Is anyone running square tire setup on X5M?

[MidEnginer]

Hi All,

I want a fun vehicle that can tow a trailer, and also go into mountain snow. I'm down to a nice 2016 X5M and a couple of other alternatives. Looking over the BMW, I notice the wheels are absolutely massive - 21", and very wide, with very few tire options.

I'm thinking of running a square setup, maybe 19" with 275/45 or 285/45 tires all around, which have far more tire choices available. The ride will be comfier too. These diameters are very close to stock, and zero difference front/rear so the car's traction control won't get confused.

Has anyone done something like this? I imagine the rears will be insufficient to put full power down from a start, but I don't care about that, though these are the tire sizes that Cayenne Turbos run, which have plenty of power, though weigh less.

[Blue By You]

Originally Posted by MidEnginer

Hi All,

I want a fun vehicle that can tow a trailer, and also go into mountain snow. I'm down to a nice 2016 X5M and a couple of other alternatives. Looking over the BMW, I notice the wheels are absolutely massive - 21", and very wide, with very few tire options.

I'm thinking of running a square setup, maybe 19" with 275/45 or 285/45 tires all around, which have far more tire choices available. The ride will be comfier too. These diameters are very close to stock, and zero difference front/rear so the car's traction control won't get confused.

Has anyone done something like this? I imagine the rears will be insufficient to put full power down from a start, but I don't care about that, though these are the tire sizes that Cayenne Turbos run, which have plenty of power, though weigh less.

There are other threads addressing this. I recommend searching for "square."

Your choice, and depends on how you drive. I think the square setup looks a little goofy unless you stagger the offsets of the wheels. And even then, the rears look out of place in my opinion.

Another option is to get a square winter setup and enjoy the look and handling of the OEM summer setup.

Good luck either way.

[Qsilver7]

If no one responds with a definitive answer (or a google search turns up nothing)…then consider going with the front 20” wheels BMW offered for the f85 X5M.

The minus-size wheel for the X5M was a staggered set of 20” wheels. The fronts are 10”x20” w/40mm offset…whereas the rear wheel is 11.5”x20” w/38mm offset. Since the offset between the front & rear 20’ wheels is only 2mm…I’m sure mounting the front on all 4 corners (making a square set) would work and you’d have no issues with the wheels fitting over the M brakes…or the wheel offset being too great or too less and either poke out too far past the fender or stick in too far and rub the suspension parts or wheel well liner.

The recommended front 20” tire for the X5M is: 285/40/20. You can check to see what tires are offered in that size.,

Good luck.

BTW…I run a set of 20” staggered winter tires (Yokohama BluEarth) and they perform well in the Great Lakes region where I am. I have them mounted on an old set of e53 X5 Style 87 20” wheels. I had normally minus sized down to 17” or 18” winter tires in the past…but when I got the f15 X5…I was running out of time as winter was approaching and couldn’t find a set of 19” wheels. So I took the set of 20” wheels I was storing in my shed and hoped for the best. I was presently surprised how well the 20” staggered winter tires performed. When we got a 10+ snowfall…I thought they were going to disappoint…but they performed well enough that I was pleasantly surprised.

Pic of the staggered 20” Yoko Blue Earths … I was sure the nearly 12” wide rear 315/35/20 was going to suck in the snow/ice/rain of winter…but again, they have performed well:

[MidEnginer]

Thanks for the info! Digging into it, it looks like running 20" staggered setup with 275 tires in front, 315 in the rear, opens up quite a few more possibilities and won't mess with the balance of the car.

[christianfayb]

I run a squared setup on 20's for my winter wheels. Does like a little goofy to me but I can deal with it. No one else notices im sure

[JDE92M3]

Originally Posted by MidEnginer

Hi All,

I want a fun vehicle that can tow a trailer, and also go into mountain snow. I'm down to a nice 2016 X5M and a couple of other alternatives. Looking over the BMW, I notice the wheels are absolutely massive - 21", and very wide, with very few tire options.

I'm thinking of running a square setup, maybe 19" with 275/45 or 285/45 tires all around, which have far more tire choices available. The ride will be comfier too. These diameters are very close to stock, and zero difference front/rear so the car's traction control won't get confused.

Has anyone done something like this? I imagine the rears will be insufficient to put full power down from a start, but I don't care about that, though these are the tire sizes that Cayenne Turbos run, which have plenty of power, though weigh less.

Hey hope this helps! I upsized my tires first, then I tried out a square set up. So far no issues at all, car feels smooth and tire options are much better. I’m currently on 295/35/21 square Continental DWS06.







JD

[jaboki]

Originally Posted by JDE92M3

Hey hope this helps! I upsized my tires first, then I tried out a square set up. So far no issues at all, car feels smooth and tire options are much better. I’m currently on 295/35/21 square Continental DWS06.

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JD

That looks nice. What are the wheel specs for this setup?

[kangfu84]

Originally Posted by JDE92M3

Hey hope this helps! I upsized my tires first, then I tried out a square set up. So far no issues at all, car feels smooth and tire options are much better. I’m currently on 295/35/21 square Continental DWS06.

