v_therussian

10"wide, I'd go with ET40 in the back. 9.5" - ET33 should be fine. ET32 up front should be fine.

For vendors, I can't really say. I bought my wheels privately. I know Michael@Acute Performcase is a very helpful guy in general, and he gives good deals to members here. You can try talking to him.

Hyvä Päivä!

I think those offsets will work with these sizes, but the rears might rub. You may end up having to pull the fender. If possible, get 9.5" wide with ET35.

Brant535

Just out of curiosity why would you want the fronts to be et40 and the rears et35? would it be better the other way around?

Also what is the reason for having a et32 front and et33 rear rather then et35 all around? Is it just how flush the sit out with the fenders?

Flexus

I agree that it would be better if it was other way around, but these wheels are available only in these sizes and offsets.
I think the fronts would need spacers, but that can be fixed easily.

Does it make much difference if the rear tyre would be 275/35 instead of 285/35 on a 10" wheel?

v_therussian

Yes, the lower the ET number - the further outward the wheel will sit (the more offset it will be).

There are few considerations when it comes to varying offsets:

1. Looks. Obviously, for looks, you want the wheels to sit as flush with the wheel arches as possible. For AWD (Xi, X-drive) E60's, the closest setup proven not to cause rubbing is ET30 front, ET32 rear on 19x8.5 and 19x9.5 inch fronts and rears, respectively. Keep in mind that as your wheel widths fluctuate, so must the offsets be adjusted. Also, just because there was no rubbing observed on 19's, does not guarantee you rub-free driving if you go with 20's - there's simply no reliable data on it. Yet. (By "reliable data", in this case, I mean someone actually trying it on a dropped E60 Xi).

2. Track. Front and rear tracks will widen as your wheels become more offset. The track is measured from the longitudinal center line of the left wheel to the longitudinal center line of the right wheel, also each axle has it's own track (ie front and rear tracks usually are different). The track affects handling. The wider the rear track, the flatter your car stays in corners, the more it will tend to oversteer (although, oversteer on Xi cars is corrected IMMEDIATELY by the traction control. And even if you have your traction gadgets off, the AWD differentials will do the job for them, switching torque "from the wheels that slip to the wheels that grip"). Widening the front track would net you a flatter (more neutral, less "roll") cornering, but technically could promote understeer - if your tires are crap (well, if you have crappy tires, forget about talking about under- and oversteer and go get some real tires first - seriously, this is a "don't try this at home" type of thing). If your tires can pull the increased lateral g's that the widened track will be generating, you should just have better cornering.

Example: I had spacers installed in the rear, leaving the front stock. Spacers are 12.5mm per side, which netted me a 12.5mm wider track (bc you count from the center line, only half of each spacer's width is added to the track). Handling was almost the same. Most people would not be able to notice the difference, because most people wouldn't want to see how fast they can take this or that ramp-like circle But I want to know about that kind of stuff. While I don't have a reliable device to measure lateral g's to provide objective data, I can definitely tell you that seat-of-the-pants data was noticeable - the car definitely tends to oversteer more. Effectively, what that does is corrects for an inherent tendency of AWD E60 to understeer slightly on turn-in. So the handling improved by becoming more neutral.

3. Alignment/integrity of suspension components. If you hang a 10lb block at one end of a stick, then hold that stick, first at the middle of the stick, then at the opposite end of the stick - which holding position will require more force? Opposite end. Your suspension has your wheels "hanging" off of it on one end, and the rest of your car is "holding" it by the other. So when you add a spacer, or make the track wider by getting wider wheels, you are increasing the amount of force needed to hold the wheels in place. If you go far enough out of spec, you'll definitely start breaking suspension components. Just ask any of the "stretch'n'poke" people with those retarded negative cambers and wheels sticking WAAAAAAAY out, how many control arms and bushings they go through per each 10,000 miles driven. This is because widening the track effectively stresses your suspension more. Which is the reason why you shouldn't go crazy (aside from rubbing, of course - that's basic) on your offsets. Get close to flush, and try not to break anything. In my case, I went with ET35's strictly because the wheels I wanted have these offsets. I may (or may not - depending on how they sit) end up using spacers, or getting rid of them altogether in favor of a more flush setup. And lastly, keep in mind that the more force it takes to hold the wheel, the more force it will take to rotate it for your axles. And while these differences are incremental and nominal to most, I personally try to squeeze every possible advantage out of my mods. I realize it is a compromise, so I do just that - sacrifice some less significant benefits for the sake of the more significant ones.

Now, to answer your specific questions:
You misunderstood what I was trying to say. I meant that if you go with a 10-inch wide wheel in the back, you should get ET40. If you go with a 9.5" wide, ET33 will be better. For either of these, you'll have about the same clearance between the wheel and the fender, but since the ten-incher is wider than the nine and a half one... get it? And ET32 up front on 8.5" wide wheel should be fine.

Your second question should be answered above. But in general, I think there is almost no perceptible difference in the way it will look between ET32, ET33 and ET35 - we are talking about a difference of 3 millimeters at the most.

David8577

So no one even considers aftermarket 18 inch wheels on a 535xi? There's no doubt that my factory 17s look too small and too tucked, but I think 18s closer to the fender would look ok. Would love to see pics of replica 18 inch 550i m sport wheels.

Hotdocta

What are the tire widths that people are running on their 20's? Does it affect the spedo?

Brant535

Excellent explanation! I bet you thought that would end my questions Now what did you say the best tires were?

Brant535

Why would you go 18 when ou could fit 20's? if your goona spend the $ go for the 19's Unless you are going for the stock look?

norsecarnut

There are several reasons if you "look" outside the narrow area of "looks" alone

Some people value the inherent durability in having more sidewall/less rim size. For me, it has nothing to do with cost but rather a balance of 1st-performance, 2nd-durability/reliability, 3rd-looks. Having more sidewall does not hurt performance either, just look at many of the track/racing cars out there.

Of course, 18's cost less too when comparing the same tires but more importantly to me they are also more available if you are in need of one and don't have a lot of time to wait for shipping.

Yes, I like the look of a larger rim, had staggered 19's on our previous E91, but I'd rather have no issues running up a gravel road, through bad city streets, etc.

Brant535

Point made but if that is the reasoning then stay with the stock size 17 is the larger size on the stock set up