Lifted E70 X5 with Oversized Tires

[RL18]

Originally Posted by T-Dubbs

i love this thread, been constantly thinking of what oversized all terrain tires to get for summers.

My last SUV was a lifted 4 runner with 33's(Duratracs), loved how aggressive they look.
I've got another set of studded winters for the cold season.

I had a trailblazer with a 4.5" lift and 32.5" tires on it. Such a fun suv. Miss that thing, if I find another one with a 5.3 and black I think I'd do it again

I really wanted to go with Nitto terra grappler g2 a/t but was afraid of the wet performance since I would be driving highway fairly often. Really nice looking tires though my Dad has them on his 6.7 powerstroke.

[joren19]

Can you get away with clearing the knuckle with just 20mm spacers or do you need to lift it with coilovers?

Originally Posted by jandref321

Gents,

I finally got my oversized tires installed on the wife's 2008 BMW X5 3.0si. I installed a set of Custom Ceika Performance Coilovers that gave me a .75" lift on all four corners. I then installed some Falken Wildpeak AT3W tires in 265/60R18 on the stock 18x8.5" rims. These are 30.5" diameter tires compared to the 29.3" diameter stock 255/55R18.

I was worried the tires were going to be super noisy, but they are just barely louder. I can't imagine they are louder than stock run flats, but have a nice soft ride.

Overall I'm happy with the tires. I thought they would look a little more dramatic, but they pretty much look stock.





Clearing the Upper Control Arm Knuckle with 20mm Spacers:

[Spyro235]

I’m now on 265/60-18 falken AT3W’s, no lifted though. I’d love to lift it a bit, but don’t think it would be wise to detract more from towing stability. The stability was definitely affected by going to oversized AT’s, but not at all unmanageably. Maybe I’ll crank up the pressures for towing next time and see if I can get a little more stiffness.

I love my AT3W’s though. Relatively quiet, probably about 5% louder with the windows up. Great on and off road.

[rbryantaz]

Originally Posted by joren19

Can you get away with clearing the knuckle with just 20mm spacers or do you need to lift it with coilovers?

It will fit without the lift if you have the 20mm spacers or rims with a different offset. The clearance to the spindle does not change with a lift. That is one of the limiters on tire size with the e70 X5.

Even if you were to modify the fenders/liners to fit a bigger tire they would have to be spaced out a lot to avoid the top spindle connection. I haven't seen anyone re-design our whole suspension with custom spindle/control arm yet to avoid that... I doubt anyone will ever do it on this platform (but never say never).

Lifting may actually make for less clearance on the front fenders. The curved shape of the fender makes the lowest point on the arc closer to the hub center on the bottom than in the middle. So if you lift it up that closest point can then be closer to the center of the tire giving less clearance and more rub.

-Rich

[Duc Hunter]

Interesting side note for everyone. I am on KWV3's at their highest setting, and 275/45/20's. My math says the stock 255/55-18's are 29", and my new tires are 29.7". Even with that they rub the intercooler exit vent int he fender near fill right lock (no surprise or problem). They also rub when I hit a big bump in the top of the fenders. That is a bit of an issue, not here in Florida. But when I went to Memphis, those roads are not good, and it rubbed on the big hits there on the freeway.

[rbryantaz]

Originally Posted by Duc Hunter

Interesting side note for everyone. I am on KWV3's at their highest setting, and 275/45/20's. My math says the stock 255/55-18's are 29", and my new tires are 29.7". Even with that they rub the intercooler exit vent int he fender near fill right lock (no surprise or problem). They also rub when I hit a big bump in the top of the fenders. That is a bit of an issue, not here in Florida. But when I went to Memphis, those roads are not good, and it rubbed on the big hits there on the freeway.

It must be quite a bit lower than stock given that the 30.5 tires only have minimal rubbing with the stock suspension.

Granted I have a 4.8i so the vent is likely different (and I modified mine). I have not noticed any rubbing on the top of the fenders.

-Rich

[Duc Hunter]

Originally Posted by rbryantaz

It must be quite a bit lower than stock given that the 30.5 tires only have minimal rubbing with the stock suspension.

Granted I have a 4.8i so the vent is likely different (and I modified mine). I have not noticed any rubbing on the top of the fenders.

