20" Dueler H/P's in winter - will I survive?
 

I'm a newbie here and just picked up an 09 48i (err, see SN). I have 20's with Dueler HP's. I live on Long Island, NY and some of the winters can be cold, even though we had a mild one last year.
Is there any chance I can make it through a typical winter (4" of snow on ground but usually plowed within an hour, temps in the 30's) with these?

And anyone have an idea how many more MPG's I can get switching from the 20's to 18's? i'm getting about 10 city now, uggh.
Thanks.

The overall diameter of wheel + tire won't change when switching to 18's. With 18's, you will get tires with higher profile. Unless you go lower profile tires with 18's - but that would be ridiculous :)

Thanks for the info Seattle. I was wondering if the decrease in width of the tire would give me a few more MPG's and approx. how many?

You will NOT surive with summer-performance 20" Bridgestones or Dunlops - dont even bother, especially in LI... I once drove on them in 1" wintery mix/slush, and I felt like I had skis instead of tires (car was 4 mo old). The car was sliding sideways while waiting at an intersection on a slopy surface.

I do have 18" all-season bridgestones for winter driving, which also help dealing with potholes and cold temps/snow.

And since you are averaging about 10mpg now, I'd guess you are either heavy footed or have lots of stop-n-go....In either case, switching to 18" would not help mpg-wise :)

Due to less contact with surface, and therefore less friction, you will technically get better MPG. But I seriously doubt it will be anything noticeable.

You could also get the spare kit, ditch the RFTs, and put some all season Toyos on the 20s and run them year-round!

I'm going to look into all the suggestions. Much appreciated!
I'm pretty excited about being a first time BMW owner and am glad to be able to discuss/read about all things Bimmer here. Thanks again for having me.

Maybe I should've gone with the 3.0 model, but I fell in lust with the 4.8 Black Sapphire. It's covered by the CPO warranty until Fall of 2015.
Does anyone know if swapping rims/tires to a winter setup by myself will void the CPO warranty? Are the TPMs simple to reconnect? Thinking of all the above, as well as getting all-seasons on 18".

Btw, I just got the X5 last week and have been driving like a granny, locally. I hope hwy driving helps the mpg avg.

I'd check EBAY for some nice 18 takeoffs from someones e70 and get a set of Blizzaks or the like for winter setup. When I lived up north i always had a set of winter and summer wheels. find a set thats hub bore fits your year (can't recall if hub bore size has changed...."search" is not my friend!)...

TPMS modules changed during production years (I think 2010 - again I'm being lazy and not trying the search function here) so you'd just have to make sure the set in your second wheels was compatable. once they're mounted i think you just have to reset the sensors in I'drive...swapping between sets of 20's on mine i don't recall doing anything, they just worked.

You can swap rims yourself without voiding warranty. Just get the TPMS sensors..

Also, my dealer doesnt charge me to swap my rims out each season, maybe yours will be the same?

Fugetaboudit
 

I had the 18" Bridgestone RFT on my X5 here in MA. First winter ( tires had about 15K miles ) was scary on any snow. I put Vredestein Wintrac on the 18" rims and run 19" staggered Vredestein Ultrac the rest of the time.

When getting 2nd tire set with their own TMPS sensors, make sure you get those (takeoffs) from cars built prior to Oct 2010, as BMW had changed sensors around that time (thus signal receiver on your car will not be able to pick up signal from sensors installed on X5 built after 10/10).

Or you can get sensors separately and create your own combo of rims/sensors/rubber. Just make sure to mention that you have pre-2011 E70 model when purchasing sensors!

Don't even try the Dueler's in the snow. I did this past Feb, right after I picked up the vehicle, and they are downright dangerous in the cold and snow. I bought a set of 19's with Hankook IPikes.
Also, a thinner width tire will yield very little MPG improvement. The 4.8 is a hog on gas. It is what it is.

Or get a tire pressure gauge?

Haha. Ard, should I disengage the rain-sensing wipers too?
But seriously folk, are 18" better in snow than 19" with the same tires?

It is not about measuring the actual pressure (yes, make sure you do have a good gauge)... It is about not having computer throwing error codes that it can't detect presure in the wheels!

