Head Scratcher

[RickyBobby]

Not had the car long so had the front wheel off to check the tyre - after replacing the wheel and driving the car it's now sitting right up on the strut with only enough room to slide a piece of paper in despite having plenty of clearance on the bonnet.
Any ideas? Thanks.

The other front that I didn't remove looks like this.

 

[Althulas]

With the first photo I would have said the wheels have the wrong offset so check they are both the same. on the second photo the strut looks angled. I don’t know if it’s the photo but both wheels need to come off to check it all over generally looking to see if there is any dameage to any of the suspension components, just check that you have matching wishbones, top mounts. It’s not right both positions looking so different from each other.

 

[Zephyr]

Are you sure that there wasnt a spacer that is now missing?

 

[Mike Fishwick]

You do not tell us what the clearance is on the other side. Perhaps you did not notice the lack of clearance before removing the wheel.

Also - you do not tell us the tyre or wheel size and offset - in these days where bigger tyres and wheels are regarded as a 'necessary' cosmetic addition, an 18 inch wheel with a wider rim, incorrect offset, and a larger section tyre can give problems such as this.

 

[Dxbolton]

the shock doesn’t look central to the spring plate. Is this an Issue?

 

[Althulas]

No it’s just the way the spring plate is have a look at these new shocks in this listing

MONROE X2 FRONT SHOCK ABSORBER BMW Z3 ROADSTER E36 2.0 2.2 2.8 3.0 95-03 | eBay

BENEFITS OF MONROE ?. IV, HS, KA27-28, KW, PA20-49, PA60-78, PH4-41, PH42-50, ZE, BT, IM, TR21-25, AB31-38, AB40-56, GY, JE, CHANNEL ISLANDS. ISLE OF WIGHT, ISLE OF MAN, SCILLY ISLES, SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS, SCOTTISH ISLANDS, AND NORTHERN IRELAND.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[t-tony]

I agree with Mark, so I would take both wheels off and compare the struts, spring seats and angle of the seats to the struts too.
Also, as mentioned make sure there isn't a wheel spacer missing. Are the wheels/tyres a staggered set up?

Tony.

 

[Joss]

If it was me - I'd be taking off the good side, photos at every stage, check for differences but I think @Zephyr has suggested a good place to start from

Are you sure that there wasnt a spacer that is now missing?

 

[Jam03]

Is the strut damaged?

 

[t-tony]

Is that the rubber spring seat?

Tony.

 

[SV8Predator]

I think there's some muppetry involved here.

It looks to me like you removed both front and rear wheels and then refitted the REAR wheel to the FRONT.

Am I getting warm?

 

[RickyBobby]

I don’t know if it’s the photo but both wheels need to come off to check it all over generally looking to see if there is any dameage to any of the suspension components, just check that you have matching wishbones, top mounts. It’s not right both positions looking so different from each other.

Thanks I'll do that and report back.

 

[RickyBobby]

Are you sure that there wasnt a spacer that is now missing?

Definitely no spacers - the wheels are 8.5J

 

[RickyBobby]

You do not tell us what the clearance is on the other side. Perhaps you did not notice the lack of clearance before removing the wheel.

Also - you do not tell us the tyre or wheel size and offset - in these days where bigger tyres and wheels are regarded as a 'necessary' cosmetic addition, an 18 inch wheel with a wider rim, incorrect offset, and a larger section tyre can give problems such as this.

The last photo is the clearance on the other side and the wheels are 18" 8.5J ET43 - the front tyres are 225/40 and the rears are 255/35. So straight set of wheels but staggered size tyres. Cheers

 

[RickyBobby]

I agree with Mark, so I would take both wheels off and compare the struts, spring seats and angle of the seats to the struts too.
Also, as mentioned make sure there isn't a wheel spacer missing. Are the wheels/tyres a staggered set up?

Tony.

No spacers fitted but I'll compare the struts as suggested. The wheels are a straight but the tyres are staggered. Thanks

 

[RickyBobby]

Is the strut damaged?

Yes see what you mean - will take another look

 

[RickyBobby]

N

I think there's some muppetry involved here.

It looks to me like you removed both front and rear wheels and then refitted the REAR wheel to the FRONT.

Am I getting warm?

No the rear tyres are 255/35 - the fronts are 225/40.

 

[Mike Fishwick]

The lower spring plate normally overlaps a standard 225-45 X 17 tyre on a 7.5 inch rim with 41 mm of offset. This gives about 10 or 12 mm of tyre clearance between the tyre and the plate - as measured on my car, using a thick spanner as a guage. This is only a rough dimension, but you get the picture.

Use of an 18 inch wheel will decrease this clearance by 12 mm, the 40 section tyre increasing it very slightly. The slight increase is offset will not make any real diffference here. However, as the spring plate is roughly conical in shape, this clearance will be reduced towards the inner edge of the tyre, due to the wider rim.

The effect of your wheel and tyre combination will therefore reduce most of the tyre to spring plate clearance which was designed into the suspension, the effect being shown on your photographs.

As it does not make contact with the spring plate, it should be safe enough, but you may later get a problem at MoT time, as the regulations keep tightening up. Your insurer may also take a dim view of the matter, and if this modification has not been specified to them it will give them a good amount of 'wriggle room' in the event of a claim. Ideally, keep an eye open for some wheels of the standard size.

 

[RickyBobby]

keep an eye open for some wheels of the standard size.

Thanks Mike.
The car has a number of ACS bits so I'm loathed to change the wheels - the previous owner bought it like that so it's actually been on those wheels since 2007.
That said I'm in the process of trying to buy back a set of staggered Style 18's that I sold last year to another forum member.
I do think 18" wheels are to big for the Z3 and ideally I'd source a set of 17" ACS wheels - but they're like the proverbial rocking horse poo to source. I do like 78's but like I say I'd rather go down the ACS route for this car

 

[Althulas]

From your two photos though the both sides did look different unless it was the angle of the second photo but it did look further away from the tyre edge.