I don't have them but I already called bmw for them pricey but I can get them but I'll wait till February and buy some for 4 k with tires. After I fix all my other issues with this bmw, it has aero package so it'd look pretty good with some wide tires ;)

Is the hub bore going to work with style 215 rears on an E53? What is the offset? Test fit first.

With style 87's at full turning lock you'll just brush (basically clean the dirt off) the inside of the fender liner that's using Bridgestone 315's which are wide for 315's. Also that style 87 is a 10.5 wheel with +30 offset. I've been using that square setup for I think 5+ years now.

GL! Post specs / pics.

So i got the 315s on the front over the weekend. Not a lot of difference in steering weight, but jeez it wants to tram line pretty bad. You have to keep your wits about you on multi lane roads otherwise if it finds a rut it can shoot you across to the next lane pretty quick.

I need to get a wheel alignment, and I also have put my old rears on the front which are reasonably cambered, so that may be contributing to the effect. Will get that sorted and see what's what - but in terms of looks - it's pretty mean.

It'll tramline like a bitch and very little can be done about it. One of the reasons being the caster angle setup is not intended to have all that rubber hanging out, levering the side of the spindle. When the road surface angle changes, the ability of the caster and tow combination to resist the tyre laying over and following the direction change is easily overcome.

You can have the toe increased, making the steering want to self-centre more, but the vehicle will be more difficult to change directions, the steering will get heavier in turns, and the tyres will scrub the inside edges heavily.

The price of vanity....huh?

J.Belknap autocrosses his so maybe he's got some tech tips on setup.

I'm waiting on delivery of the Bilstein b12 kit with eibach springs, and also looking at a rear sway bar....so I was hoping to put off an alignment until I get all that gear under it.

If it's too much to deal with I'll just go back to the 275s .....main reason for this exercise is my original fronts were guttered to hell, so I bought another set of 168s to try and build the best four and then re-sell the rejects. Figured I may as well try the rears on the front to see how it behaved.

Nah, not vanity mate - just experimentation :)

Given the right kit, you'd be able to tune it out.

I suspect the biggest hurdle would be rim offset. It would be my guess that those rims just have a bit too much offset for the suspension geometry to cope with.

Kicking out the caster angle a little further is not a simple thing, but dialling a fraction more toe is very easy for the alignment guys. And certainly worth trying...

Besides, tyres are cheap enough these days that even if you only got a measly 20K out of a set of 315's on the front, you can get decent Chinese rubber for $180 in that size - and I have to say - the ones I am running hang on like a thong on hot tar. Or dog shit on a picnic rug...

I got around 5 years and 50k miles out of square Bridgestone Dueler HP Sport non-rft 315's. Rotating helps a lot.

I use factory alignment specifications and tire pressures on the street, auto cross, road course. This is with 10.5" +30 offset wheels. I cannot say if your wheel size is different how the outcome could be.

Steering will feel heavy for a few weeks. More grip. :) You'll get used to it.

Is better appearance or improved handling the goal?

If handling, I can tell you what I have evolved to over the years.


If appearance, you can get great input on maximum width spacer here that matches up with the offset and widths of your wheels. I have 87s with 17mm spacers front and rear. I didn't go wider because I didn't want crap thrown up that would damage the rear quarter panel and I didn't want to put more stress on the suspension.

Bit of column A, bit of column B.

I can tell you, categorically, that it does handle better - on medium speed corners the turn in is so much more confident. There is a downhill, off camber S-bend that snakes under a railway bridge on my way to work - before the car used to fill a bit nose heavy and you could really feel it leaning on the outside front wheel. Made the car feel tall and uncertain.

Now it feels a lot squarer and more planted. Wants to be loaded up, and this on on front shock absorbers that I know are past their used by date. That is the pro - the con is the tramlining - there is one section of road, also on my way to work, where it literally squirrels around approx 2-3 feet side to side - the grooves in the road must just be the wrong size for the X5 and it pushes it around seriously.

In terms of crap throwing up the sides, I'll have to keep an eye on it. My driving is mostly city driving and we don't have the debris on our roads that some of you guys get in the winter months. I also have the bigger mudgaurds on the rear from factory - believe it was an Australian Design Requirement. Even with the spacers on the rear, the tyres are still covered. Fronts are a different story...

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps2215af12.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...pscafec4f6.jpg

As you probably know, at the limits the X5 understeers and wider tires on the front should reduce that some. New struts and the spacers will help body roll. I didn't find it helped enough so I went with the H&R lowering kit, Eibach sway bars, Dinan strut tower brace and Dinan camber plates--made a huge difference. I upgraded the bushings but I don't think the difference was worth the effort. The H&R springs are close to the same rate as stock so the ride is not that much stiffer. The result is far better handling than I need for street driving. The most noticeable single improvement was the sway bars with the lowering kit a close second.

In the evolution to where I am with suspension I went through some extreme trammeling. I had the stock size rims and tires on the front with Bilstein HD struts. I went back to stock struts to get rid of it. Ride was too harsh for daily driving anyway. I have tried many different tires. I now have Continental contact extreme contacts. I lost a bit of handling but they are very quiet and should take considerably longer to wear out. Most I have been getting out of rears it 10-12,000 miles and 15-17,000 miles on fronts. So far the Continentals look like they will be a great value.

I haven't been on a track where I can see what happens when I go beyond the handling limits. I am going to do that in the spring. My guess is that I haven't done enough, if there is enough that can be done, to get to enough oversteer where I am most comfortable.