Staggered Wheel Alignment

[Blade69]

Hey guys. I have the staggered 20's on my 4.8is. For some reason, when I've called around to a few of the indy shops that specialize in foreign or performance cars, they seem surprised that an awd vehicle has staggered wheels. Didn't these come standard on these vehicles?

[UCrewX5]

yes, the staggered setup was standard with rim packages 19" or bigger

[Roadkill]

The circumference of both front and rear wheels is exactly the same therefore there is no damage done to the diff's or t-case when driving.

[Blade69]

Thanks. I guess my question is why do the shops seem so surprised? Makes me not trust them to know what the hell they are doing?

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by dinan e39

The circumference of both front and rear wheels is exactly the same therefore there is no damage done to the diff's or t-case when driving.

This. Look around the web and many people when they hear "staggered" they automatically think because they are different width tires they are different rolling diameters.

Strange to think a SHOP would have that thought though.

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by Blade69

Thanks. I guess my question is why do the shops seem so surprised? Makes me not trust them to know what the hell they are doing?

Yes, I would not trust them either. They obviously haven't done many alignments on X5s so .... go somewhere else.

[HPIA4v2]

no expert but I've seen people gets some sort of fault on xdrive BMW (2004 and up) after switching to staggered setup. The xfer case on xdrive is electronics and can pickup any slight diff between front and rear axle speed, like you are slipping in slippery road but if the condition persist that xdrive will tell computer something wrong (how in the hell a car slipping for miles constantly buffle the xdrive, for example). Just be careful picking up tire ratio that's all.

[Blade69]

There's nothing wrong with my setup. It runs just fine. The only time I get the TPM system to show is when I take a corner a little bit too aggressively. I was just wondering how a specialty shop didn't know that staggered wheels came on this model. The rolling circumference hasn't changed. They are just wider in the back. BMW designed them like that.

[TerminatorX5]

in the software/firmware programming of the car this info is programmed under connotation of "HP" setup... whatever the "HP" means... in other words, the programming of the car somehow differentiate between regular and "iS" setup... I guess, it takes care of the diff and the transmission issues...

I have to dig up my TRW file to see what the actual entry says...