[JHGrove3]

TLDR: Will BMW wheels with a 30mm offset work on my 2011 X3?


Hello, fellow X3 Owners –

I have a 2011 X3 xDrive 28i. Having just moved to Chicago, I thought it would be a good idea to get some winter tires for it.

I found online a person selling a set of 4 lightly-used Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 tires, size 245/50R18, with original BMW 18” rims. The previous owner used them on his 2012 X3 for one season.

Now my car currently has 17” rims with 245/55R17 tires, but the 245/50R18 is the other stock option for 2011 X3s. And while people don’t typically upsize the rim for their snow tires, this seemed like a good package deal, and if it fit his 2012 X3 it should fit my 2011 X3, too.

Now here’s the rub…

As I was picking them up (after driving an hour to get there), he happens to mention that the weren’t his original wheels, but they came from another BMW – he wasn’t sure what type.

So now I’m back home trying to figure out what kind of BMW they came from, and whether they really will work on my car.

Looking at the inside of the wheel, I find the following letters/numbers printed on successive spokes:

8Jx18 EH2+
IS30
1873 RONAL (hard to read the word/logo)
BMW
POLAND
10|3-dots|3-dots|1-dot| | (the 3-dots are a symbol like a colon with an extra dot)
6 775 403
>AISi7<

Based on the “6775403”, I think I was able to match that with this wheel (and the photo seems to match, too):

BMW LA wheel Double Spoke 234 - 18''
https://parts.bmwofsouthatlanta.com/...116775403.html

Style 234
Manufacturer part number: 36116775403

These rims have an offset of just 30mm, versus the standard offset of 43mm for the stock wheels on an X3. It appears that they were made to fit a BMW 5-series, 6-series, or 7-series.

Some other posts on this board say the recommended offset for an X3 should be 42 to 45mm. https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1357211


So what does that mean? Can I use these used wheels on my X3, or is that offset difference (from 43 to 30) too extreme? Is it something a spacer would fix?


I’m not much of a car tuner; I’m looking for a simple and inexpensive way to get winter tires on the car. But if you have suggestions (and hopefully links) I would greatly appreciate your input.

Thanks!
James

[x3sm]

Offset ET30 would work fine on the X3, no problem.

[Riick]

yes

[JHGrove3]

Thanks for the quick replies, x3sm and Riick.

How much tolerance do I have in my offsets, anyway? What is the acceptable range of offsets without getting into trouble? The "42 to 45" guideline seems pretty strict, but it sounds like maybe it's not really accurate.

Would it be correct to say that other people are routinely adding 13mm spacers, which would be similar to the difference in my wheels (43 to 30)?

Are there any other issues I need to watch out for?

Thanks again
James Grove

[x3sm]

Originally Posted by JHGrove3

Thanks for the quick replies, x3sm and Riick.

How much tolerance do I have in my offsets, anyway? What is the acceptable range of offsets without getting into trouble? The "42 to 45" guideline seems pretty strict, but it sounds like maybe it's not really accurate.

Would it be correct to say that other people are routinely adding 13mm spacers, which would be similar to the difference in my wheels (43 to 30)?

Are there any other issues I need to watch out for?

Thanks again
James Grove

If you are going from 245/55R17 tires to 245/50R18 your overall diameter is only going up 0.9mm which is nothing, so your speedometer reading will not be off. Also your wheel will poke out 15mm more than before (assuming 17s are ET45) which is also not significant. It will pretty much meet the fender, you wont rub on anything and have no issues. I have 20x9 ET 35 in the front and have no issues.

[Riick]

ET20 wheels look good on an X3, they fill out the fenders good. Factory specs are very conservative.

[________]

Originally Posted by x3sm

If you are going from 245/55R17 tires to 245/50R18 your overall diameter is only going up 0.9mm which is nothing, so your speedometer reading will not be off. Also your wheel will poke out 15mm more than before (assuming 17s are ET45) which is also not significant. It will pretty much meet the fender, you wont rub on anything and have no issues. I have 20x9 ET 35 in the front and have no issues.

That's incorrect.
The overall diameter is exactly the same. No difference.

[Stephbaker]

Originally Posted by x3sm

Offset ET30 would work fine on the X3, no problem.

Would they? I am not so sure....

[x3sm]

Originally Posted by OnerDriver

That's incorrect.
The overall diameter is exactly the same. No difference.

Well I used an online calculator that is pretty popular and it showed a difference of 0.9 mm which I agree pretty much is insignificant, but it is what it is.

[x3sm]

Originally Posted by Stephbaker

Would they? I am not so sure....

Yep... I ran ET20 on 19x8 on my X3 before and a member here has 19x9.5 ET29 and works fine, you could do some searching for pics. Been done.

[JHGrove3]

Hi, All -

Here is an update on my winter tires with the non-standard offsets.

Based on the feedback you all provided, I went ahead and had the installer put them on. My wife raised an eyebrow when I said it should be safe...

But so far everything is working just fine!

We've had a lot of snow in Chicago this past week, and we are starting a 3-day Polar Vortex Freeze right now, where tomorrow's high temperature will be -14F. The main streets are currently pretty good, but the side streets have lots of snow drifted in them, the back alleys have snow on top of ice, and parallel parking is a nightmare.

The winter tires on the X3 have made it much more surefooted than my other car, a front wheel drive Honda Odyssey with Continental all season tires.

So thank you all for sharing your experiences and advice!

Best regards,
James Grove

[richardodn]

Good to know they fit. BTW, they were likely off an F01 7 series. And you can tell your wife that as long as they don't rub they're perfectly safe.