First tire (tyre?)puncture!

raj55 · 10-04-2009, 03:06 AM

I was totally taken by surprise. I had just left home when the red tyre symbol started to flash and pling. Stopped by the road side but did not notice anything wrong with the tyres on quick inspection and kicking around to check for pressure. Thinking it to be a false alarm, drove 2km to the nearby BMW garage and asked them to have a look. We found a nail in my rear right tyre and the tyre had actually sunk a bit by now! Just goes to show how good and quick the tyre deflate warning system is. The only problem is that it does not tell you which one has deflated and it can be a little difficult to judge sometimes (think of cold wintry dark night by the road side). I wonder, why it does not tell you which side has the puncture. I am sure, the system knows that.

I don't know yet if they are going to repair it or what. These RFTs are expensive!

iAerodynamic · 10-04-2009, 03:12 AM

correct me if im wrong i think the 7 series tells you which tire lol.

but glad to hear that youre ok

maswastage · 10-04-2009, 06:57 AM

If you have iDrive, I'm pretty sure going into the TPM system sub-menu will bring up a display that actually does tell you which tire is deflated.

Let us know how it goes repairing them. A lot of people on the forums have complained that run flats are too expensive to replace, and that shops have refused to repair them. I've had the opposite experience, where my local mechanic repaired 5 punctures for $20, so I'm curious if I was just lucky.

dimabimmer · 10-04-2009, 08:52 AM

It is true, the I-drive will bring up the screen and show you which tire has loss of air. I think it's a cool feature and a good one to have. As far as fixing flats on RFT tires...Don't believe everything BMW dealer tells you, use your common sence, dealer wants to sell you new tire. No dealer will ever bother to fix a flat for you, it's only $20, so why would they bother. Anyways, in 3 years of owning my 335i, I must have had 20-30 flats, nails, staples, screws...all of them I fixed at a small, independent "Flats Fixed" shop, never ever had a problem with tire after. I is however somewhat difficult to remove and remount RFT tire on and off the rim, but they manage. I even bought slightly used Potenza RFT at those shops for $75 including mount and balance...and I never had problem with those...and that is a good deal! Those brand new tires are $500 a piece at the dealer! Or, $350 at "Tirerack.com" for new tire. When you buy new tire its old again after you drive for 3 or 5 k miles, so it makes sence to put on slightly used, broken in tire. Cheers!

Tye11 · 10-04-2009, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dimabimmer

It is true, the I-drive will bring up the screen and show you which tire has loss of air. I think it's a cool feature and a good one to have. As far as fixing flats on RFT tires...Don't believe everything BMW dealer tells you, use your common sence, dealer wants to sell you new tire. No dealer will ever bother to fix a flat for you, it's only $20, so why would they bother. Anyways, in 3 years of owning my 335i, I must have had 20-30 flats, nails, staples, screws...all of them I fixed at a small, independent "Flats Fixed" shop, never ever had a problem with tire after. I is however somewhat difficult to remove and remount RFT tire on and off the rim, but they manage. I even bought slightly used Potenza RFT at those shops for $75 including mount and balance...and I never had problem with those...and that is a good deal! Those brand new tires are $500 a piece at the dealer! Or, $350 at "Tirerack.com" for new tire. When you buy new tire its old again after you drive for 3 or 5 k miles, so it makes sence to put on slightly used, broken in tire. Cheers!

I had runflats for all of 2 weeks until i got my first puncture then decided to switch to new rims and tires. I paid for a brand new tire at the dealer because I had a small nail in the tire he told me I could get it patched but if I drive a lot over 60 mph it would be dangerous. Now a lot of my driving is highway so I listened to him and got a new one. Would I have been okay just getting it patched?

ianthegreat · 10-04-2009, 11:05 AM

I'm not going to lie, I've had a leak in my right rear tire for over a year now on my stock RFT's. About every 2-3 days it drops from 40psi to 30psi and I get the red indicator. I keep an eye on the sidewall just for safety purposes, but it all honesty they are perfectly fine. I can tell you if this was a normal non-RFT tire I would have had to replace it already. So I've had great success from them.

maswastage · 10-04-2009, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tye11

Now a lot of my driving is highway so I listened to him and got a new one. Would I have been okay just getting it patched?

