Replacing 21" wheels with 19"

[wsj5]

I just got a 23 GV70 2.5T Sport Prestige in green, but I don't want the 21" rims. I prefer the better MPG of 19" rims. Is it possible to just do a straight swap?

I'm willing to trade with anyone. Located in SoCal.

 

[resdoggie]

What are you expecting in mpg increase?

 

[deewan]

I just got a 23 GV70 2.5T Sport Prestige in green, but I don't want the 21" rims. I prefer the better MPG of 19" rims. Is it possible to just do a straight swap?

I'm willing to trade with anyone. Located in SoCal.

Yes, straight swap. Even the TPMS is mount and play.

I will second the question above, what are you expecting for an increase to MPG? Are you thinking the weight of the wheels will have major impact? The added weight of the larger wheels will have an impact on MPG, but from experience I can tell you it's very minimal. I had 20" winter wheels and 22"summer wheels on an Explorer and never saw a difference in MPG despite the 22's being much heavier.

 

[wsj5]

Fairly sure I read that it's about 3mpg, same as switching to the 3.5tt

 

[wsj5]

Yup, car and driver said this:

Opting for the 21-inch wheels, however, drags down the city figure by a whopping 3 mpg and the highway number by 2 mpg, putting it almost on par with the V-6 version.

 

[DannyB]

Actually I like my 19's over the 21's purely because of the incredibly poor condition of our roads... You could probably make up the difference in MPG by changing your driving dynamics

 

[Cnst]

For what it's worth, my son-in-law changed the size of the rims on his BMW SUV and the computer failed. At least that's what the service tech told him. $5k to fix. May want to research.

 

[deewan]

For what it's worth, my son-in-law changed the size of the rims on his BMW SUV and the computer failed. At least that's what the service tech told him. $5k to fix. May want to research.

It would be interesting to know why the computer failed because of change in wheels. If the circumference of the wheels change dramatically it could impact the AWD system. MAYBE if there was a significant weight difference between the OEM and aftermarket wheels, but that would have to be pretty large or how else would BMW allow for a small or midsized spare tire ever be installed?

I find it strange the module would completely fail and not just throw a fault with different wheels of similar spec. Ultimately the OP is asking about changing from one set of OEM wheels to another set of OEM wheels. There is nothing tied to the trim levels and a particular set of OEM wheels so he would have no issues.

 

[luck11]

For what it's worth, my son-in-law changed the size of the rims on his BMW SUV and the computer failed. At least that's what the service tech told him. $5k to fix. May want to research.

Agree with @deewan. General rule to not cause issues with AWD is to maintain the overall diameter of your tire within 3% of stock and the same on all 4 corners (some owners stagger their wheels and put wider and slightly larger tires on the rear). I could see how not following this could cause issues, but failing computer seems excessive. I suspect there is more to that. Anyway, it doesn't really apply here as OP is swapping OEM for OEM, almost identical overall diameter (21" tires are only .7% smaller diameter) and almost identical stance (19" are a bit narrower, but compensated by slightly lower offset of ET 39 vs the 21" that have ET 43). So really don't think OP has to worry in this case. And many GV70 owners have up or downsized to aftermarket wheels and tires without any reported issues.

 

[Cnst]

I would not be surprised at all if the dealer was looking to shift the fault to the owner because of the change. I've not researched it but figured it might be worth questioning. Even if the computer was receiving conflicting data, it would show error or spit out bad data. Not fail.

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[resdoggie]

The high cost to repair German cars out of warranty is why I have never owned one.

 

[ShopVac]

For what it's worth, my son-in-law changed the size of the rims on his BMW SUV and the computer failed. At least that's what the service tech told him. $5k to fix. May want to research.

Every BMW (and Audi) I've ever owned has had a 2nd set of rims of a different size than stock. I've never heard of this issue before. If running staggered, and the calculation was off on diameter sizes, can see this as an issue for the AWD components, but not a computer.

 

[calvinw]

For the winter season, I brought a set of 18inches from Touren, equipped it with OEM tpms sensors, and everything has been working great since day 1.

As for gas mileage, you will see a tiny bit of difference, but not much. The difference is mostly in ride comfort, when rolling on roads with minor imperfections. It does a better job at reducing vibrations.

 

[Jjl8868]

Actually I like my 19's over the 21's purely because of the incredibly poor condition of our roads... You could probably make up the difference in MPG by changing your driving dynamics

I have a 2023 sport prestige 2.5 T and I have been getting 24 mpg in the city. Highway mileage has been closer to 30 mpg. Both figures are using 93 Octane.

 

[kirladores]

Hi! Any of you guys changed their stock 19" wheels to 21" (aftermarket). Did that changed the driving experience? I've got the 2.5t Prestige and not a fan of the stock wheels. I'll either powder coat it with black or get 21" aftermarket ones.

 

[NeutronQuasar]

Hi! Any of you guys changed their stock 19" wheels to 21" (aftermarket). Did that changed the driving experience? I've got the 2.5t Prestige and not a fan of the stock wheels. I'll either powder coat it with black or get 21" aftermarket ones.

I went from 19" to 20" and there is a pronounced, noticeable difference in ride quality. Not only does the sidewall get smaller but I went with DWS06+ tires so they're stiffer than the stock tires. Impacts are sharper, louder and don't feel as "soft" as the stock tires at 19"; but the car feels leaps and bounds better and more confident on the twisty mountain roads here. Going to 21" wheels with a more performance orientated tire will feel worse comfort wise than 19" but the vehicle will handle much better. 21" tires also have relatively horrible pricing compared to 19", 20" and 22" for whatever reason.

 

[dhuhtala]

I struggled with this for a long time as the 19s are a wee bit small for my tastes but my priority in selecting the 2.5T Prestige was to go with the best possible ride. This was the best by far when comparing to Lexus, Audi, BMW, etc. So I bought a set of 19" wheels in bronze and machined metal. Waiting to get them installed on Tuesday...will post pics.

And before anybody says hey the Prestige has 21" wheels...not in Canada.

 

[dhuhtala]

Just got my new wheels installed...I think they look good, though the picture isn't great. They are machined chrome on the face but matte bronze inside, which I think goes well with the Burgundy...and the dark chrome almost looks a bit bronze in some light.

 

[FirstGV70]

Just got my new wheels installed...I think they look good, though the picture isn't great. They are machined chrome on the face but matte bronze inside, which I think goes well with the Burgundy...and the dark chrome almost looks a bit bronze in some light.
View attachment 52818

Nice!

 

[kirladores]

Just got my new wheels installed...I think they look good, though the picture isn't great. They are machined chrome on the face but matte bronze inside, which I think goes well with the Burgundy...and the dark chrome almost looks a bit bronze in some light.
View attachment 52818

It does look good man!