Winter wheel/tyre advice for E53 4.6is

[LooneyLeon]

Hello All,

So I want to get some winter wheels and tyres for my X5 as I believe my current wheels and tyres will be unusable if it snows etc.

Ive got the standard 20" alloys that came with the car running 315/35/20 tyres on the back and 275/40/20 on the front.

Form the resaerch i've done I believe the best wheel/tyre set up would be a set of 18" X5 alloys with Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme Tyres.

Now I know the size most people use is 255/55/18, but can i used 60 or 65 profiles instead, so 255/60/18 for example?

I know the handling around corners etc will be compromised and to be honest I wont be pushing the car when I've got my winter tyres on so that won't be an issue for me as I will be taking it easy until I put the Summer wheels back on.

Will the traction control system be ok with this set up or do I have to use 255/55/18?

I recently put some wider tyres on my M3 from the stock recommended sizes and I havent had any problems with the traction control system or anything?

Your advice would be greatly recieved thanks.

Leon.

[X5Sport]

You must use the approved tyre sizes unless you want to introduce speedo errors (you'll get an under read error which could land you in court) and the potential for expensive transmission damage.  The 60 or 65 profile is a bigger overall wheel in diameter terms.

If you do change the profile then it is important to change the width too in order to maintain the correct rolling radius of the tyre.  All the possible approved tyre sizes are on the plate on the B pillar label inside the drivers door.

Richard

[LooneyLeon]

Good point Richard i wasnt thinking in terms of speedo or transmission damage.

Hopefully it will have 255/55/18 on the door 

[X5Sport]

Should do, it's the standard size for the non staggered sets of 18".

Richard

[LooneyLeon]

I think i'll just do that then, dont want to mess the car up or brake the law.

Just need to get a decent set of 18's now from some one.

[LooneyLeon]

Richard just a thought,

if I get the Standard 18" non staggered wheels, do you think I should put some wheel spacers on also?

I was toying witht he idea of putting some spacers on to give it a slightly more wider look as the fronts look like they could to with being pushed out a bit.

What would you recommend?

[X5Sport]

Never used them myself, but there's others on here that have.  Have a look with the search to see what comes back....

Richard

[Turks]

I have a 4.8is and I decided last year to get myself some winter wheels and tyres. I got myself a second hand set of original 4.6is Alloys and paired them with Yokohama winter tyres which were available in the 20" front and rears... was really happy with them and it didn't spoil the look of the car. Also, being the 4.6is alloys, they were really easy to keep clean during the winter...


Turks.

[535dboy]

[quote="X5Sport"]
Never used them myself, but there's others on here that have.  Have a look with the search to see what comes back....

Richard
[/quote]

Pvr needed to because his looked gay !!!

[LooneyLeon]

Turks,

any idea though if they will be any good in snow and ice, as im assuming youve still got 315 on the back and 275 on the front, i know that the wider the tyre the worse they are meant to be in snow.

Im thinking I could keep my wheels and just get some winter tyres like you

[gobiman]

+ 1 for the Vreds. Had them 3 winters and superb.
I went for the BMW recommended 18 wheel all round for my 4.8iS.
The narrower the tyre, the better it is on snow.
Admitedly it doesn't look as good but depends on your priority.
A winter set-up on 20s will still be way better than summers however I wouldn't recommend changing tyres on rims every 6 months - it is quite a "physical" exercise and in my view will weaken the tyres over time.