Buying F10 M5 winter tyres - Speed & Load index questions

Buying F10 M5 winter tyres - Speed & Load index questions

Author
Discussion

mondie

Original Poster:

622 posts

141 months

Monday 21st July 2014
quotequote all
I know I am getting in early! There has been some good discussion on this in the past but I am still not entirely clear on this so here goes. Car is an MY14 M5 on standard 19' alloys. I would like to fit winters to these wheels rather than buy another set.

Factory is:
265/40 ZR19 102Y
295/35 ZR19 104Y

Closest I can find is Michelin Alpins:
265/40 R19 102 W
285/35 R19 103 V

These are close but not quite the same - what are the potential insurance implications here? Is it illegal and so going to give the insurance company a potential out?

I have spent hours researching this, are there any other tyre options I may have missed?

As always all input would be welcomed smile

cheers Simon

AW10

4,421 posts

248 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
What sizes and load ratings are listed on the sticker on the driver's door jamb?

RichardM5

1,733 posts

135 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
The correct winter tyres for the F10 M5 are 255/35R20 97V or 255/40R19 100V on 9J rims.

Continental do 265/40 R19 98V and 295/35 R19 100V which would be a better fit than the Michelins, the slightly lower load rating should not be an issue as they also have a lower speed rating and you probably shouldn't be doing 150mph on winter tyres anyway.

But regardless of what you fit, you should inform your insurance company

mondie

Original Poster:

622 posts

141 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Richard,

So you think the lower speed index of the Conti's is preferable to that of the Michelins to gain the 295 width? Guess I will call the insurance company and see what they have to say.

Will have to check the tyre placard, good question!

Cheers

HoHoHo

14,980 posts

249 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
RichardM5 said:
The correct winter tyres for the F10 M5 are 255/35R20 97V or 255/40R19 100V on 9J rims.

Continental do 265/40 R19 98V and 295/35 R19 100V which would be a better fit than the Michelins, the slightly lower load rating should not be an issue as they also have a lower speed rating and you probably shouldn't be doing 150mph on winter tyres anyway.

But regardless of what you fit, you should inform your insurance company
I purchased wheels and tyres for my M5 last December from BMW.

I'm away currently so can't confirm what tyres were supplied but in heavy rain the car felt very stable and comfortable with no aqua-planing at all

What I can confirm is they don't like having power through them and the traction light is on more often than off! You have to be progressive rather than aggressive.

Unfortunately we didn't have a any snow so I didn't get to test their ability in harsh conditions but I've no doubt I'd be happy on the road rather than the car sitting in my drive stuck.

Doesn't look too shabby either wink


RichardM5

1,733 posts

135 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Given that the Michelins are V rated anyway (V is lower than W, so you're limited by the lowest rating) the rolling radius would be more important. The load rating is a little low, but no lower than the recommended rating on the narrower tyre/rim.

w5pwr

453 posts

189 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Brought a wheel & Tyre combination from my dealer and used them from October to March, although no snow they improve handling on wet wintery roads noticeably. My dealer stores the wheels and does the change over for £80 a time, which saves a lot of hassle.

If you are putting a set together yourself don't for get to put in the tyre pressure sensing valves otherwise you get errors reported all the time....

My dealer(Elms Cambridge) price matched the best deal I could get from another BMW dealer.

HoHoHo

14,980 posts

249 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
w5pwr said:
Brought a wheel & Tyre combination from my dealer and used them from October to March, although no snow they improve handling on wet wintery roads noticeably. My dealer stores the wheels and does the change over for £80 a time, which saves a lot of hassle.

If you are putting a set together yourself don't for get to put in the tyre pressure sensing valves otherwise you get errors reported all the time....

My dealer(Elms Cambridge) price matched the best deal I could get from another BMW dealer.
Good point - the BMW wheels come with them fitted as standard and I can see they'd be forgotten otherwise.

RichardM5

1,733 posts

135 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Definitally a good point, the pressure sensors are not cheap.

