Sorry for the delay bud. The difference between the two per H&R is one has bolts with 17mm heads and the other has bolts with 19mm heads. They are the same size and pitch, just different sized heads. Either will work on the E53. I'm also waiting back to hear from them on which has which bolt head so I can note it on the site.

So the one that I bought has 19mm? Or is this what you have to find out?

I don't have a set in stock to measure, so I'm waiting to heard back from H&R on which spacers use which bolt head.

Hey guys,

after the TUV post earlier, I started searching at google.de in German about Spacers. I couln't find anything regarding it being unsafe. On top I called Tuning house Hamann, AC Schnizter, but it is already too late to get in touch with anyone, shops are closed. However, I wrote them an email and will post the response.
When I searched on their site, they had their on spacers listed for sale up to 30 mm. Zubehör Leichtmetallräder

I guess if a tuning house like Hamann installs them, how bad can it be?

Are you wondering between the H&R 25 & 30mm's? I can tell you that the 25mm have 17mm heads.

The wheel bearing is located relative to the centerline of the tire tread. Hang the wheel out further and you apply a cantilever load to the axle, stressing the wheel bearing with both vehicle weight and cornering loads. This isn't the case if you have rims with the wrong offset and use spacers to bring the wheel to the correct location, but most aren't doing that.

Like I said before, I wrote Hamann Motorsport an email. Hamann like M, AC Schnitzer, and Hartge are famous tuning houses in Germany. I asked them in my email:
"I currently live in he US and have heard different opinion, regarding if wheel spacers are safe. I thought, I might experts from Germany. I own a X5 E53 and would like to install H&R spacers 25 mm (DRA Series Wheel Spacer Product # 50757252) on each side, but only in the rear. My rims are BMW original and 20 inches. Ich would like to get an opinion, if you in your tuning house install spacers or if you discourage me from installing them.

Thank you and best regards,


Here is the answer from Hamann Tuning house:


"We put spacers in almost all rim jobs when we install our Rims into the vehicle. Hence, I wouldn't loose a thought/ sleep about safety aspects.


Hallo Herr X,

wir verbauen bei nahe zu jeder Felgenumrüstung bei unseren Breitbauten Distanzscheiben.
Somit würde ich mir über den Sicherheitsaspekt keine Gedanken machen.


Best regards
Dennis

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Thank you.




Von:
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 22. August 2012 18:54
An: info
Betreff: Spurverbreitungen
Ich lebe zur Zeit in den USA und bekomme hier verschiedene Meinungen, ob Spurverbreitungen sicher sind. Ich dachte mir, dass ich mal Experten aus Deutschland einfach mal frage. Ich habe einen X5 e53 und wollte H&R Spurverbreitungen 25 mm (DRA Series Wheel Spacer Produkt # 50757252) auf jeder Seite, aber nur hinten, installieren. Meine Felgen sind original BMW und 20 zoll. Ich wollte nur eine unverbindliche Meinung haben, ob Sie in ihrem Tuninghaus so etwas installieren wuerden oder ob sie mir davon abraten wuerden.

Vielen Dank und freundliche Gruesse,

X

There are two 25mm spacers for the E53 avaible from H&R, one has a 17mm the other a 19mm. Those are the ones we're looking at for the bolt head size.

i agree with the wheel bearing thing

i believe the stock rim with spacer = aftermarket rim with the correct offset, IMO

to me if i'am willing to put nice rims on my car i would be more than willing to keep stock rims and just use spacers for the right fit, in my head they both impact the ride/bearings/handling all in the same way

+1, My H&R 25mm DRAs came with 19mm bolts.