Can I use chains on my '06 550 for our occasional trips up to snow country (Yosemite)? Hate the thought, but the highway patrol forces you to put them on depending on weather conditions. If I can't, then we can't take the car (and my wife will kill me). Thanks.

You can put chains on no problem, just make sure they fit your tires and wheels properly.

I would recommend cable chains, definitely not the old style links - they probably won't clear the wheel well.

If money is no object, then you might want to look into these:
http://www.spikes-spiders.com/

A friend gave me a set for our minivan and they work great and snap on easily.

Thanks -- I was just concerned because I seem to remember reading somewhere in the BMW literature about not being able to put chains on some cars with low profile tires (as come standard on the 550).

Spikes Spiders look good. Any problem with them coming off accidentally?

No problems with them at all.

63strat:
I personally think you are a dead man, your wife is going to be upset. Sounds like somebody better book a room at the Ahwahnee. I read the same thing you did, you can't use "chains" on your car. Looks like our fellow forum members will have to help us again.

Heiss5 & gwf545: Have you folks actually "chained up" your e60's? gwf545 has the sports package like I do, seems like a tight fit to me. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I have chains for my 17" 138's, I put them on no problem. I haven't done any serious driving with them on, I just put them on in a parking lot to see if they would fit. They actually came in handy too, cause I left them on and it snowed that night so the next morning it made it real easy to get out of my spot. But after I was out of my spot I took them off because the roads had been plowed and sanded.

Edit: I have cable chains, just so everyone knows.

I've never put cable chains on mine, but there appears to be enough room. I suspect the BMW warning is another one of those paranoid U.S. lawyer things. I think you can return unused cable chains for a full refund if they don't fit. Look here: http://www.tirechain.com/P275-35-18.htm

Hmmm....the rear tires on my sport-packaged 550 are 275-35-R18. Not much clearance. What to do?

Those might be tough to put chains on. You could always jack it up to put them on, but that wouldn't be much fun either. I had no problem putting chains on my 225/50R17's though. The only difficulty you would have is because of the width of your tires though, not the diameter. The overall diameter of your wheels is 25.58 inches which is actually slightly smaller than my 25.86 inches. Although you do have the sport package so your car is lower. Tough call.