Probably, yes. I've put about 8,000 miles on my car after my run flat was patched, and I haven't had any problems. 300 of those miles were on a round trip to Ocean City and back, a good portion of which I spent at over 70mph, and a few times up to 100 when I felt I could get away with it. I haven't had any problems at all. My mechanic said that all I need to do differently from before I got the tire patched is to avoid driving through construction sites (he was joking, because the tire had 5 punctures).

UncleWede · 10-05-2009, 10:02 AM

Your mileage may vary, but I had Conti RFTs patched early on in their life, and I'm about to replace all four because I have 36K on them. It all depends on WHERE the puncture is. Center of the first sipe, you should be fine, but the dealer won't fix it for you. . .

raj55 · 10-05-2009, 03:42 PM

OK been to the tyre dealer first. He refused to patch it because the nail hole is too close to the edge. He did not have the Continental RFT tyres so back to the BMW garage. They said the same thing. They had the tyres but at the central dealer and no price had been decided yet. Wait till tomorrow, they said. It will have to be ordered from the central dealer. When i pointed out to them that I could probably get it shipped from Germany faster and cheaper, they said "this one is specially made for BMW since it has a star marking on the side of the tyre". Never heard of that one before!!
Checked on the internet and found the same tyre (without the BMW star!) for about 125 Euro shipped and all from "däck on line", see link below. Xtra 30 Euro to mount it here in Sweden on the rim and balance it. I am now waiting to see how much BMW is going to quote tomorrow.

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.p...n=So&RunFlat=1

pruettfan · 10-05-2009, 05:39 PM

You should be able to find the BMW "star" tires at any tire dealer. At least in the US BMW does not have exclusive rights to sell them. The star is a simple way to determine that this is a BMW approved tire. I don't know if their is a real difference or not. I dumped my RFT's for this and several other reasons and I am loving conventional tires.

raj55 · 10-07-2009, 02:56 PM

update.
Bmw is asking 170 euro for a RFT of the same kind (continental), mounted and balanced. I think it is a reasonable price seeing that the internet tyre shop is asking for 160 Euros for the same thing. Less hassle at the BMW dealer and it is only 2-3 km from my house.

info@VMRWheels · 10-07-2009, 03:54 PM

how much tread did you have left on the damaged tire? Well, a better question is how many miles have you put on these RFT tires?

raj55 · 10-20-2009, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ty@VMRWheels

how much tread did you have left on the damaged tire? Well, a better question is how many miles have you put on these RFT tires?

The tyre was almost new. The car had just only done 3000Km. Just my bad luck I guess. For the winter tyres I have bought non RFT Nokian RSI (100 euros each). They are much cheaper! I had to buy the slime smart puncture repair kit as well (40 Euros).

