M Sport Package Question
 

Looking at leasing an X5 and really like the M Sport package BUT since I live in WI I am looking for all-season tires because I don't want to have to buy a second wheel & tire set for use in winters here since I'll only be keeping this X5 for 3 years so:

1. Is there any way to get the M Sport package w/ 19" all season tires?

2. If not, will the Continentals DWS fit/work with the 19" M Sport 223 wheels? If so then I would buy those and store the stock ones & swap them back at lease end.

Thanks!

The best option would be for you to get the Sport Activity Package since it comes with the 19" all-seasons. The only real reason to get the M sport would be for the aerodynamic kit, and I even think that can be purchased as an accessory.

That's an option I'll have to check into. The M Sport package has an option for 19" wheels w/ perf tires that's why I was wondering if the Continental Extremecontact DWS would fit that wheel cause I can't find the specs of the 19" tires on those 223 wheels.

The Style 223 M wheels have the following tyre sizes:

Front: P255/50R19
Rear: P285/45R19

The Continental all-seasons do not show up under Tire Rack when searching for those sizes. You can get the Michelin Latitude Tour HP as an all-season, it's pretty much your only choice.

Pirelli Scorpion have an All Season in that size as well as their Ice & Snow.

Thanks guys. Will check those out.

You may want to consider getting a winter setup and here is why. This will only work if you can change the wheels yourself and can store them otherwise it may be too much work.

If this car is a lease, then the winter setup will save you from having to purchase new expensive RFT's at trade in. if you have 36k lease and you split the wheel 50/50, you are looking at 18/20k on the OEM rubber which will provide more than the 4/32 needed at lease trade in.

In the past, A/S tires were the standard for me until I purchased an expensive luxury sedan(suv) and quickly learned that A/S were not good at all. I soon learned that winter/summer setups were the way to go. The winter setups have saved my car/truck many of times which on A/S would have caused very expensive damage.

Winter setups in the midwest are not hard to get rid of. I have always found OEM rims on craigs/ebay and purchased them. I have been very successful getting 18's/19's with little to no use in CA or NV because they like the rims BIG and not stock. By the time I get the rims and rubber I am close to 1200-1500 bucks. Every set of winters that I have sold once the car was gone and the winters would no longer be needed, I have been able to sell them for close to 50%-75% of the cost. I have actually made money on rims compared to when I purchased them.

plus you get the best performance in summer and winter.

So do those RFTs wear down so quickly that I would have to replace them in 3 years? I only drive about 10K miles/yr so that would be low mileage out of those tires.

I currently have an S6 (Audi) w/ the Conti's DWS and haven't had any issues w/ winter driving here (WI). I did find out the DWS come in the size of the 20" Sport Package wheels so how about swapping out the RFT's for the DWS and running those till lease end & swapping the RFTs back? Any downsides/issues there? I read on these forum that some people say running non-rfts can cause problems w/ warranty or service from BMW. Is this true?

I will say this: the X5 isn't that great on all-seasons. I drove around the neighbourhood on a snow-covered day in my pop's X5 (standard 18" Bridgestones) and it was quite a handful. It's easy to get going but stopping and especially handling that 2,5 ton truck is another story.

Yes All seasons will work in the snow but now your are driving a 6600lbs vehicle and it does take more to stop. I am less worried about my speed an me stopping as I am worried about the other drivers driving too fast on a set of tires which they told the tire guy "Give me the cheapest tires that last 50-70k miles. When they are out of control and you need to make sure you stay clear is the real bonus.

There are alot of people who have purchase Non-RFT's for their tires and store the RFT's for lease turn in. That is another idea. As for warranty, the tires will not void your warranty. I have had my last 4 BMW's have OEM runflats from the factory and Non-RFT's as a replacement and never once did BMW not warranty my cars and believe me, my 545 and my no longer 2011 X5 had LOTS OF shop time.

Im on board with MRV99. I live in Minnesota and ordered my 011 35d with All Season 19's. Biggest mistake I made in ordering. I had em off in 10 days after I took delivery in January. Terrible handling all around.

I bought dedicated winter set-up and couldn't be happier that I did. I now run 21's in the non-winter months.

Hmmm ok now you guys have me thinking I should have a winter & summer setup. So let me ask these 2 options...

1. Is it bad to have one set of wheels & simply have the tires changed twice a year for winter & summer driving? I ask because I came across some posts about RFT being harder to take off & install and possibly runing them doing so unless is a shop that knows how to.

2. If number 1 above is a no-no then what's a fair price for a set of winter wheels & tires? The idea of having to buy a $3K wheel/tire package for this on a leased car kills me because I would not need the them after lease turnin.

Thanks for the help here!

Ok -- here's one man's opinion:

1). I would not have one set of rims with RFT's...I probably wouldn't with non-rfts' either, but that's me...The RFT is just too stiff do take on and off 2x a year. I'd be concerned about sealing issues etc..

2). Do the math on dedicated winter set-up:

Start your search early and you'll find a decent set pre-owned for 1/2 the cost of new -- and you'd be able to recoup some of that down the road. That's exactly what I did on my X6.

Or, buy a brand new winter package from Tire-rack or go OEM. I made a great deal on 18" package from my parts guy @ BMW this past winter. You'll probably be able to sell them for 50% of your cost down the road. As MRV99 also pointed-out earlier, it also means you will have put less miles on your RFT's at lease end and can probably turn it in with original rubber.

Oh and one more thing...If you go dedicated winter set-up you can go 20" Style 214's or 21" in the summer...They happen to look pretty damned good ;)

I agree with Midwest. The more times you have to remount the rubber the more chances of damage. On my X I found a set of OEM 19' 211's (18's felt too soft for my preferences coming from 20's). I paid about 210 a rim shipped. I mounted pirelli scorpion ice & snow RFT's(wife's car) for around 1000 with insurance(in case of side wall bubbles). They are 400 tread ware and they barely ware out. So I am 1800 in on a set. I do get lifetime balancing for both sets so that helps cost on long run.

I sold my E53 winter setup after 3 years of use. I had 1200 in on that set(cheaper rims and no RFT's). When I got my E70, I sold the winter set with 7/32 tread left for $825 on Craigslist. I never had to buy new tires after the original purchase. So it cost me $375 for 3 years.

Hmm looks like finding a decent price wheel/tire is a good way to go. Where do you guys find such good deals? Did a search on craigslist for X5 wheels but nothing came up. Tried ebay and all that came up where 20 & 21" wheels. Also tried tire rack but for the 2011 or 2012 X5 it comes up w/ no wheels for a winter package. Maybe I'm not searching the correctly?

Well I modified my search and found some wheels on ebay so I'll do some looking & see what I come up with. Am I searching for a specific size/features (other than 19") to make sure it would fit a 2012 X5?