What wheel spacers to use on an e36 328i???

[IvanBvB]

Hi buds I'm new here and need some opinions on which wheel spacers size to go with on my 1996 e36 328i?? I'd upload a picture but can't. Any feedback is appreciated thanks. Ps I have 18in rims on it and will lower it as well. 225 /40 -18 tire width with 18in rims/don't know width.drop a comment please

[TostitoBandito]

Depends completely on your wheel width/offset and tire width. I use 12mm spacers in front and no spacers in back on my E36 M3, with 245/40-17's on 17x9 ET42 wheels. Can't really go much wider than that on an E36 without fender mods.

[IvanBvB]

Thank you, why don't you have spacers in the rear?

[TostitoBandito]

I use the spacers in front because my front tires are much wider than stock and I need more space between the tire and the coilover. The front fender lip has loads of clearance with the stock tires, so it's not really an issue unless you go wider than 255 or want to run a really low offset.

In the rear there's no coilover to worry about, but the fender lip offers very little clearance even with stock tires. Mine are a bit wider than stock, so there's even less room. No need for a spacer there, and if I used one I'd have to cut my fenders off.

Basically, on my car in stock form the rears were already pretty close to flush while the fronts had big fender gaps. Now with a wider square tire setup and spacers in the front it's much closer to flush with the fenders in front. That said, I didn't do any of that to my car for looks, but to run wide sticky tires for the track.

[IvanBvB]

Would you suggest lowering it first then putting on spacers? Thanks man

[TostitoBandito]

You could do it either way, though unless you want to go really wide it'd probably be easier to lower first and then get the perfect spacers for that ride height.

If you want to be really aggressive with the spacers, get the spacers in first and then drop the ride height as much as you can without rubbing the fenders. Camber will also make a big difference if you're pushing the limits of fender clearance. More negative camber gives you more fender clearance.

[IvanBvB]

Thanks appreciate it