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BMW 5-Series Tires and Wheels

132 messages,  Last post on Dec 12, 2012 at 4:44 PM

You are in the BMW 5-Series Forum.

What is this discussion about? BMW 5 Series, Car Safety, Tires, Wheels, Sedan, Wagon

Messages Page 10 of 14

#89 of 132 Re: BMW tires and wheels [laurasdada] by busiris

Sep 08, 2011 (9:00 am)

Replying to: laurasdada (Sep 07, 2011 8:31 am)
So much depends on the road conditions where you drive. I have the insurance on my 2010 328i and just used it to replace the left front tire due to a screw puncture wound.
 
The price of the tire alone was $310.00 on Tirerack.com. I got the insurance discounted to about $1000.00 when I bought the car. I would have broken even if the wheel had also been damaged.
 
I guess I would ask..."do you feel lucky?"

#90 of 132 Re: BMW tires and wheels [jarchdeacon] by busiris

Sep 08, 2011 (9:09 am)

Replying to: jarchdeacon (Sep 06, 2011 12:20 pm)
Certainly I didn't mean to suggest all wheel damage is the driver's fault, but in my experience I would say when someone complains of wheel damage multiple times in short order, the driver is the most obvious cause.
 
Even though one may have driven 50 years without a single incident, most/all of those years were probably on higher profile, non RFT tires.
 
Is like me blaming BMW for poor design if I happen to hit a speed bump too fast and damage the front fascia on my Z4 coupe.
 
Sidewalls on RFTs are much more rigid and less forgiving when driven through potholes. It's something folks need to consider when buying large rims with low profile tires.

#91 of 132 Re: BMW tires and wheels [busiris] by laurasdada

Sep 08, 2011 (9:48 am)

Replying to: busiris (Sep 08, 2011 9:00 am)
Roads of Boston and New England. Not feeling so lucky! Tires, I believe, come with a one year warranty, but I do worry about the wheels. For the first time in my life, from the research I've done the last couple of days, I think we may go for it...
 
Was your contract for 5 years?

#92 of 132 Re: RUN FLATS ON 2006 530xi [roadburner] by seykar

Nov 30, 2011 (8:16 pm)

Replying to: roadburner (Aug 08, 2007 8:05 am)
I have 530xit station wagon sport package. Have replaced the run flat tires with 18"rim completly with a 17" rim 225/45/R17 tire. I have no issue with the indication since we moved all sensers from RFT rim to the new off the shave rim. I get perfect ride with the all season tires and my hwy milage has gone up by 3 miles. I am going to use the RFT 18 inch rim with 245/45/R18 tires to replace all my RFT for the winter on 328XI which my wife drives locally. Parts in the BMW told me I could use 18" rim on the 328xi.

#93 of 132 Re: RUN FLATS ON 2006 530xi [seykar] by shipo

Dec 01, 2011 (2:29 am)

Replying to: seykar (Nov 30, 2011 8:16 pm)
Last time I checked the 3-Series and the 5-Series had a rather different offset; I suggest you check again before you commit to putting those wheels on your 328xi.

#94 of 132 Re: BMW tires and wheels [busiris] by atalaya505

Mar 10, 2012 (11:42 pm)

Replying to: busiris (Sep 08, 2011 9:09 am)
I cannot believe that I am seeing the same "blame the driver" crap on this thread that you get from BMW. I have been driving reasonably high-performance cars on 45 profile tires for ten years now. Mostly turbocharged Subies, Infiniti, VW CC and Audi's. Prior to that, mostly BMW's. I have carefully avoided the "sport" upgrades with 40 or lower profile tires.
 
Went back to BMW this past year when we bought a 2011 535xi. Again, stayed with 18 inch wheels and the 45 series tires. This car has a SERIOUS problem! One pothole on I 40 in New Mexico bent the rim. The car immediately began vibrating badly. We were worried that we were going to be stranded hundreds of miles from any dealer. No damage we could see at night with a flashlight, so we limped 250 miles home.
 
The pothole is one that would barely have bothered any of the cars we have driven.
 
There was NO driver error here. I have driven over 1.5 million miles on three continents and never had a car suffer anything like this kind of damage from this sort of impact.
 
