Winter Tyre Info and Discussion Thread ( Keep related chat here please)

[Hammy]

I guess my tyres may actually be getting more of a workout than I thought on Saturday, just got this off the Garmisch webcam...

[gobiman]

Squeeky2,
Like your wheels. They are a very close copy of the "99" style alloys I have. Two years ago it took me two months of searching to find them (finally from ebay.de) and still cost £400 second hand. If I was doing it again I would do this route. Being German they will be properly tested and TUV approved. If you get 4 x BMW roundels for the pop -out centres (a few quid on ebay) they will be indistinguishable from the OEM wheels.
I also have the Vreds - excellent tyres.
Good luck.

[Goonerdad]

Hi

Has anyone used the Pirelli Scorpion Zero tyres? Any views?

Also - is it better to have the same size tyres back and front for the winter instead of larger ones on the rear?

Cheers

M

[CondorX5]

Do you mean Pirelli Ice and Snow? The Zeros are just normal summer tyres AFAIK- I used them on my Range Rover. Pirellis are excellent tyres, if somewhat overpriced! Narrower is always better for winter rubber, so wide sleds behind are not logical for winter - you want as narrow as feasible and a non-staggered setup but this may be compromised by yoour available allows. If you have BMW 17" or 18" alloys then you use the same width tyres all round, if 19s, then the rears are wider so may compromise the ability to run narrower tyres. Best option is the same width all round, as narrow as possible for the alloys / as recommended by BMW.

[mikem]

Has anyone fitted 17" X3 wheels on an E53 ? I`m told they don`t fit the X3 35d as the brakes are too big but realoem says the X3 35d discs/callipers are identical to E53 3.0d items, which obviously do fit with 17" rims.

The only difference I can see is that E53 17`s have a lower offset of 40 Vs the X3`s 46, maybe this is the problem and hopefully a spacer will allow the clearance needed ?

The reason for this is that I have a perfect set of X3 17`s in my garage with a set of near new 235/55/17 Blizzak`s on (7mm left). I don`t really want to have to sell these and source another set for the X5 (I realise these are slightly too small for the X5 but as the difference will be the same on all 4 wheels, it shouldn`t hurt anything other than the speedometer reading). ??

[Goonerdad]

Hi me again,

I have sourced a set of 19" rims with Michelin D's with loads of tread on them for what I feel was a good price.

My question is do I HAVE to fit 285's at the rear or can i fit 255's all round for my winter tyres?

M

[Dan1502]

Just fitted my new (second hand but almost new) wheels today. A bit early but I figured it got down to below 7 degrees last week and it was a nice day for changing them. Anyway they're Style 99 18" with Dunlop Grandtrek WT M2 tyres which are 255 profile all round. I prefer the look to the 17s and though they might not be quite as good in the snow due to the wider profile, most of the winter season isn't white so the rest of the time they should perform better, particularly in the dry. First impressions is that they give a quieter more comfortable ride than the standard 19s but I've only driven up to about 40 mph so far. Bring on the snow!

[amacman]

[quote=""mikem""]Has anyone fitted 17" X3 wheels on an E53 ? I`m told they don`t fit the X3 35d as the brakes are too big but realoem says the X3 35d discs/callipers are identical to E53 3.0d items, which obviously do fit with 17" rims.

The only difference I can see is that E53 17`s have a lower offset of 40 Vs the X3`s 46, maybe this is the problem and hopefully a spacer will allow the clearance needed ?

The reason for this is that I have a perfect set of X3 17`s in my garage with a set of near new 235/55/17 Blizzak`s on (7mm left). I don`t really want to have to sell these and source another set for the X5 (I realise these are slightly too small for the X5 but as the difference will be the same on all 4 wheels, it shouldn`t hurt anything other than the speedometer reading). ??[/quote]
I could take those X3 wheels off your hands if you like .
your X5 will sit 1 inch ( 2.5 cm ) lower and the engine will rev higher at any speed and your speedometer will not be accurate .
I have an immaculate set of style 57 E53 X5 wheels 7.5J 17 with 235/65R17 Michelin MXV4 M+S all season tyres at about 7mm tread , these are quite good in winter .from a late 2004 X5 .
if you are keeping the X3 wheels they will fit the X5 , I think the different offset is because they are 8 or maybe 8.5 inch wide rims but the track remains the same .
or I can buy the 235/55R17 tyres from you .

