Wheel spacer vibration frustration (Macht Schnell content)

While I understand that the vibration symptoms are very similar to worn bushings, t's not his bushings guys. Grant's car is immaculate and in tip top shape. I've spent time under it and we know his spacers are jacked and Macht Schnell sucks. FCABs on BMWs tend to blow up maybe around 60k miles or more.

Edward wrote

While I understand that the vibration symptoms are very similar to worn bushings, t's not his bushings guys. Grant's car is immaculate and in tip top shape. I've spent time under it and we know his spacers are jacked and Macht Schnell sucks. FCABs on BMWs tend to blow up maybe around 60k miles or more.

While my car has been called things like "immaculate" and "seck" and "most awesome", it does have a spicy side. I can appreciate that kind of thing in an automobile. As for bushes, no thanks. EAS checked these and confirmed they were working as intended.

grantmax wrote

I wouldn't bother with spacers if BMW would just make the ZCP wheels wider. That's the only wheel that should be run on this car.

I had ZCP's with spacers too. Didn't have a huge problem with them, but did feel increase in vibration which is no good on a car like the M3. Made the decision to get used HRE's that much easier.

I've always had spacers and many of them from MS and never ever had a vibration issue.

Have been reading all these spacers vibration threads. I just added 12.5mm turner spacers to my stock zcp, low and behold - vibration at steering wheel at 70mph up...

i was lazy and the hubs looked relatively clean, even though there was a little rust on the inside of the hub lip, the outside looked pretty clean, plus the spacers seem to sit flat, so i didn't clean it. i will try to clean them with scotch bite and reinstall.

but if that doesn't fix it, i'm tempted to give up... after reading all these threads saying that sometime after cleaning and rebalancing there would still be vibration, the whole endeavor seems very time / energy consuming with very little gain...

good excuse to buy some wheels i guess...

i have had spacer vibration issues with this car as well, never has issues on any other car i have owned. From what i understand from other users is that you have to get the wheel/spacer combo road force balanced to get rid of the shake.

SFCM3 wrote

i have had spacer vibration issues with this car as well, never has issues on any other car i have owned. From what i understand from other users is that you have to get the wheel/spacer combo road force balanced to get rid of the shake.

what i don't get is some members seems to have good experience with spacers, while some can't get rid of the vibration regardless of how much cleaning / rebalancing / reinstall they do...

maybe just like rod bearing, spacers on this car is also a german lottery...?

some people are more sensitive than others to shaking or vibration is how i take it...

SFCM3 wrote

some people are more sensitive than others to shaking or vibration is how i take it...

maybe... right now my vibration is pretty bad if i take my hands of the wheel i can actually see it vibrate left and right with my eyes!

anyway i'll report back on if i make progress by cleaning the hub...

byroncheung wrote

maybe... right now my vibration is pretty bad if i take my hands of the wheel i can actually see it vibrate left and right with my eyes!

anyway i'll report back on if i make progress by cleaning the hub...

Why not try a different brand of spacer? try ECS tuning.

I had vibration on the front with 12mm Turner spacers, with 10mm Turner's the vibration is gone. This was on OEM ZCP 19x9's. Both were balanced and road forced.

0-60Motorsports wrote

Why not try a different brand of spacer? try ECS tuning.

Do ppl have higher success rate with ecs?

sgreer78 wrote

I had vibration on the front with 12mm Turner spacers, with 10mm Turner's the vibration is gone. This was on OEM ZCP 19x9's. Both were balanced and road forced.

Interesting I thought 10mm spacer wasn’t recommend? Turner site has this following note, and I also remember some members talked about it:

“10mm Fitment Note: You must be very careful when fitting 10mm spacers to any BMW. Since the depth of the hubcentric lip will vary, you risk bottoming out of the spacer before it sits flush with the hub. This will leave a gap between the spacer and the hub, seriously compromising the strength of the spacer. The lip on the car may need to be shaved down so the 10mm spacer will fit flush on the rotor hat.“

byroncheung wrote

Interesting I thought 10mm spacer wasn’t recommend? Turner site has this following note, and I also remember some members talked about it:

“10mm Fitment Note: You must be very careful when fitting 10mm spacers to any BMW. Since the depth of the hubcentric lip will vary, you risk bottoming out of the spacer before it sits flush with the hub. This will leave a gap between the spacer and the hub, seriously compromising the strength of the spacer. The lip on the car may need to be shaved down so the 10mm spacer will fit flush on the rotor hat.“

They fit fine, no gap. Maybe with e36/46's there's an issue but not e9x.

byroncheung wrote

0-60Motorsports wrote

Why not try a different brand of spacer? try ECS tuning.

