550now

Thanks for all the insights. I am going to see how the 124s look and then consider changing. I am one of those "crazies" switching from a 545 to a 550 - but I really wanted to switch from Steptronic to SMG and to load up car. M kit seems like a no brainer, but wondering if 18" wheels will be enough. Anybody have pics of M kit with 18"?

mr_djurgarden

Yeah, I think 18 looks great

Don Juan

My former car came with 18s and seemed a bit too small. I made the mistake to upgrade to another set of 18s but aftermarket and seemed smaller due to the fact that wheels that have lip visually reduces the size. So I opted to change them again for 19 and I think it looks almost perfect but just a tad small I think 20s are the perfect size for the E60 due to the large rear greenhouse and bumper but did not wanted to take the risk. In another note, my 19s with non RFT are smoother, quieter and handle better thatn the stock 18 RFTs.. just my 2 cents

Ricracing

My choice would be Styling 172 (19") with non RF Continental SportContact2 tires.

jsal

How did u do that? What are your calculations? Please give me more details as i'm also interested in umpgrading to 19"s but i fear aslo about the terrible road conditions.

Exactly.
[/quote]

here is a tire calculator from a tire shop in the US: http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.dos

You can put in your current tire and some of the options. A variable is the offset of your new rim.

The biggest stock tire combination is:
frt - 245/40/18 (8.0 rim, 20mm off)
rear - 275/35/18 (9.0 rim, 32mm off)

the safe recommendation from the tire shops is:
frt - 245/35 or 255/35
rear - 285/30

Note: 245/35 & 285/30 look good on Don Juan's car. The ratio is the same and the gap is consitent. If you keep the same ratio from stock a 35 in the front and a 30 in the back, the side wall ratio will remain the same and minimize the staggered effect.

One member who installed fairly large 20's in the same tires sizes as stock (245/40 & 275/35) prompted me to investigate the 245/40/19 and 285/35/19 to fill up the gap and hopefully not rub. This is just a theory that will be tested next week Wednesday.

I will post the results and pics - if they work.

550now

Thanks jsal for the thoughts and Don Juan for thoughts and great pics. Hope you are enjoying the 550. I anxiously await mine's arrival...

rsyed

you should really consider a different set of tires. the 18" are fine, but they don't fill the gap, specially in the back. the alternative would be to take wider 275 18" (as you have with 124 rims) at the back, but with the offset values of those rims, the wider rear tires stick out by 0,024", which is nothing considering that you are using tires at the rear that are over an inch wider. So from my calculations, if you have wider tires at the back, then there is currently only one set where the wider tires make more sense at the back and this would be the bmw styling 172 in 19". fits well to the sports package and also fills the gap in the rear which is 0,5" more than at the front.

greetings from austria

rumman
ps. i have a e60 with sports package and styling 124 with wider tires at the back - to be honest, really does not look like if i had these wide tires..

mr_djurgarden

Great pics!

rsyed

thanks but don't you think that considering the fact that one pays extra for wider tires, the gap in the rear is just too big?
on my previous (c-class w203), i had 245 in the rear, 225 at the front, and this worked out fine - no gap in the rear.
with the 124 styling, the gap is just big. sat down last night and did the calculation, and realised the rear stick out by only 0,024"....

anyway,

greetings from austria

rumman
ps. great forum here - congratulations to everyone for their great contribution