[Cadillac]

Well that is it for me and BMW (This is my 4th)
A total of 5 stupid Run Flat punctures at a total cost of over $4K in 3 years, with only 40K on the clock.
Nothing wrong with the tyres heaps of tread, but can’t be fixed blah blah!!!
…you all know the drill

So I thought I would call BMW Australia…have you ever tried to get past the defensive attitude…I was told how great the tyres were as the suspension is designed for it…right I agree on the F3/M7 magic on the normal Sydney roads at 50KMH..The best description is CRAP!! Tram lines and generally bumps its way across corners.
Also advised I could run normal tyres so let me see I have good tyres on the car and should now buy 4 new ones.
BMW Australia tells me you can now buy run flats you can repair…I asked who...so they tell me Bridgestone, Dunlop etc etc…I was at these places they all said impossible have not heard…even Trivett Tyres said the same!!!
Bridgestone…well I was at Bridgestone they had not even one tyre in stock of any kind that they could replace my punctured one with…so I could drive on it for the weekend or go to Trivett Tyres…now let me say this is where I have spent all my $4K and they are great, no complaints…I was told everyone who goes there complains about the RFT.
Now the BMW Corp. guy tells me that is not the case…so I guess the Motoring Journo’s are all saying they are great? Maybe he does not read the reviews?

Anyway enough of a rant…I am due for a new car (This one is coming up 3) and it will not be a Beemer till they get rid of the crap RFT. Wonder why none of the M cars have RFT?

Audi/Mercedes/Porsche

Sorry for the rant…at least the car is novated so I get some tax concession.

[Tintin]

hey - thats too bad man. A lot of members (me included) have actually had run flats repaired. The big chains wont do it but your smaller tyre shop will. I think the general consensus is that, provided you havnt damaged the side walls, a nail damage repair is fine.

What are you thinking of getting now?

I hear you though on your frustration

[VGR00]

I understand where you are comming from with your frustrations. I would have made an executive decission on puncture No.1 to replace with normal tyres. Anyway ... I don't think BMW will walk away from RFT anytime soon. In fact, I beleive as the technology improves, this will become the standard by all call manufactures.

As for the crap ride, I can vouch that there is a huge improvement from first gen E90 to the new LCI on RFT. First gen never felt like the ride you would expect from a BMW or from BMW past even when upgraded to conventional tyres. The LCI seems more in harmaony with the stiffness of the RFT. I've put my 19's on the LCI and it's just as smooth as with the RFT's.

Anyway ... good luck with your next purchase and I hope your driving experiance is more positive.

[eleven11]

Sorry about your luck.


I paid $5 (USD) last week to have a puncture patched - took 3 minutes. Just a mom-and-pop tire store.

Why don't you just run non-RFTs and keep the stock RFTs for lease turn-in or resale time?

[Beejay]

Originally Posted by eleven11

Sorry about your luck.

But is it really bad luck? A puncture every 10k seems to me it might have to do with driving styles and funny roads.
If the conditions under which this car is driven are that punishing for the tyres of course a cheaper solution would be to install normal tyres - but that should have dawned on the owner after the second puncture at the latest.
Unfortunately neither we nor BMW can run a parallel test with non-run flats driven in the same condition to see if the same problems would occur. As for RFT in general, so far we haven't been able to relate at all to the many complaints about them in forums etc. Maybe, as mentioned earlier in this thread, they really have come a long way.

[mark325]

I think its cost me like $35 for BMW to repair my runflat :S

[Cadillac]

Driving style causes punctures?

Wow...I must be looking for objects on the road to run into?
What sort of idiotic statement is that?
3 years of driving this car and the wheels are unmarked these are objects picked up from the road..i.e. sharp objects..nails, screws etc....
As an FYI my X5 in the USA/LA/Seattle and my 3 series in Dallas no punctures in 8 years of living there.
My 330 Coupe in Australia with over 4 years of driving had one puncture...I assume you have RFT's on the 320?

As for fixing the tyres Trivett Tyres said that even if you do fix them you are risking the integrity of the tyre and risking further detrioration...there must be a reason the manufacturers say you can not fix them. The problem as much as I would like to drive 200KMH our limit is 110KMH.

[WOPALX]

My runcraps have never had a puncture, despite the crappy Sydney roads and 51000km's traveled.

But I'd expect that as they were taken off the car at 100km for standard tires

[VGR00]

We shouldn't get into an agument over this however 5 punctures in 3 years / 40,000 klms is very unlucky. It's got nothing to do with the actual RFT. There are planty of people I know who have driven that distance or more without experiancing a puncture (yes - on RFT)

The reason some tyre shops wont repair a RFT puncture is because they cannot guarantee the intgrety of the side wall because of how long you have driven the car with the tyre deflated. It's not because they cannot repair the puncture itself.

RFT's have a lot of good points however they still have a way to come before they meet everyones expectations. The biggest problem the next generations of RFT's have to overcome is the bad reputation this current crop are known for.

