Winter rims and tires?

I'm looking for some advice on wheels and tires for a 05 X5. It has the stock 19"s on it atm and 19" tires are a bit too expensive and limited for my liking. And I'm guessing the brakes are a bit too beefy to accept a 16 steelie. So I'm just wondering what any of you guys have done with yours. Thanks in advance!

Find a set of used BMW oe style 57 wheels: 17", fit right on, and the 17" dedicated snow tires are cheaper than 18s, 19,s etc.
Ran that setup for 5 winters here in the mtns of western NC, at 5,000 elevation, on narrow windy roads that are snow/ice covered from Dec through April...
that set up will make your X a Mtn Goat.
GL, mD

Which model E53 do you have? On the E53 X5 the smallest wheel BMW suggests for winter use is a 17. If you have say a 4.8is, the minimum rim size per BMW jumps to an 18.

There should also be a label on your driver's door jamb that list recommended tire sizes for your vehicle...some are recommendations from M&S (mud & snow) tires. Take a peek and see if the label is there. From the proper tire size recommendations...you can extrapolate that info to what size wheels you can use.

Below is information taken from the owners manual of recommended (winter) tire sizes for the 3.0i/4.4i/4.8i X5: