[billscamaros]

I've got an '07 328xi and I'm going to need a new set of tires before too long. I bought this car used, and it came with two sets of rims and tires. This is my first AWD German car.

Stock 17" rims with 225/40ZR17 tires. These are 17" x 9" rims, and I calculate that offset to be 50mm. Does that offset sound right? I'm content with the stock rims and these tires.

The other set consists of Drag brand (? never heard of them before) DR 34 chrome rims with 225/45ZR18 tires. These rims are 18" x 9" and I calculate that offset to be 60mm. These tires need to be replaced.

So the offset difference between 50mm and 60mm. This means that the Drag wheels sit further into the wheel well than the stock wheels - correct?

The one thing that I dislike the Drag wheels is that the rear tires seem to sit in under the fender lip a bit too far ... I would like the wheels to come out slightly further.

The car is not lowered. I probably need to replace struts before too long, and I've read a couple of posts about ST-V1 coilovers, which I believe will lower the car approx. an inch. Correct?

So the Drag brand wheels are growing on me a bit. I found a great thread in this XI section that compares staggered tires front and rear. It looks like I can run 225/40ZR18 in the front and 255/35ZR18 in the rear with no negative effects on the AWD system. And not sensors throwing codes? Is this correct?

Now, assuming I can find two new Drag DR34 chrome rims with an offset closer to zero (say 30mm), am I creating problems for myself by running a different offset in the rear than in the front? Based on a few other threads in here, it appears that the use of spacers is taboo.

Any insights?

Thanks

Bill

[zipstic]

Are you sure those offsets are correct? 50 and 60 are pretty high. Usually BMW stock wheel offsets are in the mid 30's.

The wheel will sit further tucked in on the car with a higher offset. So if your Drag wheels are a 60 offset they will fit further in.

You can run those staggered tire sizes without any issue. Those sizes even came stock on the xi in some cases. Generally people will run a staggered wheel and tire offset, but you can run a staggered tire offset on a square wheel setup too.

[billscamaros]

Thanks for the response. I will re-check my measurements and calculations. Essentially, though, it seems like I can stagger the tires (as long as the diameter remains the same) and run a different offset in the rear (positive, not negative) with no adverse effect on the AWD operation.

[Antetokounmpo]

the only thing awd cares about is the diameter or the tires. offsets, wheel size don't matter as long as the tires are the same diameter (or within 1%).

[Underground6t9]

My current wheel specs are:
font: 19x8.5 et35 with 10mm spacer
rear: 19x9.5 et40 with 12mm spacer.
BTW im AWD and lowered on coilovers.