Lowering my 325is, Camber Lock kit?

Finally going to lower my car in about two weeks! I found a good DIY and will be attempting to do it myself. I just wanted to check in and see if there was any suggestions/things I'm missing.
So far I have the Rogue Engineering Rear shock mounts and Raceland's lowering kit.
Someone mentioned I should look into front Camber lock kit?
I realize lowering the car a little will change the camber but is it necessary or recommended?

Searched online but it seems to be pretty mixed responses. I am lowering the front 1 inch and the back is staying the stock height. Do I need to get camber locks in the front? Would love some feedback from those of you who are already lowered

For that tiny drop? No. Camber plates would be a waste of money.

lol no camber plates for that little drop man.

would be a waste of time.

So I finished the back and ended up lowering it a little , I was very surprised to find that one of the springs was snapped! All in all it went pretty smoothly.
The fronts however proved to be a bit trickier... I got both Struts installed however this is my first time working on a suspension and i didn't count on my rims rubbing on the Raceland springs. I even tried the stock 15" "winter rims" and no luck there so it looks like my car is going to have to stay in the driveway until I can order some wheel spacers. The only place that carries them locally only has 1/4 inch and that still wasn't enough clearance.

Any suggestion as to where is a good place to order them from? Preferably not too expensive however I want this done right and so I don't mind paying for quality.

These were the ones I was looking at http://www.turnermotorsport.com/show...e-applications

Thanks for all the help so far! I would be so unbelievably lost if it wasn't for this forum and all the information in these treads.

I feel rather stupid now that I just found this awesome thread on wheel spacers after doing a rather simple search... http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=556024
After reading it all I think I have fairly decent grasp on spacers and what to look for.
I'm still always open to suggestions though

what exactly are you looking for?

im not following very well.

^ yea not getting it...My tires don't rub at all and I have Racelands front and back with style 5's. The back rubs a little but not the front unless I really push it in the corners. 1/4" spacers seems a little much, doing this puts alot of stress on other parts of the car mostly the lugs bolts. I have never been a fan of spacers for wheels I've seen what can happen when this is done!!! The wheels look good try to change the tire size a bit, work with your local tire shop on the correct fitment. After the tires I have are done I'm going to a bit smaller size to lose the rub in the back. Please don't make your car look like Sh*%, you've got a good base to start with don't get to crazy so you can enjoy the drive-ability of these fine automobiles.

spacers do not add ANY extra force on the lugs if you use a correct spacer.

hub centric is the CORRECT type. if its not hub centric dont use it.

Originally Posted by Eight Thirty

what exactly are you looking for?

im not following very well.

Sorry I didn't make it very clear, ill try again.
The back shocks installed nicely and wheels fit fine.
In the front I have installed the Raceland struts however I am not able to put my kosei K1 wheels (17 inch offset 40) back on because the wheel gets pushed up against the coilover and would scrap badly. I even tryed my other set of wheels that are Stock 15inch and they also were right up against the coilover.

After doing some research it looks like I will need at least a 12mm wheel spacer so that I can fit my wheels on the car without rubbing the coilover.
Im not worried about the tires rubbing since im not going to be lowering that much for the winter (we get lots of snow in Canada and I dont feel like snowplowing).

Just trying to make sure im on the right track with the wheel spacer thing.

Yeah, you just need front spacers - not a big deal. Very common issue with coilover suspensions. Just make sure you don't over-do it, since if you get too big of a spacer, you end up rubbing the outside front fender lip.

Thanks for the feedback! ^Is your car lowered? and if so what size wheel spacer do you use, as it looks like I have the same wheels as you.

Looks like I might need a 20mm spacer which is larger then I wanted to run, might have to sell my wheels and look for new ones come spring.

you will be fine with a 5-10mm spacer. 20mm is alot. trust me

Originally Posted by Eight Thirty

you will be fine with a 5-10mm spacer. 20mm is alot. trust me

I would really like this to be true however it looks like I would need more then 10mm.
I'm not saying your wrong, I just don't wanna order the spacers and find out I need to buy the larger ones.
here is some more info on my wheels if that would help. They are 17x8.5 ET40 and my tires are 245/40/17

you will be fine with 10mm.

seriously. et30 with 8.5 wide is enough to clear


you MIGHT need a fender roll... but nothing too serious.

20mm is one inch wide. thats what i run

20mm is just over 3/4" (0.787"). 25mm is almost 1" (0.984"). Just sayin....

Originally Posted by Eight Thirty

spacers do not add ANY extra force on the lugs if you use a correct spacer.

hub centric is the CORRECT type. if its not hub centric dont use it.

Really and you are using a 20mm spacer .787 of an inch in thickness and say that doesn't put any stress on the lugs. Ok so I'm thinking that there .787 of an inch less thread that is going into the hub and .787 of an inch away from the hub is the wheel that allows for more movement. Now I 'm not saying it can't be done and that your wrong but when you start having vibration issues and driveabilty issues like wondering and wanting to follow lines in the roadway that's what i mean when I say it's not a good idea. As you did say that hub centric spacers are the best way I would agree to a certain point, you can buy longer lugs but you will still have alot of lug bolt or stud hanging out there that will move and put stress on parts that are not necessarily designed for that. So I guess what I'm saying is that from a performance and safety stand point I wouldn't use spacers for any reason. If the wheels don't fit find something that does.

The load on hubcentric wheels/suspension is borne by the HUB, not the lugs. A properly made hubcentric spacer with correct-length lugs will not change the loading on the lugs! With anything but a very thin spacer, you will need longer lugs.

My wheels fit perfectly with spacers even as low as I am. Without spacers my car Dora not look as aggressive. I think you need to put more thought into this. My wheel bolts are also 20mm longer

Sent from my Desire HD using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by Eight Thirty

my car Dora

You renamed her?

Yeah, I know....another smartphone autospell gotcha.

Originally Posted by hornhospital

The load on hubcentric wheels/suspension is borne by the HUB, not the lugs. A properly made hubcentric spacer with correct-length lugs will not change the loading on the lugs! With anything but a very thin spacer, you will need longer lugs.

True but when you introduce spacers your wheels are no longer hubcentric...

this is so incorrect........

i dont understand how people dont get this.


If your putting your wheel on your hub... which makes your wheel hub centric right? no disagreeing that?

now.... you take your brake rotor and you make it farther out 1 inch. (lengths differing on spacer sizes... and you put the correct bolts on.


Assuming it is a CORRECT wheel spacer (meaning hub centric) it will STILL be hub centric with very little/no weight on the bolts.


as long as there is still the lip which simply "makes the hub lip farther out" the wheel bolts are just holding the wheel to the hub.

if the spacer is installed incorrectly not flat. this puts pressures on the bolts. with a few other exceptions everything above remains true