Front wheel rubbing :(

jeffers · Jul 18, 2015

Hi All,

New-ish owner here (3 weeks!) and I have a question about the ride height of my car. I'm convinced something's not right. Its an '08 plate Z4 Coupe (non-//M) which the previous owner has fitted Eibach "pro" springs and 225/40R18 Bridgestones on non-standard 18" alloys. I'm not sure of the make yet but below is a pic:

Anyway, the car seems to rub even going over smallish speedbumps if you're going anything more than a snails-pace. I've had an S1 Elise and an S2000 before this and never had a car rub like this, even on the same bumps (my local town centre). Even going through a dip in the road at B-road speeds will cause something to rub. It's spoiling the car for me at the moment.

Driving home this afternoon and the tyre seems to have rubbed through the edge of the wheel arch liner:

Strangely this only appears to be an issue on the nearside of the car. The drivers side is fine and I dont think its rubbing. I have measured the distance from the ground to the top of the wheel-arch and its slightly higher on the passenger side compared to the drivers side, 650mm vs ~645mm on the drivers side. Does this sound about right? It looks fine, and not barry-boy "slammed" or anything.

At the moment I'm thinking about refitting the standard 108 wheels but I'm not even sure if that will make any difference. Arent they 18" all around?

All suggestions welcome!
Thanks
jeff

TomK · Jul 18, 2015

Looks to me like that front wheel is very pushed out, either by incorrect offset or a spacer. Have you taken the wheel off to see if it has spacers on? If there are, get rid of them, if no spacer then I'd say the offset of the wheels (or even the width of the rim) is to aggressive and you have little option but to change for others.
Hope you get it sorted, shouldn't be like that.

Lynchy · Jul 18, 2015

I know it sounds silly but a forum member, mention no names put a rear wheel on the front by mistake. Could this be the cause ?

PerryGunn · Jul 18, 2015

Lynchy said:
I know it sounds silly but a forum member, mention no names put a rear wheel on the front by mistake. Could this be the cause ?

jeffers · Jul 18, 2015

Lynchy said:
I know it sounds silly but a forum member, mention no names put a rear wheel on the front by mistake. Could this be the cause ?

yep, I saw that thread, easily done! Nope, just checked and the rears are 255s. The previous owner is a forum member so I've asked him for some details on the make/model of the wheels. Theres no obvious make/model visible from the outside.

mr wilks · Jul 18, 2015

Dropping to 215 40 tyres could solve the problem whilst retaining the current alloys & stance .
Depends on how much they catch as they are now
Hard to see for sure from the pic but it does look quite " pokey"

possibly offset as low as 20

Sae · Jul 18, 2015

TomK said:
Looks to me like that front wheel is very pushed out, either by incorrect offset or a spacer. Have you taken the wheel off to see if it has spacers on? If there are, get rid of them, if no spacer then I'd say the offset of the wheels (or even the width of the rim) is to aggressive and you have little option but to change for others.
Hope you get it sorted, shouldn't be like that.

As others have said they wheels look like they sit outside the bodywork so it's definitely going to rub, post a few more pictures looking down side of the car it should be obvious to confirm.

ben g · Jul 18, 2015

Classic rubbing area there. Mine are/were the same.

Stick some wheels on with the correct offsets (or close to standard, no more than 12mm less on the front, so ET35.

Mine eventually wore the plastic liner away so much that the liner disintegrated one day. They cost circa £100 to replace per arch!

jeffers · Jul 20, 2015

Previous owner has said that they are Bola wheels but he's not sue of the offsets. No spacers fitted.

Anyone come across these wheels before? Looks like I'd need to take them off to find the offsets. Anyway, here are some pics:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ob0btpe05zx6zdg/2015-07-19 15.16.02.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fe366pmnpybizsn/2015-07-19 15.15.36.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uitfm29vxam2l3j/2015-07-19 15.15.57.jpg?dl=0

Do they look too big to anyone? Luckily I still have the original 108s so thinking about getting them refurbed and refitted.

Jeff

aquazi · Jul 20, 2015

If its slight rubbing then a cheaper and easier fix would be to remove the mud guard clips and fix it behind the bumper instead - which gives you 2mm or so.

If that doesnt fix it then 215 profile tyres a worth a try.... but its got to be the offset combined with the eibachs,

Machine monkey · Jul 20, 2015

Agreed with the above comment. Another way would get a slightly more aggressive camber set up on the front. More like an M or even pull the camber pins. This will bring the top of the wheel in a bit and maybe stop the rubbing.
Depends how you drive your car and what you want from it.

jeffers · Jul 20, 2015

Its my daily drive so dont really want crazy camber and the associated tyre wear. Pretty much settled on refitting the 108s and ebaying the Bolas. Just need to get a price on refurbing them.

Just to check they should be a straight swap, right? Same tyres (front 225/40R18, rear 255/35R18) should fit the 108s?

Number5 · Jul 20, 2015

The OP said that he even gets rubbing when hitting a dip on B roads.
To me that would suggest the wheels are in a straight forward alignment and not a turning issue.

Surely this would indicate a suspension issue rather than tyre size, offset or camber issue.
Either the car is sat too low or the springs/shocks are too soft and allowing the car to sink too easily if the wheels are hitting the top of the arch even In a straight line ??

I'm no mechanic but just looking at it logically ?

jeffers · Jul 20, 2015

Number5 said:
The OP said that he even gets rubbing when hitting a dip on B roads.
To me that would suggest the wheels are in a straight forward alignment and not a turning issue.

Surely this would indicate a suspension issue rather than tyre size, offset or camber issue.
Either the car is sat too low or the springs/shocks are too soft and allowing the car to sink too easily if the wheels are hitting the top of the arch even In a straight line ??

I'm no mechanic but just looking at it logically ?

OP here. Yep, it does do it when going through dips at a decent speed, with the wheels pointing pretty much straight-ahead. If you look at the pics I think that the higher offset wheel is moving the outer lip of the tyre that much closer to the edge of the wheel arch and just causes it to rub when the suspension compresses.

It recently passed an MOT so the suspension should be in good shape

ben g · Jul 20, 2015

Every Z4 in history lowered on eibachs will rub at that exact point if big enough spacers are on the front or lower offset alloys are fitted.

You can see in the 2nd pic just how close it would be when driving on bumpy roads.

hopz121 · Jul 20, 2015

The Tyres look stretched if you ask me, i think the wheels are fairly wide with a low off-set which is why you are having issues.

I expect the wheels are a square set up and are the same width front and back!

Think you are going to ned to take the wheels off OP and have a look.

Good Luck

ben g · Jul 20, 2015

Taking the wheels off would be the easiest way of knowing for sure, definitely.

Should say something like 8.5jx18 et30. The numbers may well be different, but that's how they will be stamped on the rear of the spokes of the wheel.

jeffers · Jul 20, 2015

Gonna bite the bullet and get the 108s refurbed I think. Saw a local wheel specialist this afternoon and they can get it done later this week.

I assume this will sort the problem, even with the eibach springs?

mr wilks · Jul 20, 2015

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From this pic the offset looks fine , at a guess id say around ET34 ET36 ?
Drop the tyre size in width & the problem could be solved ?

jeffers · Jul 20, 2015

I've done some forum stalking and found a comment by the previous owner which suggests the wheels are... 9 1/2 et 42

Does that make sense? I don't really understand wheel sizings

Front wheel rubbing :(

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