spacer warning re track and auto X

ward · 11-10-2006, 01:09 PM

I'd put some RE spacers 10, 12 mm on my Z4

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...spacer+warning

and when I pulled a wheel to check brake pad thickness I noticed a crack on one of the spacers large enough to see light through.

this was after 1 trackday on stock tires, stock suspension, stock power, mediocre driving ability.

I promptly removed all 4 spacers.

just wanted to throw that warning out there with the RE aluminum spacers, you may not want to track/autoX them.

I'd run spacers in the past and had no issues, they were the standard ones tire rack shipped me with a set of wheels, and had sturdier material around the hub center.

I think there was a guy on here who's space broke and sent his rotor through his wheel........

shragon · 11-10-2006, 01:10 PM

thanks for the info!

do you mind taking a pic of the cracked spacer?

have you contacted RE about it yet?

ksfrogman · 11-10-2006, 01:50 PM

That's interesting. Do you use a torque wrench to tighten your wheels and are the spacers cast or forged?

ward · 11-10-2006, 02:07 PM

here's a pic of the spacer

it appears to be just machined aluminum

the wheel had been installed/removed twice by me, and probably another time at the dealer. I use a torque wrench to tighten down to 85 ft/lbs (not sure if that's correct but that's what I do)

I have not contacted RE, and most likely won't. I don't expect a refund. I just want to do my part to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.

the track is a harsh environment, and this may have never happened on the street, or maybe the dealer did somthing to it on accident, but spacers and performance driving don't go together for me anymore.

ksfrogman · 11-10-2006, 02:20 PM

Wow, that looks like an engineering design flaw. Maybe you should email them this link so they might rethink how they machine this part in the future.

shragon · 11-10-2006, 02:23 PM

thanks for informing us ward!

even if you expect a refund or not, i think it's a good idea to contact RE. sounds like they might possibly have a manufacturing/engineering defect/problem and do not know about it. imho it's good for companies to get feedback like this so they can improve on their products.

i'm running 12mm RE spacers on my rear wheels. even though i don't track my car, i'm kinda iffy about the spacers now.

edit: you beat me to it michael!

longtran · 11-10-2006, 02:24 PM

h&r have the same problem with their 10mm. the hub centric is not deep enough for the stock hub centric to fit inside. therefore it foce itself in. so yea, they defintely need to re-do their shit.

ward · 11-10-2006, 02:24 PM

if anyone wants my rear spacers and bolts 12mm (not cracked) I'd trade them for a 30 pack of coors light.

Getagrip · 11-10-2006, 03:05 PM

I would measure the height of your hub contour on your car. It may be too long to fit inside 12mm and 10mm spacers. I have responded to a few threads of this concern. Mine are 12.75mm long. Too long to fit inside a 10mm or 12mm spacer.

See my post (#26) on this thread http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...spacer+warning

shragon · 11-10-2006, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Getagrip

I would measure the height of your hub contour on your car. It may be too long to fit inside 12mm and 10mm spacers. I have responded to a few threads of this concern. Mine are 12.75mm long. Too long to fit inside a 10mm or 12mm spacer.

See my post (#26) on this thread http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...spacer+warning

good post!

shit! RE's disclaimer is nothing taller than 11.5mm. getagrip's are 12.75mm. assumed there were no issues since so many people in here are using spacers.

wonder if mine are going to crack now. i got RE 12mm.

ward · 11-10-2006, 04:13 PM

I didn't measure mine, just figured that if it was a common problem that RE would have figured out and told us which models it fits and which it doesn't.

might be my bad for not measuring my hubs, but I'm not going to pull a wheel just for kicks to find out.

so from getagrip post and mine it looks like the spacers aren't OK to use on E90's or E85's. Maybe RE should post that on their site........

shragon · 11-10-2006, 04:17 PM

yea, they should maybe publish a chart for the consumer.

obLu · 11-10-2006, 04:50 PM

Glad I found this thread ... I'd asked for confirmation on another one about the reported problems on 10s and never heard back. I was pretty close to ordering some 10s just for aesthetics on my new wheels.

Guess we're gonna have to learn to love the tucked look .... or go really wide.

aapriadi · 11-10-2006, 05:10 PM

dammit i just put on H&R 18mm spacers for the fronts...but i wont bring my car to the track or auto cross with it...so do you guys think i should be ok? tc kline have spacers on most of their cars if i'm not wrong

i should check them often for cracks i guess

shragon · 11-10-2006, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aapriadi

dammit i just put on H&R 18mm spacers for the fronts...but i wont bring my car to the track or auto cross with it...so do you guys think i should be ok? tc kline have spacers on most of their cars if i'm not wrong

i should check them often for cracks i guess

from the posts, shouldn't be an issue. issue is more with spacers that are 12mm and smaller.

Getagrip · 11-10-2006, 06:42 PM

I would be interested in have results posted of our members of what length the hub contour is on your vehicle. Was trying to see if Xi hub contours are different lengths compared to non-Xi cars. I did notice my contour lengths are slightly different between front and rear.

Ben Liaw · 11-10-2006, 07:27 PM

As a courtesy to an email request, I am posting to reiterate the information that people are "discovering" which has been posted on our site for quite some time.