I used to have both 19" (on my 2008 X5) as well as 18" (on my current 2011, winter setup)... I say 18" is better as they are "softer" overall for winter driving conditions - better handle potholes.

Status update: I purchased a set of 212 (19") rims off of eBay.
-Does anyone know if I can simply take off the 214's (20") and pop the 212's on?
-Can I use these 212 without TPMS sensors and turn off the error warning?
-If I go with non-RFT's on the 19" and get a spare, will the spare also work with the 20"s?
---------------
-I need to decide if I want to go with dedicated winter tires for the 19's or go All-Season and possibly sell the 20's or go with All-Seasons non-RFTs on the 20's too and sell the 19's. Hence my questions about the spare working for both sets of tires.

I took a roadtrip to PA and am even more in lust with the X5. I got my MPG avg. up to 19mpg! Yeahhhh!!! Who needs a Prius???

The 18s would be better in snow if more narrow. they dig deeper for more grip.

As far as MPG, a harder narrower tire (all season, etc) would get slightly better MPG but not a big difference.

FYI, you need a larger diameter tire to improve MPG, not smaller. The larger tire reduces RPMs for a given speed.

hello folks, i have an 06 4.8 with the staggered 20" diamaris tires. im looking for just winter tires from nov-march. what do you folks suggest? am i better with an all season 18" rim and tire or just go with a winter 20" tire??

The question really shouldn't be about tire diameter, it's tire width. The thinner the tire, the better in the snow - all other things being equal.

That said, I've run 20" Pirelli Scorpion Ice/Snow on my X5M for three winters - they worked great.

I'll be doing the same thing with my new X5.

so you kept your original rims on?

Yes.

It's kind of a hassle to switch (the summer/winter tires) back/forth, honestly.

I have a new X5 on order and am on the hunt for some 20" 'winter wheels' that I can mount my current set of Scorpion tires on for the winter.

I have a spare set of 18s with studded winter cats on them. My shop switches them for free every winter. It is the way to go!

I have the 20" Pirelli Scorpion Ice/Snow for winter too (on another set of wheels). We had such a mild winter last year that I never got to really try to them out so I can't speak to how they compare to the 18" winter tires that I had for a few winters before that...

My dealership switches my wheels for about $60 --- which I think is a bargain. Free would be better but I'm not complaining.

:iagree: I almost slid through an intersection and into a bus load of kids in Port Washington in my '01 with 19's and summer perf tires back in the day, on a slushy road, since then I go winter wheels and all seasons.

I wonder if any dealers on L.I., ie Rallye, would switch my summers for winters for free or for a reasonable price. Does anyone have any experience with Rallye swapping tires? Storing them?

Is an alignment required if I'm going from Duelers on 20's to winter or all-season on 19's?

When the Duelers wear out (20k miles??) I'm going to try out the Proxes ST2's year round.

You don't need to go to a dealer to swap your tires, costco, local service station, local tire store, anywhere can do it, and especially dont go to Rallye, their service department absolutely sucks. And yes, you should get a 4 wheel alignment or at least have it checked when swapping tires.

Where on Long Island are you?

Next door to you Thunder. Sent you a PM

I'll respectfully disagree that swapping wheels/tires should necessitate an alignment. *unless there was wear indicating an out of alignment condition on the outgoing set*

Good to check the alignment from time to time, but the tires generally provide all the info you need re that.

RIF -What is there to disagree with, I said have it checked as an alternative.

You wrote two things: One of them being "you should get a 4 wheel alignment" and "or at least have them checked"

I disagreed with the first part.

:dunno:

If I was swapping tires (and I have), I would definitely have alignment done. Not saying it's required.

If I was swapping tires I would inspect the tires coming off the vehicle. If they showed even wear, I would definitely not have an alignment done, as they could only make it worse, not better. There is no upside.

Even if swapping 20's (with 315) for 19's (with 275)?
I'm a total newb so this is an honest question and
not an attack.
I'd love for the answer to be 'yes'.

^^ this

Yes. As long as the old tires are wearing evenly.