20" wheels significantly affect MPG on 35d?
 

I am getting ready to order an X5 diesel and am debating on the 20" wheels. Do any of you diesel owners have them? Do they signifiicantly impact MPG/Performance over the 18's or 19's? Car looks so much better with the 20" and flares but I don't want to sacrifice too much MPG. Thanks

I have 13k on mine so far. I ordered the sport package with 20" wheels and I run 18" in the winter on non-RFT's which are SIGNIFICANTLY lighter than the 20" with RFT's. I went on a road trip in April with the 18" setup still on the car and got right at 26mpg. I have done 26mpg with the 20's as well on a road trip last summer. I thought I'd pick up 1-2mpg with the lighter and narrower 18's (which incidentally are slightly taller) but that simply wasn't the case for me.

My car came with the 19", which I drove for about a year. Then I switched over to the 20" 214s. I estimate I lost about 2-3 mpg.

Interesting....I recently put on 21" 215's and haven't seen much degradation at all...

I guess my pov is if you're going to spend $60k++ on an X5, is a mpg or two really matter much? :dunno:

^this

I switch between 18" for winter and 20" (214s) for the rest of the year. I dont see any significant degradation, many things depends on your driving style, you will loose those 2-3 mpg if you are driving above certain speeds :)

You are in San Diego, I presume hills are not uncommon, 214s will not affect your MPG, but hills, highway speed, and accelerations from stops will ! :)

Get the 20"s! You will regret it if you don't. My d looks so much more aggressive with the flares and 214s.

I've got 19" Winter Wheels and also a set of 214s that the car was ordered with and I don't see any degradation in economy either. The 20's are heavier yes, but not that much.

Order a set of 20"s as they do look much better :iagree:

They do look much much better. Does anyone know if E53 rims fit? I have an extra set that I use for snow tires when we go to Mammoth etc....so at least for the longer drives I will have the skinnier tires.