Attachment 2902233

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JD

I remember looking for others who may have ran higher profile tyres and saw your username in that thread

Did you end up running 275/40/21 and 315/35/21 without any issues? I plan on running that size with 15mm spacers all round - Dinan springs/bump stops. Stock 612Ms. Hoping it'll work fine.

[jcm3]

Originally Posted by kangfu84

I remember looking for others who may have ran higher profile tyres and saw your username in that thread

Did you end up running 275/40/21 and 315/35/21 without any issues? I plan on running that size with 15mm spacers all round - Dinan springs/bump stops. Stock 612Ms. Hoping it'll work fine.

Ive been running this exact setup for a year now (also on Dinan suspension) and zero issues.

[x5mMege]

Originally Posted by jcm3

Ive been running this exact setup for a year now (also on Dinan suspension) and zero issues.

Same set up and suspension, no issues. I did this more for looks as I felt the OEM tire size made the wheels looks small

[kangfu84]

Originally Posted by jcm3

Ive been running this exact setup for a year now (also on Dinan suspension) and zero issues.

Originally Posted by x5mMege

Same set up and suspension, no issues. I did this more for looks as I felt the OEM tire size made the wheels looks small

Awesome, thanks all. Looking forward to getting it all setup.

[Stamps]

Originally Posted by x5mMege

Same set up and suspension, no issues. I did this more for looks as I felt the OEM tire size made the wheels looks small

Any pictures of the setup?

[640ijims]

Great thread….looking at Conti DWS ‘s in 285/35 or 295/40 square setup, smooth the ride and take care of very light winters in SC. Lots of below early AM 40* in late Dec thru early Feb. ,almost no snow, usually one or two AM ice storms. Also will allow venture into slightly snowy mountain areas. MPSS’s under 40* are scary if you push it.

[shimmy23]

if you can spare the extra $, i'd consider the michelin PS AS4 over the conti DWS.

the conti is still a good tire, but you'll be happier performance wise from the michelins.

[640ijims]

Thanks, actually am looking at them as well.

[JDE92M3]

Originally Posted by jaboki

That looks nice. What are the wheel specs for this setup?

The wheel/tire setup:

- 21 x 9.5” F et 20 295/35/21 Continental DWS06+
- 21 x 11” R et 13 295/35/21 Continental DWS06+







JD

[640ijims]

Afternoon, checked with my friendly ASM today about this and relevance to BMWExtended CPO wrap. He advised it probably would void rear axle/ transfer case/ transmission warranty. Poop!

[V i C]

I also was concerned about the back wheel going in and looking anemic. this is not the case. i found a used set of OEM winter package on a local used retail site. it came with scorpion and he told me he barely used them and were part of the winter package from bmw. the 285/40/20 is great. loads and loads of traction. if you can't find the oem rims, any rim place can replicate the setup. my friend has a x550 and he has the staggered option - 315/275. i've driven his and i think this is better. because the front tire, when going straight, will make a track for the rear wheel to dig into more or less. i think this changes when you stagger.

so, in summary lol, knowing what i know now, i'll go square 285/40/20, no doubts in my mind.

[scats]

Originally Posted by x5mMege

Same set up and suspension, no issues. I did this more for looks as I felt the OEM tire size made the wheels looks small

I agree and run the same setup 275/40 and 315/35. I'm considering 285/45 and 315/40 for my next summer set.

[sperry]

I recently purchased my 2016 X5M last summer. This is my daily driver, and I wanted a wheel/tire setup with as much sidewall as possible, and the option to easily rotate tires for longer wear. The car came on a set of the 611M summer wheels (10x20+40 front, 11.5x20+38 rear) with the machined face finish.

I purchased a set of curbed 611M _winter_ wheels (10x20+40 front, 10.5x20+32) with the gray painted finish. Then I sent all 8 wheels out to the refinishers to be repainted and machined. After mixing and matching the wheels, I have two sets:

A *square* set of 611M 10x20+40 wheels with the machined finish (all four front wheels), and an aggressive staggered set of 611M 10.5x20+32 front, 11.5x20+38 rear wheels also in the machined finish.

I'm currently using the square setup with 295/40/20 Conti DWS06+ tires. This is the widest/tallest tire that will fit up front without rubbing the upper control arm. Anything taller will require something like a 30+ mm spacer to clear the control arm, but then you're also likely to rub elsewhere turning at full-lock.

In order to match the same relative offset that the OEM winter wheels have of 13mm, I'm running a 3mm front spacer and a 20mm rear spacer.

The car rides great. Nothing rubs up front, I don't feel like the car is more traction limited than it used to be (not that I go around driving at the limit to miss the extra rear traction), and the handling/balance doesn't feel affected at all. The OEM winter setup is basically a square 285-width tire on staggered wheels... this is 10 mm wider on all four corners, with the same offsets, and just half-inch less rear wheel width.

611M winter wheels before refinishing:





After refinishing, "true" square setup, with OEM mudflaps:

[SCar24]

I run a square setup on my X6M, 22x10,5 ET38 front and back, with 295/30-22 tires. Installed fender flares so have also used spacers to bring the wheels out.
Really like the look and works great