No its not, luckily. Directly transferable on original plates. Plus they deliver free of charge anywhere of your choice on the mainland and collect a part ex if there is one, at the same time.  They are really friendly and efficient -its an owner /family run main dealer in County Tyrone.

Looking for a genuine BMW satnav disk for my old E53......an eejit removed the satnav disk and shovelled a DVD in it - had visitors a few months ago and I don’t use the E53 any longer now I have the E70, my partner does. While clearing snow from it noted the satnav wasn’t loading, checked disk and i...

Only bought it last August Sid, on HP so likely in neg equity territory now especially with all the bad press about diesels.  Plus I love driving it so unless I get a crazy, good offer, I guess not! We never use the extra seats so its a shame, but it ticked all the other boxes for me so I bought it!...

Well I have a 40d MSport with factory towbar and 7 seats Sid, so not sure they are all that rare :). Mine even has a factory dvd system to keep my dogs amused :).  Jokes aside, the third row of seating is the best I have seen to date.  They are real, individual seats with full seat belts, but are re...

Vredesteins are great winter tyres -used them on our elderly 4.8is for many years now. But not as a staggered setup - the BMW recommended size is 17” for the 3.0d and 18” for the bigger brake calipers of the 4.8. Recommended 18” size is 255/55R18 all round.  Best to have a separate set of wheels and...

[quote="Horizon"]
Great write up

The Toyos were great on my E53 but non star marked tyres on E70s particularly staggered setups, have led to many problems with transfer boxes. Not worth the saving as transfer boxes costs ££££££££.  Plus with a 7 seater E70, there is no room for a spare wheel so driving around on non RFTs without a ...

While non RFTs were a quick and easy solution to harsh ride quality on E53 models, don’t make a quick judgement on the E70 as there are real issues with transfer boxes and non star marked tyres (there are no star marked non RFTs in E70 sizes AFAIK) The staggered wheel setup is particularly prone to ...

Certainly seemed to with mine - last done about 6 months ago on my 21” staggered summer set. Swopped to 18” non staggered winters and had the alignment checked on the new winters and it needed adjusting - fronts were ok but both rears needed adjusting quite a bit. Our local Hunter specialist checks ...

Have just binned my summer set as when I swopped over to winters last week, found a front and a rear had each picked up a nail.......even though there was still a fair amount of tread left.  I confess to not being much of a gambler with tyres, as they are all I have between me and the road.... They ...

I wondered if I was being over cautious when I stopped at the local tyre dealers with a Hunter Alignment machine after having my winters fitted for this year..........I had the last alignment done about 7 or 8 months ago with the summer 21” setup.  The tyre wear had improved amazingly since then wit...

[quote="gmc15"]
Do you know if you could use Audi or Merc tyres on an X5?
[/quote]

You probably can, if they are the correct size, but if they are not star marked indicating BMW approval,  would you want to risk the transfer box?

My E70 has had the transfer box replaced once already not long after I bought it - nothing to do with my tyre choices, obviously under previous ownership.  It was a warranty job as an AUC but was very longwinded - I can categorically confirm that they focus ENTIRELY on the tyres and rims fitted to t...

Just a heads up for anyone wanting some for winter, they are really not that easy to find......lots of non-* marked and lots of non runflats,  but apparently little stock available of the * marked runflats in 255/55R18 (recommended BMW size for winters) I ended up with Goodyears as there were no oth...

Each to their own I guess. I have an MSport 40d and its definitely not "cheap inside" -thats reserved for Range Rovers, Chavoques and the like! Lol.  Plus its rubbish, the myth that Msport models are poorly specced and SEs are so highly specced- as with all BMWs you get the options you spe...