BlaSTiWi

You loose a bit of comfort since it's not the same as factory stock ... kinda obvious ... As far as why ... not sure...

bmwtoronto

When an xi is lowered, is it safe to assume it is lowered to where a normal 530/545/550 sport would be at? Therefore the comfort would be the same at non xi sport versions? Or am i out to lunch?

2mnycars

Here's my experience...fwiw ;-)

We needed winter tires and rims for our 530 xit. Bought it, then drove immediately to a car store we knew that said they had snowtires on BMW rims.

They put them on for us. Car road terribly. The rims were from a 2 wheel drive 5 series; bmw rims. Wrong offset! We didn't buy them.


We found a set of 17" rims and snowtires. They were really hard to come by in Toronto last year. We needed them...


They're the BMW Canada package snow tires and BMW rims for the 530xi. Run flats. 17", 5 spoke BMW rims. Tires are Dunlop Winter Sport M3. Size 225/50R17 94H (M+S)

They were excellent on my car last winter. The car retained good handling ability with good snow and ice traction.

I've been a ski instructor for 35 years, though I'm not teaching now. I MUST equip my cars for winter driving, even though I live in the GTA (west of the Airport).

Summary? Make sure you have the right offset. Having snowtires makes winter fun!

I know you said that you might buy new rims/tires for summer use. There are many posters here that can give you excellent advice. Please be careful with the offset of wheels you purchase.

Regards,
Dave

DrLev99

Comfort on H&R's will be nothing like any stock 5 series, xi, sport or otherwise. :thumbsdown: The ride on H&R's will be harsh to say the least. If you like a comfortable ride, you can forget them. It will rattle your fillings over expansion joints on the highway.

If you want to lower an xi right, spend some dough and buy the KW coilovers for $2300.

And of course you can do staggered if you want...looks much cooler! My old xi on H&R's, 19" staggered VMR's...

General216

Hey Man,

I'm new here too. Sound like you and I are trying to do the same thing. I have decided to move up to 19's with performance summer tires and will switch back to my 17's with a dedicated snow tire (live in the Cincinnati area). I have received a lot of caution on the off set's myself. The change to 19's worries me with the X Drive and varying the tire size. It does appear though a lot of guys have xi rides and are happy with the change. I drive a ton - 70K miles on my at the time brand new 06. Ride quality is important to me, so lowering due to adjusted ride height is something I may need to look into, but I don't think I want to spend the dollars for that at this time.

Please let me know what you learn as you move through the process.

Eric,

2mnycars

Eric, Tire Rack can provide you with lots of information on changing rim and tire size. I believe the norm is to keep the rolling diameter of the tire the same. So going to +1 or +2 results in wider and wider tread.
I went +1 on another vehicle. found it compromised handling. Issue was wheel weight and tire weight was higher. Unsprung weight increase affected handling, acceleration and stopping in a bad way. And I thought I was improving it! For what it's worth, went from 205/70-15's on a compact suv to 225/60-16's. (That was the closest match I could find at the time with the aids I had.) Looked tuff though.

But if the rolling radius stays the same, then the height at the top of the tire to the fender lip remains about the same. The wheel offset was ok by the way...both rims made by the original manufacturer.

My summer rims are 18" with sport package. My winter rims with snowtires are 17", appropriately sized. BMS winter tire package for the vehicle.

Good luck and have fun