XSeries-forum

Morning,
What is the best way of preventing my shiny spare set of wheels (with tyres on) from walking off? 
Not sure if there are van vaults out there big enough to hold 4 tyred wheels?

Do the dealers offer "winter wheel" storage for reasonable sums, and if so how secure/non damaging is it?

Alternatively, are there any decent covered chain/lock combinations? Not sure a cable would be up to muster.

Some Dealers offer winter storage.  Mine (Cambridge area) does for £90 a year.  They have a secure site somewhere in Northants where local BMW Dealers are storing wheel sets.  I have been using them for 6 years now.  They used to store on site but no longer gave a big enough 'shed'.  I think they said they used to carry about 100 sets but now have over 500.

I also get a 'free' 90-minute safety check at changeover time.  This appears to be a general condition check and look at the error logs to see if anything needs attention.  They need 2-days notice so they can get the whells delivered back to them.

No damage done so far, and the wheels are always marked (grease paint on tyre) with which corner they came off so they go back on the right one.

X5S: Thanks for the tip - Amusingly, I am now wondering if you got back YOUR wheels or just an identical pair!

On the back of that, I rang the local dealer and they will store my set for GBP100.00 plus GBP30 for changeover.
Checking "Big Yellow", a telephone box sized storage container works out at GBP1,000+ for a year!

I think the wife would go nuts if I screwed a tyre rack to the garage wall and put a chain through 8 wheels, besides which it could still be taken apart fairly rapidly by a thief with a crowbar and a transit van; I'd have to buy a hefty covered chain with padlocks which would run to several hundred quid. My neighbour has had his driveway stolen twice, and the last garden furniture raid was about 2 weeks ago.

They go out with little sticky labels with my Reg on them.

I looked at the garage mounted tyre rack but could not get the electric hoist to put the damned things on it past 'Finance Control'.  I reckon they weigh getting on for 50kgs each on 20" rims.  Never mind how far they protrude into 'her' parking space  :-[

£160 a year all in is way better than diy storage via a local shed renter!  That figure is ridiculous.

Slightly off topic, but, I have just purchased a set of 17" wheels and tyres with 6/7mm tread as a spare set for when the ones on car wear out.They are stored under cover and dark (no light).
Question : should I store these at say 10 psi to save risk of distortion/excess pressure on the sidewalls as they may not be used for say 4/5 years and mindful of the 5/6 year tyre life rules.

Good one for X5Sport.

Lez

Might want to put a bit more than 10psi in, say about 14-16 and using dry nitrogen would help.  More problem is caused by the tyres sitting on their tread and flat spotting.  Use of a wooden shaped mound to keep the curve will mitigate, or side storage off the ground.

£160 actually sounds reasonable, but what's wrong with keeping them in my own shed, inflated to 30psi and you know ...... Moving them around once a month (called me old fashioned,but they are only tyres) 

Lugging them to and from the tyre dealer is half the trouble , insurance in the shed may be a problem , I would keep them fully inflated to maintain the tyre shape Lez as the dealers keep them inflated and on their sides !
  Sid10

My dealer only yesterday quoted £60 a year for storage and £50 each time the summer/winters are swapped over = £160 a year.  :'(

I'm paying my Dealer £100 a year now for the X6 set.  I get 2 90-minute safety checks included for that price.  I have no room to store at home and a storage locker is about £500 a year plus ferrying them about.  BMW store is in Northants somewhere.

I bought a set of winter wheels and tyres last week and although they are in my shed with my bike, they do take up a fair bit of room.
I think next year I will build a bunker to store them in out of decking boards.
Should be able to build it for a lot less than £160 and I will change the wheels myself, that way they can be properly cleaned inside and out and get a coat of wax too.

Snow is forecast for tomorrow so when I got home earlier I changed the 20" wheels to 19" winter wheels with Bridgestone Blizzak tyres.
Total time taken to change all 4 wheels.... 25 minutes which included bringing out and putting away the wheels.
To be honest the ride is not that much different on 19".
Anybody any idea why BMW decided to have a different sized hub on the rear of the X6 compared to the X5?
I have fitted spigot rings along with the wheels as they were from an X5 but I do find it strange that BMW would basically have to make 2 different wheels to fit the rears of these 2 models.

The E71 X6 has a clever active torque distribution rear axle not fitted to the E70 except the X5M, hence the different sizes.  The difference is there due to that reason.  The X6 is supposed to be the 'sporty' version and has a different rear transmission and suspension set up (no air susp unless specially requested at build).

Mine is coil springs & gas dampers all round.

Mine has self levelling suspension, is that different from air suspension at the rear?