Wheels & Tires

[drs]

Could use some opinions…….

Need tires for my X and decided I’m keeping it a couple more years because it only has 66K on the clock.

Ride is pretty rough with 255x55 18s and sport package. I really like the 19 inch 63s but not crazy about staggered. It’s not a 600hp corvette.

I was thinking about just purchasing 4 new 19x9 flared fork 63s and foregoing the 19x10 rears, so I could rotate tires and preserve some ride comfort. Yes, the 10s would look nice but Michelin is dropping the Latitude HP 285 45s, so the pair I get will probably be the last available.

Any opinions???????????

Thanks.

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by drs

Could use some opinions…….

Need tires for my X and decided I’m keeping it a couple more years because it only has 66K on the clock.

Ride is pretty rough with 255x55 18s and sport package. I really like the 19 inch 63s but not crazy about staggered. It’s not a 600hp corvette.

I was thinking about just purchasing 4 new 19x9 flared fork 63s and foregoing the 19x10 rears, so I could rotate tires and preserve some ride comfort. Yes, the 10s would look nice but Michelin is dropping the Latitude HP 285 45s, so the pair I get will probably be the last available.

Any opinions???????????

Thanks.

Well, if you think 18's are rough, you're going in the wrong direction.

If you're looking for a more comfortable ride I'm not sure if you have too many options. However, most who want that don't usually go to a larger rim diameter - they would go smaller.

Others who have comfortable rides should chime in. All X5s can't be all rough.

I don't think they make too many taller/larger aspect ratios than 55 unless you go with a thinner tire width (i.e., 235) in the 18" or 19" rims. The taller sidewall usually will give you a more comfortable ride.

Come on folks with a comfy ride. Let us in on your wheel & tire specs!

[ukrcan]

I am no wheel tire expert by a long shot, but what i know is that TwinsPoppa is right - if you think the ride is rough with 18" wheel, you will not achieve cushier ride with just going with 19" wheels. You can either go with 17" wheels and get 235/65/17 tires which will give you a bigger sidewall or you can stick to your plan of going with 19" but you might want to look at a different suspension setup by going with a set of coilovers where you can make a lot of adjustments to the ride quality.
As for your question about going with a non staggered route - if that's what you like - there is nothing wrong there, you can easily run 255/50/19 all around and not worry about staggered setup and you can rotate tires to ensure proper tireware. This will not however solve the problem of the rough ride as you will be going with a smaller sidewall

[Ricky Bobby]

if you think the 18s are rough even going down to 17s wont be that much of a difference. you have sport package? so you have sport suspension settings most likely which is what gives a "rougher" ride. You want my honest opinion?

If I wanted a truck that rode "smooth" I'd buy a cushy Escalade or something like that. The X5 is a sporty truck that is supposed to be the ultimate driving machine, hence why we tend to "feel the road more"


I have staggered 20s and sport suspension including optional 4-corner air suspension, and I absolutely love the ride. My wife has 17s on her 2011 Rav4 and comparing our rides her car rides rough as shit to me and feels like a go cart. The X rides "sporty", but not rough in my opinion.


If you are going with the 19" 63's, and I think you should, I would go with staggered. You will get good tire life out of a staggered set if you set the rear toe on alignment to -.01 (factory specs way too much rear toe which wears the inner edge of rear tires faster). I went from 18s to 20s and honestly didn't notice that much of a difference.


Tire choice also has a factor, summer tires and runflats have a stiffer sidewall which could make the ride rougher. I have all season toyo's on mine and enjoy the ride.


Last plus for the staggered setup in my opinion? If you go with 19" or higher wheels in a square setup the difference in rear offset becomes hugely apparent in my opinion, and the sunken in wheels look is not for me, thats why I went with staggered, it just looks very euro with fat rear wheels in the bigger sizes. If you do decide to go with square 19s, I would highly recommend a set of spacers in the rear (25mm) to push the wheels out flush with the fender.



Good luck!

[bigwave2255]

my solution to rough ride was a little different, i wanted the 20 inch wheels and the ride quality was not to much different to the standard 19 inch wheels 2005 sport diesel

however what worked for me was swapping out the springs to eibach lowered 1.5 inches and then later swapping out the front struts to Sach brand and the rear shocks to Bilstein.

im now very happy with the handling looks and ride quality, it now actually has suspension so when i hit a pot hole or joining strip it doesnt feel like the car is trying to drive through.

remembering that this is not an M3 it handles and turns in to corners extremely well, some sporty cars get quite a surprise at round about when they find thay cant keep up hehehe

and no im not going to comment on tyres hehe

[JCL]

If you care about ride quality, go to the 17" wheels. Sport or not, 17s will ride better than 18s; even more so for 17s over 19s.

Function or fashion. Decide what is important to you.

Larger tires just have too many compromises for me.

No need to talk about Escalades or Expeditions; an X5 on 17s handles as it was designed to.

Just my $0.02