Winter wheel and tire sizes for the M5

[FC]

Apparently the M5's massive brakes make it difficult to fit anything under 20". Tirerack doesn't offer anything under 20".

There is a 19" BMW M5 wheel, however. Model 705M. It is sold in "Orbit Grey" as the default wheel for a base M5. Base M5's come fitted with 265/40 R19 for the front and 285/40 19 for the rear. The wheels are 9.5" and 10.5" wide respectively.

BMW recommends buying the 705M in "Ferric Grey" for winter tires. These wheels only come in the size of the front 9.5" wide wheels so that one can go with 265/40 R19 winter tires all around.

I really do prefer the orbit grey finish but unless I buy 4 new front wheels I will get a staggered set. I will likely not drive the car in real snow. This video shows just how good the MPS All-Season 4 are in all but the worst of winter. So how bad can a staggered set of winter tires be?


Realistically, I could buy used from this place (seems to have good reviews), and get:

Used set of Ferric Grey square setup with used winter tires already mounted, or

Used set of staggered Orbit Grey with summer tires mounted that I can burn through.

Any thoughts are welcome.

[Nick M3]

The BMW tire recommendations are intended to allow for the installation of snow chains. That's why they are generally extremely undersized and goofy looking.

Staggered is fine. Imperfect? Sure, but not a real issue.

[wdc330i]

I have the Michelin All Seasons on staggered 20s (and my car is AWD). Have not seen snow yet with them but I imagine they would handle decently well.

I had the same tires on my 2 RWD series with LSD and 18s non-staggered, and they did slip as I made turns going up inclines when it encountered snow here a couple of times. So, not super confidence inspiring. (Atlanta is relatively hilly and all the roads are windy.)

AWD should help with the incline/turn part. But, if I lived further north and had to face regular snow, I'd run the All Seasons most of the year and swap to Winters for the coldest/snowiest months.

[FC]

Thanks for the input. Oh and winter tires for the M5 sizes are crazy-expensive. Like $300-$380 each-expensive.

[JST]

My takeaway from that video is a bit different, I guess. The truly awful performance of the summer tires kind of overshadows just how big a difference there is between the all seasons and the winter tires, but a 20 second gap on a 1 minute course is immense.

This video suggests to me that if you’ve got an AWD car in a place where it only snows occasionally (like DC), you can probably get away with the Michelin all seasons all year round.

But if you’re going to the trouble and expense of buying a whole separate set of wheels and tires for when it snows and you live somewhere that it snows routinely, I would definitely get the snow tires. And yeah I hear you about not meaning to drive the car when it snows a lot, but again if you’re spending the money and effort why not get the specialized tools that actually work? That way you don’t have to stress if you get caught in a storm somewhere, and you have more flexibility if you need to use the car.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by JST

My takeaway from that video is a bit different, I guess. The truly awful performance of the summer tires kind of overshadows just how big a difference there is between the all seasons and the winter tires, but a 20 second gap on a 1 minute course is immense.

This video suggests to me that if you’ve got an AWD car in a place where it only snows occasionally (like DC), you can probably get away with the Michelin all seasons all year round.

But if you’re going to the trouble and expense of buying a whole separate set of wheels and tires for when it snows and you live somewhere that it snows routinely, I would definitely get the snow tires. And yeah I hear you about not meaning to drive the car when it snows a lot, but again if you’re spending the money and effort why not get the specialized tools that actually work? That way you don’t have to stress if you get caught in a storm somewhere, and you have more flexibility if you need to use the car.

I’m going to disagree a bit here.

The Pilot Sport All Seasons give you something a lot like the steering feel of a summer tire and usable snow performance. For the cold months, they genuinely feel pretty great. If you deliberately are trying to limit grip, they’re not a bad all year tire.

Now, FC in Boston gets more snow than we do, but I’m very happy with my all seasons for the winter choice on the E90.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

I’m going to disagree a bit here.

The Pilot Sport All Seasons give you something a lot like the steering feel of a summer tire and usable snow performance. For the cold months, they genuinely feel pretty great. If you deliberately are trying to limit grip, they’re not a bad all year tire.

Now, FC in Boston gets more snow than we do, but I’m very happy with my all seasons for the winter choice on the E90.

They are perfect for my purposes and climate, but I would want something more capable up in Boston. If only to get home from the airport after a winter business trip. Even in DC, there were times I was really happy to have the winters when I was stuck downtown for events I could not miss.

[Alan]

I’ve been through some really bad snow storms with the M550 with the all season tires and never felt the need for snow tires, same with my 540, my previous 550, 535, my A6’s, etc.

I agree with Nick that all seasons will get you through anything especially combined with AWD.

I was going to mention to FC I don’t see any reason why he isn’t driving the M5 with the P Zero’s, I drove through 4 winters with them on the R8 and multiple winters with the 911 (both cars had 295 width tires on the rear) before I got winter tires on the 911. I’m not saying he should not get another set, I think he should since his car will see snow where the R8 and 911 were driven between storms but he could still enjoy the car on days like today.

Today I drove the C8 with the all seasons and they were great in this crazy cold weather and no tire chatter when making a tight turn.

The downside with winter tires are in March you get some warm weather here and there and the winter tires turn to mush but otherwise they are great,

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

They are perfect for my purposes and climate, but I would want something more capable up in Boston. If only to get home from the airport after a winter business trip. Even in DC, there were times I was really happy to have the winters when I was stuck downtown for events I could not miss.

Yeah, but…

The F90 M5 is AWD, right? How often is FC likely to leave *that* car at the airport when he has real winter tires on multiple others.

If this one was his only car, that’d be another story.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Yeah, but…

The F90 M5 is AWD, right? How often is FC likely to leave *that* car at the airport when he has real winter tires on multiple others.

If this one was his only car, that’d be another story.

Well, that's a good point.