-Rich

Added pics above. It’s now about 1” higher than that. I can measure the fender/ground height tomorrow. Seems strange I rub as much as I do to me as well.

[nhs503]

Hi folks appreciate all the info on this thread; I'm putting together a new wheel/tire set for my 2011 E70 35d sport premium pkg.

Right now I have the following setup:
- 20"x10" OEM wheels on all four corners
- 275/45R20 Continental ExtremeContacts (spacers in the rear - 15mm if I recall but it's been a while - to account for the 10" width instead of 11") - these tires work out to 29.7" diameter and they do clear the hub carriers on the front
- fender flares (this will matter later when I'm trying to figure out offsets and spacers)

I'm wanting to switch to a beefier, narrower AT tire with some real tread depth, since this car is mostly used for ski trips and backpacking trips and let's be honest grocery trips, but I don't commute these days so the on-road performance isn't as critical.

Based on this thread and some web research, I'm considering the following combination:
- 18" x 8" Black Rhino Overland wheels, which have a 35mm offset and 76.1mm bore size
- 235/65R18 Toyo Open Country AT III tires, which have a 30.0" diameter and should just clear the hub carriers even if I don't get enough extra inner clearance to make it moot

This wheel offset calculator says that going from 20x10 ET40 wheels to 18x8 ET35 wheels will give me 30mm more inner clearance, and 20mm retraction of the outside face into the fender well. Makes sense.

Okay with all that in mind, my questions for you folks more knowledgeable than I am:

1. I want the front wheels to sit 5mm wider than they currently do (a tad closer to flush with the fender flare in front) which I figure would mean 25mm spacers up front. Can anyone recommend some 5x120 25mm spacers that would work for my e70 in front?
2. There are other wheels I prefer but they don't come in 5x120 bolt pattern... if I'm using spacers, can I get spacers that bolt to the OEM 5x120 and convert to a different pattern on the wheel? Or is that crazy? I couldn't find any with a quick web search but... idk.
3. I'm not 100% sure whether the front brake calipers will fit inside an 18" wheel... I know the baseline OEM 35d has 18" wheels but I don't know if the sport premium has bigger calipers than the baseline?
4. I already have 15mm spacers in the rear, to make up for the change from 11" rear wheel to 10" rear wheel. So with the new 8" wheels pulling it in another 20mm, I guess I need 35mm spacers... does that sound right, and again, any recommendations?
5. With 30mm more inner clearance up front + 25mm spacers, I figure 55mm total increase inner clearance... is that going to be enough to entire clear the hub carrier, does anyone know? If so, could I go to an even larger diameter tire, or is it going to require a lift to avoid rubbing the wheel well if I go past 30" diameter?

Or really, any other thoughts/concerns/experiences etc would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks folks,
Nathan in PDX, OR

[rbryantaz]

Originally Posted by nhs503

Hi folks appreciate all the info on this thread; I'm putting together a new wheel/tire set for my 2011 E70 35d sport premium pkg.

Right now I have the following setup:
- 20"x10" OEM wheels on all four corners
- 275/45R20 Continental ExtremeContacts (spacers in the rear - 15mm if I recall but it's been a while - to account for the 10" width instead of 11") - these tires work out to 29.7" diameter and they do clear the hub carriers on the front
- fender flares (this will matter later when I'm trying to figure out offsets and spacers)

I'm wanting to switch to a beefier, narrower AT tire with some real tread depth, since this car is mostly used for ski trips and backpacking trips and let's be honest grocery trips, but I don't commute these days so the on-road performance isn't as critical.

Based on this thread and some web research, I'm considering the following combination:
- 18" x 8" Black Rhino Overland wheels, which have a 35mm offset and 76.1mm bore size
- 235/65R18 Toyo Open Country AT III tires, which have a 30.0" diameter and should just clear the hub carriers even if I don't get enough extra inner clearance to make it moot

This wheel offset calculator says that going from 20x10 ET40 wheels to 18x8 ET35 wheels will give me 30mm more inner clearance, and 20mm retraction of the outside face into the fender well. Makes sense.

