I'm just looking at the M5 replica wheels. Cheap to replace, which is important where I drive (Rockies). Below is a picture of the car the day after I bought it.



My concern with smaller tires is less sidewall protection; I should really just run the stock 17's but they look so 'meh'... and I have these new tires sitting there going to no use, so it seemed like a good 'fit'. I wouldn't want much less sidewall - what you have would work. But I can't find the M5 reps in 18", and I don't want to spend much on expensive wheels that will just get trashed, and be expensive to replace. What's the story with your wheels? Source? Cost? If you have more photos of your whole car I'd like to see them.

I'm also curious to hear more about your 'roof vs hitch' mounts. I have roof mounts for this car, and a spare tire mount on my Jeep, and there's no question the aerodynamics are better on the hitch. The other question is if you're going to use a roof box anyway, how much worse do the bikes make mpg (at higher speeds). Seems like it would still be substantial, for how high they stand. (my roof mounts are 'wheel on' type).

I'll be calling the hitch guys tomorrow. I need to drive down to Vegas to pick up a 20' sailboat next week. Might not be enough time to get the new hitch ready, but it would be nice to use it if possible.

 

J, thanks for the detailed reply as usual. I should have probably first explained my planned use better before asking for your recommendations. Currently, I've got a 4 and a 6 year old, so their bikes are pretty small, and we only throw them on the car for the occasional road trip. I've got a mountain bike, which as they start riding more, was thinking I'd take along if we go on road trips, or to the local parks.

I was leaning towards keeping my 4 bike Thule swing away partly b/c I paid $600 for it a year ago, and was hoping to still use it, but it was some work to put it on and off, and it made the parking sensors go nuts of course, so we had to leave them off. It was nice though not having to lift bikes onto the roof, nor worry about what would happen to them at the odd 100 MPH run on the highway (while we are down in Mexico, of course! ).

On that topic, is there a certain speed you've felt the bikes and box making noise / getting unstable? I wonder what the offical speed rating would be...

The simple thing I'm thinking now might be to not worry about getting a custom hitch installed just for a bike rack, take my loss and sell my carrier, and buy a roof system, to which I can always add a box like you later on. My overall cost would be a bit more with a roof system I figure, but the roof system might be more versatile.

Would you agree?

PS That box is about 36" wide from what I could tell. So you can fit that plus a bike on either side of it on the roof? I'd have thought I'd need to get one of those boxes that are only half the width of the roof, to fit a bike on either side of it.

 

Actually I've found a set of E93 fitment wheels that are 18x8 ET35 Front, 18x9 ET38 Rear (M5 replicas).

Would those also fit the 535xiT, or are the hubs different? If so I'd opt for your tire size, knowing it works...

 

To get back to part of the original question - has anyone wired their 535xiT for trailer lights and/or brakes?

 

Aerodynamics. in my experience the cargo boxes we are using (your yakima or my thule) are actually very good aerodynamically considering their size. The bad parts are the bars and mounts, and then much worse, the bikes, especially if full upright bike style. Fork mounts are at least one less tire and spoke set per bike.

Now, to add a little something to this mix, you might like this idea and have never thought of it..... this depends entirely on cargo box width though ... I have traveled across the US several times in two wagons and used a couple different Thule boxes. My favorite for aerodynamics is the more rare Spirit I think it's called, more of a wedge in the rear like a yakima but lower in the nose like the other thule. I use that one for ski season, it's almost as long, almost as tall, almost as wide but stronger/more rigid and seems to be quieter/more aero with deeper channels underneath for the bars to sit up inside. It doesn't flex up front in the nose either. it's heavier though, per size.

So, the little something... in my 2100 xt thule, i have traveled a number of times with TWO bikes INSIDE the cargo box, plus 2 extra sets of wheels, tent, pad, misc crap, etc. Yes, all inside, nothing else exposed besides the box and racks. This made a very big difference at 70-80 mph. Obviously staying under 60 it wouldn't matter as much, clearly, parked at 0mph, areodynamics matter 0 so the closer to 0, the less it matters what you have on the roof

In the photos below, there are two bikes in the same cargo box on the two different cars. In addition to the bikes and stuff were two Yakima Sprocket Rocket fork mount bike racks. This is because at the 2000 mile point, I was meeting a friend and we were traveling to a race with a dog so then the bikes go on the roof and other crap in the car went into the box.





I have never had any rattling, or otherwise strange sounds from either the bikes, boxes, or racks. Wind noise yes, but that is to be expected. Please consider not using a fairing for the front, as you often see being used on cars with just bikes. This fairing when combined with a cargo box seems to compress the air into the tight area rather than allowing it to pass freely through and between the box and roof.

My cars have both been up to 145mph with a cargo box on the roof....the Audi also had a mountain bike on a fork mount ! It was after that day a couple years ago where I came up with the bikes-in-box idea as shot that photo after riding Fruita Colorado.

