X5 wheels on 318ti

[osu_ti]

I found a set of nice X5 wheels (style 57) for sale locally. From some searching I've discovered that the e53 X5 has the same wheel bore diameter (72.5mm), but uses larger diameter wheels bolts (14mm vs 12mm). Their offset is 40mm and they are 17x7.5, so physically they should fit fine. My only concern is holding the wheel on with the smaller bolts. Has anyone seen this before?

I did a bunch of searching on bimmerforum and google, but only found a few threads, none of which were very convincing, but apparently some people have at least tried it.

I really think the style 57's would look hot on a 318ti.

Thanks!

Josh

[tiFreak]

someone did that on their ti here but I can't find the post or remember who it was, he didn't mention anything about the lugs though

[Phil Marx]

X5 wheels weigh a ton, and they'll deteriorate your ti's handling a ton, too, because of it.

[osu_ti]

I did a little research on the wheel weights. The stock 15" steelies should weight close to 20lbs, if not a little more. Tires that fit them are 22lbs. According to a bathroom scale measurement from a thread on b.f. the X5 wheels weight about 25.5lbs. Tires to fit them and look okay on the ti (235/40/17) weight about 24lbs. So versus the stock steelies, I'd be picking up 7.5lbs/corner, which admittedly is quite a bit. However, I have a set of koni yellows that will be going on the car and will do a much better job handing the heavier X5 wheels than the stock shocks do with the steelies. Plus the added tire width would be a huge improvement over stock (235mm vs. 185mm).

Regardless, I think I'm going to pass on them for the time being. I already have a set of stock 16" sports that will get my auto-x tires put on them.

Another perk is that I don't think you'd ever have to worry about bending or cracking an X5 wheel.

[acevedo12]

you're going to have to get low profile tires or thats never gonna fit. i had to mallet in the wheel well for my 18's

[osu_ti]

Originally Posted by acevedo12

you're going to have to get low profile tires or thats never gonna fit. i had to mallet in the wheel well for my 18's

I understand that. See the post above yours. I reference using 235/40/17's.