Okay with all that in mind, my questions for you folks more knowledgeable than I am:

1. I want the front wheels to sit 5mm wider than they currently do (a tad closer to flush with the fender flare in front) which I figure would mean 25mm spacers up front. Can anyone recommend some 5x120 25mm spacers that would work for my e70 in front?
2. There are other wheels I prefer but they don't come in 5x120 bolt pattern... if I'm using spacers, can I get spacers that bolt to the OEM 5x120 and convert to a different pattern on the wheel? Or is that crazy? I couldn't find any with a quick web search but... idk.
3. I'm not 100% sure whether the front brake calipers will fit inside an 18" wheel... I know the baseline OEM 35d has 18" wheels but I don't know if the sport premium has bigger calipers than the baseline?
4. I already have 15mm spacers in the rear, to make up for the change from 11" rear wheel to 10" rear wheel. So with the new 8" wheels pulling it in another 20mm, I guess I need 35mm spacers... does that sound right, and again, any recommendations?
5. With 30mm more inner clearance up front + 25mm spacers, I figure 55mm total increase inner clearance... is that going to be enough to entire clear the hub carrier, does anyone know? If so, could I go to an even larger diameter tire, or is it going to require a lift to avoid rubbing the wheel well if I go past 30" diameter?

Or really, any other thoughts/concerns/experiences etc would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks folks,
Nathan in PDX, OR

I would just compare your setup to the the 265/60/18's I have with ET24 wheels.

If you fit within that then you should be fine. I get just a slight rub on the front fender liner still at the bottom of the oil cooler grate. I never really notice it but I can see that the plastic is shiny there.

This calculator works very well: https://tiresize.com/wheel-offset-calculator/


A 25mm spacer would put you out about 10mm farther outward than I am. If you are going into the snow then you might want to think about if the snow and dirt will be contained by the fender flare or not. I added the extended ones to avoid any issues with rocks chipping paint, etc.

The Toyo Open Country does have a more aggressive sidewall than my cooper's so you could rub more even at the same offset. Pushing it out 10mm from where I am looks like it should work but I have a 4.8i so the inner fender is a little different. I think it will be close enough to where it can probably be massaged to clear if need be but your mileage may vary....

It is possible to convert wheel patterns but probably not within a 25mm spacer but you might have a a hard time finding the right hub center and bolt pattern to make it all work without hub centric rings (if you care to use them, I consider them unnecessary if you are careful when installing).

I would really find a wheel setup that you can use without spacers though, they are just one more thing that can go wrong. That is one of the reasons that I have the style 93 7 series wheels (well that and not wanting to spend a ton of money on wheels for AT tires). They did require the centers to be bored out but the local wheel repair shop was able to do that.

Note that you may want to get a larger spare...

If you run the smaller spare tire with your new larger tires it could wear out your xdrive. If your spare is off by 3% or more it could be an issue (but others can comment on the limits). If you go 50 miles or less it is probably fine.

I have a 30.5" donut in the stock spare tire location and it just barely fits without having to remove any of the plastic trim.

-Rich

[Duc Hunter]

Originally Posted by rbryantaz

I have a 30.5" donut in the stock spare tire location and it just barely fits without having to remove any of the plastic trim.

-Rich

I went slightly larger as mentioned above. How do you get the right diameter spare under the rear floor? What size is it, what size is the wheel, and where did you buy it....please?!

[rbryantaz]

Originally Posted by Duc Hunter

I went slightly larger as mentioned above. How do you get the right diameter spare under the rear floor? What size is it, what size is the wheel, and where did you buy it....please?!

I bought a used spare on ebay form a: Infiniti QX70 OEM SPARE TIRE 175/90/18.

The diameter is 30.4" comared to my stock one that was 29.

That fit on the stock x5 donut and I was able to fit it into the spare tire well without doing any modifications. It does push against the front side plastic tightly but it fits.

I actually just bought a new OEM rim and sold my original spare. I think the OEM steel spare rim is something like $75-80, part number: 36-11-6-768-861. Look for as new of a spare as you can so that shops will mount it (they won't mount things that are older than some number of years which might be 7 years?). They actually did it at discount tire for me for $9 and they threw away the infiniti rim that it came on. I think the guy was just amused that I was doing such a thing so he did it for me.


-Rich

[rbryantaz]

Originally Posted by rbryantaz

I bought a used spare on ebay form a: Infiniti QX70 OEM SPARE TIRE 175/90/18.

