Space Saver Tyre

[Jonhamil 20]

About 6 months into owning a G31 5 Series 3L diesel estate - it's a good upgrade from my old E60. There's just one catch...

 

Everyone that rides in the G31 comments on how the ride is much bumpier than the old E60 - it has 20 inch wheels. I made a mental note to get smaller wheels at some point and then just before Christmas got 2 punctures on potholes in the same week..

Runflats were very little use sadly - they got me off the motorway, but one didn't make it home, the other did but only as I drove at 40mph which is really dangerous on the motorway. I know that 50mph is supposed to be ok, but it wasn't on the first one - the ride went very bumpy and noisy and I got towed..

 

Turns out that BMW don't ever fit space saver spare wheels to these cars as they don't fit in the boot. I am happy to get a spacesaver and toolkit and keep it in a bag in the boot - would much rather that than have to wait 4 hours for the RAC on Christmas eve again.. Looking at Realoem.com the toolkit is here:

 

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=JN52-EUR-03-2017-G31-BMW-530dX&diagId=71_0903

 

and the spare wheel is here:

 

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=JN52-EUR-03-2017-G31-BMW-530dX&diagId=36_2302

 

I'm guessing they're listed as they are available in US cars?

 

My question is: does anyone know what other cars these 18" spacesaver wheels are fitted on as standard? That way it would be easy to look on ebay for a breaker that has one rather than pay silly money to BMW for all new bits.

 

Thanks in advance

[bmwf113.0d 846]

I've also been looking for an alloy space saver for my G32, I had one of these in my F11 and will probably end up with the same.

 

 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20-SPACE-SAVER-SPARE-WHEEL-AND-COVER-BAG-FITS-BMW-6-SERIES-G32-2017-2021-/184507323988?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

[pt530i 137]

Just be aware that the stud pattern may be different on G series cars - I seem to recall that you can't use a F10 spacesaver on a G30 for this reason. Which is a shame as there's loads of F series stuff around on ebay.

 

Maybe someone can confirm for sure

[bmwf113.0d 846]

As above, and I'd also carry out a test fit of any wheel you do buy, much better to find out on your driveway...

 

*when I say above I had one of these, I mean I had one from the same seller in the bag etc, not the same wheel  

[Jonhamil 20]

1 hour ago, pt530i said:

Just be aware that the stud pattern may be different on G series cars - I seem to recall that you can't use a F10 spacesaver on a G30 for this reason. Which is a shame as there's loads of F series stuff around on ebay.

 

Maybe someone can confirm for sure

Yep - from what I've seen having done quite a bit of digging, the only cars that these wheels will be interchangeable on are G30, G31 and the 2017 onwards X5

 

The G31 definitely doesn't have a spacesaver option at all in the UK. I'm guessing the X5 does.. Does the G30 5 series saloon have it as an option?

 

Many thanks,

 

[PMMatthews 1]

Have you thought about exploring whether a smaller spacesaver wheel would be acceptable (I think I've read somewhere that it would).

 

I guess the principle is that the overall diameter is the same, because the tyre aspect will be greater. You probably wouldn't want a 17" wheel, but a 19" spacesaver might work with three 20" alloys.

 

Just to be clear, I'm NOT saying this is OK to do. I'm suggesting you might wish to investigate whether it's an option.

[PMMatthews 1]

Here you go:

 

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/140661/will-a-16-inch-rim-space-saver-wheel-be-acceptable-on-my-car-with-17-inch-wheels-

[bmwf113.0d 846]

Good call and probably fine on a 2wd machine, but not the xdrive. 

[Boba 172]

9 hours ago, bmwf113.0d said:

Good call and probably fine on a 2wd machine, but not the xdrive. 

It’s common for cars to come from the manufacturer with a different size of spare wheel. My last omega had a skinny 17” spare and 18” wheels as standard. Labelled for restricted speed but never needed it I’m glad to say. FWIW a wheel with a well-worn but legal tyre could be a cm less in diameter than a new one on the same axle and I assume the car could cope with that if it had to.

 

Why do you think the xDrive would be different?

Edited January 7 by Boba

[bmwf113.0d 846]

Sure I read somewhere it was to do with stressing the transfer box, last car I had was a quattro and the dealer told me that the tyres should be replaced on all 4 corners for the same reason. I queried the Audi info and was told that the recommendation was something like <3% difference in rolling dia.

Lots of info on the www

Edited January 7 by bmwf113.0d

[Mr H 39]

12 minutes ago, bmwf113.0d said:

last car I had was a quattro and the dealer told me that the tyres should be replaced on all 4 corners

That was common (I wonder why?); however, the manual (for mine) was quite clear that this was not the case, only that both tyres on an axle needed to be changed at the same time .............

