BMS 12mm Spacers Installed!

[josec70]

Originally Posted by M5_Brandoe

I'm curious. I see everyone has mixed feelings on spacers. How's your ride with them ? Any shaking above 80mph ?


I didn't have any issues, feels stock with a more aggressive look. I had my wheels rebalanced with the spacers, so maybe that's what people are not doing.

To me it's about feedback.

Spacers are a personal choice and greatly depends how sensitive each person is to steering feedback so don't look too into my comments. IMO spacers dampen steering feedback by creating a buffer from the wheel to axle. This is not always obvious when driving on spacers but I felt a huge difference when I went to my custom wheel setup in this regard.

Again, this is my experience so to each their own.

[JMD]

Originally Posted by M5_Brandoe

Yea hwy speeds will tell you everything. Looking good !!!!

Well, I was able to get 'er up to,...well over,....lets 70mph today on I-95,....and then some and there were zero steering issues.

Man! This car is so freak'n easy to drive 'fassssst',...make no mistake about that.

In parting, here's one thing I think I did notice when taking a long sweeping right-hand on-ramp this morning was that it seems like the swaybars were 'pushing back harder'! The suspension and steering were set to 'Sport'!

All-the-same, I'm quite happy with the setup!

Hth

[carrera2RSL]

Originally Posted by josec70

To me it's about feedback.

Spacers are a personal choice and greatly depends how sensitive each person is to steering feedback so don't look too into my comments. IMO spacers dampen steering feedback by creating a buffer from the wheel to axle. This is not always obvious when driving on spacers but I felt a huge difference when I went to my custom wheel setup in this regard.

Again, this is my experience so to each their own.

I can definitely feel differences between offsets and given the whole geometry you will. I can feel a difference between 12/12 and 12/10. I'm sure there are differences in feel running the same offset the same tyre and a wider rim, particularly on turn in as the contact patch builds slip angle. Are you sure your not feeling the different offset and the better tyre control as I suspect the tyres will be smaller than the BMW min fitment choice

[josec70]

Originally Posted by carrera2RSL

I can definitely feel differences between offsets and given the whole geometry you will. I can feel a difference between 12/12 and 12/10. I'm sure there are differences in feel running the same offset the same tyre and a wider rim, particularly on turn in as the contact patch builds slip angle. Are you sure your not feeling the different offset and the better tyre control as I suspect the tyres will be smaller than the BMW min fitment choice

These are valid points but I'm referring to feedback via steering wheel; on stock set w/o the spacers the feedback's better all other variables being equal.

[JMD]

Originally Posted by carrera2RSL

I can definitely feel differences between offsets and given the whole geometry you will. I can feel a difference between 12/12 and 12/10. I'm sure there are differences in feel running the same offset the same tyre and a wider rim, particularly on turn in as the contact patch builds slip angle.

Are you sure your not feeling the different offset and the better tyre control as I suspect the tyres will be smaller than the BMW min fitment choice

The difference I'm feeling is surely due to the widening of the 'track'! The edge of the tyres on all 4 corners have been pushed out by 12mm. As for the smaller tyre statement, I'm not following this,....I have stock 20" tyres and wheels installed.

[carrera2RSL]

Originally Posted by JMD

The difference I'm feeling is surely due to the widening of the 'track'! The edge of the tyres on all 4 corners have been pushed out by 12mm. As for the smaller tyre statement, I'm not following this,....I have stock 20" tyres and wheels installed.

Hi

I think Josec was saying that spacers provide a feel compared the the same offset without spacers

My question to Josec was - Are you sure as I would be surprised if many have driven say a stock set of wheels with 12mm spacers and an aftermarket set with the same width and offset. So the exact same wheel with or without spacers. So the actual offset and contact patch position will be most likely different even if the outer rim edge is in the same position for a wider wheel say 11 at the back or 9.5 at the front might end up with the outer edge but the offset will be different so the feel will be different

Regarding feel with a 12mm difference in offset, you will definitely feel this and it will move the effective geometry and feel.

My tyre point is that a 11" rim with the same offset and tyre e.g. 295 will feel different to the same 295 tyre on a 10" rim, particularly on turn in. look up the specs for a Michelin 295/30 20 and the recommended rim size is 10-11 from memory, BMW are at the bottom of the range

[josec70]

Originally Posted by carrera2RSL

Hi

I think Josec was saying that spacers provide a feel compared the the same offset without spacers

My question to Josec was - Are you sure as I would be surprised if many have driven say a stock set of wheels with 12mm spacers and an aftermarket set with the same width and offset. So the exact same wheel with or without spacers. So the actual offset and contact patch position will be most likely different even if the outer rim edge is in the same position for a wider wheel say 11 at the back or 9.5 at the front might end up with the outer edge but the offset will be different so the feel will be different

Regarding feel with a 12mm difference in offset, you will definitely feel this and it will move the effective geometry and feel.

My tyre point is that a 11" rim with the same offset and tyre e.g. 295 will feel different to the same 295 tyre on a 10" rim, particularly on turn in. look up the specs for a Michelin 295/30 20 and the recommended rim size is 10-11 from memory, BMW are at the bottom of the range

I had 12/10 set up on my stock wheels; removed them and felt more feedback with the same stock set. I subsequently went to forged 21" and wider (rear) wheel setup that provided different feedback as commented in your post but not necessarily more than the stock setup w/o spacers.

I'm certainly not an engineer but what I'm saying in layman's terms is that a spacer limits feedback from the wheel as it is not a natural extension of the wheel itself but rather a piece inserted behind the wheel to create offset that was inherently not in the original design of the wheel. Essentially feedback travels through two mediums versus one continuous one.

Either way, just one man's view and certainly up for debate.

No more spacer talk for me ....