[ToddRGuy]

Gosh, this is a hard decision.

Has anyone who owns (or owned) a BMW with staggered tire configuration regretted it afterwards?

I love the look of the 3GP rims on the 5'er, and if they came in a square configuration, I wouldn't hesitate to get them.

I'd really love to know how the handling dynamics change with a staggered setup, as well as how the ride quality changes with 20" vs the standard 19".

[dsgs]

I have 20" staggered summer wheels and 19" staggered winter wheels for the i5. I haven't noticed a big difference in ride quality. I'm actually a bit surprised with the 20" wheels -- they seem totally fine. I don't drive hard enough to really say much about the overall handling. Given the acceleration of the i5, I think the wider rear tires are probably pretty helpful.

As for regrets with the staggered setup -- I don't regret it, but there are some issues. The OEM tire size for the rear 20" wheels seems somewhat rare (275/35R20). This can limit your choices when looking for tires. The OEM rim sizes are also a bit hard to find (8.5x20 front and 10x20 rear, I think). You also basically can't rotate winter tires/wheels -- they are directional and the front and back are different sizes.

My previous car was a 3-series with a square setup, it was very easy to find wheels and tires to fit it. I also had a Lexus with a staggered setup, and got annoyed every time I took it for service and they did a 4-wheel rotation (putting the rear wheels on the front).

[RichardInCA]

I ran staggered tires on my 3 series wagon for 12yrs without any issues or regrets. Other than potential difficulty in sourcing tire sizes, I’m not sure what there is to regret here?