Originally Posted by Lotus99

Now I see why you prefer studs to bolts, with all the wheel swapping you like to do!

Question: I had read on Turner's site that they don't recommend 10mm or less spacers on our cars, for different reasons. I see you've got 5mm spacers on the front. You don't have any issues with it? Is their advice just a cover their butt thing or is it really a concern?

This is what they say about spacers:

A note about 10mm spacers: Any 10mm spacer is considered a custom fitment. The stock hubcentric lip on BMWs can stick out by as much as 11mm. A 10mm spacer will bottom-out and leave a gap between the spacer and the hub which seriously compromises safety. The best way around this is using a larger spacer (12mm and larger do not have this issue) or check that the lip sticks out less than 10mm. In some cases you can modify the hub lip to get the 10mm spacer to fully seat on the hub.

5mm spacer note: a 5mm spacer sits on the existing hub lip but leaves less than 5mm of lip for the wheel to rest on. Therefore, wheels that have a bevel around the center bore will not engage the hub lip and may result in a vibration.

Originally Posted by Booyaazaa

Running a 5mm spacer up front is fine as long as your wheels are not beveled a lot on the inner face that meets the hub. If you are concerned then get the VAC hub extenders, BMW Wheel Hub Extender Set, 72.5mm. This is what I use with the VAC 8mm spacers up front on my ride.

Originally Posted by Lotus99

Thanks. I came across one of those Hub extenders on Turner's site too. Now I understand how they work. Are most BMW wheels got beveled edges or not? How about aftermarket ones? My winter wheels are cheapo Sport Editions from Tire Rack and they have a hubcentric ring in them too as they aren't 72.6mm hub diameter inside...

Originally Posted by ucsbwsr

I am quite the rebel when it comes to E61 fitment, wheel companies and vendors tell me "that won't fit" like it's going out of style. I love the challenge, I love the calculations, I love proving them wrong, but more than anything I love proper fitment.

Last winter when I was living in Oakland the abrasive highways really took a toll on my wheels and one of my rears is flatted/torqued beyond repair. I was aware that my wagon took some harsh blows while driving but was hoping the "flow-formed" construction would of held up better but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Instead of buying a single replacement 19x10 rear, I implemented my "don't just replace... upgrade!" technique I often use on my car.

Forgestar now offers 19x9.5, x10, x11, and x12 in SDCs, when I placed my original order 19x11 wasn't an option, now that it is I will be replacing my 19x10 rears with 19x11s. I spent yesterday remeasuring my current offsets and running the rear with different spacer configurations to get some real-world driving experience with possibly offsets.

Shortly after ordering my original 19x9.5 and 19x10 wheels I upgraded my brakes to the oem M5 system with M5 rear hubs which lower the offsets by ~20-22mm. My bespoke offset wheel I just ordered will now require a 20mm spacer lol
But this did allow me to complete some useful testing while running my rears without the spacers to check inner liner/body clearance.

The results are: its TIGHT. With the wheels unweighted the inner wheel lip and tire actually press into the wheel liner as the lug nuts are tightened and there is friction as the wheels is spun while mounted (in the air). I also intentionally lowered my rear air suspension via INPA to increase the likelihood of components contacting each other. When the car is dropped the camber saves the day and creates maybe 8-10mm of clearance. Driving around town and on the highway (intentionally driving aggressively over everything rough) I could not notice any additional rubbing, under large compressions my current setup rubs slightly but forces this large occur very rarely and rubs occur less than 5% of the time while driving.

When the rear wheels were removed there was some slight marks there the tire contacted the inner liner under full compression and also some marks on the panel which covers the box for the brake pad wear sensors. Nothing that was overly concerning since it was all plastic and would wear down over time. There is a little bit of cushion before the any serious contact would happen, I am not sure if wheel-body contact is even possible and if it is it would only be under a really gnarly impact where everything is bottomed and shit is hitting the fan. So I used the 19x10 w/out spacer as my medial reference.

I then threw the 20mm spacer back on and added a 3mm, I couldn't swing it with my current setup but I have a 275/35 on the 19x10 but on my 19x11s I will run the same tire so stretch should be juuuuuuust enough to clear the fender and bumper when compressing. Anyway with my friend Online Wheel and Tyre Fitment Calculator. Offset, Tyre Stretch and Speedo Error | Will They Fit and a lot of Type-A measurements and calculations I placed my order with Forgestar this morning. As traction is not an issue for me in FBO trim with xi, I did this purely as an aesthetic modification. I had aspirations to upgrade tires to 45 up front and 40 in the rear but unfortunately I just don't think there is room for the added meat.

Since I freshened up with my measurements, here are my current specs:

19x9.5 et24 + 5mm = et19 245/40/19
19x10 et24 + 20mm= et 4 275/35/19

Soon to be:
19x11 et12 275/35/19

Evan

Current fitment for reference, 19x11s will bee the business!!!


20mm spacer removed, 19x10 et25 M5 hubs


19x10 et4 (current)


19x10 et1


et4


et1

Originally Posted by speedconcept2.5

I've got 295/30 R19 on a 9.5inch rim with 20 offset on the back with no rubbing whatsoever
On the front I've got 245/35 R19 on 8.5inch rim offset is 15 and it only rubs on full lock.
I'm on a completely stock suspension though, not lowered in any manner...

Originally Posted by speedconcept2.5

I've got 295/30 R19 on a 9.5inch rim with 20 offset on the back with no rubbing whatsoever
On the front I've got 245/35 R19 on 8.5inch rim offset is 15 and it only rubs on full lock.
I'm on a completely stock suspension though, not lowered in any manner...

Originally Posted by speedconcept2.5

I've got 295/30 R19 on a 9.5inch rim with 20 offset on the back with no rubbing whatsoever
On the front I've got 245/35 R19 on 8.5inch rim offset is 15 and it only rubs on full lock.
I'm on a completely stock suspension though, not lowered in any manner...

Originally Posted by Island Road

haha 19x11 SDC! Thats going to look amazing for sure, although I more about the meaty tire look. I think I will be sticking with my 19x10 in the rear.

What are you doing about spacers? I am really not liking the look of mine how the spacer does not extend outwards to the edge of the hub so it looks like you have a gap. DO you know of a company that makes larger spacers that correct this?

Good to know! Right now i am 275 on RS3 in the rear looking to go wider next time around. I would love some 305.

Originally Posted by biz77

Is this on a completely stock front fender? Can you take some pictures with the front wheels completely straight from top looking down and front of car looking straight back. I want to get an idea how much an ET20 will stick out in the front on an Xi.

Originally Posted by ucsbwsr

As my signature states I am on M5 fenders. I also don't find those vertical shots very helpful as the perspective is tricky to compute mentally, those shots are only good for kids with hella poke what want to get their fresh Nikes in frame. I can confirm that the shots of the front wheels in this thread accurately portray the fitment. If you really want some shots I can take some, wheels are flush with the fender, if anything they may stick out 1mm.

Evan

Originally Posted by biz77

Sorry, not yours. Speedconcept2.5 seems to be running ET15s up front on stock fenders.