The diameter is 30.4" comared to my stock one that was 29.

That fit on the stock x5 donut and I was able to fit it into the spare tire well without doing any modifications. It does push against the front side plastic tightly but it fits.

I actually just bought a new OEM rim and sold my original spare. I think the OEM steel spare rim is something like $75-80, part number: 36-11-6-768-861. Look for as new of a spare as you can so that shops will mount it (they won't mount things that are older than some number of years which might be 7 years?). They actually did it at discount tire for me for $9 and they threw away the infiniti rim that it came on. I think the guy was just amused that I was doing such a thing so he did it for me.

-Rich

A search on ebay shows that jeep grand cherokees also have this size spare now. I don't think that tire age matters as much on bias ply temporary spares but you might have trouble getting a chain shop to mount it if it is over their age limit.

Or tirerack has that size goodyear temporary spare new for $318 to rich for my blood....

[Duc Hunter]

Awesome, thank you!

[nhs503]

Originally Posted by rbryantaz

I would just compare your setup to the the 265/60/18's I have with ET24 wheels.

Thank you very much for the informative reply Rich!

I'm definitely leaning toward 235/65R18s on 18x8 ET35 wheels, but I wanted to double-check with you because using the offset calc you linked to (https://tiresize.com/wheel-offset-calculator/) it looks like to be at the same outer sidewall location as your 265/60/18 ET24s, I'd need a ~1" (25mm) spacer... but you thought a 25mm spacer would put my 10mm outside of your setup, so I'm trying to reconcile before I order.

Oh and copy on the larger spare, thanks for that!

[nhs503]

Hey folks just an update: I went ahead and ordered the Black Rhino Overland wheels in 18x8 ET35, and Toyo OpenCountry AT III tires in 235/65R18.

I have existing 25mm H&R spacers on the rear that I'll swap to the front (fingers crossed nothing goes wrong there). For the rear, I would need 45mm spacers to keep the outer face of the wheel at the current location, but the thickest spacers I can find from H&R are 30mm, and I'm a little leery about going with an ebay spacers (e.g. BLOXSPORT sells 40mm forged 6061T6 AL spacers for the E70 that look good on paper but haven't heard anything about them).

I haven't decided whether to move the TPMs off my current wheels, or buy new ones and keep the current wheels for extras (summer time?), but I'm leaning toward just moving them over because I doubt I'll go to the trouble of swapping wheels and spacers 2x every year.

When I've got them mounted and driven for a while (including snow) I'll post any info I learn along with photos

Thanks for the help folks,
Nathan

[RL18]

Just wanted to give an update on fuel mileage with these oversized tires after doing deletes and tuning my x5d. Very happy to say my mpg was restored. After it's first tank I'm seeing almost 27mpg with mostly city driving. Before I was staying pretty steady at 22.6mpg and hills would slow me down. Now it just goes and once you get moving it doesn't take nearly as much input to maintain speed

[Dudemanbro92]

Hey, everyone.

I just picked up an e70 and I need tires so I'd like to take this opportunity to upgrade sizes.

Been doing lots of reading but I can't seem to find a straight answer - Can I put a spacer lift on with active drive? Do I need extended sway bar end links?

Thanks.

[rbryantaz]

Originally Posted by Dudemanbro92

Hey, everyone.

I just picked up an e70 and I need tires so I'd like to take this opportunity to upgrade sizes.

Been doing lots of reading but I can't seem to find a straight answer - Can I put a spacer lift on with active drive? Do I need extended sway bar end links?

Thanks.

A spacer lift won't help on the e70. The tire size is limited by the upper ball joint unless you make major modifications (custom upper control arm).

The largest possible size is about 265/60/18 and it has only minimal rubbing. Lifting with a spacer would actually give less clearance because the bottom of the front arch curves back under the center line of the tire. So spacing the strut would move the bottom of the fender upward which would make it closer to the tire.

I did consider making some spacers but found that it wouldn't help.

I did have to modify the oil cooler grille but that is only needed on the 4.8i.

-Rich

[Dudemanbro92]

Originally Posted by rbryantaz

A spacer lift won't help on the e70. The tire size is limited by the upper ball joint unless you make major modifications (custom upper control arm).

