Wheel spacers and offsets query.

[Gouki]

got a coupla questions whats the purpose of a wheel spacer?

trying to find alloy wheels which would fit a BMW E30 shape but there aren't many available with the offset at 15mm if I'm not mistaken so what do I do in terms of finding them? Is that what a wheel spacer is for?

Cheers.

[Jos]

ET is the distance in millimetres from the centre line of the wheel to the surface of it's mounting face. It's not the most simple aspect of wheel fitment to get your head around but basically the smaller the offset, the further out of your arch the wheels will sit. The higher the offset, the further into the arch the wheel will sit.

Adding a spacer decreases ET Offset, e30 offset is about ET+15 to ET+25 I think, I would have though most rims would be avail in ET25 or so.

Try to avoid using spacers as it isn't as strong as mounting the rim directly to the hub.

[Gouki]

so effectively I could get a wheel with say 40mm offset and still be able to fit it on the car if i wanted without any probs or hassles?

[nav786]

a too high offset lik 40 would cause major probs. on the front they would rub against suspension, and they would rub at rear too. they probably wont even mount. and would just look silly as they will sit too far in. they could work with spacers as spacer lower the offset, but as above try avoiding them. et15 to 25 is good.

[Ziggy]

so effectively I could get a wheel with say 40mm offset and still be able to fit it on the car if i wanted without any probs or hassles?

You could fit it (depending on width obviously), but you'd probably need about a 15mm spacer, & if you didn't go for a decent hub-centric type, that would very likely lead to probs and hassles!

Bear in mind when looking for wheels, that the size of the centre-bore does matter... & if spacers are needed they'll have to match the two.

[glenn]

also if you get too big a spacer, your gona leave yourself with not enough
thread left on the wheel bolt

[Jhonno]

i had et 46 e36 rims on my e30 with 9mm spacers - non hubcentric etc just cheap ones with longer wheel bolts done up properly.. ie in diagonals and with tapered wheel bolts and did a few thousand k with no probs at all - alot of m/way and roundabout driving

you need a minimum of et37 with a 7.5" rim to clear the strut

[Simon13]

ideal e30 is 15inch bbs at et24
alpinas 16 inch real mcCoy are et28

my advice is et20 to et30 alot depends on width of rim as over 7.5 inch wide on the front rubs and 8 inch rear rubs if not in the correct offset. Then u are into spacer/ rolling arches and that world of shite

[astondg]

I have been using the proper spacers (that bolt to the hub and then have studs for the wheel) for about a year now including probably 10 dirt racing events, 10 track days, and normal road driving and I haven't had a problem. I think my wheels are around ET40 - 45 and the spacers are about 20mm. The wheels fit without needing one of those rings to centre it and it is easier to change wheels with the studs instead of the bolts. With those spacers they really become part of the hub so they shouldn't really cause any problems. Note though that the wheels you get will have to have holes or indents in between each bolt hole to fit the spacer bolts in, see this picture and look in between each bolt on the wheel: http://www.members.westnet.com.au/aston ... RHSide.jpg

I wouldn't use the other type of spacers though.

I think the 15" BBS are going to look as good as most wheels anyway so if you can get them that would be the best option. I wanted 16" wheels so I had a better choice of high performance and semi race tyres and the wheels I got a light to decrease unsprung weight. I also couldn't find any other wheels with the right size and offset in the time I had to get them.

Aston

[Gouki]

made up my mind about it, cheers for that reason i was asking is because all 4 tyres on my car need replacing, there 17" alloys and as I understand spacers have been fitted to the hub as the offset i think is about 35mm on the wheels. So was deciding whether to get a new set of wheels with tyres or just change all four, but thats help thanx very much guys.