20” wheels off-road and on the mud

[Treeboy]

Waiting for 35d delivery in April and still thinking about the 20” ordered with the M Sport. I assume the majority of X5 are not regularly driven on logging roads and off-road. My 2011 35d is on city roads and highways 99% time, but having a property in rural area in central BC, I need my family vehicle to be able to handle 25 miles on the logging road (packed sand with occasional boulder sticking out, sometimes in bunches) in wet and dry conditions. Last mile is through the forest road that can be muddy, so Xdrive is sometimes well employed, but with speeds of about 5-10mph, I am not worry about rim damage that much there.

My concern is about driving on the logging road where based on the conditions I may be going up to 40-50mph. Should I worry about having 469M wheels with 20” DWS 06 non-RFT? One concern is ripping the tire with lower side walls, another is getting flat tire due to rim getting bent. If non-repairable, flat tire means driving on a space saver spare 250 miles back home. If anyone has an experience with running 20”+ wheels in similar conditions, I would appreciate it.

My winter set is on smaller rims. My current E70 is equipped with 18” rims and non-RFT. I had zero issues with these.
We are going to the property every other month or two. I am not questioning the Xdrive abilities at all, just the size of the wheels I am getting. I had to take 20”, because I wanted M Sport (no 19” option for M Sport in Canada). My other option ($$$+) is to get a 19” 467M staggered setup with DWS 06 as well. I know 20” is in general more desired option for F15, but the aesthetics are not that important to me, especially in light of possibly damaging my rims in rural area with no cellphone coverage.

Thanks for sharing your opinions.

[CeeTeeX5]

Originally Posted by Treeboy

Waiting for 35d delivery in April and still thinking about the 20” ordered with the M Sport. I assume the majority of X5 are not regularly driven on logging roads and off-road. My 2011 35d is on city roads and highways 99% time, but having a property in rural area in central BC, I need my family vehicle to be able to handle 25 miles on the logging road (packed sand with occasional boulder sticking out, sometimes in bunches) in wet and dry conditions. Last mile is through the forest road that can be muddy, so Xdrive is sometimes well employed, but with speeds of about 5-10mph, I am not worry about rim damage that much there.

My concern is about driving on the logging road where based on the conditions I may be going up to 40-50mph. Should I worry about having 469M wheels with 20” DWS 06 non-RFT? One concern is ripping the tire with lower side walls, another is getting flat tire due to rim getting bent. If non-repairable, flat tire means driving on a space saver spare 250 miles back home. If anyone has an experience with running 20”+ wheels in similar conditions, I would appreciate it.

My winter set is on smaller rims. My current E70 is equipped with 18” rims and non-RFT. I had zero issues with these.
We are going to the property every other month or two. I am not questioning the Xdrive abilities at all, just the size of the wheels I am getting. I had to take 20”, because I wanted M Sport (no 19” option for M Sport in Canada). My other option ($$$+) is to get a 19” 467M staggered setup with DWS 06 as well. I know 20” is in general more desired option for F15, but the aesthetics are not that important to me, especially in light of possibly damaging my rims in rural area with no cellphone coverage.

Thanks for sharing your opinions.

You could probably make it fine with the 20" but it just doesn't seem worth the risk. I would suggest against going 40-50 mph on the forest roads as a surprise rock/divot could definitely pop a tire on the 20s.

On my previous vehicle, a Jeep Grand Cherokee with 265/50/20 oem tires, it felt a bit sketchy on forest service roads and never felt very confident on them. I don't think I'd want any less sidewall. After going up to a 275/55/20 I could tear down those forest service roads with ease and confidence.

Are you able to swap out the wheels for the few times you will head up there? Maybe get a set of cheap 18" wheels and tires to toss on before the trip.

[Treeboy]

Originally Posted by CeeTeeX5

You could probably make it fine with the 20" but it just doesn't seem worth the risk. I would suggest against going 40-50 mph on the forest roads as a surprise rock/divot could definitely pop a tire on the 20s.

On my previous vehicle, a Jeep Grand Cherokee with 265/50/20 oem tires, it felt a bit sketchy on forest service roads and never felt very confident on them. I don't think I'd want any less sidewall. After going up to a 275/55/20 I could tear down those forest service roads with ease and confidence.

Are you able to swap out the wheels for the few times you will head up there? Maybe get a set of cheap 18" wheels and tires to toss on before the trip.

I see your points.

I have mentioned up to 40-50 mph, but that requires dry road, likely Saturday when logging traffic has stopped. The road is wide, sometimes straight stretch for a mile and I am more concerned about moose jumping in than the car slipping off. Sure enough I try to stay below 30 mph, but to get there I am driving 4+ hours on the highway at speeds over 75 mph, so to adjust to much lower spreed and spend one hour driving the last stretch requires patience that I don't always posses.
But with my family in the car, I did spend 60 min+ to get through in spring or fall few times before.

