[brettdt88]

Just thought I would share my run flat experience and ultimately how I feel much better about my resulting decision. 2011 e90 335i xDrive, sports package, 161 style wheels (but due to xDrive, no sport suspension or staggered rim setup).

I hit a pothole last year in wonderful urban NJ on Continental Pro Contact SSR run flat tires that were only 20k miles old. Huge sidewall bubble resulted from this, because -> Runflats . So yesterday I was driving around the area I work and once again hit a pothole on the same tire and this time it resulted in a flat tire.

I said to myself last year that if I have another problem with these runflat tires that I would swap out all 4 corners for a fresh set of normal tires and finally ditch these ridiculously loud and unforgiving runflats. So when contemplating whether to replace this one tire for $290 or buying a whole set of 4 new tires for $800, ive decided to pull the trigger on a whole new set. My car is currently in the shop getting a new set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's. Tirerack and most users have only good things to say about these tires so I have high hopes about the tire and the resulting ride quality I will now have thanks to ditching those run flat expensive pieces of garbage.

I thought I would be sacrificing snow traction when going with the Michelin from the Conti procontacts but it looks like the Michelin's are reported to be just as good if not better in the snow than those Conti's.

Picking my car up this afternoon and cant wait to put these new tires to the test. Cheers for listening to my rant!

Edit/Addition: I drove home 35 miles on my flat run flat. Sketchiest and scariest ride of my life, hopefully the shop doesn't call to tell me I completey trashed my rim on the way home. Got to the shop to find that a gash was now open on the tire sidewall that was not there originally. It was probably only a matter of miles/mph before my tire came shredding off the wheel.

[Vitalität]

I got the Bridgestone Driveguard RunFlats and they are not loud. Also, I got them installed for $1060 with insurance and I went thsi route because the normal tires costs about the same and the thread wear are worse. What is the theadwear rating of the Michellin?

[brettdt88]

45000 mile treadwear warranty, Y speed rated. Each tire was 180+ tax compared to 270+ tax for the run flats. So a huge savings per tire in my opinion. Also I have no noise complaints from the continental run flats under normal driving, its when you hit a pothole or bump in the road or uneven surface that the tires make a pounding and astounding atomic bomb noise that sounds like your axel just dropped and fell off the car. I believe this is because the sidewalls are so tuff on the runflats that there is no give to them when you hit a bump so they don't dampen the noise at all and therefore the suspension takes the dampening duty. With a normal tire and normal sidewall I think you'll have some flex and dampening that will result in a normal noise and not an atomic sounding noise.

Passengers in my car that experience hitting a bump, pothole, or uneven surface always freak out and think my car just exploded somewhere. Im tired of calming them down and explaining that the noise is just because of these ridiculous tires.

[brettdt88]

Also the great point my tire shop made was, do you really want to be driving around on a runflat tire at dangerous speeds and risk your life. I'm not tire diagnostic expert so its hard to tell if you get a flat on a runflat how safe it is and how long you can safely drive on that tire. I would rather just safely call AAA or a tow truck and either have them come pick me up and tow me or administer tire goo sealant and use a portable compressor to blow the tire back up, and drive on a tire that is no longer loosing air.

[Vitalität]

You used the word "rather" which means runflats are not for you then. 50 mph for 50 miles is how long you can drive with flat tires on these. RFT works for me better for a number of reasons but if regular tires works for you then I'm with you :-)

[brettdt88]

50 miles at max 50mph is how long you can drive only if you don't have sidewall damage to the tire, which is the kind of damage I had last time I hit a pothole and created a huge bubble. Yesterdays pothole incident must have caused some sidewall damage too because after I stopped to look at the tires on my way home to see if I could continue to drive safely on them there was a 1-2" section of the sidewall closest to the rim that had its sidewall "guts" coming off the rim. So for me, and obviously everyones experience will vary, this is the second pothole in 1 year that has caused sidewall damage to a run flat tire that was practically new. This was the same tire I replaced last year and it only had 15k miles on it at most. Basically I don't think I was putting myself in a safe situation when driving on the tire for 35 miles yesterday, kinda scary ha.

[nrrm1127]

Pilot A/S3's are great tires as All-Seasons go. Obviously not a dedicated summer tire (which is really what the 3 series deserves), but certainly nowhere near as compromised on grip as other A/S tires go. Largely built/designed using similar style tread pattern/compound to the PSS. Threw them on my Mini Cooper S (needed something that would last 40k miles and wasn't a horrible run flat) since the car sits in FL most of the time while I'm in NY.

[Vitalität]

Originally Posted by brettdt88

50 miles at max 50mph is how long you can drive only if you don't have sidewall damage to the tire, which is the kind of damage I had last time I hit a pothole and created a huge bubble. Yesterdays pothole incident must have caused some sidewall damage too because after I stopped to look at the tires on my way home to see if I could continue to drive safely on them there was a 1-2" section of the sidewall closest to the rim that had its sidewall "guts" coming off the rim. So for me, and obviously everyones experience will vary, this is the second pothole in 1 year that has caused sidewall damage to a run flat tire that was practically new. This was the same tire I replaced last year and it only had 15k miles on it at most. Basically I don't think I was putting myself in a safe situation when driving on the tire for 35 miles yesterday, kinda scary ha.

Good thing about tire insurance, it covers pothole damage :-)