Do ppl have higher success rate with ecs?

I have always used tms and ecs spacers and never had an issue. I know on the X5m the bore sizes are different so maybe give ecs a shot

byroncheung wrote

Have been reading all these spacers vibration threads. I just added 12.5mm turner spacers to my stock zcp, low and behold - vibration at steering wheel at 70mph up...

i was lazy and the hubs looked relatively clean, even though there was a little rust on the inside of the hub lip, the outside looked pretty clean, plus the spacers seem to sit flat, so i didn't clean it. i will try to clean them with scotch bite and reinstall.

but if that doesn't fix it, i'm tempted to give up... after reading all these threads saying that sometime after cleaning and rebalancing there would still be vibration, the whole endeavor seems very time / energy consuming with very little gain...

good excuse to buy some wheels i guess...

Spacers are not worth the trouble, IMO. If you really need the wider track because of new suspension geometry and track usage, buy different wheels. Yes, I know Porsche offers them, but only 5mm which is pretty minuscule. I can't believe there are 15mm spacers for sale, that is freaking enormous.

Then again, I suspect many people who buy these want the race car look for a street car.

dparm wrote

Spacers are not worth the trouble, IMO. If you really need the wider track because of new suspension geometry and track usage, buy different wheels. Yes, I know Porsche offers them, but only 5mm which is pretty minuscule. I can't believe there are 15mm spacers for sale, that is freaking enormous.

Then again, I suspect many people who buy these want the race car look for a street car.

Properly installed spacers should not experience any issues. There are tons of people running them with no problems.

Good example happened on a 99 M3 over the weekend, installed spacers and returned with vibration, blaming the spacers (understandably, since he didn't feel vibration before). Both front wheels required balancing which wasn't noticeable until spacers were installed, which will exaggerate any pre-existing issue if present beforehand.

Torque sequence is also equally important when installing.

tom @ eas wrote

Properly installed spacers should not experience any issues. There are tons of people running them with no problems.

Good example happened on a 99 M3 over the weekend, installed spacers and returned with vibration, blaming the spacers (understandably, since he didn't feel vibration before). Both front wheels required balancing which wasn't noticeable until spacers were installed, which will exaggerate any pre-existing issue if present beforehand.

Torque sequence is also equally important when installing.

Do you recommending trying to balance with spacers on the rims somehow?

I'm getting pretty bad vibration to the point I want to take them off. Maybe i'll clean the hubs a bit and make sure it's torqued right. I had the wheels balanced when the spacers were installed.

Bomiz wrote

Do you recommending trying to balance with spacers on the rims somehow?

I'm getting pretty bad vibration to the point I want to take them off. Maybe i'll clean the hubs a bit and make sure it's torqued right. I had the wheels balanced when the spacers were installed.

If wheels are good on the balancer, that's good enough. Eliminates ofe of the variables.

Check both rotor hub surface and wheel hub surfaces to be clean and free of any rust/debris. Then torque in a star pattern to 88ft-lbs.

I have never had problems with spacers. One additional step I take is to torque the lugs with little or no weight on them. The rear can be torqued off the ground. For the front I tighten them with impact (or as much as I can with wrench) and then I slowly lower the car until the front wheel touches the ground just enough to keep it from spinning when I torque the lugs (in my case I use studs). Then fully lower the car once everything is torqued to spec. Tom is correct on his torque spec but I typically go to 92 lbs because I use an extension on the torque wrench to clear the tire and fender for tightening.

Well I spent a long time taking off the wheels, cleaned the hubs, the wheels mounting surfaces, the spacers and still vibrate over 70mph... guess have to check the wheel balance next? If it is indeed the wheel balancing problem, it is so interesting before spacers it was butter smooth, putting the 12.5 spacers can really highlight it so much...?

byroncheung wrote

Well I spent a long time taking off the wheels, cleaned the hubs, the wheels mounting surfaces, the spacers and still vibrate over 70mph... guess have to check the wheel balance next? If it is indeed the wheel balancing problem, it is so interesting before spacers it was butter smooth, putting the 12.5 spacers can really highlight it so much...?

It's possible vibration was present that was exaggerated when spacers were installed. Check the front wheels to make sure they are balanced.

If these are aftermarket wheels, some brands require use of centering rings. If present, make sure they slide properly on the spacer hub.