20" 214's vs. 19" 334's on '11 Xdrive 35i
 

I have a 2011 Xrive 35i Premium on order, which comes with 19" Style 334 wheels (same width) all around. Bumping up to the Sport Activity model adds the 20" staggered 214's.

The X5 is going to be my wife's car, primarily, and I may use it from time to time on some slightly unimproved gravel/rocky roads. I was thinking about moving to the Sport Activity model, but can 214's handle these duties? My wife drove a Tahoe with 20' wheels for 3 years without a scratch, but I think the tires are even lower profile with the 214's.

Anyone care to weigh in with real-life off-road or wife's experience with 214's?

Stick with 19", stay out of trouble with 20s !

My wife loves the 214's. I'm running the 210's for winter with some Blizzak's and she's not a fan. I even had them powdercoated black to help with the look, but she wasn't impressed. She want's her 20's back! I've trained her well. Hahahaha!

PS - No issues whatsoever with 20's either and NYC has some of the worst roads known to man.

Go with the 214s, if you do not, you will regret it.

I know they look better, but does anyone here have any experience with 214's on unimproved rocky, rutted, roads? I'm not talking about hard-core off-road, but farm/ranch roads.

I'm from Montana, I have farmland (in Montana), I drive on gravel roads, trust me -- you'll be fine.

THIS IS MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND OPINION:
I have 20" M-Sport wheels and the low profile tires are a pain in the a$$. I drive daily on very bad gravel/dirt roads as well as on sand/mud/curbs from time to time and my tires wear out so fast. Thats not all tho: if you drive the X on gravel(etc.) for too long the tires get worn out uneven and it screws up your suspension, active steering, and all that. It took my dealer more than a week(and a set of new tires) to fix the problem and over 10 failed test drives.

Also, depending on the road, my rims get damaged on many roads leaving scratches and chips all over the wheels.

With that said, I would still keep my 20" or the 215 21" and have them repaired every now and then, rather than 19" wheels.

Thanks for the real-world input guys. Very interesting. I'm on the fence until I can see an actual photo of an X5 with the new style 334's. So far I've just seen the Parts graphic and the rendering on another thread here. Obviously the 19's are more practical for many reasons, but man do the 214's look good!

I went from 19s to 20s on my 35d. I noticed two things. Increased road noise and poorer fuel economy. I went back to the 19s.

I went from 19's to 227M 20's... I'm into looks and that is the clincher for me (thought about 214's but went the individual look !!) .. I'm also running Non RFT contis and they are quiet and the ride comparable to the RFT 19's in my view.. Fuel economy has suffered though...