DrLev99

VM mounted my tires for me, but they did a lousy job balancing them.....terrible! I had over 127gm of weights on 1 wheel alone, in 6 spots. When BMW rebalanced the same wheel (after I took all of them off), it came back balanced with only ONE 7.5 gm weight! The one good thing about having VM do the mounting is that if someone locally mounts the tires and damages the paint on these wheels (and it can scratch/ flake quite easily!) then you are screwed. If VM does it and messes them up, it's on them. I know this from experience. FYI, Gideon is hard to get in touch with via phone. I found he is better with Email: gideon@velocitymotoring.com

gorillamunch

Here is the response I received from BMW Canada.
BMW Canada states that the trunk volume of the Canadian 535xiT is 500 litres-1650 litres (seats up/down), and the Brochure for the Serie 5 Touring from the BMW Italy website (which covers both xi and rear wheel drive models) states that the trunk capacity for all is also 500 litres-1650 litres. We know that Marco has a 2007 530i MSport which per realoem.com comes with 8x18 135M Wheels which have an offset of ET20 and he went to the M5 Wheels Style 166 which are 9.5x19 ET 28. The offset calculator shows that this means his real wheels are 27mm closer to the wheel well and extend 11mm, without rubbing. So, assuming that the different in the offset between the rear wheel drive and xi versions of the touring (ET20 v ET43) is just to compendate of the difference in length of the front axle being active, there should be enough room at the back for the same changes in the xi touring? Thoughts?



Also, the luggage capacity of the 535i and the 535xi as per the Canadian webiste are the same at 520 litres.

C's Bimmer

Yes, there should be. I would order our wheels. If for some reason they do not fit, I can tell you that there are plenty of xi sedan owners on this forum that will take these wheels off your hands, so you don't lose any money out of pocket. I have actually had requests from other members who wanted to buy my wheels off of me. Some were RWD owners who didn't know about the offset difference and a bunch of others were xi owners who DID know about the offset difference.

Lastly, with regards to Dave's comment above about having VM mount the tires, you need to find a really good tire/wheel specialist in your area. I did, through some recommendations of M5 owners in my area, and they were excellent. I stood there and watched the entire process. They made sure the wheels never touched anything but rubber. I would not have VM mount tires on your new wheels, based on Daves experience with them. They did a lousy job of balancing them with weights and he suffered a terrible vibration for many months and couldn't figure out what the issue was.

gorillamunch

I know I'm ridiculously obsessive about this but more hunting around and I've found some replica E60 M5 style 166 wheels with the xi offsets:

These will move the fronts in 1mm and out 11mm, while moving the rears in 16mm and out 22mm. They are from www.bekkers.com.

DrLev99

I now agree with C...due to my 2 front tire issues (purchased from VM, who purchase from Tirerack). I ended up having not only a poor balancing job by VM, but 2 of the RE050A tires they installed were out-of-round. The process of going through VM, who in turn has to go through Tire Rack, who in turn has to go through Bridgestone, is something I gave up on. They ride well enough now that they've been balanced about 8 freakin' times, so I am NOT going to exchange the tires. Buy the TPMS, find a good installer, buy your tires locally....and just DO IT!

C's Bimmer

I can't really speak for the quality of those wheels, but the specs seem perfect, as I just double checked and ran them through the wheels offset calc on 1010tires.com.

Go for it!

C's Bimmer

Actually, after looking at those replica wheels further, those are essentially the Miro wheels which I considered buying last year. Here's why I don't like them...if you look at the wheels closely, they have a little "lip" around the circumference of the wheel. The OEM wheels are smooth around the circumference. I'm sure this has to do with the molding and making of the wheels when they are cast, as it's probably easier and cheaper to mold them with this lip. Personally, I'm not a fan of these wheels as I don't think they are exact replica's to the OEM 166 wheels. This lip is noticeable and will make a difference. I just wanted to point that out to you, before you buy. Since I did a lot of research on the 166 wheels and was pretty close to buying them, I wanted to point this difference out to you.

jbeene

Just thought I'd finally throw a picture of my wheels on.

Yes the car is dirty but I'm pretty happy with how they look. I bought mine from Bimmian in Ontario Canada and put Dunlop SP Sportmaxx tires on - which I'm also happy with.

The tires are 19 by 8.5 40mm offset with 245/35-19 tires. Ride is about the same as the stock 18 inch run flats, ride is a little quieter but not much. I'm convinced I have a bad left rear bearing but the dealer keeps telling me I don't. The stock left rear tire was badly feathered at only 17000km. Not good...

C's Bimmer

Nice looking wagon!

gorillamunch

Good eye. Bekker also has these .... what do you think?