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

[zchap68]

Have a set of winter tyres 255/50/19s all round. Can't bear the thought of how they won't fill the arches particularly at the rear with flared m-sport arches.
Has anyone had any experience with the H&R hub centric spacers? Seem to get mixed reviews with some saying no problem putting spacers and others saying wouldn't recommend?

[Nat]

Hi,

I had them on my E53 4.8.................

Buy QUALITY spacers, mine were from H & R..........absolutely no issues at all.

Easy to put on and take off. Make sure all the surfaces are really clean and use a good smear of copper ease on the mating surfaces and bolts. Means when the time comes to take them off you havent had a load of salt water fuse the hub and spacer together. They fit together very snuggly. If necessary use some very fine wet and dry to really clean up your hub before fitting, but its easy and simple and well worth doing imho.

Regards,

Nat.

[zchap68]

thanks the advice, I think I will order the H&R ones and give it go.....

[tiger78]

[quote="zchap68"]
Have a set of winter tyres 255/50/19s all round. Can't bear the thought of how they won't fill the arches particularly at the rear with flared m-sport arches.
Has anyone had any experience with the H&R hub centric spacers? Seem to get mixed reviews with some saying no problem putting spacers and others saying wouldn't recommend?
[/quote]

I have the same worry about looking naff - not had my winters on yet but maybe need to look at spacers. do the spacer kits come with extended bolts etc required for fitting(presumably)

[Nat]

Hi,

No............no extended bolts.

You will get 2 spacers and 10 new bolts. You remove your bolts, clean up the hub and bolt the spacer to the hub using the new bolts supplied. You torque them up exactly as per your wheel bolts.( same torque ) You then fit your wheel and use your existing bolts to effectively bolt your wheel to the spacer.

Simples and very effective.
On my 4.8 I used 350mm spacers

Regards,

Nat.

[X5Sport]

I think you mean 35mm?

[zchap68]

Depends on the size of spacer on whether you need extended bolts or not. If you check out the H&R spacers for example, the DR range goes upto 20mm which uses extended wheelbolts. The ones over 25mm (DRA), bolt on to the hub directly and then the wheel bolts onto the spacer using your standard bolts/locking wheel nut.

I'm looking at getting the DRA ones. Possibly 25mm fronts and 40mm back (given I have 255/50/19 all round). They are more expensive but don't want to land up with any hub issues or wheel vibrations using cheap quality ones....

[fat-tyre-phil]

Here is my first contribution as an X5 and forum newbie so please be gentle with me.

I am about to pick-up my E70 40d MSport and have the intention of fitting it with a set of alloy wheels and winter tyres as I did with my E91 330d MSport and we do with my wife's Mini Countryman Cooper S All4.

Question 1: Can I put some 18" alloys on or am I obliged to go 19"?
Question 2:  What BMW wheels should I be looking out for - I will want to be used to manage costs?
Question 3:  Need I be concerned with all of this offset malarkey?
Question 4:  Who would recommend what winter tyre and why?

Many thanks for any (half) serious responses.

[X5Sport]

Hello & Welcome.

Q1 - Yes you can fit 18" wheels to the E70 40d.  They'll look a little lost, but they are an option.
Q2 - Have a look at REALOEM on line to see what wheels BMW offer as OEM on the car.  This page may well assist.
Q3 - If you stay with OEM then they'll have the right offset.
Q4 - Realoem will tell you what the OEM wheels and tyres are.  You may need to stick with them in order to keep your warranty fully valid.  BMW can play rough if you fit anything other than 'approved' combinations whilst under warranty.  Some insurers get sniffy about it too.  Not all though.

I have a set of 19" Style 258 fitted with Pirelli Scorpion 'Ice & Snow' winter RFTs for the X6.  I paid a dealer £500 for a brand new unused set of wheels & tyres.

Richard

[iriver]

Hi All,

Sorry to bore the pants off folks but I am an absolute novice when it come to wheels and rubber. I recently read here the benefits of winter tyres (thanks some great advice) and that going for small rubber can enhance grip. Well I've been trawling the net for a spare set and came across a set of 19's but now the problems, they are OEM Borbet snowflake 285.45.19 rear 255.50.19 front (9J front) (10J Rear) pretty good nick and a reasonable £375. Will these fit without problems, anything I should look out for? I'd hate to go get these and then find them useless for my X5.

[X5Sport]

Do you have the style number, and which car are/were they fitted to?

If they are style 211 and for an E70 then you should be OK.  The E70 set is not staggered.  If style 63 from an E53 then I think there is a need for adapters.  The E53 version is staggered and as your set are staggered it suggests an E53 may be the donor car.  Both styles are also known by your 'Borbet Snowflake' name.

Richard

[Don Coffey]

Hi.

Although the price seems reasonable I would suggest that you look at 18s and non staggered with a width of 255.  These will give better grip in extreme conditions and tyres will be more available and therefore a better price.  Just my thoughts but when it comes to winters, forget style, go small and thin.

Don

[iriver]

Thanks Don, good advice is always welcome, now to find an 18" set.

Cheers

Derek

[Nat]

Hi,

Here we go.............I want to disagree a little with the narrower square set up advantage given. Its just my personal opinion & no death threats please................
I had the stagered set up in my E53 4.4.........255 /19 fronts and 285/19 rears. I went staggered as otherwise the car looks shit. On me 4.8iS E53 I had the same set up with a 35mm spacer on the rear , so the car looked great.
There is a truth that narrower tyres can have an advantage over wider tyres, the thinking here is that if the tyre spins, as its narrow it can dig down through the snow to the road surface below. However, winter tyres work differently to a normal tyre in that with a winter tyre, the snow gets itself into the tyre tread and the tyre  effectively becomes  a paddle ( think ols fashioned paddle steamer here ). Thus in severe snow the wider your tyre the more grip you will have. IMHO, I think you will find no effective difference whichever route you go. If it were me, I would get a set of 4.4 sport alloys ( tiger claw ) and stick the correct standard tyres as in 255 front and 285 rear.
I currently have an E70 and have pirelli scorpion ice and snow 275 fronts and 315 rear.
I am also sure plenty on here may well argue with me on my opinion on this , perhaps suggesting if width makes no difference why do bmw offer the 255 square set up as a winter choice ? Fair question, but if you delve a bit further into the bmw accessories catalogue you will see that they offer all the sizes , right up to 315 width on 20's. Obviously the smaller/narrower the tyre the cheaper it is and the greater your tyre choice.
I had Vredestein wintrac extreme on my E53, std staggered sizes and they were absolutely brilliant and the car still looked right.
Interestingly years ago I had 3 audi quattros, which had ABS which was switchable ( as in ON /OFF ) . The thinking here by audi ( and I agree ) was that  with the ABS OFF in snow it allowed the wheels to lock which would  cause a build up of snow in front of the tyre causing a snow plough effect which would stop you quicker than if you left the ABS ON. You dont see any cars today with ABS you can switch on and off.
There is always to sides to a coin. Good luck in your choice, whatever you choose, one thing I can gtee you is that winter tyres will make a big difference.

Regards,

Nat.

[X5Sport]

I also have a staggered 19" winter set on my X6 and it's fine.

Not everyone seems to know about 'Snow Mode' either.......you just press the DSC button quickly.......which is supposed to help with traction in dodgy conditions.

Richard