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      03-08-2018, 09:42 PM   #38
Armin_kh
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Drives: BMW 650xi GranCoupe M Sport
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Virginia

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Quote:
Originally Posted by upstate650 View Post
A 295/30/20 tire is 27" tall. So is a 255/35/20, which is why they are a perfect match.

A 285/30/20 is only 26.7" tall, so you are starting out with a difference of just over 1% when the tires are brand new.

Tread depth is 10mm. At half wear on the rears, the tire will only be 26.3-26.4" tall. If the front are wearing half as fast at the rears, the front tire is now 26.8-26.9" tall. The difference is around half an inch, which is approximately 2%.

The generally accepted limits in tire height difference for the x drive system is 1%. But this applies at every point during the life cycle of the tires. So if you start out with a 1% difference, you need to know what will happen to that percentage over time. On the 6 series, the height difference will increase over time because the rears wear faster than the front, and on the setup you are using the rear is already the smaller tire.

To answer your question, a 30 mm difference is roughly 4% on these cars, which is 4x what BMW recommends, and would be very bad for your X drive system. Switching your rears from 285/30 to 295/30 won't reverse any damage you have already done, but it will work fine on your car and will not cause any further damage. I've run through 3 sets of rears and one set of fronts on my car with 255/35 front and 295/30 rear with no issues.
Thank you for the info. I'm planning to change my 373s to 343s. I have bought 2 different sets in the past 1 year and none of them worked well with my car. I just wanna buy the right size and enjoy the look of my car. I wanna buy a size that works well with 373s and 343s. Do you recommend 275/245 or 285/255?
Appreciate 0