MrTantrum

I have a new-to-me 2008 535i with what I think is the sport package. I've been looking around in the forums, but I'm a little confused. My vehicle as all black window trim (not a touch of chrome anywhere) and larger/wider tires on the back than the front. However, it does not have paddle shifters nor a "sport" button on the center console (I've seen/read this in some posts). From the VIN the car was a very early '08 model.

Can anyone difinitely tell me what came in the sport package on the '08 535i, and if that is what I have? Also, while I'm at it, I assume that I don't rotate the tires on this car since I can't move front-rear & vice-versa Also, I've grown up being told to never reverse direction on radial tires, so I should not swap tires from one side of the car to the other - is this true?

ciphin

The shadow line trim (no chrome around the windows) indicates that you have the sport option. The sport option gets you sport seats, trim and sport steering wheel. An additional option was the staggered wheels on your 535.

The paddle shifters and sport button is a different option. You get these if your car came with the Sport Auto transmission option. This wasn't a very common option in factory cars -- custom ordered cars often came with this option.

As for reversing radial -- the majority of tires must roll a certain way in order to achieve maximum performance and road traction. On the inside of the tire wall there's an arrow that helps the tire tech mount the tire correctly. I have a 2008 550 and I am in the same boat. I don't rotate tires -- I just buy new ones.

MrTantrum

Indeed, I was confused. Extremely helpful information - thank you very much!

pukka

The Sport Pkg comes with 18" staggered wheels (style 124). The main feature (which can't be seen) is Active Roll Stabilization, which is a hydraulic suspension leveling system that keeps the car on a flat plane when cornering.

Bi-directional tires CAN be reversed. Uni-directional tires (with the directional arrow on the sidewall) cannot. You can still swap side-to-side but you will have to dismount, remount and balance each tire.

MrTantrum

I forgot to mention that I do have the 7 spoke wheels instead of the standard 5 spoke (I assume this is style 124). While not the most eye catching compared to others, they did appeal to me over the standard ones that I saw on some cars.

SilberGrauE60

*Unless you have an asymmetric tread pattern, such as the OEM Dunlop RFTs. The remount procedure would preserve the original rolling direction, but the inner tread pattern would now be on the outside. Of course, if you have a symmetric tread pattern, then this procedure would allow you to even-up the tread wear due to the negative camber effect.

MrTantrum

Based upon what I'm hearing then, should I even bother to rotate the tires? Starting to seem like an unneccessary expense.

SilberGrauE60

I think you just answered your own question.