Ride quality trade off between 18's, 19's and 20's
 

Hi all

Soon to have 2010 35d - but have an option around wheel size/style

I've had standard 18's on my current 35d - the ride is good, but they just look a bit smallish with gaps in between tires and bodywork.

I LUV the look of the 20's - esp given you gets a wider wheel arch addition - just gives the X5 a meaner stance etc - do anthetically they look fantastic

I'm just worried about ride quality on 20's - admitadely I wont have sport suspension which I suspect can make ride even firmer again - so that may help.

The trade off would be 19's - and I like the ones that come standard with 48i - 19"Y spoke 211

I reckon I'll be spending 2 days a year if that travelling to snow with the kids, and no real offroading planned

thoughts / ideas ?? are the 20's livable on a daily basis? or will I have to increase my dental :rolleyes:

thanks in advance for your thoughts in this one

I think you have answered the question yourself. I have the 18s or whatever came standard on my non sport 4.8. I had aftermarket 20 inch wheels on my former truck which was similar in size. 20s are totally acceptable on a daily basis provided you are ok with sacrificing a little comfort for beauty. Really for me it comes down to hitting potholes in the road etc If you live in an area with smooth roads I would not think twice about going 20s plus. This is no s600 after all. The x already has a firm ride so I feel there is less to lose. good luck with your new x:thumbup:

I recently switched from oem 18's to replica 20's the first day I could tell a slight difference I think mainly that I had new tires..after that it feels pretty much the same..the 20's are actually much lighter then the 18's.

thanks for responses so far ...anybody else got a view?
 

on ride quality 18's vs 19's vs 20's :confused:

my 2 kids fall asleep all the time in the car even with 20s. ;)

I test drove all 3. IMHO there is a very noticeable difference. I went for 19s as a compromise between ride, handling and bad weather use.

Re filling the wheel arch; don't forget the the wheel + tyre combo is always the same size i.e. the circumference will not get any bigger. All you get is less tyre and more wheel. Sometimes the arch will look less full with a bigger wheel.

I drive my 4.6iS with staggered 20" 315/45 (Rear) and 20" 275/50 (front), yes somehow you answered yaself when you said SACRIFICE 20" for Sportish/Stylish and aggrassiveness for comfort. Yes 20" are a bit hard, naturally compared to say 18". But who cares...:dunno: I love the respect, and the look from people when I pass worse still when parked... why cant I sacrifice only 2" comfort!!? (20" minus 18")... so buddy if you want extra attention, I can say go 20" all you need is just a little extra $$$.

Actually in terms of comfort, my Lexus RX300 beats my 4.6iS hands down... But RX300 surrenders hands up when it comes to sheer power and speed of X5!...:D So brace ya teeth!

Why do people seem to focus on RIDE QUALITY, and not on handling and performance?

Reduced sidewall heights with 19, 20+ rims will reduce performance... if it was just ride quality as the trade off I would say whatever, but to trade real performance for vanity is, well...popular these days...

A

Reduced side wall height should in theory increase cornering performance but i have a sports car for that stuff.

I want an SUV to be more of an all rounder, reasonable ride quality, reasonable cornering and able to drive in snow and mud when needed. I don't really care what my wheels look like on an SUV, I can't see them anyway when I'm in it :-)

Are you saying when originally the car was designed for 18" wheels then changed to 20"? What about if the car came with 20" from factory like mine does it mean it came with a compromized performance?!!!...:(

But definately from 18 to 20 one need to look at that, actually some car makes they dont even recommend... I guess even Bavalian Engineers. As you said, nowadays bling bling is all what people want.