[Carrera77 39]

 

xdrive is still a 4 wheel drive system with a transfer case. It directly drives all 4 wheels which should rotate at the same speed.  It uses electromagnetic clutches to compensate for differences like wheel slip, but these are only temporary conditions. Its default gearing is a 40:60 split

 

So the tyres need to be all roughly the same diameter otherwise there will be excess wear on the clutches.  There is a certain tolerance for diameter differences between wheels.   The aspect ratio doesnt matter becasue the diameter will be the same, but there will be differences in grip and handling, thats why speed must be restricted. But for emergency use it will be OK

 

 

 

[bmwf113.0d 846]

Yeah, it was the salesman who told me when I was collecting the car,hence a pinch of salt. But I do have an email from them regarding the % as I wanted clarification. 

 

Personally wouldn't use different inch rolling circumference tyres on mine. 

[Carrera77 39]

6 minutes ago, bmwf113.0d said:

Yeah, it was the salesman who told me when I was collecting the car,hence a pinch of salt. But I do have an email from them regarding the % as I wanted clarification. 

 

Personally wouldn't use different inch rolling circumference tyres on mine. 

 

the tyres tend to wear out at roughly the same rate so you might replace all 4 in one go

 

 

[Carrera77 39]

on second thoughts, what if you have an accident with a "non spec - not OEM approved " emergency tyre. Stuff happens, even if  you are extremely careful . 

[Mr H 39]

2 hours ago, Carrera77 said:

the tyres tend to wear out at roughly the same rate so you might replace all 4 in one go

 

Mine aren't! The rears are wearing at twice the rate of the fronts. Unfortunately, unlike my previous car I cannot swap front to rear on each season changeover (summer/winter/summer) ..............

[bmwf113.0d 846]

Ref the non OEM approved

 

A girl at work had a claim refused after she aquaplaned into the central reservation and the insurer (Admiral, same as I use for the multicar) contacted the BMW dealer and they'd advised the tyres required replacing, even though they were above the legal limit.

 

Long story short, she fought it and had it overturned after a couple of months but definitely worth noting.

[Jonhamil 20]

On 1/6/2021 at 11:01 PM, PMMatthews said:

Have you thought about exploring whether a smaller spacesaver wheel would be acceptable (I think I've read somewhere that it would).

 

I guess the principle is that the overall diameter is the same, because the tyre aspect will be greater. You probably wouldn't want a 17" wheel, but a 19" spacesaver might work with three 20" alloys.

 

Just to be clear, I'm NOT saying this is OK to do. I'm suggesting you might wish to investigate whether it's an option.

My wheels are currently 20", checked and they can go down to 18" but not lower - the wheel would foul on the M-Sport brakes. It could go lower if it wasn't for that.

 

I've bought this off ebay:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/18-BMW-5-SERIES-2017-2020-K-O-M-SPACE-SAVER-SPARE-WHEEL-AND-TYRE-KIT/153405073694?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

Which looks like it will do the trick.

 

Now to source some 18" wheels as well - at least now I can get rid of runflats and have a quieter, smoother ride :-)

[Phill20d 57]

Picked this up off eBay last week £150 18” 80 side profile so fits my 19”s with 40 profile it fits the M Sport also. I have peace of mind now on long journeys do not trust foam etc

 

[Carrera77 39]

looks good .

I would do a dry run on all 4 lifting points becasue I have no idea where they are and this kind of thing usually happens at night, and in the rain, on the hard shoulder

 

 I also once remember tying to get the wheel nuts undone with the tool provided by the car and I broke it. Cause they were on way too tight or the tool was too flimsy. That was a long time ago, and I'm sure BMW service centres are more meticulous about torqueing wheels

 

[Phill20d 57]

Did a dry run yesterday and all good. I have a bag with a good quality jack  and telescopic wheel brace that I keep in the TR6, just means I need to remember to swap them over, not to much of a problem as the TR is not a daily.

[Matthew Ashton 876]

5 hours ago, Phill20d said:

Did a dry run yesterday and all good. I have a bag with a good quality jack  and telescopic wheel brace that I keep in the TR6, just means I need to remember to swap them over, not to much of a problem as the TR is not a daily.

 

Phill, could I ask a favour please? Would you mind popping the wheel in its bag and then laying it in the boot and taking a photo to gauge size and space consumed?

Edited January 18 by Matthew Ashton

[Phill20d 57]

Will do in the morning Matthew. Don’t have a bag at the moment waiting for it to be delivered, but you will get an idea with the pic

 

Edited January 18 by Phill20d

[bmwf113.0d 846]

8 hours ago, Matthew Ashton said:

 

Phill, could I ask a favour please? Would you mind popping the wheel in its bag and then laying it in the boot and taking a photo to gauge size and space consumed?

You coming over to the darkside Matthew? 

[Matthew Ashton 876]

10 hours ago, bmwf113.0d said:

You coming over to the darkside Matthew? 

 

Not quite yet . Also , at this rate I'll be driving on the same tyres for the next 20 years and the rubber will have fallen apart before the tread is worn down.