Share your 5 lug setup and wheels

[Dave McLaren]

Thanks. Let me know if those spacers help.

I received the 2mm spacers. They are not thick enough, dammit!

I put the first one on, and as I was tightening the lugs I could feel the wheel start to contact the anti-rattle clip. I torqued them and could still turn the wheel by hand, and I thought, "Well, it's not that bad, maybe I can just let it grind away a bit and it'll be fine." Stuck the other side on. Shadetree quality, here.

I backed it out, it rolled down the driveway, seemed OK. I drove forward and it still seemed OK, nice and quiet with those clips on, then I braked for the stop sign. As I started forward, there was lots of grinding and shit actually felt a little wobbly. Whoa! I immediately pulled over to check things out, and I could see a few stray metal shavings. I gradually backed up, turned around and nursed the bitch back home, stopping every few yards in case something was getting hot and angry.

Popped the wheel off and the broad side of the clip was clearly having a go the wheel. I'm no tech here, but I suspect that when I torqued the wheel down, it pushed on the clip and perhaps contracted the brake piston in a bit, then when I applied the brakes, it wanted to shove the clip outward and in turn, relieve itself of the wheel.

Yeah, I'm feeling like a tard. Looks like I'll get some 5mm spacers. I have a bucket of lugnuts and some old stray H&R spacers from dinking around with my E28/E34/E38/E39 bimmers over the years, but I left it at CMW. Hopefully I've got some 5mm in there. Anyone need some 2mm spacers? I've got some like new, used for just 200 yards. ;- )

Dave

[golde30]

3mm would have worked from what i hear. i went with the 5mm just to be safe on my e30.

[Dave McLaren]

3mm would have worked from what i hear. i went with the 5mm just to be safe on my e30.

Well, I had some 5mm and put one on, but the anti-rattle clip is still grating against the wheel. It's much less, of course, but I can hear it scraping away as I drove down my street. When I brake, the sound goes away; release the pedal and it comes back.

I popped the wheel and there was a second ring scraped into the wheel, just to the outside (or inside) of the yesterday's ring with the 2mm spacer. Probably the difference is because with the 2mm spacer the clip was compressed more than with the 5mm.

I think the solution is to machine off a bit of the wheel. There's a lot of material there, and perhaps I can get away taking enough off to make the wheel fit without any spacer. These wheels had to deal with a 4000 pound E31, so I don't think this would be so risky. I'll investigate and report back.

[1990m3]

just removed the anti-rattle clip.

I did that on one of my m3's and had zero issues for over two years. Simple, painless, fix

[e30s52]

3mm would have worked from what i hear. i went with the 5mm just to be safe on my e30.

Did you run the 17in Style 5's or the 16's? and what stud kit/tire combo were you running?

thanks alex

[Dave McLaren]

Did you run the 17in Style 5's or the 16's? and what stud kit/tire combo were you running?

thanks alex

They're 17x8 ET20 front and 17x9 ET26 rear. They're not the E39 sport ones, but supposedly from an E31 equipped with them, so they have the correct 72.5 hub bore. 215/40 front 245/35 rear Kumho tires. Everything's cool except the damned brake clip clearance.

There's no need for studs, just standard BMW lugs. Of course I used 5mm longer ones when I tried using the 5mm spacer.

[Dave McLaren]

just removed the anti-rattle clip.

I did that on one of my m3's and had zero issues for over two years. Simple, painless, fix

But it's so damned noisy. Any little bump and I hear all sorts of loud clanking shit going on from the front brakes.

[e30s52]

They're 17x8 ET20 front and 17x9 ET26 rear. They're not the E39 sport ones, but supposedly from an E31 equipped with them, so they have the correct 72.5 hub bore. 215/40 front 245/35 rear Kumho tires. Everything's cool except the damned brake clip clearance.

There's no need for studs, just standard BMW lugs. Of course I used 5mm longer ones when I tried using the 5mm spacer.

Dont you only need an et20 to clear the breaks? or is 25?

[Dave McLaren]

Dont you only need an et20 to clear the breaks? or is 25?

If the hub and spokes were the same, but their position relative to the barrel were different, the problem would remain. So offset, the position of the hub face relative to the wheel barrel, is not the issue. The problem is that the stuff radiating away from the hub is still too close.

Again, the area where the contact occurs seems to have a very thick cross-section, obviously for strength. However, if I could shave some away, close to the hub face but before the spokes actually begin, it may do the trick. The questions raised are how much to take away, exactly how to position and shape the cut, how much the structural integrity of the wheel is compromised, and what is the margin of safety. In any case, all I could hope is that the resulting compromise would be suitable for 3000 pound car, whereas the wheels were originally suitable for a 4000 pound car.

I've been thinking about this shit too much.

[e30s52]

Yeah this is driving me crazy. I want to get the right spacers so I can drive my car when I get home. I might just buy some 7mm spacers and some other ones and see what works.

[1990m3]

But it's so damned noisy. Any little bump and I hear all sorts of loud clanking shit going on from the front brakes.

Seriously? Ours never made a sound -- over on the m3 forums a lot of people pull the clips off to clear certain wheels

[Dave McLaren]

Seriously? Ours never made a sound -- over on the m3 forums a lot of people pull the clips off to clear certain wheels

What forum? I'd like to come over to discuss. I registered at S14.net but I'm not allowed to post, probably because I don't have an M3. ;- )

[atomic]

What forum? I'd like to come over to discuss. I registered at S14.net but I'm not allowed to post, probably because I don't have an M3. ;- )

Doubt that has anything to do with not being able to post there. I don't have a m3 and can post there, probably more to do with just being activated. Try PMing a mod there.

I have read on S14.net that some will leave the clips off to run certain wheels and once the pads get wore down some then you can put the clips back on...

[Dave McLaren]

Doubt that has anything to do with not being able to post there. I don't have a m3 and can post there, probably more to do with just being activated. Try PMing a mod there.

I have read on S14.net that some will leave the clips off to run certain wheels and once the pads get wore down some then you can put the clips back on...

Thanks for the tip. I wouldn't blame them if they want to keep out the riff-raff, but if they do let me in I promise not to go in the living room.

[Dave McLaren]

I talked to Ron and he called a guy nearby with a metal shop. Looks like early next week, I'll bring in the vert, put it on a rack, pop the front wheels, and remove the centers.

We'll take the a center over and have the metal shop man put it on the lathe and take some material off. The metal shop is a few doors down, so I suppose we can be conservative, bringing the center back to test fit and if needs be, back to the metal shop to take a bit more off. Once we've got it working, we'll copy the cut on the center of the other front wheel.

I still need to study it to determine just where I want the cut, the shape and dimensions. I'll probably make some hand drawings this weekend, maybe take a pic and photoshop some dimensions on it.

So that's the basic plan for now.