X3 F25 Wheels & Tires

[Nano2nd]

long story short, we've just had a baby and the ride on the X3 is proving challenging (m Sport Suspension with 20" rims yo), it does need a new set of boots, obviously one option is ditch the run flats but that potentially gives issues come hand back at the end of finance.

So i'm thinking maybe a temporary set of smaller wheels might do the trick, does anyone know or point me in the direction of what sizes/offsets would fit? theres some 17"s on ebay that claim to be F25 fit, but i'm not taking the sellers word for it! i'm assuming they were available with 18s and 19s on the non M Sport Plus cars

[PSRG]

I’ve got a 235 convertible, with the blue brake callipers (whatever that means)and there are some 17” wheels that fit it, not all do. I’ve got a set for winter use, but from memory there were only two styles that fitted.

BMW have an accessories configurator for winter wheels, which might help:

https://www.bmw.co.uk/bmw-ownership/bmw-accessorie...

[mekondelta]

Ours has 245/55/18 with PZeros and the ride was definer better on P7 Cinturatos, all run flats. I think there's a lot of difference in ride comfort in the tyres themselves as well as the wheel size. We're on the non-MSport suspension though.

[gizlaroc]

I swapped 17" on the SE for 19" sport wheels. The 19" with non run flats far more comfy than the 17s with run flats.

We traded in without runflats no problem at all.

[Pica-Pica]

Each wheel should have a PCD (pitch circle diameter) and offset on it somewhere. If you have a staggered set, you will need to check front and rear as they will most likely be different.

[Earthdweller]

The standard fitting is 17” without runflats but they can be fitted with up to 21” as options

Mine has 18” with standard suspension which I think is the best compromise

19” and above can be a bit “jiggly”

[gizlaroc]

Earthdweller said:

19” and above can be a bit “jiggly”

Not with proper tyres fitted.

If anything the 19s running proper tyres still felt a little soft, but super comfy and did bite into corners far better on less than perfect road surfaces.

The 17's on run flats were awful.
When I picked up the car, it was a year old, they had fitted new tyres. I got 10 miles down the road and knew they had put run flats on, so I turned round and went back.
I had the original build sheet showing it was on non run flats, so they begrudgingly put a set on for me.

I found that set up great, but they just looked lost on the car, hence getting the 19s.

But the difference between run flats and non run flats made much more of a difference than 17" and 19" wheel sizes.

Now, that may have changed with the current generation of tyres? My F11 has run flats and feels fine.

[Lozw86]

I also have an F25 X3 on 20’s and funnily enough have just last week changed the tyres for the first time and have moved to non run flats

It’s very hard on run flats and was reducing my enjoyment of the car I must say. It’s much better on standard tyres and should not impact hand back. Ride is softer and more comfortable

Edited by Lozw86 on Monday 3rd June 20:06

[Nano2nd]

Lozw86 said:

I also have an F25 X3 on 20’s and funnily enough have just last week changed the tyres for the first time and have moved to non run flats

It’s very hard on run flats and was reducing my enjoyment of the car I must say. It’s much better on standard tyres and should not impact hand back. Ride is softer and more comfortable

Edited by Lozw86 on Monday 3rd June 20:06

what tires did you go for? seems the only staggered ones on Black Circles are Bridgestone S001, all the others are run flats

[ATM]

Ignoring some of the older cars from around 2000 era all BMW wheels fit all BMW cars. I won't bore you with the specs but they're easy to find. I had an F30 a few years ago and swapped from the 19 inch run flats to 17 inch go flats and the change transformed the car. Since then I've had a few different BMW cars and I always always always ditch the run flats immediately. A simple go flat tyre is so much better than a run flat tyre at everything it makes no sense to have run flats unless you worry about getting punctures.

[gizlaroc]

ATM said:

Ignoring some of the older cars from around 2000 era all BMW wheels fit all BMW cars.

That's not quite right.

Most are on a PCD of 5x112 with a centre bore of 72.5mm using M12x1.5 bolts.

However, some of the newer cars use a 66.5mm centre bore, same PCD and M14x1.5 bolts.

Then obviously you have the very different offsets depending on car, 1, 2 and 3 series tend to be a much higher offset, 45-50mm, where as 5, 6 series etc. tend to be 30mm or so.

Then when you move onto some of the X Models you have wheels with a 74mm centre bore for the front and 72.5mm bore for the rear wheels. Really weird!


So, not the best advice to say all BMW wheels fit all BMWs from the E Series age on, as they really don't. Haha

Sorry, wasn't going to reply, but don't want someone buying a set of wheels for a few hundred quid or more and find they are no good.

