3,5mm spacer size.

The other way, is to mount your wheel without spacer,and again measure the distance the hubcentric ring from the spacer extend from the part of the wheel that sit on it.again not center BMW cap cover.

Good luck

[purity]

Originally Posted by anidjare

See, thats the weird thing, when I mounted my rims, I put one of the 12mm spacers on the hub to see if it sat flush, and it did. So I figured it would be ok, but then I thought, why take a chance.

Could it be that the hubring on the e92 is shorter than the e90? If so, maybe my 12mm spacers will fit?

Again everybody have different car spec (Xi or maybe different country version,),so if the 12mm spacer is flush,then
it is 100% safe.
I would rather believe my own eye then what other people think or said but is not proven. right?
So if my (in this case) your eye,surely see and (fell with your hand) that it is flush with no gap,then it is fine.

I am sure your car would look even better with those 12mm spacer

Oh,one thing is please do not forget to get 12mm longer bolts... (or do your spacer come with the bolts?)
If they do come,please measure it and make sure they are at least 10mm or more longer then your original OEM bolts.

[Vinobien]

I just removed the 10mm spacers from the rear of my e92 and put the wheels back on. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! The difference between 33et and 43et is significant. The 33et on 9.5" wheels pushed them out to just inside the upper fender about 1/8 to 1/4". The 43et looks more like stock.

Other finding - as posted on this website many times - the Rogue 10mm spacer should not be installed on the e90, and now confirmed, e92 cars.

The rear hub contour height is greater than 11.5 mm and therefore per Rogue their 10mm spacer cannot be used. Measurement with a ruler (no dial caliper present) is about 12.5 mm. I personally inspected the spacer on the hub and confirmed that the inner machined lip of the spacer hits the wheel hub contour ring and prevents the flat spacer back from resting againsts the wheel hub. This will not be noticeable during installation - the installer thought the back part was hitting the hub, but it was the wheel's ring hitting the inside of the spacer.

I am going to have 2mm grinded off of the wheel hub contour ring so that the spacer can sit flat and take the load rather than the inner part of the concentric ring part of the spacer. This has been recommended on this forum. I don't thing this will be a design issue since 5 mm spacers are installed over the ring therby shortening the effective length. Anyone have a different opinion?

Finally, 10mm removed from the offset sounds like a little but is a lot. And if you are running 10mm spacers form HR or Rogue on an e92, you are likely to have issues with cracks and vibration.

[MacAttack]

Thx Vin. Good info. Been surfing around for a while ref spacers. Not even sure if it's worth getting.

Clarification on your post above....you state there's a difference. Difference in performance or looks? If in performance, how so? Thx in advance.

[Vinobien]

Looks! Performance - Not noticeable in every day driving.

[MacAttack]

Thx brother. I'll wait for a while before I delve into buying/installing spacers. I like it the way it is...for now.

[Joe Bimmer]

I can't wrap my head around this "hub contour height" & spacer issue. All I know is that my RE 12mm spacers fit on my hub and appear to be flush against the hub face, and my BBS wheels fit onto the spacer's chamfered edge, once again, what *appears* to be a solid, flush fit. I torqued the lug bolts, and ran it up to 100+ mph without vibrations.

:edit: I just read Purity's posts above, and now it makes a LOT more sense. I may take one wheel off, pop off a centercap, and reinstall to check it out. Cheers!

[Vinobien]

not sure about the 12mm spacers. The spacers can look like thier flush but their not. Personally, it doesnt matter to me if you keep them on. Not sure if it is an issue with the 325 at all.

[Getagrip]

One way for sure to verify if a spacer is right for your particular car model/region whatever is to actaully measure your hub contour height and follow the recommendation of the spacer manufacturer. They have already done the R&D, so heed their advise.

On another note. I plan on purchacing 12mm RE spacer and grind the necessary amount off the hub contour. For the people that have already done this, did you have someone (shop) do this for you or did you perform this procedure yourself? And if done yourself, how so.