Getting third set of wheels crossed my mind, but to swap the wheels twice every long weekend seems like madness to me. Hence the thoughts about 19" staggered setup. But that would mean 275/45/19 on the rear, so as per what you said not that big improvement over 20"...

[CeeTeeX5]

Originally Posted by Treeboy

I see your points.

I have mentioned up to 40-50 mph, but that requires dry road, likely Saturday when logging traffic has stopped. The road is wide, sometimes straight stretch for a mile and I am more concerned about moose jumping in than the car slipping off. Sure enough I try to stay below 30 mph, but to get there I am driving 4+ hours on the highway at speeds over 75 mph, so to adjust to much lower spreed and spend one hour driving the last stretch requires patience that I don't always posses.
But with my family in the car, I did spend 60 min+ to get through in spring or fall few times before.

Getting third set of wheels crossed my mind, but to swap the wheels twice every long weekend seems like madness to me. Hence the thoughts about 19" staggered setup. But that would mean 275/45/19 on the rear, so as per what you said not that big improvement over 20"...

You could always put a taller tire on the 19s. That would definitely give you some better protection.

[Treeboy]

Originally Posted by CeeTeeX5

You could always put a taller tire on the 19s. That would definitely give you some better protection.

Changing outside diameter will change the speedo and odo, which I guess I would have to live with.

Or I forego staggered wheels idea and go with square set of 19" or 18" for three seasons to get 50 resp 55 side wall, and forbid myself ever posting pics on the forum to avoid backlash . And think about spacers to remedy the extended flares.

[CeeTeeX5]

Originally Posted by Treeboy

Changing outside diameter will change the speedo and odo, which I guess I would have to live with. However the spare would not match the set, if needed for longer distances. Not sure if getting bigger spare tire would work due to tire size availability and as it might not fit the storage space in trunk. It's upgrade would potentially trigger changing winter tires as well, then my Thule snow chains will not work. Unless I have two spare tires that I swap them for winter.

Or I forego staggered wheels idea and go with square set of 19" or 18" for three seasons to get 50 resp 55 side wall, and forbid myself ever posting pics on the forum to avoid backlash . And think about spacers to remedy the extended flares.

The speedo already reads fast by ~2mph so you'll actually be correcting it a bit by upsizing the tires

You have a unique situation and need. Most people aren't taking their X5 down logging/forest service roads. I wouldn't worry about the backlash. A square setup and spacers would do the trick or you could just run more aggressive offsets all the way around on 19s/18s.

You could always take one trip on the 20s and see how it goes before deciding...

[DuSh]

You won't bent oem rims that easily - you will need to hit a deep pothole with sharp edges for that. I would only worry about tires. Easiest is to keep 20'' runflats and see how it goes. Chances are you won't need anything else. As a second choice - you can buy stock oem 19'' (plenty in classifieds section here on forum for $600-900 with tires, caps, tpms) runflats (or not) and IMHO they have enough sidewall for what you need. I can't imagine any road that will require 18'' - but that's a third option (looks really small tho)

[Treeboy]

Originally Posted by DuSh

You won't bent oem rims that easily - you will need to hit a deep pothole with sharp edges for that. I would only worry about tires. Easiest is to keep 20'' runflats and see how it goes. Chances are you won't need anything else. As a second choice - you can buy stock oem 19'' (plenty in classifieds section here on forum for $600-900 with tires, caps, tpms) runflats (or not) and IMHO they have enough sidewall for what you need. I can't imagine any road that will require 18'' - but that's a third option (looks really small tho)

Thanks for your input.
As with all my past new BMW's, I would like to take the RFT off immediately and replace them with non-RFT, so I can sell OEM tires as new. Unless I am selling the wheels as well.
I do not want to switch this into another discussion RFT vs. non-RFT, but do you think non-RFT in the same size will be more vulnerable?
I ordered DHP, in case it matters... But I think it doesn't.

Square 467M's are on my mind as per the above discussion, but they work better for non-M Sport body. Wider OEM rear rims in 467M 19" can be bought new ($$$) online, but I am not sure how much improvement I gain going from 35 to 45 sidewall... Any thoughts?

[CeeTeeX5]

Originally Posted by DuSh

You won't bent oem rims that easily - you will need to hit a deep pothole with sharp edges for that. I would only worry about tires. Easiest is to keep 20'' runflats and see how it goes. Chances are you won't need anything else. As a second choice - you can buy stock oem 19'' (plenty in classifieds section here on forum for $600-900 with tires, caps, tpms) runflats (or not) and IMHO they have enough sidewall for what you need. I can't imagine any road that will require 18'' - but that's a third option (looks really small tho)

Yah, the tire is the main concern. You don't want to be stuck out on a logging/forest road with a busted tire. Even swapping to a spare can be difficult without an appropriate jack and stable spot.

