XSeries-forum

Update: at the beginning of April, I decided to put the 19" summer wheels back on the car, and the X3 instantly disappointed me once again with those pirelli P zero rft's. work commitments  meant I had to wait a week or so before I could get round to looking for an alternative. I used www.blackcircles.com for the first time, and it has been a positive experience. Total cost was £680, which is at least £200 cheaper than going for rft's. cost wasn't the issue here, I just didn't like the rft's . The tyres were ordered and delivered to my local garage, who have worked on previous cars, and they said when changing tyres, they use a protecting sleeve on the spindle to protect the lacquer. That did it for me, these guys would get my custom.
There were 3 tyre options available and I stayed with the Pirelli brand, opting for the Rosso non run flat version. They are BMW star rated, and have the same load index and speed rating as originals.
The X3 felt instantly more planted, with less tyre roar on poor surfaces. It no longer skips over road joints and is a much nicer place to be. Adjusting the tyre pressures can give quite varied ride characteristics, but I have settled on 33 psi front and 34 psi rears (cold tyres). Being an M Sport, it used to twitch about on undulating surfaces, and again this has been eliminated, the result is I can drive faster over them, without making passengers feel they are on a river cruiser.
To compensate for the lack of run flats, I have permanently stored an air compressor, slime, tyre plug kit, a few tools and emergency torch in the underfloor storage area. On longer journeys I also take the emergency jack with me. BMW don't list one for the X3, but the one listed for the F15 X5 fits. Bought it directly from BMW circa £70. It definitely works as i swapped winter's to summer's at home.
Hope that helps

Hello all i noon on here so please be gentle...I was considering upgrading my alloys from 19" to 20" 310's but wanted to run non run flats any advice?

Yes you can but stick to '*' marked tyres if you are having a staggered setup (the default for those wheels) in order to avoid risking your transmission.  X3s (and some other X Cars) are sensitive to the rolling circumference being within 1% front to back.  Non-'*' marked tyres may exceed that and as a result may destroy either a diff or the transfer box.  It doesn't happen to everyone, but it is becoming more commonly reported on here.

Some parts seem to be made of Bavarian Cheese!

I've got 21" 215's and just switched tyres to Michelin Pilot Super Sport.
* marked for BMW (standard replacement for X6 M)
Non-RFT and an obscene amount of grip.