[Beer Brewer]

Hi All:

Just wanted to drop in and say that I ditched the Continental runflats on my 2011 335xi yeterday, in favor of a square set of Michelin Pilot Sport a/s 3 tires. Man, what a difference. Honestly, I was actually at the point of selling my car due to the bouncy yet oddly harsh ride. Based on the preliminary reviews of the brand-new Michelins I decided to give them a shot, and I couldn't be happier - what was I waiting for?

The ride quality has improved markedly, and the car now exhibits much less "bounce and jounce" over uneven pavement and potholes. Grip is way up, too - on a favorite stretch of variable radius onramp around were I live, the Conti's would start howling and then give way unpredictably. Even though the Michelins aren't broken in yet, I can take the turn much faster and with far more confidence than was ever the case before. No howl, just grip! The overall handling limits of the car are not on par with my old RS4 or M5, to be sure, but I am a lot more confident now when tossing my 3'er around. Oh, and the road noise has diminished, too.

So there you go. With a can of Fix-a-Flat in the trunk, I am enjoying my car again. I'm looking forward to seeing how these things perform in the wet and the, ahem, snow, when we get it. And we will, that I know. Wish me luck!

Thanks,

Pete

[zapd0s]

Thanks for the post - I just picked up a gently-used 328i xDrive and it's gonna need tires soon. Actually, I'm in New England and will need both a winter set and a nice summer set so hearing your opinion about jumping off the OEM train is great to hear. Good luck with the fix-a-flat

[CoolHandLuke]

yeah I just moved to MA and while I've lived through several winters this 'll be my first time driving in one. Hence why I'm ditching the e46 zhp for the e92 335xi. I tear up just thinking about it. Hoping the new girl will change the way I feel about missing the old one

Pretty sure they're not run flats on there if they are though they won't last long

[pgaplayerless]

and everytime you use fix-a-flat you will be fixing-your-TPMS .....

[CoolHandLuke]

Picked the car up. I'm rocking the run flats. I hope they get better mileage than the sport tires with track suspension set up I had on the e46. Obviously this is already a much improved ride

[chowser51]

i had non run flat all seasons and snow tires for my '06 xdrive. i kept a plug kit and air compressor in the car. no fixaflat.

only had one flat which i plugged myself. whenever the run flats on my '09 goes, i'm debating getting new runflats or switching to non run flats and doing another dedicated snow tire setup for winter time. so far the all season run flats with AWD have been okay here in Cleveland.

In my '06, ride quality was harsh with the Continental run flats, I switched to Continental DWS non run flats and the change was great. So far, the Bridgestone runflats on my '09 is fine. The ride isn't harsh and hitting a bump doesn't sound like a gun shot.

[Rmsport]

Also wanting to do this in the future. Just bought an E92 M-sport and got extended warranty. I've heard the horror stories of warranties not being honored just because people had different width tires on stock wheels. I'm thinking changing to non RFT should not be an issue.

[mrobbie]

Just spent the last few days depating what winter tyres to get and the RFT/non-RFT connundrum had be town;
Vredstein Wintrac Extreme or Pirelli Sottozero2...
Both being winter tyres.
The Pirelli being a RFT.
The Pirelli offering the 255/35/18 rears which the Wintrac did not...

I went with the Wintrac option (225/40 front and 235/40 rear). I know that I can effectively demolish and replace 3 of the 4 tyres and still be better off after replacing them as the Wintrac option was almost half the cost of the Pirelli.

Add to it the Pirelli seems to be more of a cold weather tyre than snow, the Wintrac was the better option for me. We will get a lot of snow over the winter here.

Come the spring, I will be thinking a lot about putting the RFT Bridgestones back on, or whether to go with a non-RFT summer tyre.

[SLOWER]

I put Conti DWS on mine last week and ditched the RFT. Absolutely night and day difference. No more tensing up and clenching my teeth over expansion joints and bumps.

[X.X.I.V]

Originally Posted by SLOWER

I put Conti DWS on mine last week and ditched the RFT. Absolutely night and day difference. No more tensing up and clenching my teeth over expansion joints and bumps.

Doing the same now....ill post back in an hour with an update

[X.X.I.V]

Update
First thing I notice is the road noise is quieter I'd say 10-20% better and all the road expansion joints and bumps are soaked up better
I do notice when turning the sharpness was gone which to me was kinda disappointing but these are for winter fall spring anyways and probably not going to care when I get a dedicated summer wheel set next year.
So overall I'm happy I will post again with a rain and snow update later in the season

[Ffs630]

Tossing my rft's was the first "mod" (lol) that i did!! I blew ine of the run flats out on a pot hole and used that as an excuse to the old lady to get all new tires!

[essex_lad]

I need to change my run flats they are driving mad.

[GoRomeo]

Interestesting... you are convincing me to ditch mine..

Pete: how much did you pay for tires?

[biscut]

I can't wait to get rid of mine....this is my first experience with them. A pothole sounds like you just dropped a tranny! Figure the tread will be gone on the current RFT's by Feb.

