Style 211 Wheels on E53 ?

[jspellberg]

Seeking some advice on wheel compatibility (E70 to E53)!

Just bought an E53 ('05 4.4i) and am torn between the Style 168 and Style 211 wheels. I would ideally like to mount Style 211 wheels (19" x 9" E70 sport package), but am not sure they are compatible. I will be taking my vehicle to Mexico, where the roads will likely be a bit rougher, and the extra sidewall (128 mm for Style 211 vs 110 mm for Style 168 wheels) could be useful. Also, Style 211 wheels can be rotated among all four wheels, which could prolong tire life.

I have talked to service specialists at two different BMW dealerships... one told me that there should be no problem installing Style 211 wheels, but the other warned me that this is "not recommended" due to the offset differences (he said that 211 offsets are 48, both front and rear, whereas offsets for E53 hubs are 45 in front and 48 in rear - does this make any sense?). I did some research on offsets, but still don't completely understand this. Of the wide variety of wheels that ARE "officially" compatible with E53, the offsets vary widely from 45 or 48 (I think offsets for Style 168s are 30, for example), so it seems that it IS possible to add 211s.

But my question is, will doing so cause any safety and/or performance problems later down the road?

Here are the OEM specs of the 211 wheels:

19" x 9"
255/50/R19
(sidewall = 127.5 mm)
Load Index = 107

Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

[UCrewX5]

E70 rims will fit on an E53, but the E70 rims have a slightly larger hub size. So you'll want to pick up a set of hub-centric rings to properly center the rims. See this post on the rings you will need -

http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum/...tyle-214s.html

[ncx]

You are in good hands, J.

Welcome to X5world!

[jspellberg]

Thanks guys!

[TwinsPoppa]

Jason,

You can use this wheel offset calculator to figure how the wheels will sit on the car. Just keep in mind this doesn't take into account the tire size (for example, it will not be able to tell you if you will have tire clearance problems).

http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp

The stock wheels sizes and offsets for the 4.8 are:
Front = 20x9.5, ET45
Rear = 20x10.5, ET30

If you change to 211s (assuming 9" width & 48 offset) this is what you'll get compared to the 168s:

Front = 3mm more inner clearance & 9mm less from the outside rim (the wheel position will be about the same as the 168s)

Rear = 1mm more inner clearance & 37mm less from the outside rim (the wheel position will be 1.45" inches from the fender compared to the 168s)

IMHO ... if you go with the 19s, you might want to use a spacer (approx $150-$200) on the rear to push the wheels out so it doesn't look too bad (because you mentioned the 17s didn't look good, especially with the front and rear spoilers). Again, only my opinion. If you're more concerned about function and not looks then forget the spacers.