If going for a winter wheel/tyre combination you will probably find that the BMW option is the cheapest over all. Obviously this does not apply if you go for a replacement winter tyre of the same size as the summer tyre using your summer rims.

JMBMWM5

2,283 posts

197 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
mondie said:
I know I am getting in early! There has been some good discussion on this in the past but I am still not entirely clear on this so here goes. Car is an MY14 M5 on standard 19' alloys. I would like to fit winters to these wheels rather than buy another set.

Factory is:
265/40 ZR19 102Y
295/35 ZR19 104Y

Closest I can find is Michelin Alpins:
265/40 R19 102 W
285/35 R19 103 V

These are close but not quite the same - what are the potential insurance implications here? Is it illegal and so going to give the insurance company a potential out?

I have spent hours researching this, are there any other tyre options I may have missed?

As always all input would be welcomed smile

cheers Simon
Hi Simon, I put 20" wheels and tyres on mine.
Michelin Alpine P4's 255/35/20 fronts, 275/35/20 rears. They look great.


Edited by JMBMWM5 on Tuesday 22 July 16:45
Added the TPM Valves bought from the states.

Edited by JMBMWM5 on Tuesday 22 July 16:47

mondie

Original Poster:

622 posts

141 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for all the suggestions but buying a second pair of rims is out of the question for a 2 year lease car we are already a 1/3rd of the way in to. Did that for the last M5 thinking I would get a few cars use out of them and didn't so one of the reasons for going the standard 19' alloys on this car is so we could use them for winter.

The tyre placard has both 19' and 20' wheel options listed.

The front has 102Y for 19' and 99Y for 20'
The rear has 104Y for 19' and 101Y for 20'

Why would the load index be less for 20'? Only reason I can see is that the load rating for the 19' wheel just happens to be what is made in the tyre spec BMW chose.

On the left of the placard is another tyre size which I presume is for winter although that is not stated. 255/40 R19 100V. This is interesting because 100V is at or less than the winter tyres I have been looking at.

Confusing!!!

Edited by mondie on Wednesday 23 July 07:59

AW10

4,421 posts

248 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
quotequote all
No signs of "M+S" on the placard?

mondie

Original Poster:

622 posts

141 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
quotequote all
Actually yes it does state M + S so that's mud and snow then?

tiler

693 posts

235 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
quotequote all
Michelin Alpine P4's 255/35/20 fronts, 275/35/20 rears.
These tyres are not a bad price.
Only £240ea for the fronts, and £275ea for rears.

AW10

4,421 posts

248 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
quotequote all
mondie said:
Actually yes it does state M + S so that's mud and snow then?
Yes

RichardM5

1,733 posts

135 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
quotequote all
tiler said:
Michelin Alpine P4's 255/35/20 fronts, 275/35/20 rears.
These tyres are not a bad price.
Only £240ea for the fronts, and £275ea for rears.
He has 19 inch rims, not 20's.

jon-

16,496 posts

215 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
quotequote all
Don't go below the manufacturer specified load ratings, you'll have insurance issues.

Speed ratings are fine.

M+S marking is entirely pointless.

mondie

Original Poster:

622 posts

141 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
quotequote all
Ok Jon but what do you make of the much lower load index and also lower speed rating of the tyres BMW recommend for winter tyres? Is that what I should be aiming to match and not the summer ratings even though the winter tyre sizes will be wider than BMW recommend so I can use my standard alloys.

jon-

16,496 posts

215 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
quotequote all
mondie said:
Ok Jon but what do you make of the much lower load index and also lower speed rating of the tyres BMW recommend for winter tyres? Is that what I should be aiming to match and not the summer ratings even though the winter tyre sizes will be wider than BMW recommend so I can use my standard alloys.
I'm a little confused, from the above, it looks like the winter load rating is higher than summer?

AW10

4,421 posts

248 months

Thursday 24th July 2014
quotequote all
jon- said:
M+S marking is entirely pointless.
What do you mean by this?