A Bigger Tire or Lift Kit

[Bigpat27]

Hey y'all,

So over the past few months of owning my 2013 M-5 Sport I have noticed that I have spending a lot of time on grass and grounding out. Living in the Blue Ridge Mountains pretty much means everything is down or up a hill. Meaning I am scratching up my front bumper cover really bad. I'm sure at some point it will eventually get ripped off. I know of a company called Tema4x4 who makes a 20mm lift kit for the 5. Pretty cheap kit actually, only $150 on Amazon. Not sure about them though. As for the tires how big could I go without rubbing against the well without the lift kit???

Any info would be appreciated.

 

[AnthonyVerde]

Hey y'all,

So over the past few months of owning my 2013 M-5 Sport I have noticed that I have spending a lot of time on grass and grounding out. Living in the Blue Ridge Mountains pretty much means everything is down or up a hill. Meaning I am scratching up my front bumper cover really bad. I'm sure at some point it will eventually get ripped off. I know of a company called Tema4x4 who makes a 20mm lift kit for the 5. Pretty cheap kit actually, only $150 on Amazon. Not sure about them though. As for the tires how big could I go without rubbing against the well without the lift kit???

Any info would be appreciated.

I'm currently running 215/65/16 with an approximate 30mm lift front and rear. Prior to that size, I was running 205/65/16. You'll be rubbing up front with both of those sizes without a lift — I get a slight rub on the well liner under full lock. Rear should be fine as long as you aren't running an aggressive offset.

In regards to the lift, I went for the 30mm strut spacer by Tema4x4 up front and stock Mazda CX7 springs in the rear.

EDIT: In regards to the rear CX7 springs, I've had them on for 3 years and they've noticeably softened over the last year (possibly due to a few too many heavy loads — see picture below). This spring, I'll be looking into a taller spring or a spacer to raise the rear a bit more. Front will also get a little bit more lift when I install new struts.

Here's the 5 with about 500lbs of top soil in the back. Only slightly rubbed a couple of times on the way home.