Roleez

To those who have 19" BMW rims on their E60s: Have you had any pothole damage and had to have your rims repaired/replaced?


I've ordered an '06 550i 6MT with the Sport Pkg. and I'm thinking about upgrading to 19s (BMW Style 128) before the car goes into production in October. I love the look of big rims, but I have dealt with 2 pothole mishaps on my current car with 19s. Is there any difference in ride quality on BMW 19s vs. 18s? Rather, is the suspension compliant enough to soak up bumps/potholes on 19s (running 245/35/19 front; 275/30/19 rear) or will it react sharply AND harshly on impact? Do you find yourself taking only KNOWN roads where there are no road imperfections? Do you always scan ahead for potholes/manholes and swerve around them? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

BetterMakeWay

I have the 18s with the M pack so i might tell u this: i moved from a vw passat wich had 16s 205/55 but with comfor suspension! So YES i do fin myself taking known roads because of the imperfections on the roads, but not just to protect my rims/tires/steering but to improve the ride quality wich is a little worse than on my passat, alot worse actually. BUT i'm a person that likes sport so it's not a bid deal to take a few bumps as long as it doesn't affect the car too much! YES i always scan (try to) ahead of potholes/manholes but not everytime i succeed ! The suspension is sporty SO in terms of confort don't try do expect too much...the 18s are perfect for me and for those roads although 19's would have looked better (not the design, the size). I like the design more on 18's than on 19's from BMW (135/172M speakin')!
So in conclusion is like this, I for one think that if u run ur car in a potcrater or smth and destroy the tire/rim than most likely with the 18's would have happened the same thing. But my decision to rremain at 18's was made strictly because of the roads we have here, better said we don't have here! It's unacceptable ...those are not roads, those are worse than foreing forest roads i've seen . Sometimes i feel that even 18's are a bit too much...but than again when i get out of the car and i see them

Boxsterfeet

The additional size of the 19" doesn't make the ride any worse because the 18" wheels come with run flat tyres which have stiffer sidewalls - so not much difference really except you need the spare with the 19" wheels

BetterMakeWay

LOL what's that suppose to mean?
and the 19's don't come with rft?
if they do it's even more ridgid than on 18s!

Boxsterfeet

No. 19" wheels come with normal tyres.

DR.Z

Roleez, I have 128's on my 545 and love the look.
I have pic's in the gallary of them.

Well yes I scan ahead and swerve to miss potholes, but I have allways done this with any car I drove.

Yes they are harsh on impact , but I haven't damaged them yet ( touch wood ) .

I drive daily in Cleveland and you can loose a Mini in some of our potholes.

The ride is very comfertable very close to the 17" all-seasons that came with the car, but the grip is greatly improved.

Also the 128's are the easiest wheels to clean of all the BMW wheels I have owned.

DR.Z

Fullspeed

I bought my car certified pre-owned three weeks ago, and later noticed a less than acceptable ride. I have chrome factory 18's w/ Dunlop runflats. The dealer discovered that the two rear wheels were bent, and replaced @ no charge (since the damage occured before I owned the car).

Whatever you choose, stay away from the runflats. They ride rougher than shite.

Roleez

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I think I'll just wait for the 550 to arrive and drive the 18s down and make a decision from there. It's a pain and a hassle to get a bent rim repaired, and after reading DR.Z's post, I think I'll hold off for the time being. I've had several near-misses where I'd literally SLAM into a pothole at freeway speed, jarring the whole car like a bomb went off. Luckily those were cases where no rim was bent (I run 46 psi just for that reason). It's the DEEPer potholes that will kill 19s with 35 or 30-series tires.

norham

Just a thought but 46psi I'm not surprised you feel the bumps my god you'd feel a fly if you drove over it on that pressure try the normal 26 front and 24 rear

Roleez

Sorry if I didn't explain myself thoroughly. I have 235/35/19 tires on my current car, an '03 Acura CL-S 6MT, and running pressures in the 20s will definitely bend all 4 rims, simply by entering a driveway. Yes the ride is stiff running high pressures, but with 35-series tires, the ride is stiff to begin with due to the reinforced sidewalls. I was hoping that this wouldn't be the case in driving an E60 with 19s, but from what I've read so far in this post, the risk is still there.