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  #1  
Old 03-11-2019, 05:22 PM
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Little help on on tire size please...

Edit: If anyone in the future wants to know how this turned out, as I know it would have helped me:

265/40/22
305/35/22



IMO, the 22" don't actually look out of place. I was expecting to see it as an X5 on wagon wheels and was second-guessing my choice but it turned out looking great and fitting very well.

Original post:

Hello, I'm new here but not new to BMWs or cars, fitment, etc. Glad to see a BMW forum that's actually still active.

I am a new owner of an 06 4.4i and have fallen knee-deep into modifications already and am considering a set of (wait for it) 22" wheels:

22x9.5F ET25
22x11R ET30

I mainly need to know if anyone has experience with running taller wheels that could potentially interfere with steering components, strut, etc up front. Or if there any other specific caveats I should know of about running a large-diameter wheel on this chassis.

I find what makes such large wheels look "odd" is the thin sidewall, making the wheel gap draw more attention and of course reducing ride quality.

These are what other members have run with 22s in similar widths that I've found on the forum:

265/35/22
315/30/22

Or something F+R with a similar tire profile of 95mm. (3.7")
Overall diameter of 747mm. (29.4")

I'd like to run:

265/40/22
305/35/22

Giving me a tire profile of 107mm (4.2")
Overall diameter of 772mm (30.4")

If anyone has run these sizes please chime in!

Would the taller diameter present a problem in hitting components of the suspension?

I'd found a thread where an owner was running 265/70/17, which is an overall diameter of 803mm (31.6"), but he seemed to be a unique case, and another member tried that size and got rubbing.

Any input would be appreciated, thanks....and sorry for all the numbers on a Monday.

Last edited by ACHTUNG; 06-07-2019 at 05:38 PM.
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  #2  
Old 03-11-2019, 07:47 PM
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Does this calculator help?

https://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp
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  #3  
Old 03-11-2019, 07:55 PM
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Appreciate the link, but not quite.

As you can see I've done a lot of the wheel/tire size comparos, but what I'm really looking for is input on whether a tall wheel will cause issues with rubbing/contact with the body or suspension parts, or cause any other issues on this specific chassis.

Or of course experience running any 22" wheel/tire combo on an E53.
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Old 03-12-2019, 12:05 AM
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I think you are missing the point of large rim diameter. It's how you run a lower ratio tire on the same tire diameter so you can get higher cornering performance and lower unsprung wheel / tire weight and all the helpfulness that comes with.

Consider this: BMW chose from all possibilities to use 285/35/21 on the front of their highest performance X5M. Do you think you will achieve a better solution with "seat of pants" engineering?

The combination you chose is about 6% larger diameter and I'm pretty sure you will find other problems than a large speedo error.

It's not an accident that all the BMW approved sizes are within 1% rolling circumference.

https://www.carbibles.com/calculators/

Use the tire size comparison calculator to find a size you'd be happy with that is within say 2% of the original circumference.

Example: 255/55/18 and 255/50/19 are identical diameter.

255/35/22 is the magic combination that nets you the same diameter.

265/35/22 is a decent match
255/35/22 is an exact match

295/30/22 is an exact match
305/30/22 is likely an ok match to the 265/35/22


If I was going to set up an X5 on 22" rims I would run:

255/35/22 front 295/30/22 back. They are within 0.2% the same size and very close to the design size for the car.

255/40/22 & 295/35/22 is about 4% bigger than stock. I would not recommend larger than stock by more than 1% though, your affect all dynamics of handling, for what purpose?

If you want a softer ride with trade off of lower cornering performance, the alternative set is:

235/40/22 & 265/35/22.

There just is no good reason to upsize the wheel and tire that I'm aware of.

If you are aiming for a lowered look and fill the wheel well for a "low rider" look with the trade off of performance, that's a reason but the trade off will be rubbing tires on the wheel wells and worse handling.

275/315 fits in the wheel wells of the X5.

