[agentorange]

Is there a significant degradation in small bump ride going to 19" wheels? Here in the desert SW the freeways have a myriad of small repairs and small bump absorption is a big factor on how liveable a car will be. The current F30 we have on 18" Pirellis is pretty good, but I have a line on a F10 with 19"s.

[lsturbointeg]

Probably not. Now if you're comparing 18-20's than yes

[cdmulders]

Originally Posted by agentorange

Is there a significant degradation in small bump ride going to 19" wheels? Here in the desert SW the freeways have a myriad of small repairs and small bump absorption is a big factor on how liveable a car will be. The current F30 we have on 18" Pirellis is pretty good, but I have a line on a F10 with 19"s.

I have no significant increase in feeling small bumps when I'm switching from my 18" winter tires to my 19" summer tires. There is a more pronounced change (and improvement) if you switch the 19" runflats to 19" non-runflats.

If your proposed 19" tires are non-runflat, then I think you'll find they improve the ride over 18" runflat tires.

[johnhva]

Fwiw I went from 19" runflats to 18" non-runflats and the ride improvement was dramatic. Smoooother and quieter on the highway. Handling is still tight (for an F10).

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by agentorange

Is there a significant degradation in small bump ride going to 19" wheels? Here in the desert SW the freeways have a myriad of small repairs and small bump absorption is a big factor on how liveable a car will be. The current F30 we have on 18" Pirellis is pretty good, but I have a line on a F10 with 19"s.

I tried both sizes on F10 models before I bought my F11. 18" vs. 19" were similar when road surfaces were reasonably good, but 19" were more harsh over small bumps as road quality deteriorated. My local roads are very changeable, including poorly patched and broken surfaces, so I opted for 18" for that reason, drop to 17" for winter use, which give a smoother ride in cold temperatures than the 18". I'm comparing run-flats on all sizes.

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by johnhva

Fwiw I went from 19" runflats to 18" non-runflats and the ride improvement was dramatic. Smoooother and quieter on the highway. Handling is still tight (for an F10).

you have more sidewall in your situation so that's pretty much the outcome you would get from what you did.

[Pierre Louis]

Its extremely hard to judge since tire pressure makes a huge difference in ride qualities and affects RFT's differently than non-RFT's.

I would also say it depends on the brand, tire wear, and tire line that also affects this.

Theoretically 19" would have a harsher ride, but in a 5 series the suspension may mask the difference.

PL