XSeries-forum

I've been thinking of putting on 30mm wheel spaces on the rear axis for that more beefy appearance, how ever my mechanic thinks it will be OTT on the X5 due to the larger archers and the general height of the vehicle.

Any advice?

I've got them on mine, however I can't see the point as in your other post its for sale so why not save the money and leave as is, its hardly a make or break sale item bin as though 99% of x5s havengot them!

Well yes the car is for sale as I am a part time trader who just deals with X5's. I've got 3 X5's currently and if this doesn't sell within two months then I will just keep the beast as I only got into trading due to the E53 X5's and BMW E39's I just think the shapes are elegant and dateless. Therefore I don't mind spending money in this X5's by mods and styling as its more of a hobby then a business.

Regarding the 30mm spacers, is that total 30mm eg 15mm on each side or 30mm on each wheel?

a 30mm kit will be 2x15mm one each side, if you want 30mm per wheel you need a 60mm kit, they wont be cheap mind

I've got 30mm each side on the rears for my 17" winters (looks stupid with the iS arches otherwise).

They were about £80 delivered from eBay.de (H&R bolt onto the hub type)

I had seen one X5 in Sterling grey in Cheshire, it was some years ago but the vehicle had the sport plus pack and the wheels had spacers so the wheels were flush with the arches. It just gave the X5 a more beefy look which in my opinion was the way forward. I don't know what mm the spacers were but when I finish detailing the X5 I will do some research in what size it should be.

& shadrack the X5's aren't very cheap from the starting  )

hi I had 25mm a side on my E53 as I wanted E70 wheels on it for the runflats , check the offsets as they are different on a lot of wheels , many are dished so give the appearance of fuller arches as with the sizes of the wheel they tend to be lower offsets which mean they stick out more , just be carefull that they dont stick out too far .
If you have an E53 you can also put X6 wheels on it again different offset !
I would recommend that you use a decent quality spacer & have them torqued often , also if it is an E53 & you use E70 or E71 you will need spigot rings !

If the spacers are to be used with the current wheels, then surly a measurement from where the wheel sits at present to where you wish the wheel to be once spacer fitted will tell you what size you require?

Don

I have 20mm spacers on the rear of mine. IMHO 30mm spacers with 20" rims is too aggressive but it's very much a personal thing.

20mm spacers are much cheaper than 30mm too, £50 instead of £100.

Bought mine from this seller: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-X5-Hubcen ... 0a0&_uhb=1

Wow looks very nice I want some but would it ware the tyres faster ??

Spacers won't cause any additional tyre wear but they can amplify any existing wheel alignment issues.

There's also an argument that they can reduce the life of the wheel bearings due to the extra force exerted. Had spacers on my last car and never experiences any problems though.

Make sure you get hubcentric ones if you do get them, otherwise you'll get vibration problems. H&R, Eibach etc are good brands.

I've run spacers on most of the cars I've owned.

It really depends upon the wheels you have fitted as to what spacers you should go for. I ran 20mm spacers for the AC Schnitzer 22's and the OE 20" 168's plus the X6 20" 259's but with all I could have easily got away with 30mm. The pic above shows lower offset rims to start hence the 20mm spacers are more than enough.

Spacers will exaggerate the negative camber that is standard on the rears of the X5 and and other toe, etc so can cause a little more tyre wear. As for the wheel bearings, if go with the proper bolt on spacers then they have less effect.

Raj,

Isn't the offset of OE 20" 214's the same as OE 20" 168's and OE 20" 259's?

[quote="PhilUK"]
Raj,

Isn't the offset of OE 20" 214's the same as OE 20" 168's and OE 20" 259's?
[/quote]

Nope and also the alloys themselves are different widths. 

168's are 9.5x20 et45 and 10.5x20 et30
214's and 259's are 10x20 et40 and 11x20 et37