10-04-2009, 03:06 AM	#1
raj55 First Lieutenant 28 Rep 303 Posts Drives: E91 2009, 320i Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: SWEDEN iTrader: (0)	First tire (tyre?)puncture! I was totally taken by surprise. I had just left home when the red tyre symbol started to flash and pling. Stopped by the road side but did not notice anything wrong with the tyres on quick inspection and kicking around to check for pressure. Thinking it to be a false alarm, drove 2km to the nearby BMW garage and asked them to have a look. We found a nail in my rear right tyre and the tyre had actually sunk a bit by now! Just goes to show how good and quick the tyre deflate warning system is. The only problem is that it does not tell you which one has deflated and it can be a little difficult to judge sometimes (think of cold wintry dark night by the road side). I wonder, why it does not tell you which side has the puncture. I am sure, the system knows that. I don't know yet if they are going to repair it or what. These RFTs are expensive!
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10-04-2009, 03:12 AM	#2
iAerodynamic Colonel 116 Rep 2,178 Posts Drives: 325i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: San Marino, CA iTrader: (31) Garage List 2006 325i [0.00]	correct me if im wrong i think the 7 series tells you which tire lol. but glad to hear that youre ok
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10-04-2009, 06:57 AM	#3
maswastage Resident Diesel Junkie 56 Rep 1,070 Posts Drives: 2010 AW 335d Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Maryland iTrader: (0)	If you have iDrive, I'm pretty sure going into the TPM system sub-menu will bring up a display that actually does tell you which tire is deflated. Let us know how it goes repairing them. A lot of people on the forums have complained that run flats are too expensive to replace, and that shops have refused to repair them. I've had the opposite experience, where my local mechanic repaired 5 punctures for $20, so I'm curious if I was just lucky.
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10-04-2009, 08:52 AM	#4
dimabimmer Lieutenant Colonel 148 Rep 1,885 Posts Drives: '11 E92 M3 ZCP 6MT Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Brooklyn to SoHo NYC iTrader: (0)	It is true, the I-drive will bring up the screen and show you which tire has loss of air. I think it's a cool feature and a good one to have. As far as fixing flats on RFT tires...Don't believe everything BMW dealer tells you, use your common sence, dealer wants to sell you new tire. No dealer will ever bother to fix a flat for you, it's only $20, so why would they bother. Anyways, in 3 years of owning my 335i, I must have had 20-30 flats, nails, staples, screws...all of them I fixed at a small, independent "Flats Fixed" shop, never ever had a problem with tire after. I is however somewhat difficult to remove and remount RFT tire on and off the rim, but they manage. I even bought slightly used Potenza RFT at those shops for $75 including mount and balance...and I never had problem with those...and that is a good deal! Those brand new tires are $500 a piece at the dealer! Or, $350 at "Tirerack.com" for new tire. When you buy new tire its old again after you drive for 3 or 5 k miles, so it makes sence to put on slightly used, broken in tire. Cheers!
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10-04-2009, 11:05 AM	#6
ianthegreat Colonel 60 Rep 2,314 Posts Drives: n54 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Pittsburgh/Houston iTrader: (1)	I'm not going to lie, I've had a leak in my right rear tire for over a year now on my stock RFT's. About every 2-3 days it drops from 40psi to 30psi and I get the red indicator. I keep an eye on the sidewall just for safety purposes, but it all honesty they are perfectly fine. I can tell you if this was a normal non-RFT tire I would have had to replace it already. So I've had great success from them.
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10-05-2009, 10:02 AM	#8
UncleWede Long Time Admirer, First Time Owner 17980 Rep 9,377 Posts Drives: G01 X3 M40i Dark Graphite Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Oxnard, CA iTrader: (0)	Your mileage may vary, but I had Conti RFTs patched early on in their life, and I'm about to replace all four because I have 36K on them. It all depends on WHERE the puncture is. Center of the first sipe, you should be fine, but the dealer won't fix it for you. . .
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10-05-2009, 03:42 PM	#9
raj55 First Lieutenant 28 Rep 303 Posts Drives: E91 2009, 320i Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: SWEDEN iTrader: (0)	OK been to the tyre dealer first. He refused to patch it because the nail hole is too close to the edge. He did not have the Continental RFT tyres so back to the BMW garage. They said the same thing. They had the tyres but at the central dealer and no price had been decided yet. Wait till tomorrow, they said. It will have to be ordered from the central dealer. When i pointed out to them that I could probably get it shipped from Germany faster and cheaper, they said "this one is specially made for BMW since it has a star marking on the side of the tyre". Never heard of that one before!! Checked on the internet and found the same tyre (without the BMW star!) for about 125 Euro shipped and all from "däck on line", see link below. Xtra 30 Euro to mount it here in Sweden on the rim and balance it. I am now waiting to see how much BMW is going to quote tomorrow. http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.p...n=So&RunFlat=1
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10-05-2009, 05:39 PM	#10
pruettfan Brigadier General 1622 Rep 3,402 Posts Drives: 2017 M2, LBB, DCT, Exec Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Chandler, AZ iTrader: (0)	You should be able to find the BMW "star" tires at any tire dealer. At least in the US BMW does not have exclusive rights to sell them. The star is a simple way to determine that this is a BMW approved tire. I don't know if their is a real difference or not. I dumped my RFT's for this and several other reasons and I am loving conventional tires.
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10-07-2009, 02:56 PM	#11
raj55 First Lieutenant 28 Rep 303 Posts Drives: E91 2009, 320i Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: SWEDEN iTrader: (0)	update. Bmw is asking 170 euro for a RFT of the same kind (continental), mounted and balanced. I think it is a reasonable price seeing that the internet tyre shop is asking for 160 Euros for the same thing. Less hassle at the BMW dealer and it is only 2-3 km from my house.
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10-07-2009, 03:54 PM	#12
info@VMRWheels BimmerPost Supporting Vendor 31 Rep 326 Posts Drives: BMW Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Anaheim, CA iTrader: (0)	how much tread did you have left on the damaged tire? Well, a better question is how many miles have you put on these RFT tires?
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