[CeeTeeX5]

Originally Posted by Treeboy

Thanks for your input.
As with all my past new BMW's, I would like to take the RFT off immediately and replace them with non-RFT, so I can sell OEM tires as new. Unless I am selling the wheels as well.
I do not want to switch this into another discussion RFT vs. non-RFT, but do you think non-RFT in the same size will be more vulnerable?
I ordered DHP, in case it matters... But I think it doesn't.

Square 467M's are on my mind as per the above discussion, but they work better for non-M Sport body. Wider OEM rear rims in 467M 19" can be bought new ($$$) online, but I am not sure how much improvement I gain going from 35 to 45 sidewall... Any thoughts?

an extra inch of sidewall if you are sticking with a 275 width is 1". When you are considering the available sidewall, that's pretty significant.

As an added note from experience. Prior to going to a 275/55/20. I had gone to a 285/50/20 and that was only about a 1/2" larger than the 265/50/20 stock size but still afforded me a much better ride off-road and no concerns over rough terrain on forest service roads. that was going from a street tire to an A/T tire though.

[joyride]

Meant to post the other day, but, let me tell you my experience.

Extremely rainy few days in the fall. Was taking the kids and family to our daycare Halloween party at night. Of course no parking, so I think, oh I'll just pull onto the grass right by the entrance. As soon as I got off the pavement into the grass I feel the front end sink into the rain soaked lawn and before I could stop, all four tires are a few inches down in the lawn and mud and sliding to a stop. As soon as I stopped, I thought shit, not gonna get outta this easy. Truck was about 4 ft onto the lawn, bout 3-5 inches into the lawn/mud. Got to finally use my toe strap and shackles... 20in street tires FTL. After a gentle pull from a Ram truck I was free. But wanted to let ya know my story.

[CeeTeeX5]

Originally Posted by joyride

Meant to post the other day, but, let me tell you my experience.

Extremely rainy few days in the fall. Was taking the kids and family to our daycare Halloween party at night. Of course no parking, so I think, oh I'll just pull onto the grass right by the entrance. As soon as I got off the pavement into the grass I feel the front end sink into the rain soaked lawn and before I could stop, all four tires are a few inches down in the lawn and mud and sliding to a stop. As soon as I stopped, I thought shit, not gonna get outta this easy. Truck was about 4 ft onto the lawn, bout 3-5 inches into the lawn/mud. Got to finally use my toe strap and shackles... 20in street tires FTL. After a gentle pull from a Ram truck I was free. But wanted to let ya know my story.

Thanks for the reminder to toss the tow strap from my JGC in to the X5! I never needed it in the Jeep but street bias tires on the X5 could get me in trouble as I do go camping and fishing which takes me in to some less desirable locations for an X5 on street tires.

[Treeboy]

So I played it safe for peace of mind and 19" wheels performed fine on the logging road this past weekend...

[DuSh]

Thanks for updating! That gravel road is silky smooth imho - even 22 inch with 25 side profile would do great haha. Unless you showed a best portion of that road and there are some really bad portions.

[redline9001]

Originally Posted by DuSh

Thanks for updating! That gravel road is silky smooth imho - even 22 inch with 25 side profile would do great haha. Unless you showed a best portion of that road and there are some really bad portions.

No shit ... best logging road ever... reading the posted I was no f@#$ way I would take my x5 down a logging road. I take my truck down some logging roads and think what am I doing here...

[DuSh]

However, I take my words back - I understand that main worry was to puncture tire by some occasional sharp boulder sticking out of the road. yeah, well, in that case - to be honest any tire setup will need replacement. I guess just drive slow and safe - that's the best option haha.

[Treeboy]

Originally Posted by DuSh

Thanks for updating! That gravel road is silky smooth imho - even 22 inch with 25 side profile would do great haha. Unless you showed a best portion of that road and there are some really bad portions.

You got that right! The road was in the best condition in twenty years since I started using it. But only the first 23km. They are currently logging in the area, so they even spray it to keep the dust at minimum.
You should see the next 12km I need to use to get to the gravel pit (from where we go another mile off the road). All cracked with boulders peaking up. I do not have my dashcam wired yet, and did not stop to take a picture. This shows the longest straight stretch, otherwise it is pretty curvy road and I did not see a point taking picture of 30 yards long section. Will do that next time.
Once they stop logging for a while, the logging company keeps road maintenance at minimum and that make late fall and early spring driving there adventures.