Actually 285/35/21 & 325/30/21 were used on the newer M model. That's actually smaller rolling circumference than the base sport tire.
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  #5  
Old 03-12-2019, 03:56 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewwynn View Post
I think you are missing the point of large rim diameter. It's how you run a lower ratio tire on the same tire diameter so you can get higher cornering performance and lower unsprung wheel / tire weight and all the helpfulness that comes with.

Consider this: BMW chose from all possibilities to use 285/35/21 on the front of their highest performance X5M. Do you think you will achieve a better solution with "seat of pants" engineering?

The combination you chose is about 6% larger diameter and I'm pretty sure you will find other problems than a large speedo error.

It's not an accident that all the BMW approved sizes are within 1% rolling circumference.

https://www.carbibles.com/calculators/

Use the tire size comparison calculator to find a size you'd be happy with that is within say 2% of the original circumference.

Example: 255/55/18 and 255/50/19 are identical diameter.

255/35/22 is the magic combination that nets you the same diameter.

265/35/22 is a decent match
255/35/22 is an exact match

295/30/22 is an exact match
305/30/22 is likely an ok match to the 265/35/22


If I was going to set up an X5 on 22" rims I would run:

255/35/22 front 295/30/22 back. They are within 0.2% the same size and very close to the design size for the car.

255/40/22 & 295/35/22 is about 4% bigger than stock. I would not recommend larger than stock by more than 1% though, your affect all dynamics of handling, for what purpose?

If you want a softer ride with trade off of lower cornering performance, the alternative set is:

235/40/22 & 265/35/22.

There just is no good reason to upsize the wheel and tire that I'm aware of.

If you are aiming for a lowered look and fill the wheel well for a "low rider" look with the trade off of performance, that's a reason but the trade off will be rubbing tires on the wheel wells and worse handling.

275/315 fits in the wheel wells of the X5.

Actually 285/35/21 & 325/30/21 were used on the newer M model. That's actually smaller rolling circumference than the base sport tire.
Ok. I guess you are trying to help in your own condescending way. I guess that's how you need to be

At what point did I claim I am trying to achieve a better solution to BMW's engineering team on the X5M? Where did that even come from? Not to mention you're attempting to compare a wheel/tire size decision from a completely different chassis.

I am aware that upsizing the diameter is going to reduce things in a lot of ways. Speedo? Not a concern of mine. Brakes, CV axles, bushings, bearings, etc are all going to wear faster. As for the trade off in performance, this isn't my performance vehicle. I have other cars for that and I'm fine with this decision, thanks for your input. Not everybody is using their SAV for time attacks.

I'm aware that the combination I suggested is increasing rolling circumference.

The front and rear sizes I'd like to run are well-matched. In your post are you suggesting I run a 235 on a 9.5" wheel? and a 265 on an 11" wheel? That's quite a stretch, which is not what I'm looking to do.

Again, what does the X5M matter when considering an E53? The 4.4i was offered with a 285/45/19, which is a 4.3-4.5% difference in circumference front to rear from the sizes I'd proposed. This is reasonable to me. Even within the 4.4i model range, BMW used wheel sizes that are 1.4%+ different circumference from each other.

As for whatever this was about, I'm not going for a "low rider" look, one would think I'd explained myself enough in my first post. On the contrary, "low riders" want slim tire profiles. I am doing the exact opposite.

So to reiterate, I was only looking to find out whether the taller diameter is going to cause issues rubbing/knocking on anything with my proposed wheel/tire combo. And the front offset is 20mm further out, so there should be a bit more forgiveness there.

I actually was able to find a couple of threads finally where some members used the sizes I'm proposing without issues of rubbing. But I would still like to hear any other input from people who have done something similar, more on topic input never hurts.

Edit: If anyone is wondering why I'd choose 22" wheels, it's because I couldn't find OE 20" style 168, but I did somehow stumble upon a set of the old 168 replicas in 22" locally. The style looks too good not to run them for a while.

Last edited by ACHTUNG; 03-12-2019 at 05:26 AM.
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  #6  
Old 03-12-2019, 06:26 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ACHTUNG View Post
Ok. I guess you are trying to help in your own condescending way. I guess that's how you need to be

At what point did I claim I am trying to achieve a better solution to BMW's engineering team on the X5M? Where did that even come from? Not to mention you're attempting to compare a wheel/tire size decision from a completely different chassis.

