Square setup on xdrive

Keep with the stock sizes. That's especially true with xDrive, so you can do a four-tire rotation pattern, maintaining the same tread depths front and rear, and minimizing the wear on your transfer case clutches.

BMW only offers summer, high-performance tires in staggered set-ups. That's more for marketing and product liability reasons. Wider tires make the cars understeer. BMW's lawyers like understeer. Juries tend to blame a BMW going off a cliff backwards on BMW, but a blame a BMW going off a cliff forward on the driver.

I have Michelin PS 4S's in that 245/40-19 square set-up. With that four-tire rotation pattern, I got 40k miles out of the previous set of Michelin PSS's.

Autoputzer said:

Keep with the stock sizes. That's especially true with xDrive, so you can do a four-tire rotation pattern, maintaining the same tread depths front and rear, and minimizing the wear on your transfer case clutches.

BMW only offers summer, high-performance tires in staggered set-ups. That's more for marketing and product liability reasons. Wider tires make the cars understeer. BMW's lawyers like understeer. Juries tend to blame a BMW going off a cliff backwards on BMW, but a blame a BMW going off a cliff forward on the driver.

I have Michelin PS 4S's in that 245/40-19 square set-up. With that four-tire rotation pattern, I got 40k miles out of the previous set of Michelin PSS's.

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I will keep the square setup, but what is your choice in idrive at tyre settings? 245 40 19 is not listed in summer tyres

Autoputzer said:

Keep with the stock sizes. That's especially true with xDrive, so you can do a four-tire rotation pattern, maintaining the same tread depths front and rear, and minimizing the wear on your transfer case clutches.

BMW only offers summer, high-performance tires in staggered set-ups. That's more for marketing and product liability reasons. Wider tires make the cars understeer. BMW's lawyers like understeer. Juries tend to blame a BMW going off a cliff backwards on BMW, but a blame a BMW going off a cliff forward on the driver.

I have Michelin PS 4S's in that 245/40-19 square set-up. With that four-tire rotation pattern, I got 40k miles out of the previous set of Michelin PSS's.

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I have also michelin pilot sport 5. Do ps4s come in runflats?

The tire selection in the iDrive is used to determine the proper tire pressure. That pressure is presumably a function of tire size and load rating, not of season rating (summer, winter, all-season). So, just go with what pressure is recommended for your size, regardless of the season rating of the tires.

Michelin sells different tire models in different countries. The only PS 5 sold here is a 255/35-19 used as an OE tire by Mercedes-Benz.

Michelin does sell PS 4S's in "ZP" (zero pressure) versions here. I'm done with run-flats after the OE tires on my 535i.

I "dial in" the optimal tire pressures to achieve even tire wear (laterally across the tire). My 535i calls for 35 PSI (2.4 bar) front and 39 PSI (2.7 bar) rear. BMW seems to under-inflate the front tires to improve ride quality. My car rarely has passengers in the back sear or cargo in the trunk (other than a spare tire). 39 PSI front and rear makes my tires wear evenly (average side channel wear vs. average middle channel wear).

Michelins are very susceptible to over-inflation wear, more wear in the middle of the tread. Michelins also come "round shouldered" with less depth in the inner and outer circumferential channels than in the middle circumferential channels. With slight over-inflation, you can square up Michelins and get a few extra miles (kilometers) out of them.

A 20" staggered set-up looks SO much better than square 19's. I'll disagree with @Autoputzer on understeer and ride quality. No set-up on the G30 rides as smooth as soft ,sticky, non-runflat summer rubber.

To each his own, I didn't buy an M550 to be able to rotate the tires to squeeze a few more thousand miles out of them.

My 535i has soft, sticky, non-run-flat rubber, Michelin PS 4S's... in a square set-up.

For "spirited" driving on the street I prefer the neutral handling of a square set-up. It's fun to kick the back end out a few degrees.

On Frau Putzer's X3 xDrive, I'm not willing to have mismatched tread depths grinding away at the transfer case clutches just to look cool.

Autoputzer said:

My 535i has sot, sticky,non-run-flat rubber, Michelin PS 4S's... in aa square set-up.

For "spirited" driving on the street I prefer the neutral handling of a square set-up. It fun to kick the back end out a few degrees.

On Frau Putzer's X3 xDrive, I'm not willing to have mismatched tread depths grinding away at the transfer case clutches just to look cool.

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Yeah, ride quality is certainly subjective. Some people are looking to feel the road more and some people are looking to mask the road.

I have BMW Starmarked Super Sports on mine. Not cheap and when one goes, you have to replace both sides because of X-Drive and Transfer Case issues. Luckily, my wheel and tire insurance paid for two new front tires when only one was damaged and both had >50% tread.

My F10 535xi had square AS runflats and they sucked from every standpoint I can comment on. Ride, reliability, handles. The setup on my M550 now is easily the best balance of comfort, looks and handling of any BMW I have had. The 668M's are like china though, already had a few straightened and I don't even drive the car in the late fall through mid spring (after pollen season).

Staggered 668 20's were a must have for me, they distinguish the M550 from other G30's as they only are available on the M550. I have been very pleased with the ride and performance. That said, I ain't kicking out the rear end or doing drifts!

Tire Rack will shave a new tire down to match the old tire(s). "Max-performance," summer tires wear really fast when they're new. So, leave an extra 32nd inch on the new tire. It will catch up with the old tire(s) in wear soon enough.

My F10 535i came with Goodyear LS2 all-season, run-flats... the worst tires I've owned since a set of bias-ply recaps back in 1975, and even then it was a close call which set was worse.

Autoputzer said:

Tire Rack will shave a new tire down to match the old tire(s). "Max-performance," summer tires wear really fast when they're new. So, leave an extra 32nd inch on the new tire. It will catch up with the old tire(s) in wear soon enough.

My F10 535i came with Goodyear LS2 all-season, run-flats... the worst tires I've owned since a set of bias-ply recaps back in 1975, and even then it was a close call which set was worse.

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I can't remember what my F10 535xi M-Sport came with, but they weren't Good Year. They may have been Bridgestone all-season runflats. Horrible.

Yeah, I don't get the shaving thing, never have. Intuitively buying a brand new tire and taking life off of it doesn't make sense to me. I'd rather spring for a new tire on the other side and keep the take-off depending on how much tread it had on it.

I do get the shaving thing. I'd rather buy one tire than two tires... or four tires.

I've only had to replace three tires due to damage. One had sidewall damage. One had a failed puncture repair. One had a puncture near the edge of the tread. The first two were parts of four-tire sets with only about 3/32" of tread left on them. So, I just replaced all four tires. But, the third tire to be replaced was part of a four-tire set that still had half of their life left. So, I had it shaved down to match the other three tires. That shaved tire was also free, due to Tire Rack's two-year road hazard warranty. I had to pay for shaving, mounting and balancing, for a total cost of $55. A new set of four tires would have been $1300.