replaced runflats with REAL tires

[ricorico]

Hi Guys,

Well, I did it. I replaced those stinking runflats with real tires!
The runflats were so noisy I was getting nose bleeds. The dealer
said it was only the front tires that were "cupping". Since I had
16K miles on the tires they offered to sell me two new tires at half
price, but it was still $350 for the two!

So I got Michelin Pilot PS2 rear=255/40/17 ; front= 225/45/17. What
a difference! Quiet! The ride is smoother. They grip well. What's
not to like? Oh, yeah, no spare tire. So I got a Conti compressor
with slime kit. Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile.

Rico
2007 328xi wagon sport

[hsv-dan]

Dunlop Direzza on new Breyton wheels for what was not much more than the price of the dealer run-flats. My originals had 20K miles, rather thin on the rear.

as you say, smooth and quiet.

Now I need to get that compressor.

[HBWT]

year ago and have been quietly enjoying better ride and performance ever since. The only difference is I went with a tire plugging kit instead of a can-o-slime. I've been using mushroom plugs for 30 years and never had one fail...EVER! Some say that they are intended for temporary fixes only but if the hole is not too big they are as permanent as any. Never had one cut through by the metal cords either...at least not to my knowledge. FWIW...see link for the kit.
Plugger

<a href="http://s131.photobucket.com/albums/p315/hoscarnag/roadflypix/?action=view¤t=335siggy.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p315/hoscarnag/roadflypix/335siggy.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
2008 335i Coupe Alpine PP SP CP Saddle Heated Seats Comfort Access Sirius iPod

[rhs63]

I've had a love/hate relationship with my run flat tires since we bought our 328i Wagon in '07. Did you just swap the tires, and nothing else? I'm very interested in anything else had to be done.

Thank you.

[ricorico]

rhs63,

Nothing else needs to be done. Just put new rubber on the existing
wheels and _everything_ is better.

You can burn out your eyeballs reading all the posts on runflats versus
real tires. Some people claim the suspension is tuned for the extra
weight of the runflat tire. It is all nonsense. I use snow tires in
winter and the difference in weight between those and the summer tires
is _much_ more than the small difference between runflat and regular.
As it turns out, the snow tires are lighter because they are 16 inch
and the summer tires are 17 inch and the extra inch of metal makes the
summer tires heavy.

Rico

[hsv-dan]

I have not seen those before. Got to get that for the garage.

I have used the cheapie plug kits for many years and miles without any failures. They're a [Oops!] to push in with the little plastic handles, but they've always worked for me.

[rhs63]

Rico,
Thank you for the info.
My dealership made the mistake of giving me a loaner, once, and it did NOT have run flats. It was SO quiet I thought I was riding in a Rolls Royce. It was an amazing difference!

[Stinger9]

[Stinger9]

on the bandwagon exclaiming the benefits of getting rid of their run-flats! And other posts tell the horrors of flats with run-flats.
Yet, I've never read anywhere someone falling in love with the benefits of run-flats.
BMW read carefully. Wake up and smell the vulcanizing. We do not want cars with no spare tire. Some have sworn never to buy a run-flat only car, myself included. Be more responsive or your favorable numbers will plunge if you keep choosing options we don't want.

[BG]

I agree, I have never read of anyone who voluntarily bought run-flat tires to replace regulars. You wrote, "Be more responsive or your favorable numbers will plunge." Sorry, I disagree. There are so many suckers out there, BMW's sales will do just fine. I bet a bulk of buyers or leasers have absolutely no idea what a "run-flat" tire is, nor do they care until it is time to replace them and they are hit with the bill. But by then it is too late, they already bought or leased the car. Most buyers, outside of us enthusiasts, don't do much homework. What color is it? Will it look good in my driveway and will the neighbors be sufficiently impressed? Will my spouse agree to drive it if it has a blasted automatic transmission? Will it play my iPod? That's the extent of the homework.

[Jim]

what qualifies as an enthusiast.

[Jim]

you'd have to use a really broad definition of what qualifies as an enthusiast, so much so that it really wouldn't specifically define anybody.

I'll admit not being especially up on current ///M models, but the E46 ///M3, as well as the E36/7 ///M Roadsters and Coupes as well as several other well known manufacturer's cars had/have no spare tires and they sold/sell quite well. And not to diss anybody here, myself included, but I'm pretty certain many of those owners have a completely different interpretation of what qualifies as an enthusiast, one being that they actually take their cars to the track rather than have all that engineering resigned to nothing more than those insanely adventurous trips to the office and grocery store. :)

Jim

[Socom]

sport pkg MB) for about a month and everytime I ride in my '06 E90 I think that it's one of the harshest GD riding cars I've ever been in.

[Stinger9]

do be aware that there could be life after the initial wave. For instance almost no one in our country has yet realized Congress has voted out incandescent light bulbs after 2012. All you will be able to buy are CFL bulbs. Yet in Europe where the law is taking effect now, people are getting sick and tired.
So when the first wave of uninformed RFT owners get fed up and complain to many others, perhaps there will be a second wave of awareness such that shoppers will inquire and avoid RFT's. Stranger things have happened, and I do my best to spread the Gospel!

[BG]

Remember when Detroit "invented" the ghastly compact spares? It was in the early 1980s. They said it was to save space in the trunk, but really they were cheap so therefore saved a few $ per car. Well, few people complained, so eventually most manufacturers figured, why not rip off our customers and install a compact spare? The bulk of car consumers just don't understand technological things pertaining to their cars. But I hope you are right and consumers will complain about run-flats.

[Stinger9]

you drive the way run-flats do. They leave you with any variety of normal tire you choose. It's mainly an economic negative as you only get four real tires with your car. And you can still get your tires serviced anywhere for the same money as normal.
And you can go thru the life of your car without ever putting the compact on if you're lucky.
And is it my imagination, or is every car I ever see with a compact mounted a cheap little piece of scrap car? Do good cars really still come with compacts?

Compacts are much less egregious than run-flats.
Rise up ye all against run-flats!!

[rad2m]

and I am extremely happy with them. There is a ramp I know well that I could take just at 70mph with my old Michellins PS2s run-flats and now I can do 80 mph there.

To all the run-flats fans. The PS2-s are about the best run-flats you can get. Yet my car now corners much better and if you don't care about that, it also breaks much better. Which means it is safer than with run-flats. You don't care about your safety?

[Stinger9]

motives again, or lay your tired old establishment guilt trips on us, man!






Where did you say I can get those RE11's?

[tlennen]

I have 16" snow tires on my 335 and it handles a million times better than with the oem runflats. It's so sad they basically ruin this car with these damn tires.