The largest possible size is about 265/60/18 and it has only minimal rubbing. Lifting with a spacer would actually give less clearance because the bottom of the front arch curves back under the center line of the tire. So spacing the strut would move the bottom of the fender upward which would make it closer to the tire.

I did consider making some spacers but found that it wouldn't help.

I did have to modify the oil cooler grille but that is only needed on the 4.8i.

-Rich

Have you seen this video?

https://youtu.be/2pReViyPg6c

He also has a link to the mods which makes me think there’s more modifications to be had.

[rbryantaz]

Originally Posted by Dudemanbro92

Have you seen this video?

He also has a link to the mods which makes me think there’s more modifications to be had.

I hadn't seen it. Anything is possible but not always practical. It also depends on your goals and if you also want to for every day driving.

It looks like the front lower bumper was trimmed a little on the outside. It could be trimmed and filled without a lot of work on the 3.0. It would be harder on the 4.8 because of the oil cooler. (But that could also be removed).

I am not sure what the tire size was. He would either have to space it out by 40mm or make a custom upper control arm. I think the lift would also probably require an adjustable upper control arm if it was a daily driver. One does exist for thr x5 which has a bolt on upper ball joint but it has minimal adjustment so it might have to be modified to get more adjustment.

Here is the control arm from meyle that had "some" adjustment.


https://www.meyle.com/en/service-cen...-2007-onwards/

I can make the spacers at the local waterjet shop. They start to get somewhat pricey after about 3/4 inch thick.

I have seen a lot of lifts that work off road but if you get on pavement they wear out tires and handle very poorly because camber and caster are all out of whack. Axles angles may be at their limits where they start to fail at higher speeds so that is why I said "practical limits."

Even the wk grand cherokee can only take about a 2" lift before it needs extensive mods IIRC.

-Rich

[StradaRedlands]

Hey all, old thread, I hope some of you with experience on this are still active! I'm about to get some 209 wheels with AT3 265/60/18 tires... is 20mm spacing for sure, or can I get away with 15mm? I ask as BMS has some 15mm spacers I'd like to get: https://burgertuning.com/products/x5...828f77b8&_ss=r

But if 20mm is a hard minimum, I'm planning on the ECS ones: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-part...t/ecs265e70wb/

Thoughts?

And in the rear, although 30mm seems recommended for ascetics, is going w/ 20mm fine? Looks like H&R has a 30mm set, but it's the bolt on adapter kind vs. the through bolt that 20s have.

Additional thoughts?

THANKS!

[rbryantaz]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

Hey all, old thread, I hope some of you with experience on this are still active! I'm about to get some 209 wheels with AT3 265/60/18 tires... is 20mm spacing for sure, or can I get away with 15mm? I ask as BMS has some 15mm spacers I'd like to get: https://burgertuning.com/products/x5...828f77b8&_ss=r

But if 20mm is a hard minimum, I'm planning on the ECS ones: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-ecs-part...t/ecs265e70wb/

Thoughts?

And in the rear, although 30mm seems recommended for ascetics, is going w/ 20mm fine? Looks like H&R has a 30mm set, but it's the bolt on adapter kind vs. the through bolt that 20s have.

Additional thoughts?

THANKS!

It will depend on the tire but I think that 20mm of spacing is required with and isn't enough for all tires all tires.

With that rim (8.5" wide and 46mm offset) if the tires are square or have any knobbies on the sidewalls then they probably won't fit even with 20mm....

My cooper AT3s clear by about 6-7mm (an 8mm round screwdriver won't fit between it and the front upper ball joint. The tire is not perfectly square though, the sidewall is actually under the ball joint but the thread is tapering away to get this clearance.

This is with a 265/60/18 on a wheel with a 8" wide wheel 24mm offset wheel.

This puts my wheels 8mm farther out than what you are proposing... (2mm less than mine due to offset and 6mm due to extra width).

So it would be VERY close with 20mm spacers based on my setup and you might need 24mm spacers to fit the fronts to fit some tires... This does seem like the same setup from another member though so if those are falken wildpeaks you just just barely fit with the 20mm spacers. I am not a fan of spacers, there is just more stuff to go wrong with them which is why I opted for a wheel with an offset that fits. Unfortunately I had to get the centers machined to fit the X5 but overall it is better than spacers IMO...

-Rich