BMW has had various different dimensions of their hub contour heights in the past, and its impossible to chart or list them all. It is really up to the end user to measure his/her own to determine the dimension.

If someone really has a hub contour height of 12.75mm, making a spacer less than 15mm thick would virtually be impossible, in the traditional sense. Making a 10mm (like we do), requires the hub contour height to be no greater than 11.5mm, because we have a 4mm deep chamfer on the face of the spacer, in order to machine the back bore slightly more than 11.5mm deep on a 10mm spacer (hence the necessity for the chamfered front hub on our 10/12mm spacers).

So, measure your hub contours to ensure you have enough room! No, a tape measure is not accurate enough. Get yourself a set of quality calipers and they'll last you for life.

ward · 11-10-2006, 08:55 PM

Ben,

so what BMW's do these 10/12 mm spacers fit?

I'm not claiming it's not my own fault, as I saw the warning but didn't feel the need to actually measure my own hubs. I would have just imagined a responsible vendor would tell me that the spacers I'd ordered would not work on my car when I ordered them.

maybe in the future you should not sell the 10mm spacers to any Z4 or E90 owner.

shragon · 11-13-2006, 02:49 AM

i agree with you ward.

anidjare · 11-13-2006, 10:57 PM

Anyone know, hub contour height of e92?

I don't have an accurate way of measuring off mine.

Analog · 11-13-2006, 11:06 PM

So the 10mm RE spacer will likely to crack when put on an E90??
Please help, I just got my 10mm RE spacer. Should I return it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ward

Ben,

so what BMW's do these 10/12 mm spacers fit?

I'm not claiming it's not my own fault, as I saw the warning but didn't feel the need to actually measure my own hubs. I would have just imagined a responsible vendor would tell me that the spacers I'd ordered would not work on my car when I ordered them.

maybe in the future you should not sell the 10mm spacers to any Z4 or E90 owner.

Getagrip · 11-14-2006, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anidjare

Anyone know, hub contour height of e92?

I don't have an accurate way of measuring off mine.

I used a digital caliper. The end of mine has a depth gauge.

