XSeries-forum

I have a 2004 E53 X5 3.0D Sport.

Due to some nice person slashing two of my tyres whilst visiting family for Christmas day I have had to become familiar with my spare tyre. I bought the car 6 months ago and checked there was spare and good condition tyre etc. However, I didn't notice until today, that the car is shod with 19 inch alloys and 255 fronts and 285 rears. The spare however is a different style of wheels (sorry don't have photos taken yet) but more importantly it is 17 inch rather than 19 inch. So good enough to get me going but needs rectified pronto (as I have a long drive ahead of me next week (circa 1000 miles)

The 17 inch spare has a bright yellow speed rating sticker on it (130 mph) - so my question is, is the spare always slightly smaller (takes up less room in spare wheel compartment but isn't a skinny space saver) or it is more likely that originally the car came with 17 inch all round and the previous owner who put on 19 inch only wanted to pay for four wheels rather than all five. If its the latter I'd be tempted to get a fifth that is the same size but the 19 inch ones don't seems to sit well in the spare wheel compartment

Your thoughts?

Smeeagain

Hi, everything is as it should be. All sports came with 19" wheels as std and the 17" is std for the spare (due to space). From memory while the wheel is 17" the tyre profile should be higher than the 19" tyres? hence the rolling circumference being the same on each.

HTH

I think most x's came with 17" wheels as standard but the options list let you have more choice. I know the 19"'s on mine were an option. I assume the design of the spare wheel well is for 17"s. To be honest id be much happier driving on the spare than one of the god awful space savers. Could be worse though my mates sports transit comes with a can of tyreweld!

Yep +1 normal for a sport to have 19" wheels and a 17" spare 17" are standard on the non sport model. A bigger wheel will fit but not nessesary.

ah, ok, all good then and yes it is the higher profile to match the circumference. So is this ' a get you home only spare' or can I use if the the next thousand miles or so if I cant source the correct tyre over the holiday period ?

Smee

No reason not to use it as it is a full road going tyre and as you state speed rated to 130mph do bare in mind that the width will be less than what is on the 19"s so don't go silly. Also as the 19" wheel is wider the boot floor may sit up abit if you have put it back ion the boot.

Not just a get you home spare - these are standard on some SE pspec models - in the US or in Europe...

You have a very ompetent spare there!

Remember though that the BMW applied sticker which may or may not still be on the spare will in all likelihood say '130MPH' (mine does) which is the speed rating of the wheel/tyre combination. BUT it's wrong as under EU regulations you are legally actually limited to a maximum speed of 50mph/80kph wherever the size of the spare wheel & tyre combination differs from the other wheels on the vehicle, and that it is illegal to operate a vehicle with different sized wheels/tyres on the same axle except as an emergency get you home device. The emergency wheel also has to be a different colour or design to the other wheels to indicate it's a spare - hence the 17" rim looking different.

Running on the spare for 1,000 miles is likely to increase your chances of Plod having words.......

Be careful out there...........

Thanks for the response chaps - all points gladly received and duly noted. My dilemma is that Kwik fit only had one tyre today (for the rear, hence putting the spare on the front and they have ordered me a new front to fit the 19Inch. I have driven from Portsmouth to Glasgow to visit family and am due to five five hours north of Glasgow on Wednesday (to go on holiday for a week) at which point the chap from Kwik Fit may or may not have the tyre available (he wont know until Tuesday). As I drive north the roads will be slow and remote I'll probably not be able to exceed 50mph anyway( due to weather and road type). When I come back south back through Glasgow I should be able to get the relevant tyre if I don't get it before I go. Also the local stelership opens on Tuesday and I may/may not be able to get the tyre then

And yes you are correct, the boot floorpan cover doesn't sit correctly with the 19 inch in place !

Smee