that was a rough estimate and I only measured my front wheel. Rear is lower because the rim is .5 or 1" wider.

Ok, sorry for being thick in the head, but I don't get the offset thing (staggered is confusing me) and after reading threads, it is still not obvious as to what fits and what doesn't.

I am leaning toward the 18" simply because it would be a cheaper setup and it would provide for a softer ride compared to 19s. The wheels Tire Rack offer are not that exciting, but in a pinch they would do the trick and I am also looking at OEM wheels.

Most of the aftermarket 18s have an offset of 40 or 42 and are 8" wide, and OEM ones have an offset of 48 and are 8.5" wide. I believe my wheels are 20x9.5 ET45 Front and 20x10.5 ET30 Rear (still do not have the vehicle). So, I have 4 questions:

1. I do not think the front matters much since the offset difference is not that great, but what about the difference on the rear wheels? What does this really mean? Will the tires be "tucked in" more?

2. Now about OEM wheels, upon searching the forum, it appears some may fit and some may not. Is there a list of those that do fit (Style 69 would be nice)? There is a set of "Style 58" for sale and I'd like to know if they would clear.

3. The recommended tire size is 255/55/18 and it's fine. But, it seems that a 225/60/18 is a closer match to the OEM 20s (only 0.1% difference). Any reason why a 225/60 would not work?

4. Finally, do you guys run TPMS with your winter setups or do you simply ignore the light on the dash? Any adverse effect it could cause?

Thanks for the help, all this is new and a bit confusing to me.

Edit: I found the following but I am wondering if there is an error. The caption mentions Style 58 but the pic appears to be Style 69. Can someone confirm, and if they would both fit?

Those are not style 69. They are 18" style 87 replicas. Here is the pic of style 58 on ncx's 4.6is.
http://margraves.net/toys/x5/snows/DSCF0075.JPG

Thank you, this helps clarify 1 & 2. I have to assume that the brakes on the 4.8is and 4.6is are the same regarding clearance, right?

Any thoughts about 3 and 4?

BTW, what brand are your reps? I like them.

I hate it, but you definitely need snow tires for these trucks. I have 18" Style 99s for my 4.6 with Dunlops from BMW. I got them off of the previous owner for 500 bucks. I figured it was better than ending up in a ditch.

You don't need TPMS.There are no sensors in any E53 X5 wheels. It senses based on rotation of wheels as it relates to other wheels. If a wheel goes flat it will have different # of rotations/minute as against other wheels.

Very nice, thank you for the information.

What, so 315mm summer tires are not that great in the snow? Good to know.
:thumbup:

I picked up some sweet brand new 19x8.5" ADR wheels with ET40 for $600. That was basically the same as any OEM 18's I could find, and cheaper than any 19" from TR and similar to the cheapest 18's at TR.

I just had 265-50 Pirelli Ice and Snows installed. I will do a test fit on the X5 this week. I heard some of the ski areas in CA are now open. Let the season begin :D

so quick primer on offset and wheel width.

Offset is the distance the mounting surface is from the centerline of the wheel.
0mm would mean the hub sits exactly in the center of the wheel.
45mm means the hub sits 45mm from the centerline. X5 uses negative offset, so there is more wheel on the inside vs. the outside of the hub.

And 45mm on a 9" wheel is same fitment on the vehicle as a 20mm on a 10" wheel (1"=25mm)

bigger offset numbers push the tire / rim inside the wheelwells.
smaller numbers push them out towards the fenders more.

hope that makes some level of sense!!

I got my snow tires used for 500 bucks. The rims are a little messed up, but nothing some black paint won't fix. :rofl: