cryptical

Hey folks...
I'm pretty confused with tire sizes as well. I have an 08 535xi and just ordered some 19's with ET of 35. No issues there from what I've read. But, from everything I've read online to the owner's manual, the recommended staggered setup is as we know, 245/35/19 up front and 275/30/19 in the rear. All tire size calculators show that 285/30/19 for the rear are a better setup for consistency to the front (I'm just concerned for the x-drive system).

The 245/35/19 would have:
25.8" diameter
80.9" circumference

The 275/30/19 would have:
25.5" diameter
80.1" circumference

The 285/30/19 would have:
25.7" diameter
80.8" circumference

Now, if I decide to go with the 285's, does anyone foresee a rubbing issue at that width? Think I'll need spacers?

Thanks much for any help in advance.

Brant535

I am sending back the 245/35/19 fronts and 285/30/19 rears and I just ordered 245/40/19 and 285/35/19 as my Xi has so much space I can beleive they wont fit. I have also spoke to a owner with this set up on a 545 with sports suspension (Looked amazing) and he has had no rubbing problems driving in the city! The way I look at it now is whats worse, a cracked rim or some minor rubbing on the inner wheel well? again with the space I have therte is no way they would rub the fenders. I will let you all now what happens.

BMUUM3

Brant535,did you go with the taller tires because of the New York roads? Tire Rack had 245/35/19 fronts and 285/30/19 rears as the recommended size for the XI.....

Brant535

I have that set up in my garage right now, Thats what im sending back. They look like rubber bands, and again my wheel wells look like I have a monster truck lift :thumbsdown: Dont want to drop the car as it defeats the purpose of an Xi in the winter. Yes the NY roads played a part in my change + when I saw how good the set up looked on another e60 My rims cost more then all 4 wheel wells and fenders together, If it rubs I will be upset but not as upset if I bend a wheel.

TAJARO

I posted this a week or so ago- I had stock M5 offset OEM 166s with 245/40-19 and 285/35-19. The rears NEVER rubbed at all. The fronts ALWAYS rubbed on turns. Pretty hard on bumps. My car is a stock sports suspension with 20k miles when installed. After this winters tires/rims came off I went with 245/35-19 and 275/30-19 which is what TIRERACK says should work. The fronts don't rub anymore and look OK. The rears certainly don;t rub but it doesn't look like it fits the fender wells right.

I'm sorry I didn't get the 275 or 285/35-19s now. In fact if anyone wants to buy 2 brand new Bridgestone 760s I'l sell them at 20% off so I can replace with the bigger profile.

Every setup is a little different (I6 or V8, Xi or sport, MTec or stock, etc) so check it out.

BMUUM3

So I gather the 19 by 8.5 ET35 and 245/35-19 tires will be fine for the front . the rear 19 by 9.5 ET40 with 285/35-19 should be fine on the rear with the lowered suspension, before I order the tires I would like a thumbs up from someone with an XI that went through this already. Much appreciated.......

Brant535

No go :thumbsdown: With that set up your back tire will be an inch bigger then your front no good for XI. I am waiting on rims but have tires waiting in my garage 2 sets. I have not chosen witch I will put on yet but I have 245/40/19 front 275/35/19 rear and also 245/35/19 front and 275/30/30 rear I know this set works but not sure about the 40 front?

TAJARO

Good call and challenge- I can not speak for the Xi.

In fact I run staggered rims/tires on a Mercedes 4Matic and it works fine but you'd need to know the maximum circumference tolerance for the AWD system. Since you run a full time AWD there is an acceptable difference front/back but I don't knwo what it is. You can see from the chart below there's significant enough difference (~4% with the setup I'd run (80.9 vs 84.4) that it might interfere with the AWD.

It's good that you are being careful on this.

BMUUM3

BRANT535?, Yes the tires are not the same width but they are both 35-19's. I?m NO engineer but I believe that would make them the same circumference, so how would that affect the XI system

Brant535

Did you look at the chart above?