wrestling with style 5's

[e30slidewayz]

So its a quarter after midnight and I just finished up wrestling with the bimmer. It's been on jackstands for almost a week after trying to mount the new style 5's... my koseis with falkens 615s are worn to shit (one blew out on me and I threw on a spare) so I'm hesitant to even ride on them. The style 5 17x8s up front weren't clearing the brake calipers and the 3mm spacers I ordered didn't fix the problem, so I stuck the ol koseis back on the front. As soon as I roll out in the driveway the Star Spec 235/40's on the 17x9s are rubbing in the rear... definitely going to need to roll the fenders more in the rear. Tried taking a rubber mallet to it, but that ain't cutting it. So the one kosei and the spare are back on the rear. Off to Total Mini bright and early for some custom machined 8mm spacers, alignment, and a good fender roll. Sooooo ready to be riding on these things. Unfortunately, I'm going to need moar low with the 17's... looks like fender pulling is going to happen once the new suspension comes in at the end of December from the GE group buy. Tried to avoid pulling them... I'd rather find some skinnier tires and stretch just a hair to avoid it, but money's tight and I'm in deep with the Star Specs... ugh. I'd get off cheaper just pulling the damn fenders. Guess I'll have some good ol meaty flushness once it's said and done with.

[ttrousdell]

You have to run 10mm spacers up front or grind down the caliper to get the style 5s to work. I'm running 215s on my rears and if my fenders weren't rolled id be making the walls of my tires look like string cheese. They're worth the work in the end.

[e30slidewayz]

Don't think I can get away with 8mm up front? I heard of people running 7mm with slightly worn brake pads. I'll have to put my trust the guys up at Total Mini... see what they come up with.

[einstein57]

I thought you bought the staggered set from europe that had the backs of the centers already shaved.

[Acehye559]

I got the same set of style fives and I didnt have any problems. Good Luck.

[e30slidewayz]

Yep, I did. They were supposed to be machined to clear the brakes... but they don't. I don't know what the deal is. Is there a difference between is and vert calipers? Mine are getting caught on the rattle clip... sucks.

[Gooch]

The rattle clip can be removed with no ill-effects.

[MR 325]

If you have the front calipers that use clips and allen bolts I might reccomend changing to the other style caliper. Might solve the problem.

[e30slidewayz]

I'm in the process of having 10mm spacers machined... hope this will solve the issue as long as my tuner bolts are long enough. I'll most likely get new rotors that are an inch or so larger in diameter. I think that would push the caliper out just enough to fit in the inside "dip" of the spokes and clear the wheel. Plus the rotors would still work with my 16" koseis. Dude's just about to finish the spacers, then for a fender roll in the rear and an alignment.

[einstein57]

Some cars use ATE brakes and some use Girling. There is a difference in dimensions which could be your problem.

[Todd Black 88]

I'm in the process of having 10mm spacers machined... hope this will solve the issue as long as my tuner bolts are long enough. I'll most likely get new rotors that are an inch or so larger in diameter. I think that would push the caliper out just enough to fit in the inside "dip" of the spokes and clear the wheel. Plus the rotors would still work with my 16" koseis. Dude's just about to finish the spacers, then for a fender roll in the rear and an alignment.

How do you plan on mounting your calipers after installing larger diameter rotors?

[e30slidewayz]

Exhausted... arrived at Total Mini&BMW at 8am. Dude was already working on the spacers. We decided 10mm would be the way to go. With having to purchase different drill bits as well as take them out of house to be ban-sawed and then back to be milled to true, these were finished up around 2. Rolled the rear arches really well. Around 3:30 we figured out that the tuner bolts I had wasn't long enough to work with the 10mm spacers... shit. Who the f has tuner bolts long enough that I could get today? Nobody of course. Ended up lucking up (or thought I did) with ShowZone, a tuner shop up in about 20 minutes away in Ladson. I put one of the front wheels in the trunk just to make sure there wasn't going to be a problem with the new bolts. Threw the kosies back on the front and backed out. RUBBBB. The rears weren't clearing the fenders well. SON OF A BITCH... Anyways, needed to get to ShowZone before they closed, so I took the wheel out of the trunk and put it in the front seat to get the weight off. I had to drive carefully. I google mapped my destination b/c I'm not familiar with Ladson, and my phone goes dead. My magellan couldn't find ShowZone... oh great. Fiiiinnally find the place. Go in... they don't have tuner bolts... they're tuner nuts. Lot of f-ing good that does me. So I called Chad (dude) up to see if he could fab up some studs for me. Lucked out b/c he had a set that didn't work for his Mini with 20mm spacers which happened to be perfect for the e30. The tuner bolts worked out afterall. Left there and got back to the shop a little after 5. Locktighted the studs in, installed the spacers, and the fronts cleared! Now, my fenders were rolled as flat as they'd go.. so had to pull them, just a bit though. Studs went on the rear and then the rears wheels went back on. The gap between the inside of the fender and the tire looked a little more promising... but no. I'm still rubbing when I hit large bumps.. wwwttttfff!?!?! Ugh! Tires are too big. Not to mention the fronts are pretty crammed in there as well (hitting the fender liner on full turn). But, it'd driveable... but not like I want it. Anyways, after that we jumped on the allignment which is spot on now. Finished up a little before 8pm. A total of 12 hours spend wrestling with the e30 today, and I'm exhausted and my feelings are slightly hurt. I have around $900 tired up in these tires and they're too damn big. They're Star Specs 215/45/17 and 235/40/17. Frustrating as hell and no way I can afford the sizes I'd rather have. I'm hoping the 450f/650r GE suspension kit coming near the end of the year will help me from rubbing in the rear as well as make it more manageable in the front. In the mean time I need to figure out how to modify the plastic front fender wells for clearance... got home and the inner lip of the front passenger fender was pushed out due to the fender liner issue. Dunno what I'm going to do. Heading to home (very carefully) to see the family for Turkey Day in the morn. Hooking up with my cuz whoes a BMW master mechanic over the weekend to install the new head from Myster-E. The wheel/tire setup looks good though, although its function isn't spot on yet. Work in progress as they say. It'll all be worth it when its finished and spodeyodeydopealicious. Pics to follow... to tired and pissed to do anything with it tonight.

P.S.-anyone wanna buy these tires from me? I spent around $850 on them, plus some for mounting and balancing. The tires will have about 30 miles on them. I'm pulling them off and remounting the kosies for now. The rubbing in the rear on the 235/40 was verrrry slight and there is no evidence of it on the tires at all. The 215/40 up front are perfect as well. If interested, shoot me a PM. I'm willing to split up the pairs as well since they're staggered. I'll post a sale thread soon.

[e30slidewayz]

How do you plan on mounting your calipers after installing larger diameter rotors?

I've been looking into this. I was thinking about having some brackets fabbed up to relocated the calipers. I'm hoping to find rotors of the same thickness, just an inch larger in diameter. I think that wouldn't be too difficult nor pricey. I just hope it doesn't mess with the physics of the brake system too much. Any thoughts on this?

[e30slidewayz]

[MaxBell]

Either way, that stance is excellent. WHat we all strive for.