I'm looking for a cheap set of winter wheels for my 530xi. I'm searching Tirerack.com, but I'm not sure that they are aware that the xi's require a different offset. Anyone know of a set of wheels that I could use in a winter setup? I have a set of winter tires, size 225/50-17. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

I would look in the classified section of this website and see what people are selling. There are usually used xi wheels on there.

 

Why change the tires , the stock are supposed to be all season radials

 

Do you have 138's on the xi now? That is the usual, standard wheel up through 2007. If you want an extra set, buy OEM's...."cheap" wheels are not worth the hassle. Believe me!

 

cmansbimmer has a 530xi and has all the facts regarding the offset. You might want to PM him. Once you have the number, then call Tire Rack and ask. I think the $129 Borbet wheels look pretty good. Wheels+tires+balance+delivery, all for around $1200. Not too bad...

 

frankie...I found the information which Calton (cmansbimmer) sent me regarding the wheels. Here it is in its entirety...

Our offset is ET43. On the standard RWD cars, it's ET20. Therefore, when looking for wheels you need an offset of at least ET38ish. 3 series wheels actually have a high offset and can work well with our car. However, I wouldn't go beyond a higher width than 8". Therefore, I would look for a wheel that is 18x8 or 19x8 with an offset of around ET38-40. If you're unsure of the end result, in terms of how far out in millimeters, the new wheels will push out, use this:

http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp

You can also go to www.realoem.com and check out the specs of all OEM wheels, when it comes to offsets. This will show you all our options, in terms of what wheels we can run on our car. Believe it or not, almost all the stock wheels in both 17" and 18", are available for our cars and the standard ones. Just note that the offsets are different, therefore, the xi wheels that LOOK the same, have a different part number.

Both sites are fairly self explanatory and user friendly.