Originally Posted by BimmerM3inGA

I agree that aesthetically, the Sport package with big wheels/tires is the way to go. If I were shopping for an X5 to keep, that is what I would seek out. This car needs a set of tires, and the upside to the 17's is that it won't cost me $1200+ to replace them. I have an E85 Z4 and an E39 528iT with the Sport package on each one, and they are tire eaters. Both also have staggered tires and the rears wear twice as fast as the fronts.

I have worked on an X5 4.4 Sport for a friend and she was stunned by how much a set of 20" tires cost for that car, and by how often they had to be replaced. She "knew a guy" who worked at a tire distributor who supposedly got her a deal and it was still over $1500 for the set. Plus, they still had to be mounted/balanced. So I'm okay with 17" wheels on this one!