[Slats]

[quote=""Goonerdad""]Hi me again,

I have sourced a set of 19" rims with Michelin D's with loads of tread on them for what I feel was a good price.

My question is do I HAVE to fit 285's at the rear or can i fit 255's all round for my winter tyres?

M[/quote]
I had a set of the older 19 inch sport wheels hanging around from my dads old X, and not wanting to waste too much cash I thought I would use these as my winter wheels, in answer to your question about tyre widths on staggered wheels I think the 255 tyre would be a little too stretched on the wider rears (not to say you can't, it's your car after all) but you certainly don't have to go 285, according to the tables I found on recommended tyre widths for any given wheel, BMW chose to use the widest possible tyre for the rear (285), I decided to search for 4 the same and settled on some used 265/55/19 dunlop Grandtrek tyres from several sources on eBay, this width is ok for both front and rear in terms of recommended sizes for the rim, and although a little too tall, they are not much bigger than my 22 inch wheels rolling radius and they haven't caused me any trouble, plus the extra ride height and sidewall won't hurt when the roads disintegrate! the added bonus was the whole exercise only owes me £300,(just over the cost of ONE new Dunlop Grandtrek in this size) so I'm very pleased with myself plus I DIY sprayed them matte black so I don't have to clean them when it's freezing either! They will be going on soon but as the sun is still showing it's face I can't bare to wave goodbye to my 22s yet!

[mikem]

PM sent amacman !

[Goonerdad]

M[/quote]
I had a set of the older 19 inch sport wheels hanging around from my dads old X, and not wanting to waste too much cash I thought I would use these as my winter wheels, in answer to your question about tyre widths on staggered wheels I think the 255 tyre would be a little too stretched on the wider rears (not to say you can't, it's your car after all) but you certainly don't have to go 285, according to the tables I found on recommended tyre widths for any given wheel, BMW chose to use the widest possible tyre for the rear (285), I decided to search for 4 the same and settled on some used 265/55/19 dunlop Grandtrek tyres from several sources on eBay, this width is ok for both front and rear in terms of recommended sizes for the rim, and although a little too tall, they are not much bigger than my 22 inch wheels rolling radius and they haven't caused me any trouble, plus the extra ride height and sidewall won't hurt when the roads disintegrate! the added bonus was the whole exercise only owes me £300,(just over the cost of ONE new Dunlop Grandtrek in this size) so I'm very pleased with myself plus I DIY sprayed them matte black so I don't have to clean them when it's freezing either! They will be going on soon but as the sun is still showing it's face I can't bare to wave goodbye to my 22s yet![/quote]

Hi,

Thanks for the info - I asked as I have been offered 4 new Pirelli Ice and Snow 255's for a song!!!!!

Are there any downsides to the 'tyre being a bit stretched' as you say?

M

[Slats]

Well if you are getting the tyres really cheap you could give them a go, if they were a little bit too stretched on there for your liking then stick them on good old flea bay, or just pick up a wider pair for the back etc, but having checked one of the sources I used for research for mine http://www.kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual ... calculator it seems a 10 inch wheel will be fine with a 255, (in terms of safety etc), I wouldn't worry too much about the stretch, as long as it's within safe tolerances the average person wouldn't even notice, the disadvantages aren't really that bad, perhaps less protection for the wheels against kerbs, we aren't talking about the kind of extreme stretching you sometimes see in the VW community for fashion reasons where the tyre sidewall is at 45 degrees to the road! The only other downside, which I will have also is that the rear wheels may have (and appear so) to be smaller in diameter in comparison to the same tyre on the narrower front wheel (due to the stretch) but I think this is splitting hairs and won't be very noticeable (hopefully ) but as these are winter wheels I'm not going to worry too much about that. Hope that helps

[amacman]

PM replied to mikem .
you can see the X5 wheels anytime that suits you .

[kkodal78]

the winter tire and wheels set i bought did not fit to my X5.. the size is 18" and the tire size is 255 55 18. the wheel would not sit right on the hub.i'll post some pics this evening

[mikem]

Are the stud holes in the wrong place (pcd should be 5x120) or is the centre bore the wrong size (should be 72.5) ?




**Andrew, will try to get over to you next weekend, if thats OK. Will PM you in the week**