upgrading to 19in wheels on my 2006 530xi and want to go staggered? is this ok or will i run into problems?

Staggered is OK as long as proper wheels, offsets, and tire sizes are applied.

That said, other than appearance, I personally don't feel any anticipated / expected performance gain is obtained by a staggered wheel set up on an e60 530xi [as contrasted to a higher horsepower model].

I don't think you can go staggered with an XI.

what proper wheels, offset and tires would you suggest for a staggered application?

I had H&R TRAK+ rear wheel spacers on my xi which gave it the staggered look before I traded it in, and never ran into any problems, you should be fine with that.

Let me jump in real quick:

1st, Xi's are really wonderful niche in the E60 line-up, Congrats and hope it serves you well.

2nd, all you need to know about Xi wheels/suspension, etc, you can find here: My modest little thread :P

3rd, when you are going staggered on the Xi, performance is not the first concern, because the 530 is simply not powerful enough to take advantage of 275's or 285's in the rear. The real benefit comes in the form of being able to get deeper wheels/wider lip on the rears. The only performance benefit you'd get is in cornering - the rear will be somewhat more "playful" (as in willing to "step out"), but the threshold for Xi with even stock suspension is quite high - I've taken my Xi on road courses on varying elevations and in very demanding curves and the car handled almost on par with the 550 sports (which have the Active Roll Stabilization).

In other words, :welcome:

oh, yes, almost forgot, we need to see pics of your car asap :P :thumbsup:

I don't know much about BMW's AWD system but I would tend to think that going staggered sizes on any AWD drive vehicle would be detrimental to your transfer case but you'd better check with your Service Advisor.

Actually, as long as you keep the overall rolling diameter close to each other, you will be just fine.

Here's a diameter calculator: Tire Diameter Calculator

BTW before posting a comment - and I do this myself too, so don't take this too personally - but try to search first. There have been more threads about staggered setups on Xi, than anything else having to do with Xi on this forum.

Finally, most SA's will tell you that anything that is not OEM BMW is not recommended. Its BS. While BMW OEM quality is indeed excellent, it is a. not the best and b. does not offer you nearly as wide a range as afttermarket.