X5 4.4 or 4.6 tyres that will cope with campsites in winter

[sleepyfolk]

Hi folks, currently have a 2.2cdti antara 4x4, tedious but thankfully lease is up early next year and I've been looking at getting an E53 X5, wanting the V8 as I've missed a big lump since the Mercedes CLK320 went.

We have the Antara to tow our caravan and in the winter some sites and farm lanes can be quite soggy, I want to have some fun when the caravan is not on the back but I also need to make sure I've got tyres that can cope with a bit of muck when needed as the caravan weighs in at 1800kg.

Any suggestions? Can you get an all terrain tyre that is suitable for the 4.4 or 4.6 or are they really designed to sit on road tyres due to wheel arch size and large rims.

[Greydog]

Hi
I brought our first X5 to pull a horse box and one of my hobbies is shooting, so during the Spring Summer months it pulls the box in and out of wet fields. Autumn and Winter less towing but plenty of off road work when shooting.
While it's not serious off roading some of the farm tracks and gateways get pretty snotty particularly after a few tractors have torn them up.
I put the 4.4 X5 on Grabber UHP it had 19" wheels, they worked really well for 1 summer and 2 winters they were reasonably quiet on the road. The current X5 is running Pirelli Scorpion all weather (snow flake symbol) and will certainly last a while yet.

[CondorX5]

I have a set of dedicated winter wheels for my 4.8is. BMW recommend 18" alloys, I found some at a breakers rather than spending silly money new.  I run Vredestein Wintracs, the recommended size for the 18" wheels, which is 255/55R18.  Have never struggled in the worst weather conditions with this tyre setup.

[sleepyfolk]

Thanks, that's really useful, what is the standard size wheel for the e53 4.6is? Ones I've seen seem to be on huge 20" rims with low profiles

[Greydog]

My 4.6 is running 275 40 R20 Front 315 35 R20 Rear I didn't have dedicated winter wheels on the 4.4 so just ran the Grabber UHP on the 19" staggered rims and just like Condor never had any issues what ever the weather.

[sleepyfolk]

Absolutely no reason for me not to buy one then! Woohoo!

[CondorX5]

Have a read of the Winter wheels thread - lots of info there, its stickied at the top of the forum.  19" rims probably easier to find as they were standard fitment on FL E53's and lots were sold when people fitted bigger wheels.  The downside is winter rubber is a lot more expensive in bigger sizes and not as much choice.  The diesels and the 3.0i petrol can take 17" wheels, which were fitted standard on pre facelift X5s, i managed to find rims for my first X5, a 3.0i, for £50 but that was before the winter tyre bug caught on in the UK, so its likely these days. 

This is the best time to look for those smaller rims and to buy winter tyres - expensive and difficult to find from Autumn onwards! 

[sleepyfolk]

Cheers condor, I'll check that thread out, and thanks for all the info

[sleepyfolk]

Had a read through the winter tyre thread, most people seem to be concerned with snow and proper cold, as I live in cornwall I may be over thinking this.
It is rarely that cold, last winter we hardly had one frost and winter tyres per se I am reading go on when the average ambient temp is below 7 degrees or so.

What I really need are tyres that work on muddy fields occasionally and cope with large amounts of rain on Tarmac.

Should I still be looking for grabber uhp to fit in the winter? Or is it overkill for us in the south as it never snows it just gets wet.

I had assumed a bigger tyre would be better on muddy fields, is this wrong?

[X5Sport]

By 'bigger' do you mean wheel size or tyre size?

For 'muddy' use it's probably better to stay with smaller diameter wheels (17/18") and use a very coarse pattern tread so you can bite into and get a grip in the soft stuff.  Low profile tyres tend (in my experience) to clog and then slip which can make boggy country a tad interesting.

That type of tyre may be noisy compared to low profile sport tyres, but it will depend upon what you need.  You could also run a smaller wheel with lower tyre pressures that should help too.

Richard

[sleepyfolk]

[quote="X5Sport"]
By 'bigger' do you mean wheel size or tyre size?

Richard
[/quote]

Sorry Richard by bigger I was meaning wider, the antara has 19" wheels with 235/50/19 tyres on, they are hankook with a normal road tread. The car is 4WD and has been pretty good, I towed a motorhome off a wet field a few months back.

The problem I had was trying to reverse an 1800kg caravan back, on even the slightest slope in a field there is no traction at all.

I was originally thinking that the x5 with 255 front and 285 rear or bigger would have better weight distribution on the bigger tyres and not sink so much but reading on the forum I guess it's more about the tread getting plugged up no matter what the size.

That's why I was wondering if a grabber etc would perform better on grassy fields. I think I've read so much I've baffled myself

[Greydog]

The Grabbers I ran on the 4.4 were on the car summer and winter I live in Sussex but some of the shoots I attend  are in Yorkshire and Scotland so I saw a real mix of weather and ground conditions. Several of the Horse shows here in Sussex the fields/car parks are down-land and very chalky it doesn't take much water to turn them into a skating rink, we had no problems pulling a horse box with 2 16h + Horses. The tyres weren't noticeably noisy on the motorway.

The current 4.6 came on Pirelli Scorpion which are about half worn, so far no problems or issues and the 1st June was really wet and I pulled two horse lorries off the field before the tractor turned up to rescue the rest (that used to be us before I sold the lorry). Difficult to comment on road noise compared to the Grabbers though I would say not much different.

I don't think the reason for buying and way I use the X are much different to yours, my only comment on tyres is save your pennies and buy the very best you can afford.

[CondorX5]

[quote="sleepyfolk"]
[quote="X5Sport"]
By 'bigger' do you mean wheel size or tyre size?

Richard
[/quote]

Sorry Richard by bigger I was meaning wider, the antara has 19" wheels with 235/50/19 tyres on, they are hankook with a normal road tread. The car is 4WD and has been pretty good, I towed a motorhome off a wet field a few months back.

The problem I had was trying to reverse an 1800kg caravan back, on even the slightest slope in a field there is no traction at all.

I was originally thinking that the x5 with 255 front and 285 rear or bigger would have better weight distribution on the bigger tyres and not sink so much but reading on the forum I guess it's more about the tread getting plugged up no matter what the size.

That's why I was wondering if a grabber etc would perform better on grassy fields. I think I've read so much I've baffled myself
[/quote]


The wider the tyre the more of a skate board it will form under adverse conditions - the crazy 20" standard width of 315 wide is like a sledge in very wet, icy, muddy conditions, the narrower the better really, within reason and following manufacturers guidelines, for those sorts of conditions. 

[Cockneyjanner]

My experience is that the narrower the tyre, the better it is in muddy conditions.

In addition to owning quite a few 4x4's over the years I have just completed a 2 week off road driving course in military Land Rovers. Some of the conditions on the driving course were horrendous but the skinny tyres performed brilliantly.

[sleepyfolk]

[quote="Greydog"]
I don't think the reason for buying and way I use the X are much different to yours, my only comment on tyres is save your pennies and buy the very best you can afford.
[/quote]

Seems greydog that you're right about the mix of road and mud for us both, whilst you mention getting the best you can afford, I take it you weren't too concerned about extra wear on the grabbers or pirellis in the summer, reading some of the comments I had assumed that winter tyres would wear out in five minutes in the summer!

Thanks to condor and cockneyjanner as well re the size issue.