I have for some years been wanting to replace my 2003 E39 530d Touring by a new G31 530d Touring, but the tyres, and absence of space for even a spacesaver wheel, put me off.
The obligation for all new cars to comply fully with Euro emissions standard 6d from 01/09/2021 revived my interest .
I would have preferred to continue with RWD. Now the 530Dd-spec models (2022MY, but possibly also 2021MY) are all on a version of AWD (all-wheel drive) called "X-Drive". I would settle for that.
These models are now on standard tubeless tyres (225/55 R17 101 Y XL), apparently with directional ("rotational") tread pattern, meaning that two wheels/tyres are solely for the nearside of the car, and two for the offside. I suppose that a jack is now supplied with the car, so it must have emergency jacking points, and it now comes with one of those rarely usable "tyre repair kits" (don't laugh!).
My E39 has, since 2018, has been on (excellent) Michelin cross-climate tyres, which are also directional. To avoid two spare wheels(!!), I have an asymmetric-tread tyre on the spare (usable on either side of the car). I keep this wheel, because of the very different characteristics of the two tread patterns, strictly for emergency use.
The Cross-Climates are not BMW-starred. My brother-in-law had found them excellent as a genuine all-weather tyre which was nearly as good as the best winter tyres on snow,/ice so I went for them - with experiences during the winter of 2010/11 in mind!
There are no fit problems - the bogey always wheeled forward by BMW main dealer service departments. No comments have been made about the tyres at MOT by BMW techs.
I can't carry a full-sized spare in a G31 - except in the load area, where it would occupy a disproportionate amount of space. Anyway, BMW would, so the dealer says, not approve use of even a full-size spare wheel unless it had a tyre with the same tread pattern/direction as the side of the car to which it was fitted. That is claimed to be "because of the type of all-wheel drive fitted to the car" ("X-Drive). I would take that risk IF there were space for a single spare. This would have a same-spec tyre as OEM, but with a non-directional tread, so as to be usable on either side of the car.
If I am to buy a G31 at all, I must have a spare wheel. A space-saver is a lot better than no spare at all! One of these, in a bag, would be tolerable in the load area, being a lot thinner than a 225, and smaller in diameter when its tyre is deflated (which is how it is normally carried in a smallish underfloor compartment . It has to be inflated if needed. That's not a problem. I would probably carry it inflated, and keep the pressure checked).
Audi apparently approve a space-saver spare for those of their Quattro models that use an AWD system very similar to X-Drive, provided the rolling diameter/circumference of the (inflated) spare is within 3% of that of the OEM wheels/tyres.
But BMW would not approve of their G31 530d running with even a compatible-size space saver on one wheel solely in an emergency (and at no more than 50 mph and for no more than 30 miles)
During the car's warranty period, that's a risk I would have to take - unless the X-Drive is so sensitive to mismatches in the rolling resistance of the tyres as to shut the car down. Is that an actual risk?
Apart from a compatible rolling circumference, a suitable space-saver needs the same bolt-hole diameter and same BCD (bolt centre diameter) as the BMW 5-stud (I assume) OEM wheel on a G31 530d. I suppose that it would also need an offset of the wheel centre rim-to-rim from the hub (ET) as close as possible to that of the OEM wheel.
Can anyone point me towards a supplier of space-saver wheels who might be able to supply a suit able one?
If not, I'll have to make my replacement for the E39 a non-BMW. Because of what an excellent car this E39 has been, and remains (but it's in Euro emissions group 3!),that would seem a pity.
The obligation for all new cars to comply fully with Euro emissions standard 6d from 01/09/2021 revived my interest .
I would have preferred to continue with RWD. Now the 530Dd-spec models (2022MY, but possibly also 2021MY) are all on a version of AWD (all-wheel drive) called "X-Drive". I would settle for that.
These models are now on standard tubeless tyres (225/55 R17 101 Y XL), apparently with directional ("rotational") tread pattern, meaning that two wheels/tyres are solely for the nearside of the car, and two for the offside. I suppose that a jack is now supplied with the car, so it must have emergency jacking points, and it now comes with one of those rarely usable "tyre repair kits" (don't laugh!).
My E39 has, since 2018, has been on (excellent) Michelin cross-climate tyres, which are also directional. To avoid two spare wheels(!!), I have an asymmetric-tread tyre on the spare (usable on either side of the car). I keep this wheel, because of the very different characteristics of the two tread patterns, strictly for emergency use.
The Cross-Climates are not BMW-starred. My brother-in-law had found them excellent as a genuine all-weather tyre which was nearly as good as the best winter tyres on snow,/ice so I went for them - with experiences during the winter of 2010/11 in mind!
There are no fit problems - the bogey always wheeled forward by BMW main dealer service departments. No comments have been made about the tyres at MOT by BMW techs.
I can't carry a full-sized spare in a G31 - except in the load area, where it would occupy a disproportionate amount of space. Anyway, BMW would, so the dealer says, not approve use of even a full-size spare wheel unless it had a tyre with the same tread pattern/direction as the side of the car to which it was fitted. That is claimed to be "because of the type of all-wheel drive fitted to the car" ("X-Drive). I would take that risk IF there were space for a single spare. This would have a same-spec tyre as OEM, but with a non-directional tread, so as to be usable on either side of the car.
If I am to buy a G31 at all, I must have a spare wheel. A space-saver is a lot better than no spare at all! One of these, in a bag, would be tolerable in the load area, being a lot thinner than a 225, and smaller in diameter when its tyre is deflated (which is how it is normally carried in a smallish underfloor compartment . It has to be inflated if needed. That's not a problem. I would probably carry it inflated, and keep the pressure checked).
Audi apparently approve a space-saver spare for those of their Quattro models that use an AWD system very similar to X-Drive, provided the rolling diameter/circumference of the (inflated) spare is within 3% of that of the OEM wheels/tyres.
But BMW would not approve of their G31 530d running with even a compatible-size space saver on one wheel solely in an emergency (and at no more than 50 mph and for no more than 30 miles)
During the car's warranty period, that's a risk I would have to take - unless the X-Drive is so sensitive to mismatches in the rolling resistance of the tyres as to shut the car down. Is that an actual risk?
Apart from a compatible rolling circumference, a suitable space-saver needs the same bolt-hole diameter and same BCD (bolt centre diameter) as the BMW 5-stud (I assume) OEM wheel on a G31 530d. I suppose that it would also need an offset of the wheel centre rim-to-rim from the hub (ET) as close as possible to that of the OEM wheel.
Can anyone point me towards a supplier of space-saver wheels who might be able to supply a suit able one?
If not, I'll have to make my replacement for the E39 a non-BMW. Because of what an excellent car this E39 has been, and remains (but it's in Euro emissions group 3!),that would seem a pity.