11-10-2006, 01:09 PM	#1
ward Major General 155 Rep 6,158 Posts Drives: F Join Date: May 2005 Location: T iTrader: (0)	spacer warning re track and auto X I'd put some RE spacers 10, 12 mm on my Z4 http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...spacer+warning and when I pulled a wheel to check brake pad thickness I noticed a crack on one of the spacers large enough to see light through. this was after 1 trackday on stock tires, stock suspension, stock power, mediocre driving ability. I promptly removed all 4 spacers. just wanted to throw that warning out there with the RE aluminum spacers, you may not want to track/autoX them. I'd run spacers in the past and had no issues, they were the standard ones tire rack shipped me with a set of wheels, and had sturdier material around the hub center. I think there was a guy on here who's space broke and sent his rotor through his wheel........
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11-10-2006, 01:10 PM	#2
shragon Moderator 497 Rep 27,441 Posts Drives: BMW Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bay Area, CA iTrader: (7)	thanks for the info! do you mind taking a pic of the cracked spacer? have you contacted RE about it yet? __________________ www.cardomain.com/id/shragon
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11-10-2006, 01:50 PM	#3
ksfrogman Major General 570 Rep 6,750 Posts Drives: E90 330i 6MT Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Torrance, CA iTrader: (12) Garage List 2006 330i [0.00] 2006 330i [0.00]	That's interesting. Do you use a torque wrench to tighten your wheels and are the spacers cast or forged? __________________
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11-10-2006, 02:07 PM	#4
ward Major General 155 Rep 6,158 Posts Drives: F Join Date: May 2005 Location: T iTrader: (0)	here's a pic of the spacer it appears to be just machined aluminum the wheel had been installed/removed twice by me, and probably another time at the dealer. I use a torque wrench to tighten down to 85 ft/lbs (not sure if that's correct but that's what I do) I have not contacted RE, and most likely won't. I don't expect a refund. I just want to do my part to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else. the track is a harsh environment, and this may have never happened on the street, or maybe the dealer did somthing to it on accident, but spacers and performance driving don't go together for me anymore. Attached Images
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11-10-2006, 02:20 PM	#5
ksfrogman Major General 570 Rep 6,750 Posts Drives: E90 330i 6MT Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Torrance, CA iTrader: (12) Garage List 2006 330i [0.00] 2006 330i [0.00]	Wow, that looks like an engineering design flaw. Maybe you should email them this link so they might rethink how they machine this part in the future. __________________
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11-10-2006, 02:23 PM	#6
shragon Moderator 497 Rep 27,441 Posts Drives: BMW Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bay Area, CA iTrader: (7)	thanks for informing us ward! even if you expect a refund or not, i think it's a good idea to contact RE. sounds like they might possibly have a manufacturing/engineering defect/problem and do not know about it. imho it's good for companies to get feedback like this so they can improve on their products. i'm running 12mm RE spacers on my rear wheels. even though i don't track my car, i'm kinda iffy about the spacers now. edit: you beat me to it michael! __________________ www.cardomain.com/id/shragon
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11-10-2006, 02:24 PM	#7
longtran Lieutenant General 1429 Rep 16,628 Posts Drives: E90 M3 Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: CA iTrader: (105) Garage List 2006 325i [0.00]	h&r have the same problem with their 10mm. the hub centric is not deep enough for the stock hub centric to fit inside. therefore it foce itself in. so yea, they defintely need to re-do their shit.
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11-10-2006, 03:05 PM	#9
Getagrip Get a grip. Get Xdrive. 14 Rep 529 Posts Drives: 330xi Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anchorage, Alaska iTrader: (0) Garage List 2006 330xi [0.00] 2003 330xi [0.00]	I would measure the height of your hub contour on your car. It may be too long to fit inside 12mm and 10mm spacers. I have responded to a few threads of this concern. Mine are 12.75mm long. Too long to fit inside a 10mm or 12mm spacer. See my post (#26) on this thread http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...spacer+warning __________________ 2006 330xi current
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11-10-2006, 04:13 PM	#11
ward Major General 155 Rep 6,158 Posts Drives: F Join Date: May 2005 Location: T iTrader: (0)	I didn't measure mine, just figured that if it was a common problem that RE would have figured out and told us which models it fits and which it doesn't. might be my bad for not measuring my hubs, but I'm not going to pull a wheel just for kicks to find out. so from getagrip post and mine it looks like the spacers aren't OK to use on E90's or E85's. Maybe RE should post that on their site........
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-10-2006, 04:17 PM	#12
shragon Moderator 497 Rep 27,441 Posts Drives: BMW Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bay Area, CA iTrader: (7)	yea, they should maybe publish a chart for the consumer. __________________ www.cardomain.com/id/shragon
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11-10-2006, 04:50 PM	#13
obLu Major 50 Rep 1,159 Posts Drives: 330i 6MT ZSP Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Kirkland, WA, USA iTrader: (1)	Glad I found this thread ... I'd asked for confirmation on another one about the reported problems on 10s and never heard back. I was pretty close to ordering some 10s just for aesthetics on my new wheels. Guess we're gonna have to learn to love the tucked look .... or go really wide.
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11-10-2006, 05:10 PM	#14
aapriadi Colonel 189 Rep 2,068 Posts Drives: '13 F30 AW 320i Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia iTrader: (10)	dammit i just put on H&R 18mm spacers for the fronts...but i wont bring my car to the track or auto cross with it...so do you guys think i should be ok? tc kline have spacers on most of their cars if i'm not wrong i should check them often for cracks i guess __________________ mod = crack
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11-10-2006, 06:42 PM	#16
Getagrip Get a grip. Get Xdrive. 14 Rep 529 Posts Drives: 330xi Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Anchorage, Alaska iTrader: (0) Garage List 2006 330xi [0.00] 2003 330xi [0.00]	I would be interested in have results posted of our members of what length the hub contour is on your vehicle. Was trying to see if Xi hub contours are different lengths compared to non-Xi cars. I did notice my contour lengths are slightly different between front and rear. __________________ 2006 330xi current
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-10-2006, 07:27 PM	#17
Ben Liaw Banned 15 Rep 69 Posts Drives: Tel: 201-783-8600 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Rogue Engineering, Inc. iTrader: (0)	As a courtesy to an email request, I am posting to reiterate the information that people are "discovering" which has been posted on our site for quite some time. BMW has had various different dimensions of their hub contour heights in the past, and its impossible to chart or list them all. It is really up to the end user to measure his/her own to determine the dimension. If someone really has a hub contour height of 12.75mm, making a spacer less than 15mm thick would virtually be impossible, in the traditional sense. Making a 10mm (like we do), requires the hub contour height to be no greater than 11.5mm, because we have a 4mm deep chamfer on the face of the spacer, in order to machine the back bore slightly more than 11.5mm deep on a 10mm spacer (hence the necessity for the chamfered front hub on our 10/12mm spacers). So, measure your hub contours to ensure you have enough room! No, a tape measure is not accurate enough. Get yourself a set of quality calipers and they'll last you for life.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-10-2006, 08:55 PM	#18
ward Major General 155 Rep 6,158 Posts Drives: F Join Date: May 2005 Location: T iTrader: (0)	Ben, so what BMW's do these 10/12 mm spacers fit? I'm not claiming it's not my own fault, as I saw the warning but didn't feel the need to actually measure my own hubs. I would have just imagined a responsible vendor would tell me that the spacers I'd ordered would not work on my car when I ordered them. maybe in the future you should not sell the 10mm spacers to any Z4 or E90 owner.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

11-13-2006, 02:49 AM	#19
shragon Moderator 497 Rep 27,441 Posts Drives: BMW Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bay Area, CA iTrader: (7)	i agree with you ward. __________________ www.cardomain.com/id/shragon
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11-13-2006, 10:57 PM	#20
anidjare Second Lieutenant 37 Rep 233 Posts Drives: Le Mans E93 M3 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: South Florida iTrader: (1)	Anyone know, hub contour height of e92? I don't have an accurate way of measuring off mine.
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