$650 and the dealer said that I was lucky that the impact did not take out the tire as well. They usually see tire sidewall bubbles when someone takes out a BMW rim.
 
When we bought the car, we had planned to replace the run flats with non-run flat Conti Extreme Contact DWS tires (and the Conti inflation kit) this coming fall. Now, we are debating whether we dare keep this car. It spends much of its time on trips in the middle of nowhere.
 
I know that replacing the RFTs with standard all-seasons will provide more cushioning for the wheel. With earlier BMW's this extra cushioning might be sufficient to have saved the rim in our pothole impact. But, I am far less confident that it will be sufficient on our car. The new 5 series seems to have a particularly soft front suspension. After hearing other reports of 2011 535's crashing over potholes, I took a new, non AWD, 535i out on a test drive this past week and deliberately drove it over a known pothole on a nearby surface street. The Bimmer completely bottomed its suspension with a loud jarring crash. In five other cars -- all with 45 profile tires -- I drove over the same pothole at the same speed with very little fuss.
 
Stiff run flat tires, soft wheels, a suspension that crashes . . . Not sure how to fix all of these. We are now worried that even if we replace the RFTs with more flexible non-RFTs, this car may still be dangerously susceptible to impact damage.
 
One possibility would be to replace the RFT's, buy the Conti kit AND devote a sizable amount of trunk real-estate to a spare tire and jack.
 
Or, we could take the more drastic step of dumping a beautiful new 535xi for an Audi A6.

#95 of 132 Re: BMW tires and wheels [atalaya505] by busiris

Mar 12, 2012 (6:28 pm)

Replying to: atalaya505 (Mar 10, 2012 11:42 pm)
I certainly didn't intend to paint everyone with a broad brush, and I don't put everyone in the same bucket.
 
However, there are many 5-series owners that don't suffer tire and wheel issues. All I was stating is that folks who go through wheel and tire after wheel and tire probably are contributing to their problem, even if it's just because the roads where they live are in a sad state of disrepair.
 
And, as the wheel size increases and the sidewall height decreases, it creates the "perfect storm" for wheel and tire damage. That's not just a guess, because I have a good friend that's in the wheel repair business (for quite a few years now) and he's been pretty clear that frequency of damage increases as wheel diameter increases.
 
Add to the, in BMW's case, stiff RFT sidewalls nd you decrease the margin of "give" even further.
 
Personally, if I could, I would change BMW policy to offer GFT's and a space-saver spare in the truck option.

#96 of 132 Re: BMW tires and wheels [atalaya505] by techman9

Mar 13, 2012 (4:22 am)

Replying to: atalaya505 (Mar 10, 2012 11:42 pm)
I traded in the 2011 BMW for the 2012 A6. I have had it for 6 months, 10K in mileage and can tell you it was well worth it. The all wheel drive is by far superior to the BMW. Also Transmission and suspension in the A6 far exceeds performance of the BMW. People can argue wheels all day long on this forum but the simple truth is the BMW as seen better days.

#97 of 132 Re: BMW tires and wheels [busiris] by techman9

Mar 13, 2012 (4:30 am)

Replying to: busiris (Mar 12, 2012 6:28 pm)
What everyone seems to be missing is that it is not a simple case of changing tires. It has to do with a combination of tires, wheels and the suspension system. For a vehicle to constantly bottom out over almost every bump is not normal for any vehicle. I have owned many cars with lower profile tires and have never had to replace any wheels or tires as a result of the size of the wheel and tire sidewall, nor did the vehicle botton out. Someone miscalculated something when it came to the suspension.
 
Go get an Audi and enjoy driving again.

#98 of 132 Re: BMW tires and wheels [techman9] by busiris

Mar 13, 2012 (2:05 pm)

Replying to: techman9 (Mar 13, 2012 4:30 am)
I'm not gonna argue the point, but I'll simply say this.
 
Do a Google on "XXX alloy wheel damage", where XXX is BMW, Audi, Nissan, etc. and you will find every manufacturer shows up with wheel damage.
 
I'm not here to defend BMW nor accuse any other manufacturer of defects, nor praise them. I'm just saying that the incidence of damage is directly correlated to the diameter of the wheel as it increases in size.
 
If you want the bling of 18, 19 or larger wheel sizes, get ready to pay extra.

Messages Page 10 of 14

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