Just installed Cooper S/T Maxx tires on 18" BMW wheels

[BikePilot]

The Cooper S/T Maxx had great reviews and looked just right for my application which is general getting around in the mountains along with some light wheeling. I wanted something extremely durable, street friendly and with reasonable off road capability. Also had to be load range E for durability and towing. I went with 265/60R18. They are also available in 265/65R18. Note that these run meaningfully larger than the more common BFGs.

I went with the smaller size to ensure that I'd have no rubbing and be able to use the factory spare tire location. I also didn't want to effectively gear the truck up as the factory gearing seems spot on and I do a lot of mountain driving (my house is 2k' above my office and I love to ski and bike in the mountains). If I were nearer sea level or more off road focused the taller tire would have been my choice and I'd guess that I'd be pretty happy with either.

For wheels I noted that BMW Style 99 wheels were the right hub center, bolt pattern, 8" wide, 40mm offset (so 4mm less than compos) and new take offs could be had for $100 each. They are specifically made to clear the caliper on the 4.6 and 4.8IS which, like the Landy, has pretty big rotors and bulky sliding calipers. They require standard 60 degree conical lug nuts. Regarding weight capacity the 4.6IS has a cub weight of 5127lbs and my 2011 LR4 has a quoted curb weight of 5703lbs so the wheels are supporting 576lbs more weight in this application than BMW likely intended, on average. I haven't found weight ratings for the wheels anywhere. I'd guess that the BMW engineers built in a ton of margin of safety and regardless will keep a close eye on them for any signs of stress.



I test fit them and found that the fit, but just grazed the caliper. I used a 4" pneumatic angle grinder to shave down the high spots on the caliper fins until I had about 3mm of clearance at minimum.

The end result is a look I like with the functionality I needed.

Now, pics! Yes the truck is dirty, just got it home from the tire shop and there's snow about.

Off road height with the front right tire up on a rock that's about knee high from the other three tires

The other side showing the left rear tire stuffed in the wheel well

Front right pretty well extended

Clearance at normal ride height

Meaty looking tires!

Off road height on mostly level ground

 

[TheWidup]

I didn't want to like this but after seeing it I do. Nice job!

 

[djkaosone]

Looks nice! Great job. With the 40mm offset, does the tires rub when it's in access mode? If it doesn't, can you measure the space between the inner wheel fender and tire before it rubs? I'm about to do something crazy with my setup as well.

 

[BikePilot]

No rubbing yet, I'll put in access mode and try full lock in both directions. I'm pretty sure it won't rub. Will try and measure clearance as well! In the back with the rear end about as squashed as I could get it (putting opposite front tire up on a knee high rock) I had a bit more than a finger-width of clearance to spare. So I think the 1" larger 265/65 just might fit w/o rubbing but it'd be really close.

 

[BikePilot]

I didn't want to like this but after seeing it I do. Nice job!

Thanks! I'm really pleased with how it worked out.

 

[ryanjl]

I like these. The wheels could pass as a stock Rover wheel. In fact, they look similar to this Range Rover Sport wheel:

https://www.hubcaphaven.com/p/7540/aly72221u35-range-rover-sport-wheel-grey-machined-lr017280.html

Just need to find a center cap that's the right size.

Regarding the weight rating, I was looking for that yesterday myself and couldn't find anything. That said, there's quite a bit of material between the hub and the rim, so I'd think they could handle a lot.

I assume there was no issue fitting the Rover TPMS sensors?

Can you post a picture of how much you ground off the calipers?

 

[BikePilot]

The wheels feel really solid/heavy and seem a strong design. The spokes are quite thick as is the part that bolts to the hub. They are made for BMW by Ronal which is a very reputable wheel supplier. I had Discount Tire install new TPMS sensors so that I can swap the 19s back on if I need to for some reason. I'm pretty sure the Rover sensors would have worked in the BMW wheels just fine though. The 4.8IS runs lower profile tires and much stiffer suspension resulting in dramatically more cornering potential than a LR4 can muster which, I suspect, puts a lot more load on the wheels than the LR4 probably would. I'm personally quite comfortable that they are more than strong enough (chances are 4.6IS weight x German margin of safety > LR4 weight x British/Indian margin of safety), but I certainly can't guarantee it and if anyone else copies this approach please do so at your own risk knowing this is outside the original design parameters.

 

[BrandonM7]

Awesome.

 

[CaliDisco]

Cool!
Shows what a bit of research and ingenuity can yield!
Makes me wonder what other non Rover OEM wheels might work as well...

Cheers for posting

 

[jwest]

Regarding weight capacity the 4.6IS has a cub weight of 5127lbs and my 2011 LR4 has a quoted curb weight of 5703lbs so the wheels are supporting 576lbs more weight in this application than BMW likely intended, on average. I haven't found weight ratings for the wheels anywhere. I'd guess that the BMW engineers built in a ton of margin of safety

Probably will be fine but I wouldn't want to have them on some of the rockier trails where you can end up with 90% of the weight over 2 wheels and side loaded or against rocks. Just sounds like a lot of trouble to just add more uncertainty considering how stout the Compomotive wheels are even compared to the lr3 wheels.

FYI, everything I've seen shows x5 v8's being under 5k at 4840 so even with your fully stock lr4 as seen in photos, it's not too much different but the issue really is not knowing the integrity of those wheels. You cannot assume any of that German engineering vs English seeing as neither of them built the wheels and cost generally dictates mid range vehicles parts sources such as these.

At 26 lbs, the style 99 is at least very similar to the lr3 18" wheels with the heaviest of them being the oldest 5 spoke and the lightest the 10 "flutted" or grooved spoke. The middle weight is the 10 flat faced spokes. I have all 3 and weighed them once but don't recal exact numbers. I might check my M3 wheels I've got on the E61 out of curiousity but i am pretty sure they don't actually have a weight rating stamped in like our rover wheels do.

Frankly, if you ever chose to add some weight, I'd move those wheels on to someone who's just looking for street driving. Also remember the curb weight may not be full fuel tank, not sure if it means wet or dry but most lr3/4 people offroading much are sitting closer to 6500-7000 lbs.