525iEnjoy

a 255/35 is an expensive tire in 18 or 19 its an oddball size. Secondly you can run 265/35, or 275/30( 9 inch or bigger on front) (same overall in spec to 235/35 just wider) in the front if need be and they offer decent rim protection. For the rear a 265/35, 275/35 or 285/30 or 305/30 will be suffice.

All M and Non M setups give you the look but keeps your car in understeer mode. I know recommended rim spec is probably 9 inches but a 1/2 inch wont put you in harms way. Will it rub possibly but not in the areas that will cause damage. Just mostly on plastic . I wont ever go back to a 245mm front tire.

You want your understeer to go bye bye run 265/35 and 285/30.

hurst01

You don't have to tell me about the expense, I have already spent close to $1500 on these tires and almost $1900 on the wheels. All that aside, the front tires of the M5 are 255/40-19 but they will surely rub on my non-M car. I already have the 245/35 for the front and 285/30 for the rear but they are way too low of a profile for my taste. The 245/35 tires are almost 9-3/4 inches wide and with the stock offset of ET12 on the M5 166 wheels, they are going to be pretty aggressive looking. The 285/30 (11.7 inches wide) for the rear with the ET28 offset, I think it will clear OK. It just looks like it could bend a wheel very easily because of the low profile. Both of these sets of tires are the same height as the 18s I took off the car but much wider.
Right now, I am running stock M5 wheels from an E39 on the car with 245/45-18 on the front. They fill the wheel well extremely well and look very beefy, but rub occasionally when entering an uphill drive on either side. The E39 offset is pretty aggressive also. Looking back, I should have left the E39 wheels on the car instead of the E60 M5 166 wheels. I want a taller sidewall. The 245/35 and 285/30 look like rubber bands on the wheels. They are the same height as the stock 18" tires I took off the 335i, but a whole lot wider.

Ed

fov001

good sh**

HKninja

I just bought a set of 255-30-20 and 295-25-20 from mod-bargain. They said it will fit with no rubbing issue. I will let you know whats up soon.

hurst01

OK, Update to the tire size. I bought tires to go in my wife's 08 535i E60 with the 166 M5 wheels. For the front I purchased 245/35-19, and 285/30-19 for the rear. When I received the tires I sat the wheel on the tire and did some measuring. It had only about 2-1/2 inches of rubber between the rim of the wheel and the outside of the tire. It looked like a rubber band on the wheel. I sent them back and exchanged them for 245/40-19 for the front and 275/35-19 for the rear. It looks much better and would surly protect the wheel better as well as give a better ride. Before I go further, I want to add that the diameter of the 245/35 and 285/30 were supposed to be 25.7 and 25.8" tall. When I received them they actually measured 25.1" tall. The speedometer was already reading too fast on the 535i by about 2 MPH. I talked to BMW service and they explained that BMW did this intentionally because by doing this the vehicle would NEVER be going faster than the speedometer indicated. I am tires of the car building mileage on the odometer faster than it should, but that is another story.
I installed the 245/40 and 275/35 on the car and it looks fantastic and the car drives and handles better than It did when it was new. Problem is that it now rubs on the front. Because of the aggressive offset on the front M5 166 wheels, just the slightest dip in the road causes the tires to rub on both sides. My wife is really POed at me. The tires are only .2" taller (26.0") than the original tire was supposed to be, but is much closer to the edge of the fender. I am going to have to roll the lip of the fender and I still don't believe it will take care of the rubbing. It only rubs when you hit a dip in the road or a bump, but that is enough to anger my wife.
Had I to do it all over again, I would not go to the 19" wheels, I would have left the E39 M5 wheels on it. They had a really aggressive stance and a beefy tire that looked very good. By the time I bought these wheels, sent them to a wheel reconditioning facility, had them stripped to bare metal, painted black, machined the face and clear-coated and shipped back to me, I have about $3500 in the wheels with new tires. I took them to BMW to have mounted because they have state-of-the-art equipment that they just recently bought, and I knew that they would not scratch my new wheels. Good thing I did, because the checked my alignment and it was way off. What ticks me off is I had it aligned about 4 months ago. BTW, the tires are rated to 186 MPH and I love them. The 245/35-19 and 285/30-19 would have been the correct height but they had no side-wall and would probably bend a wheel. Although these could also, but not as easily.
Folks, do your own investigation, read the replies on this thread and make your own decision. When I was trying to determine what would and would not fit, the height of the sidewall got me and I sent them back and went to the larger size. Would I do it again? NO! Would I go with 19" wheels, NO! They look very nice and have an aggressive stance, but I don't like the rubbing. It is embarrassing when carrying passengers, I am driving along trying to explain why they rub. If the wheels had just a little bit less offset in the front, I would have no problem with rubbing. If you have questions, PM me, I will tell you the truth. This is not the first time I have stepped on the old wong dong, nor will it be the last.

Ed

sheldor535i

where are you rubbing exactly? I had M5 oem 166 with 245/35/19 and 275/30/19 with no rubbing at all... and im running 255/35/20 at the moment... I got my fender rolled (it was the fender lip near the front bumper rubbing) and that solved the rubbing... but if its the plastic liner rubbing.. either let it rub off or modify it.

hurst01

It is rubbing straight up. Just a bit on the fender edges, I can see the smudges on the paint. It is also rubbing after it goes up past the fender lip on the fender liner. I have the Aero Sport front end on the car. I had to replace both fender liners with the larger ones that was required to match the Areo Kit bumper and cover. I noticed that Tiago has quite a bit more clearance above his front tires than I do. I am going to buy a roller so that I can roll the fender lip, but I really don't think it will help. If my lathe was large enough, I would take about 1/8th inch from the inside mounting surface. If this doesn't work, I will go to the M5 fenders. My 245/40s are about an inch taller than your 245/35s, but about an inch narrower.

Ed

sheldor535i

Hmmm so your rubbing on the top inside? Im on 20's on stock sport suspension with 255/35/20 which is equivalent to your 245/40/20 overall diameter ... and mines are wider and i dont rub on top or fender (since i got it rolled) but I do rub on the fender liner which i have to solve soon or just keep letting it rub off... btw my offsets in front are et12 on 20x9... Just roll the fender or like you said get M5 fenders but thats gonna cost alot.

sheldor535i

Also I think Tiago does not have SPORT SUSPENSION thats why he has more clearance.

sheldor535i

OOPS I meant your 245/40/19 also OEM 166 wheels offset fronts are et17 I believe and et28 rear M5 offsets.