[John_01]

Apart from the performance issues I think that run-flat tyres are a waste of rubber.
Run flats are much heavier than conventional tyres due to the thickness of the rubber on the sidewalls.

I think if BMW were really concerned about the environment and material re-use they would change back to conventional tyres. 1) Because they consume less rubber, and 2) Because they can be repaired in many cases.

[deonsand]

i trade 4 runflat tyres when they are brand new.

cost $ 20 to have a puncture patched .

i keep a tyre repair kit at boot of my car for in case,

[mark325]

John, I don't think its an environmental concern for using the run flats.

BMW are very much about the safety of its occupants. They don't want people changing their tires on the side of the freeway, Its very dangerous. Not only that but run flats do not suffer the same consequences caused by blowouts.

I am in no way praising the bloody things, I nearly hit the roof when BOB Jane informed me they cannot repair it, Its illegal they have to order me a new one. I left pretty annoyed and phoned BMW straight away and they repaired it for me.

Run flats are a long way off of being perfected and I believe were brought into production far too soon but they are purely a safety feature.

[Cadillac]

Lets be real...it is Sydney or Melb or BNE..we dont have freeways..we spend 95% of our time doing less than 30KMH..every one of my punctures was on a 50KMH road with no safety issues.
We are not allowed to do 150-200kmh on our roads...the best we can do is 110 I have lived in the US for over 8 years and Europe for over 9.

It is about paying $800 -$900 for replacing a perfectly good tyre..it is stupid.

[mark325]

The only two punctures I have ever had both happened at 110.

[John_01]

I also don't buy too much into this safety issue. I have trouble accepting that properly used tyres will suddenly blow out in freeway conditions. If you are talking about tyres that have obvious side wall damage, are worn down so the belt is exposed, have been retreaded or badly repaired than I could believe it. Otherwise I think it is hard to see the safety issue at the speeds we use in Australia.

Mark, I am just curious, do you owe your life to run-flats?

[mark325]

LOL, I will be soon swapping them out for Non Run flats purely for some better traction as they are too bloody hard.

That and my new wheels are bigger than my current ones.

[samchuang33]

Is it me, or is this thread heating up....LOL

Sry to hear you troubles man, cadillac. We all feel ur pain.

Originally Posted by deonsand

i trade 4 runflat tyres when they are brand new.

cost $ 20 to have a puncture patched .

i keep a tyre repair kit at boot of my car for in case,

Did they give u much for the brand new run-craps?

Thinking i might do the same too. Hoping with some luck that the run-crap might cover the cost of new set of tires and BMW mobility kit.

[dtlv8]

Last year I drove around new housing estates quite alot looking for a new house and every 3 months one of the tyres would get a puncture. Always caused by self tapping screws. My wallet copped a battering; $500 for a pirelli RFT. They should ban self tapping screws. They are truly bad news for RFTs!

After 2 punctures in 6 months, I had it with RFTs. I replaced the RFTs with standard yokohama tyres and the ride improved out of sight. And the best thing was it costed me just abit of sweat to fix the puncture tyre. The secret is get a tyre repair kit (about $10) and 12v tyre pump (about $50).

[Cadillac]

Heating up, LOL...No I am over it...the weekend has been and gone and I have had a drink since Friday.

Got a call from my Trivett Sales Manager at least he cared enough to address my concerns and he was going to check status on the new RFT that can be repaired.
That said, I am going to heed the comments and advise from the people on this site and will run these down and then replace all 4 with normal tyres and a mobilty kit.
Trivett said they would put on the new P ZERO's same 19" diameter but 10mm wider on both front and rear.
Thanks for the comments

[WOPALX]

Originally Posted by Cadillac

That said, I am going to heed the comments and advise from the people on this site and will run these down and then replace all 4 with normal tyres and a mobilty kit.

There is a space saver spare kit available now as an alternative to the mobility kit.

The one flat I have had since ditching the runcraps was not repairable (side wall damage) and the mobility kit was useless, the space saver would have been a great help if i'd had it at the time.

[.dee]

Originally Posted by WOPALX

There is a space saver spare kit available now as an alternative to the mobility kit.

The one flat I have had since ditching the runcraps was not repairable (side wall damage) and the mobility kit was useless, the space saver would have been a great help if i'd had it at the time.

do tell, im looking at getting rid of the RFT's, i have CSC3's on the lexus and was going to go same for the 335.

any pictures of the kit or where it fits in the car? im assuming just in the boot.

[WOPALX]

Originally Posted by .dee

do tell, im looking at getting rid of the RFT's, i have CSC3's on the lexus and was going to go same for the 335.

any pictures of the kit or where it fits in the car? im assuming just in the boot.

Sits on the existing floor of the boot. There is then another cover they supply that goes over it like a false floor. I did not initially get the cover as I was one of the 1st the dealer had sold to and they had no idea how it went together.