Wheel Size Question
 

Does anyone know of any online articles dedicated to discussing the pro's and con's of increasing wheel size? I don't know much about tires and wheels and want to get educated.

I have 19" wheels on my 07 X5 and was wondering what you gain or lose when you get a larger wheel. Do you get a better ride/handling and/or road holding ability? Or is it purely cosmetic?

Thanks to all and be safe.

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/...jsp?techid=108

Here is a start.

[Here is a start.[/quote]

Yes, it is a start. Thank a lot.

Ziggy, sort of a free bump...by the way, what size wheels were you wanting to put on your X?

Hello. Here is my issue. About 6 weeks ago I bought a 2007 X5. It has the sport package with the 19" wheels.

I am not that crazy about the wheels that I have now. I don't love them, nor do I hate them. So I figured that I'd buy some snow tires eventually and use those wheels as my winter set-up. Plus I hate the RFT's that are on their now anyway.

So obviously now I need to look for a set of rims that I can use as my spring/summer set-up.

So I was wondering should I just get another set of 19"' wheels, or go up to 20". Since I don't know much about wheel sizing, I was looking for a little help.

Are their any pro's or con's by going up one? Will I gain or lose any ride/handling charactoristics or is it all just cosmetic?

And I can't wait to get these Latitude RFT's off my car and get some conventional rubber. I don't like the ride with the sport package and the RFT's.

I have another question.......LOL. I thought that BMW didn't give you a spare tire if you have the RFT's? I have RFT's all around and I have what looks to be a decent size spare under the rear deck with a jack sitting on top. My 2006 325XI had RFT's and no spare.

Anyway, thanks for your time. Maybe you can clear up that sizing issue for me.

If you are only increasing rim size one inch, it will not significantly affect your ride quality very much, IMO. The larger wheel will probably weigh a little more, but you switching to regular tires will save weight over the heavy run flats. Run flats are known to ride a little more harshly due to their stiff sidewalls, so going up one rim size and switching to traditional tires may even out nicely. The larger wheels are mostly for looks.

I can't help you out with the spare tire issue. I was under the impression that if the car came with run flats, there was no spare.