...more on topic input never hurts...
With only 6 posts to your username, you likely don’t realize that Andrewwynn is one of the most knowledgeable participants on this board, having done some excellent research, tear-aparts, videos and write-ups with photos. I have relied on and enjoyed his efforts, and would take his advice as I’m sure it was intended (helpful from a position of knowledge and experience and not condescending).

I took his post to be on the consequences of your upsizing decision, which you did not acknowledge in your initial post, and which could be significant with respect to drivetrain and electronics issues. The X5M is relevant as a “boundary” vehicle with the extent to which BMW engineers would go; to go farther is of course possible but of questionable value and with some risk if BMW chose not to themselves. My sense is that he was just trying to help you realize this.

FWIW I have 20s on my X5 and wouldn’t go larger for both ride comfort and the reasons Andrewwynn mentioned.
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  #7  
Old 03-12-2019, 06:26 AM
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Facts don't have feelings; if you heard condescending tone you invented that in your head sorry about that. I was just laying out factual details you can use to help decide your path.

That being said there is a thread on the E70 forum where a guy put 265/50/20s on his E70 which is said to have a little less room for tires.

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forum.....res-today.html

That size is almost exactly the same as your target and I think the guy drove across Alaska with the setup.

You may need some spacers to get them correctly positioned in/out and prevent/reduce rubbing, and with the wider option in the rear vs the square setup this other guy had gives you more chance for rubbing in the rear.

I did not find example where somebody had both the over sized tire and 305 width but it looks pretty promising.

I would do some Photoshop with the different ratio options (i think some tire sites will do tire size simulation) so you can see what the difference would look like before buying the tires.
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Old 03-12-2019, 06:56 AM
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https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=802986

Another thread where somebody mentions the max size you can fit without a lift kit. It's almost exactly the diameter of your goal tire: not as wide again In the rear so that's the main question: you said you found somebody that put on the same sizes as you were hoping to use, not sure if that also included the wider rear tire or if it included the wider rim, but there are some useful references of people that have done very similar tires to your goal that you can use to make an informed decision.

From a look standpoint, I don't think a completely filled wheel well is any better a look than a 2" thin sidewall crazy low profile tire on a big rim they basically are both variants of "low rider". The main advantage of higher ratio will be a softer ride which is a reasonable excuse to fill the wheel well, I just don't think it will look better than the more advised options (one step lower profile than you wish to use). That's why I said get tire scale photos and Photoshop them on your car: you may love the look and it's far more important you like It.

I don't think in the real world you will find any significant difference in road feel between 35 and 40 ratio tires and they will both be obviously very low profile on 22s there is no getting around that. So back to Photoshop: which will look nicer: more filled wheel well making the car look dropped, or a thinner sidewall making the car look more like a racer ?

If I had an opportunity to pick up a set of rims in a style I really liked I'd be working to solve the same problem. I would as I mentioned first aim for closer to 1-2% oversized vs 4-5% for numerous reasons but there is support for going up to the size of your target and does not seem unreasonable, other than I did not see much response to the queries of did you have rubbing problems etc; not a lot of follow-up from the guys that did the oversize mods.
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Old 03-12-2019, 07:00 AM
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ACHTUNG,

I run low profile tires and unless you have really good roads you're likely to be needing rims quickly. I have damn near shattered a rim on a pothole here, so be advised.

And on another note, you may want to pull your horns in as Andrew is one of the most knowledgeable and nicest guys on here and there's no way he would get snippy or condescending with anyone here.

Sent from my SM-A730F using Tapatalk
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Old 03-12-2019, 01:10 PM
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I am currently running 17" wheels. I have run 20". I went back to the 17" because I didn't like the harshness of the ride with the 20's. They were wide too and seemed to want to wander when encountering cracks and things in the roadway. I loved the way they looked, but my X is a daily driver, so comfort one out.

Personal opinion: I don't like the look of super large rims with thin tires.
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