Hi,
I've had my 2006 (08/2005 build) E61 530xi for a year now. I am ready to upgrade my wheels from 17" Style 138's, but want to stick with a true BMW wheel, and will go with plus 1 (18") wheels. I've chosen style 124's and trying to decide square vs. staggered. In fact have already bought two of these 18X8 ET43 which will go on the front regardless of my decision. I really like the staggered look on non-XI cars, and on X5's with those wide boots in the back.

Looking on RealOEM.com, a square setup is the only given fitment on the E61 XI, with 18X8's it would be 245/40-18 tires. However, I'd really like to go staggered, as is an "allowable" fitment on the E60 sedan 530xi. Per RealOEM the style 124 on the xi sedan would be 18X8 ET43 on front with 245/40-18's , and 18X9 ET55 on back with 275/35-18. This gets the revs per mile within a half percent at 809 vs 813, a key with a staggered setup.

I have learned from this forum that the E61 has a bit tighter fit than E60 on the inboard side of the wheel due to the air suspension, but that there is (apparently) quite a bit of room on the outboard side. But has anyone figured out what offset or spacer is needed for the particular combination I'm considering and whether a 9" wheel and 275mm tire will stick out too far for aesthetics? To place an ET55 9" wheel outboard for the E61 fitment, I would need spacers, but if a lower ET wheel is a better fit I could look for those in 124's (the 530i fitment is ET32, probably too far outboard)

Sorry for the long diatribe. Appreciate any feedback/experience.

Regards,
Gary Leskiw
Vancouver, BC

 

No replies! Is my thread too long, or covers a too often repeated topic? Anyway, after reading 3 pages of threads searching "Staggered" in the E61 forum, I did find a few references to 18" wheels and 275/35's fitting the back wheel well. But no actual spacer references for an Xi E61 and a 9" wheel.
I've measured almost an inch of inside clearance on the 8" Style-124 wheel I test mounted on the back. Since it has offset of 43 vs the 9" wheel ET 55, I figure I'll need at least a 12mm (0.5 Inch) spacer to get the center back to the same line as the narrower 8" wheel. That might still be pretty tight, since the 9" wheel will be 0.5" wider on both sides.

Any exact-size spacer experience on an xi E61 would be highly appreciated!

Gary
06 530xi, Olivine

 

Pics in this thread show what a non-xi (RWD) Style 124 fitment look like on an xi/xDrive -> https://5series.net/forums/dealer-pu...12/#post195085

For reference my setup (granted is 19") are ET35 front w/ 8.5" width and ET40 rear w/ 9.5" width (click on the link under my sig for pics from another angle) ... some members fitted ET38 on the rear using same width. I'm using ET40 rear 'cuz my plan is to use 285 width for my next tires.

As far as which spacer to go it a matter of personal preference as how aggressive you like the look to be.

GL!

 

Thanks BlaSTiWi,

I want a fairly tucked-in look but obviously without inner fender rub.

A quick calc converting your ET40 on 9.5's to my intended ET55 on 9 inchers to put the INNER rim at the same point in space would require a 9-10mm spacer. (55 - 40 = 15mm, then 1/4" less width on each side would be 6 mm off that. But since the wagon has a tighter rear inside fender wall than sedan, I wonder if anyone knows the difference in spacer between a sedan and wagon? I would hope I wouldn't have to go bigger than 15mm.

Gary

 

I think the rear can handle as big as the sedan if not the same.

You probably seen these member(s) wagon. Some use 10" width maybe more on the rear and I don't think they have inner fender rub issue:
https://5series.net/forums/e61-touri...-123122/page9/
forums.5series.net/e61-touring-discussion-4/m5this-e61-123122/page9/
https://5series.net/forums/complete-...5-bits-121898/
https://5series.net/forums/e61-touri...111893/page11/
https://5series.net/forums/e61-touri...tarted-123820/

 

Did you ever sort this out? I am doing the exact same set up 2007 e61 with staggered 124's, wondering if you indeed used the spacer in the end and what offset sizes you went with... also any pix?!