[ATM]

gizlaroc said:

some of the newer cars use a 66.5mm centre bore, same PCD and M14x1.5 bolts

I will admit I didn't know that.

gizlaroc said:

some of the X Models have wheels with a 74mm centre bore for the front and 72.5mm bore for the rear wheels. Really weird!

Or that. That is very weird.

[BFleming]

gizlaroc said:

That's not quite right.

Most are on a PCD of 5x112 with a centre bore of 72.5mm using M12x1.5 bolts.

Also not quite accurate. BMW used a PCD of 5x120 for many (many) years; the G30 (5 series) launched in 2016 uses a PCD of 5x112, a first for BMW.
The F25 X3 is definitely PCD 5x120, and uses M14x1.25 bolts (as do most BMW's of the last 10 years); earlier ones were different.

Anyhow, back on subject, offsets is where it's at. Whilst a wheel may physically fit on the hub, if it has an incorrect offset it can foul the wheelarch or suspension components, and drive like a pig. Choosing wheels designated for your model will help hugely. If you choose your car on realoem.com, you can select 'Wheels' to see the options that are available. Appropriate tyre sizes are all listed on your door jamb sticker (the one for tyre pressures) or in your handbook.

[ATM]

BFleming said:

gizlaroc said:

That's not quite right.

Most are on a PCD of 5x112 with a centre bore of 72.5mm using M12x1.5 bolts.

Also not quite accurate. BMW used a PCD of 5x120 for many (many) years; the G30 (5 series) launched in 2016 uses a PCD of 5x112, a first for BMW.
The F25 X3 is definitely PCD 5x120, and uses M14x1.25 bolts (as do most BMW's of the last 10 years); earlier ones were different.

Anyhow, back on subject, offsets is where it's at. Whilst a wheel may physically fit on the hub, if it has an incorrect offset it can foul the wheelarch or suspension components, and drive like a pig. Choosing wheels designated for your model will help hugely. If you choose your car on realoem.com, you can select 'Wheels' to see the options that are available. Appropriate tyre sizes are all listed on your door jamb sticker (the one for tyre pressures) or in your handbook.

In that case I'd be tempted to just try any BMW wheels from the last 10 years. There will be a large selection locally. Some private sellers may even let you try one before you buy. You just need to put one wheel on and see if it clears the brakes and doesn't foul on suspension components which you can do while it is jacked up. I'd just try a front. If a front fits I'd bet my mortgage that a rear will fit. Its the tyre size which is a bit odd ball as it's an SUV so has a big diameter. I'd be tempted to get some cheap 18 inch wheels from any other BMW and whack some go flat tyres on them. It will feel like a luxury limo by comparison and have more grip and be quieter and do everything better. I'd check tyre prices first. Generally the smaller the diameter the cheaper they are but if the 18 inch size is very very odd then it may be expensive due to rarity. I'd be going matching tyres on all 4 corners. Then depending on how long you plan to keep the car you can rotate front to back if they start to wear differently. It's always better to have the same amount of tread front and back if possible and you can can wear all 4 evenly instead of needing to replace only 2.

[anonymous-user]

There’s quite a lot of dodgy advice on here.

Mine (!) would be to look on wheel-size.com, find your exact model and you’ll see the various wheel specs that will fit.

Any model can have a variety of diameters, widths and offsets.

[gizlaroc]

BFleming said:

Also not quite accurate. BMW used a PCD of 5x120 for many (many) years; the G30 (5 series) launched in 2016 uses a PCD of 5x112, a first for BMW.
The F25 X3 is definitely PCD 5x120, and uses M14x1.25 bolts (as do most BMW's of the last 10 years); earlier ones were different.

Yeah, I meant 5x120, I have yet to own a BMW with the newer 5x112 PCD.

Just look on www.realoem.com for the wheel that is being sold, it tells you width and offset, which gets you 95% there.

Just be careful with the newer wheels from G20 and G30 etc.

[BFleming]

gizlaroc said:

Yeah, I meant 5x120

[pills]

I run at set of 245/50/18 on my X3 as winter tyres, bought from a German ebay company, came with 4x pirelli run flat winter tyres and TPMS as well. Definitely a softer ride than the staggered 19in summer set I run (with m-sport suspension).

Some sets on ebay which the sellers state fit the X3 - both winter tyres though.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-BMW-605-18-Inch-Allo...


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-X3-F25-X4-F26-18-In...

[Nano2nd]

just resurrecting this as i can't find a reasonably priced set of wheels that aren't the other end of the country. I'm looking at fitting non-runflats to the 20s which will hopefully improve things, however the only BMW star rated XL tires in the staggered fitment seem to be Michelin Pilot Super Sports, what are people thoughts on putting these on an X3? i know they're considered a high performance car tire (my R8 has them) but i'm not sure A. what makes them high performance and B. Does that make a difference to a "low performance" car