(F10) M5 with 19" alloys versus 20" Alloys

[robinm]

Not an interesting subject, but someone have a go at it.

I'm taking delivery of a used M5 (2012) in a couple of weeks.

Is anyone able to comment on whether there is any significant difference in the ride quality of an M5 shod with 19" alloys compared to one with 20" alloys?

[michael_JCWS]

all demo cars seem to have 20", I ordered 20", ride seemed fine to me, somewhere between GTR and E350. I did not like the 19" in all the pictures I saw, however, in the flesh they look really good.

Doesn't really answer your question, sorry

[amcdev]

robinm said:

Is anyone able to comment on whether there is any significant difference in the ride quality of an M5 shod with 19" alloys compared to one with 20" alloys?

Yes, there is. Ride quality with the 20'' alloys is pretty good, but it's noticably better with the 19 inch ones, at least at low speeds, like badly maintained city roads.

[w5pwr]

My car came 20" wheels but I am running 19" wheels with winter tyres on at the moment.

I never had an issue with the ride quality on 20" wheels but it is slightly better on 19" wheels...

[W8PMC]

Can only offer one side as have never had or driven the M5 on 20's but mine has 19's & the ride is sublime. Having owned cars with standard 20's, i can only assume the ride is a tad more harsh on the M5 with bigger wheels.

My reason for sticking with the 19's was 3 fold, firstly virtually every M5 in it's short life so far seems to have left the factory on 20's so if anything they're the stock wheel & the 19's are an option (if you get my drift?) so couldn't see any reason to spend £2500 on a set. Second i actually prefer the look of the 19's as they're a smoked colour & look almost body coloured on a Singapore M5 so actually look a bit after market. Third the rubber cost (i reckon i'll get through a few sets of rears) is considerably more for the 20's so for me it was a win/win/win.

[robinm]

Thanks for those replies. As expected it seems that the 19s do provide a better ride.
Mine will have 20s and I would prefer 19s.
If anyone wants a set of mint 20s, or has 19s and would like to swap, or knows anyone else who might be interested, please let me know.

[W8PMC]

robinm said:

Thanks for those replies. As expected it seems that the 19s do provide a better ride.
Mine will have 20s and I would prefer 19s.
If anyone wants a set of mint 20s, or has 19s and would like to swap, or knows anyone else who might be interested, please let me know.

I set up such a swap a few weeks back as someone approached me with 20's wanting to swap to 19's. That exchange went ahead i believe but good luck as i'm sure some with 19's would fancy the 20's

[JMBMWM5]

robinm said:

Thanks for those replies. As expected it seems that the 19s do provide a better ride.
Mine will have 20s and I would prefer 19s.
If anyone wants a set of mint 20s, or has 19s and would like to swap, or knows anyone else who might be interested, please let me know.

Why not drive on the 20" first and see if they are OK?.
I Have 20" Winters and 20" Summers NO Problems with them.

Winters



SUMMERS

[Dinh]

Can't comment on the 19" - I have 20" on my M5. The ride is impeccable, and I can't imagine there's a huge disparity between 19" and 20" in the ride.

Just had to have a rear replaced due to a nail in the shoulder of the tyre - you're talking circa £330 including fitting and wheel balancing, for Michelin Pilot Super Sports.

[Palmball]

I would imagine that, unlike a lot of cars with bigger wheels than standard, the M5 was developed with 20's in mind, hence there's probably not a great deal of different between the two (outside of the obvious physical benefit of having a higher sidewall).

[robinm]

From many of the comments here - for which my thanks - it does seem that 19s provide at least a small improvement in ride quality. That's logical, as more depth of rubber should mean more compliance.

When I test-drove the M5 (with 20s) on Tuesday the ride seemed good, better than my current 330(E46) and I will have no concerns at all if I stay with the 20s. However, in my quest to get the best ride posible, my offer to swap still stands.

Edited to say: Great pictures of your car, John. Mines the same colour but Sept 2012.

Edited by robinm on Thursday 16th January 07:56

[HoHoHo]

I love the look of 20's on mine, currently running 19's with winters.



Which I also think suit the car - not offered unless but I guess you could buy as a cash option through parts.

[JMBMWM5]

robinm said:

From many of the comments here - for which my thanks - it does seem that 19s provide at least a small improvement in ride quality. That's logical, as more depth of rubber should mean more compliance.

When I test-drove the M5 (with 20s) on Tuesday the ride seemed good, better than my current 330(E46) and I will have no concerns at all if I stay with the 20s. However, in my quest to get the best ride posible, my offer to swap still stands.

Edited to say: Great pictures of your car, John. Mines the same colour but Sept 2012.

Edited by robinm on Thursday 16th January 07:56

Yea I love the Colour , see how you go with the ride quality, you may well be surprised.

[amcdev]

robinm said:

Thanks for those replies. As expected it seems that the 19s do provide a better ride.

There is a "however" to this. The 20 inch forged wheels are lighter (roughly 0,3kg in front, 0,7kg in the rear per wheel, if I remember correctly). The faster you go the more impact that has on ride quality. At town level speeds, you will notice a slight improvement with the 19 inch ones, but at some point the lower unsprung weight helps more than the rubber. Really hard to compare, but I can just say that on every swap so far I only noticed the difference at town level speeds, not above.

[W8PMC]

Naturally wheels & colours are a very personal thing, but the style of the 20's is very close in my mind to a variety of offerings on the standard F10 5 Series wheels in style. Naturally a lot bigger style wise very similar. I think they suit dark cars very well but not so sure on lighter body colours.

The 19's are a lot darker in the flesh so appear to suit some body colours better than others, plus the styling is very E39 M5 which is a bit of a bonus

[Schermerhorn]

From an aesthetic view - purely my opinion only - the 19" wheels look better.

[robinm]

Interesting comment about unsprung weight, Arnd. I wasn't aware of that side of the argument. Thanks.

I'm not really concerned with the looks. From the above photos they all look good. But if I was pressed I would say that maybe I prefer the multispoke look?

Edited to say: But then again, on second look, maybe not??!

Edited by robinm on Thursday 16th January 14:05

[amcdev]

robinm said:

I'm not really concerned with the looks. From the above photos they all look good. But if I was pressed I would say that maybe I prefer the multispoke look?

The 19 inch ones look good, they just nudge the car visually a bit more in the direction "luxury sedan" rather than "sports sedan". Both the 19 and 20 inch ones look a lot more special on the road than on photos.

One more thing: the 20 inch ones are way easier to clean...

[ACE997]

robinm said:

Thanks for those replies. As expected it seems that the 19s do provide a better ride.
Mine will have 20s and I would prefer 19s.
If anyone wants a set of mint 20s, or has 19s and would like to swap, or knows anyone else who might be interested, please let me know.

Are you looking to swap wheels and tyres or just wheels?

[robinm]

Both. The tyres on mine seem about half worn. The car has done 8k miles.

A caveat to any swap. If the process is too complicated then it's not worth it.