JayArras

Posting this for my own education... Is it a good idea to mess with the xDrive by putting a staggered tire setup on an xi? Beyond cosmetics, is there any advantage in putting different rim/tire fronts and rears on a vehicle that is AWD? I can certainly understand this for a RWD car, but aren't all the wheels supposed to compensate for each other for traction in AWD? And won't you be faking out the xDrive system by messing with what it expects to be the same setup all around?

I profess to know nothing about the dynamics of this, so if someone could please explain, I'd appreciate it.

txag_530i

The quick answer is that you don't want to put staggered wheels on an AWD vehicle. The wheels rotate at different rates which in the long run will cause serious issues with the drive system. FWIW Audi doesn't recommend staggered wheels on Quattro cars, either.

Munich77

Yet ironically, BMW had staggered wheels for the Xi. So I am curious about this too. For those members that have staggered wheels on the xi - have you noticed any difference in how the car handles?

TLO03

Highly debated topic.. If you look you'll find opinions for both sides.. I'm running stock x3 sport wheels Staggered 8.5x19 f 9x19r with no problems yet. I think what's more in important is overall wheel diameter.

NYC530XI

It won't make a difference. I had staggered for a while and the driving is no different. BMW mechanics also informed me that staggered on any X-DRIVE vehicle is fine. Every X-Drive car BMW offers SAVs and cars alike has OEM staggered options.

If this is the case, why would it be harmful to the cars?

It's not, and aesthetically staggered looks better anyway.