[fazman]

Originally Posted by Beer Brewer

Hi All:

Just wanted to drop in and say that I ditched the Continental runflats on my 2011 335xi yeterday, in favor of a square set of Michelin Pilot Sport a/s 3 tires. Man, what a difference. Honestly, I was actually at the point of selling my car due to the bouncy yet oddly harsh ride. Based on the preliminary reviews of the brand-new Michelins I decided to give them a shot, and I couldn't be happier - what was I waiting for?

The ride quality has improved markedly, and the car now exhibits much less "bounce and jounce" over uneven pavement and potholes. Grip is way up, too - on a favorite stretch of variable radius onramp around were I live, the Conti's would start howling and then give way unpredictably. Even though the Michelins aren't broken in yet, I can take the turn much faster and with far more confidence than was ever the case before. No howl, just grip! The overall handling limits of the car are not on par with my old RS4 or M5, to be sure, but I am a lot more confident now when tossing my 3'er around. Oh, and the road noise has diminished, too.

So there you go. With a can of Fix-a-Flat in the trunk, I am enjoying my car again. I'm looking forward to seeing how these things perform in the wet and the, ahem, snow, when we get it. And we will, that I know. Wish me luck!

Thanks,

Pete

I just got a staggered set of 18" MPS A/S3's on my style 162's (Previously I had the 17" square style 158 Conti RFT's) What I ended up doing is leaving one of my fully mounted style 158's with the RFT's in the trunk as my "spare".

Ditching the Run Flats was by far the best mod ever done to the car, I wish I did that first before all the FBO stuff (instead of last).

the car recommends me running 33 front and 36 rear with the 17" RFT conti's, However, with the new MPS A/S 3's with the 18" style 162's... I'm running 36 front and 40 rear. The drive is SOOOOOOOOOO smooth and no more busted teeth on the slightest imperfections in the road.

I need to get some practice on how to use a wheel plug or how to use "fix-a-flat"/"Slime"... that way I won't need the fully mounted spare. I'm also the anal type who checks his tire pressure very often and I check the weekly weather forecast to adjust the tire pressure in the early morning at the coldest point.

[SaviorXi]

Originally Posted by SLOWER

I put Conti DWS on mine last week and ditched the RFT. Absolutely night and day difference. No more tensing up and clenching my teeth over expansion joints and bumps.

I also have Conti DWS and as far as comfort and noise go they are great but holy hell are the sidewalls soft. I find the floaty lack of steering feel to be completely unacceptable. I now have Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my summer BBS wheels and they are absolutely amazing. I was just on Tirerack and it seems Michelin has a new (Ultra High Performance All-Season) Pilot Sport A/S 3 that were designed after the supersport tread pattern and handling is said to be 95% as good as the summers but in an all season. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger. Anyone interested in 2-235/40/18 , and 2- 265/35/18 Conti DWS with about 6000 miles on them? Mint condition. I'm in NJ.

[SLOWER]

Compared to the run flats there is certainly a reduction in steering feel, but for my needs I will take the traction and comfort and sacrifice a bit of feel.

[jsrbrown]

What a difference indeed. Dumped the run flats for some Conti Purecontact eco plus... no longer feel like I may pop a filling when I go over rough patches of road. I had these tires on my benz and I loved them. I also loved the 70K warranty on them. I would recommend them to anyone looking for an inexpensive all season tire.

[blahdamm]

I hate these run flats , always got to keep a spare in the trunk ,just do not trust them. Not to mention the high price !!! grrrrrrr

[Alan335Xi]

Originally Posted by Beer Brewer

Hi All:

Just wanted to drop in and say that I ditched the Continental runflats on my 2011 335xi yeterday, in favor of a square set of Michelin Pilot Sport a/s 3 tires. Man, what a difference. Honestly, I was actually at the point of selling my car due to the bouncy yet oddly harsh ride. Based on the preliminary reviews of the brand-new Michelins I decided to give them a shot, and I couldn't be happier - what was I waiting for?

The ride quality has improved markedly, and the car now exhibits much less "bounce and jounce" over uneven pavement and potholes. Grip is way up, too - on a favorite stretch of variable radius onramp around were I live, the Conti's would start howling and then give way unpredictably. Even though the Michelins aren't broken in yet, I can take the turn much faster and with far more confidence than was ever the case before. No howl, just grip! The overall handling limits of the car are not on par with my old RS4 or M5, to be sure, but I am a lot more confident now when tossing my 3'er around. Oh, and the road noise has diminished, too.

So there you go. With a can of Fix-a-Flat in the trunk, I am enjoying my car again. I'm looking forward to seeing how these things perform in the wet and the, ahem, snow, when we get it. And we will, that I know. Wish me luck!

Thanks,

Pete

So, now that you've got a couple months on them, and some snow/ winter driving, how do you feel? I need a set of 4, currently running square 17" Conti rft. Gonna run me a grand to replace with same ... I'd be very interested to know if the road feel is as 'firm' and responsive. Also, as good traction? Did you notice a 2-3 < mpg as some report?

[Alan335Xi]

Another thought: Anyone know if there is a version of Fix a Flat / Slime that is TPMS safe?

Edit: just answered my own question - Fix A Flat claims to be TPMS safe.