 

more rack stuff. I use wide bars so therefor I have plenty of room left even while using the wide thule 2100xt. In fact, a bike on either side, or asymmetric layout with box all to one edge and bikes on the other side, just about allows for a third bike. I forget the length of my bars but they are roughly 8-10" past the edge of the rail mount. In some ways it is easier to have the box all to one side of the car so the bike rack is not in your face/in your way leaning in to such a wide cargo box. If the bike itself is mounted, then you can't get into the box very well at all obviously.

On rail mounts, the thule strap type are far superior in basic design and flexibility of attachment because they can adapt to an angled rail or even changing thickness rail whereas the yakima must rely on a consistent rail shape and within parameters. The thule strap can go around just about any shape.

 

WHEELS: of course reference photo above. Those are super secret, can't tell you what, where or $ No, they are m3, bmw oem, bought new from my dealer. 18"x18" ET29. I could have tried the 9.5 in the rear but they would have been snug and then my full size spare would be a little silly if needed, plus I rotate my tires so that when it's time to replace, it's evenly all of them that get replaced.

In this case, these I chose are directional so rotation is just back n forth front-rear-front....although I gambled that the left rear would wear the most. I was correct. It's because of two factors: 1-my full size spare stands against the wall on the left tucked between the D pillar (rear corner) and the back seat if upright. 2-my ARB freezer-fridge is then located against the tire such that these heavy items are squarely over the left rear tire.

My spare was ordered, and mounted, so that it would be a left side tire when rolling in the correct direction for full 3 tire rotation purposes (3 as opposed to 5 because as I said, they are directional and ideally stay on one side of the car for life) In the event of needing a spare on the right, of course I can run it over there without serious issue until I am home again.

To me, the 18" is the ideal size, large enough rim/wheel to tighten the handling a bit (from 17"), large enough to look decent, small enough to be less expensive tires than same tire in 19", also 18" has more tire makes and models to choose from in more slightly different sizes, and lastly, but not least important, the sidewall provides a durable depth for real world traveling. It doesn't matter how cool the car looks if it's f-d up from a rugged road, pot hole, or random junk on the highway and you are hangin out waiting for roadside assist or AAA.

some other benefits of 18": I like run flats, some people hate them, but I don't think they know why they "hate" an object rather than see the pros and cons of one or the other. I get a great ride out of my winter RFT Pirelli 240 sottozero tires. In fact, I think they feel wonderfully responsive. Maybe the size I chose helps, 245 is as wide as makes sense for an 8" rim, and at the maximum if you want to retain any snow traction. I went with that tire for "good" snow traction without giving up too much in rain or cold but dry/wet conditions. You can feel the tread by hand and see it's very solid and part of why it doesn't wallow like soft, better in ice/snow, tires would.

Going up 1" in total diameter helps with my ground clearance, slightly more sidewall, and it allowed me to hand down the oem tires to the Audi when it needs some next summer The Audi is stock 235/40x18 and the 245/40x18 fit fine although a little tighter. mostly because the rear will sag when loaded down with 4 people, and all their stuff and some bikes, etc. The 535xiT of course adjusts for the weight to remain at normal ride level, which is one of the top 10 reasons I wanted this particular car. It had to be able to haul stuff very well.

 

I can't think of any reason they wouldn't fit just fine, as long as they are the right bolt pattern as well as the right center bore. I do recall my bmw parts person making sure the bore was the same.

I am not a reps fan, unless it's for winter wheels or track wheels. The quality can vary so much and when someone is talking reps + spending less, it rarely ads up to good or better than oem. Expensive forged reps maybe, or not reps at all. However, I like the oem look too. Part of why I finally chose what I did.

I will suggest though, take MONTHS to decide on the wheels. I was SURE about 5 different wheel designs and in hindsight, am really glad I waited and let them each sit with me for a few weeks, then I moved on. Holding true to practicality helped though, no 19's, only 18. The ONLY thing "better" about 19's is they look cool, but the right 18's can also look cool, but be actually better in every other aspect.

 

WHEEEEEEELZZZZZ:

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have fun

 

Obviously that assortment of bikes will fit on either plan.

My guess is the hitch could be made in one day. They did mine in one day and it was the first but the trick is likely that they don't have it ready to copy in CADD. If they had listened to me though, they would have made notes and/or a pattern to whip another one out upon request. Unless they want to give me a big credit towards my next project, I'm not inclined to let them have my car for half the day to copy mine.

However, if you had it all set up/scheduled with them, I am willing to bet you could roll in there at a pre-set time and they'd be done in 3 hrs now that they at least know what to do. They are good at wiring too but I'd want to have bmw involved unless these guys have wired some other E60 for towing. It's very possible though as track time is big around here and someone may have set up a bmw for towing track utility/tire trailer behind a coupe or sedan e30, e46, e85, e9x etc. ?