Consensus on 18" Wheels on a 4.6is?
 

Is there consensus on this? Doing more research, I am finding conflicting opinions, and I really need to know exactly which wheels I should be looking for to square up my 2002 4.6is for winter.

Will 18" wheels really clear the brakes?

Will only certain 18" wheels work? If so, which ones?

Do some of you have first-hand knowledge of this?

Or, do I need to be looking at 19" rims instead?

There are far more varying opinions out there than I first realized.

I recently put 4.8iS brakes on my 3.0i, I am currently running the 18 inch wheels. I have no clearance issues. (although I had to file a tiny bit off my wheel weights to get them to clear! :p:) I am not using any wheel spacers either. One thing I did notice, is that I need a new spare! as it seems the 3.0i all came with a small 17" spare tire/wheel, meaning if I get a flat up front, I have to move the rear wheel to the front, and put the 17" spare out back! not ideal to say the least!!!
:cool:

The answer is on your door/doorjamb and in your owners manual.

Open your door and look for the tire inflation chart....BMW put recommended tire sizes. If 18" tires are listed...then you can mount that size 18" tire on any 18" wheel that has specs similar to the 18" E53 wheels.

If the smallest tire size listed are 19"...then that is the smallest wheel size you can mount...and again, look for wheels that have the same spec range as BMW e53 19" wheels.

Again, check your driver's door/door jamb or your owners manual. The chart below is from the facelift owners manual...and it looks like the 4.8is can run with 18" winter tires:

Thank you. That's why I thought they should work. My door jam says it will take a 255 55 R18 tire and 8J X 18 which I assume is a rim. So I assume an 8.5" wide 18" rim will not work. I'm finding a lot of those for sale.

The ineresting thing to me is that my door shows the 8j X 18, a 9 1/2J X 20, a 10 1/2j X 20, but the only 19 looks like it is for a spare - a 5j X 19.

I would think that if an 8X18 would work, there must be some 19 that will work too.

What is the best way to find all the wheel specs for an e53 wheel. If I try to use tire rack, they only show a 20" staggered set up for this car, and since it has the bigger brakes, I wouldn't think just plugging in 4.4i would give me the right answer. For example, the 4.4i shows an 8.5 X 18 rather than an 8 X 18.

Are they 8 X 18's, or 8.5 X 18's?

In regards to the 8x18 vs 8.5x18 wheels...an extra 1/2" width won't matter...my 2006 e53 has the style 153 18" wheels and it came with 255/55/18 tires. and 8" or 8.5" width wheel can easily be mounted with a 255/55/18 tire.

As far as using any of the e53 19" wheels...that wouldn't be an issue either...as long as you install the correct 19" tire (see the label I posted previously). Basically you can see that all e53's can use the same 18/19/20 inch wheels & tires. The 17" wheel/tire combo won't fit on the 4.6is & 4.8is.

The 19" tire on your door jamb is identifying the small donut spare that the 4.6is & 4.8is came with (as well as it's higher tire inflation pressure).

Here's a link to the BMW e53 wheels (and many of the other BMW wheels) which also gives specs: All BMW wheel styles X X5-E53 | BmwStyleWheels.com

Thank you. That is very clear. I appreciate it.

I've decided to try a set of style 69's that are on CL right now. It is interesting though, that when you click on the different styles, the 99's ONLY show 4.6is. The 69's say e53 with nothing under the "except" column. So, I'll see if they work. If they don't, I'll find a set of 99's someplace. Thanks for all the help.

Just to verify...the Style 69 wheels on CL are for the e53, right? If not, then you will need to find out what their 11 digit BMW part nbr is so that you can figure out if they were Style 69 wheels for the e38 or e39.

The "style" or "design" was offered across the e38/e39/e53 model platforms...but they are not the same wheels. Each model is going to have different part nbrs specific to the model they were made for.

As you can see on the BMW wheels site...each model has a different wheel width & offset range...plus the e39 has a larger 74.1mm wheel hub...whereas the e38 & e53 have a 72.56mm wheel hub.

Perhaps the wheel size chart below can be helpful in having information about the various BMW model's wheel specs:

Ha! I keep thinking I have this figured out. Well, the ad says they came off an X5. I see that there are a number of X5's, so I will ask this question. Is the e53 just the 2000 to 2006 models? I think I'd better ask the seller for the part number.

I will post the link below, and maybe you can take a look. There is also a set of style 99's that came directly off a 4.6is. That would be more of a sure thing, but i like the 69's better, and they are in a better location for me to be able to get them.

https://denver.craigslist.org/wto/d/...192008749.html

Yes! The owner says "his e53 X5 with sport package is in the garage."

Now I just need to find them a ride from Denver.

:thumbup:

And yes...the e53 X5s are the ones from 2000-2006. The 2nd gen X5 is the e70 (2007-2013). The 3rd gen X5 is the f15 (2014-current).

Well, I’m at it again. Looking for a second set of used 18” wheels for a 2002 4.6is. There is a good looking set for sale near me right now. I can't get much information from the owner, but looking at the information provided earlier in this thread, [URL="http://www.bmwstylewheels.com/X/X5-E53"] they appear to be a style 209. The 209 does NOT appear on the e53 style page, but on the e70 page. However, they are listed as 8.5X18, and there are other ims that size listed for the e53.

Does anyone know if they will fit my 4.6is?

The issue with E53 X5 vs E70 X5 wheels...is the center bore. You will need to use hub-centric rings to mount e70 wheels on an e53 due to them having a larger center bore:


http://bimmerboard.com/members/q/ori...%20Nbr%205.jpg

Perfect. Thank you. I will look into that, but probably just wait for another set of wheels to show up.

even if the ID of the 18" wheel fits, you have to make sure the Offset value is low enough to allow the street side of the caliper to have clearance against the backside of the wheel's spokes.
that can be just as tricky finding the right low offset as it is nice looking/quality wheel.