20" Winter Tires - Does this look right to you?

[evan_d]

After we got hit with some snow up here in NY, I decided I had to put snow tires on my X5 with the 20" sport wheels. It really came down to what was available and I was able to get Bridgestone Blizzaks which came highly recommended. I had my local shop put the tires on (which I'm not sure if that was a big mistake or not).

So instead of the staggered tires, I replaced them both with 275/40R20s (the rear wheel is larger and the summer tire is a 315/35R20). My question is, there is a huge amount of wheel/rim hanging out of the new tire. Was this installed properly and is it something I should be worried about?

I've attached some pictures below... (actually, the pictures are from my phone and they don't even do the overhang justice) Thanks!

[Slalom]

It does not look right to me. Are they run-flats? Do the run flat rims not have a different lip to hold the sidewall in place? It looks as if they have missed this.

[DOMEPEACE]

Is it just the back tire that looks like that or is also the front that looks the same way. The tire in the back needs to stretched to fit the 11" rim because 275 fits the 10" front rim from the factory. There are people who have had this done without ill effects at least going by what they said. If you search the forum you will see some more info, anyways I pretty interested in the outcome because I'm actually thinking about doing the same thing. I also live in NY although in queens. Good luck.

[263464757]

Try to get us some better pics. I cannot tell how much depression there is on the tire beed to allow for the rim to inset like it normally does. I've believe I saw this in Tijuana once!

Sorry man, I know it isn't funny.

Specs on Bizz 275/40/20 say max rim width is 11". I measured my rear 336's and outside to outside is about 12" to 12 1/4"(tough to do on the car). If we say on the lean side it's 12" and we also assume that maybe they (the pros) measure rim width as inside edge to inside edge. The math is like this...12" minus 1/4" thickness outside edge and 1/4" thickness inside edge = 11.5 ", which is a 1/2" to wide. "My" best guess is its outside to outside and that makes it 1" to wide.

I don't know the spec width on a style 336 rear but someone on here must know must know.

[evan_d]

Thanks all for the replies.

The front tires are fine (it's the stock size)... it's just the rears that look funny. I spoke with Tire Rack to double check the wheel specs and also brought it by a couple of local shops. Everyone seemed to think it was OK. The specs for the Blizzaks do specify they can handle up to 11" wheels, so my feeling is it's not ideal, but it'll have to work.

As long as they're safe, I'm OK with it... although with the rim sticking out past the tire (and obviously no rim guard), I'm going to have to be very careful about parking!

[richard in NC]

Personally, I'd be concerned with the gap between the tire and the edge of the rim. I'd assume the bead was in OK, or you'd have a leak but could hard cornering be unsafe or cause a weird squishy wallowy feeling at a minimum?

[launchcontrol]

They are just fine. I have run the same set up in prior years on 11" wide Style 214 rims without any issues. Just be more careful around curbs.

[jackolo]

Wow, that looks stretched. I'm sure it'll be fine but be extra careful of scratching the wheels now that there's not as much rubber covering it up.

[vase330]

I cant help laughing sorry. I have expirience with this crappola in my 335i too.
I have Blizzark LM-60s on my car's stock sports wheels. I opted for the none stagger went with front tire size fit in 225/40/18 all around.
Things you will notice:

• Squishy slimy feel for the first 500 or so miles till tires sit
• Watch out for curb lash. I already gashed my rear right pretty bad while parking.
• They are ok and safe - don't worry about the FUGLY look.
• In your case yours look a tad worse than mine. Because yours are stretched to the max 1" allowed stretch. They are made for rims that size and up-to 2" narrower.
• They are freaking unbelievably good in snow, slush and ice.

Mine have half inch stretch since my the natural fit is 8" but my rear is 8.5" In my case, Bridgestone allows me to go up to 9" wide, but on my car it would look ridiculous. So currently my rears look kinda like yours. Drove in the snow into tripple digits on occasion with slit, snow comind down pretty good. Actually they are so good I was flying past SUVs in my rear drive 335i. The drivers would look at me like I was suicidal. Last winter I went through the Blizzard with LM-22 which are awesome but not as good as these. Winter before that was at a ski resort all winter, no problems at all. You'll be fine other maybe bruised ego from idiot/ugly looking tires.
Once they sit and some of the silica compound wears off, they will be all nice and more comfortable than your sports rubber. In a few weeks you will get used to the weird look.

[roadkillrob]

Your rears are 20x11" wide, so if the tires say the max rim width is 11, then they should be fine.

[evan_d]

Thanks vase330 - and I'm glad I can make you feel better now that you know someone is driving around with a tire/wheel setup that looks even more ridiculous than yours!

[STIto335]

The tires are okay but just stretched to hell, not the best for handling. Your really going to kill the edges if you corner hard in the dry.

[kappaerachi]

Hi: I have used the same set of tires on my X5M with the 275 blizzaks. It looks exactly as you showed in picture for the back wheels. So far I have driven around 500 miles this winter and has not met any issues. Like "vase330" mentioned; it just looks FUGLY. Thats all.

[kenneth 1984]

I have a similar issue...i decided to get a dedicated snow set for Tahoe this winter and went for TSW nurburgring rims powder coated in black. The rims look awesome, but when mounted with 275/40/20 Mich alpine's all around i too have a stretched issue albeit not quite as pronounced as yours. My rims are 10 inch in front and 10.5 inch in rear. I wanted to do 10 inch all around, but TSW didn't make a staggered 10 inch set up so i had to go with the 10.5 to get the correct offset in the back. The funny thing is that even on a 10 inch front rim my 275 snow tires also look stretched. I talked to some people about this and i think its the nature of the mich alpine snow tire in that it is much more rounded from the lip of the rim than the stock summer run flat tire. What do you guys think?