[DougMcL]

I have a 520d with 4000 miles on the clock and Dunlop Spotmaxx Runflats. I hated the runflats on my last BMW and replaced them with Michelin Pilot SS which absolutely transformed the car for the better in terms of ride noise and handling. I am seriously thinking about doing the same on my 5er. Not too worried about punctures as I am fairly practical and always carry a plug kit and Continental tyre goo/pump.

I hate the way the 5 tramlines on the runflats and it also feels noisier than it should. The ride is good on VDC but I feel it could be better (maybe even S Class better?)

Any opinions? I was thinking of Goodyear Asymmetric 2 or Dunlops again as I am not willing to shell out for the Michelin. Conti Sport Contact 5 are also within budget...

[morellomax]

Dunlop Sportmaxx RT's should work well - I ran my previous 535d on those, on 18's. Currently running Michelin Primacy 3 on 18s on another 535d. Fairly happy with those but there's a tiny bit more cavity resonance on rough tarmac than I expected - maybe because the Michelins are XL rated. In both cases though the ride is smoother than the factory runflats and there is zero tramlining and zero back-end-skipping-out-when-you-hit-a-rut-halfway-round-a-bend-on-a-cold-morning.

I used tyreleader for both sets.

[martin mustang]

I experienced the non run flat when I switched to winter tyres in my old E60, even with 19 inch wheels the car felt far more better! With my F10 I made sure once it was time I went back to normal tyres even with the dumper controls in my car (a big improvement on comfort compare to the E60), I have the Michelin Pilot Sport and I find them perfect fit.

[gspannu]

Originally Posted by DougMcL

I have a 520d with 4000 miles on the clock and Dunlop Spotmaxx Runflats. I hated the runflats on my last BMW and replaced them with Michelin Pilot SS which absolutely transformed the car for the better in terms of ride noise and handling. I am seriously thinking about doing the same on my 5er. Not too worried about punctures as I am fairly practical and always carry a plug kit and Continental tyre goo/pump.

I hate the way the 5 tramlines on the runflats and it also feels noisier than it should. The ride is good on VDC but I feel it could be better (maybe even S Class better?)

Any opinions? I was thinking of Goodyear Asymmetric 2 or Dunlops again as I am not willing to shell out for the Michelin. Conti Sport Contact 5 are also within budget...

Get the Michelin PS4 Pilot Sport 4 - Non RFT; recently launched, excellent tyre...

[the_rangdo]

Having had Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 on my last car, I picked up a set of these

I've actually got the Jaguar OEM version as the noise is slightly reduced. Yet to be fitted, on my winters at the moment.

Price is fairly hard to beat for what should be great tyres if the AS2s are anything to go by.

[mragarg]

I'm on the same boat. So far I have 12k miles on my run flats. I dream about the day I ditch them. Because of the weather here, I need all season. Any inputs on A/S 3?

[AP]

with you regarding tramlining on RFT's. I have a bad road near me and the car will go all over the place if left unchecked. I can vouch for their usefulness with a flat as I have had 2 punctures and driven many miles on them. However the tramlining is a bad price to pay for that scenario.

Also notice that on curves with a bad surface the car can feel like it skips sideways?

[DougMcL]

Prices also seem to have gone up dramatically in the past week across the board which is annoying, but I've ordered the Goodyear F1 A2s. Fingers crossed.

[un1eash]

My F11 520d M Sport on 18" came with Pirelli Cinturato P7 Runflat's and they've been great, a little noisey but no tramlining or crashing over bumps.
It's alot more smoother then my E92 M Sport on non runflats.

[shiner]

You may need to notify insurance company if you do this since you will have "modified" the car from the manufacturer intended type of tyre. Don't give the insurance company any opportunity to wriggle out!

[DougMcL]

I don't know where you got that idea from. The tyres are the correct size, load and speed ratings. There is no need to inform the insurance company. This has been discussed ad nauseam before.

[gspannu]

Originally Posted by DougMcL

I don't know where you got that idea from. The tyres are the correct size, load and speed ratings. There is no need to inform the insurance company. This has been discussed ad nauseam before.

I'd rather be safe than sorry... and inform the insurance anyway.
2 years back, I was with Direct Line and they agreed to let me switch to non RFT, but only after a few discussions, and still noted the car as 'modified'.

This year, I am looking to swap my old E92 to non RFT, and SwiftCover had no problems at all.
So, it seems that different companies operate differently.

What I did find out is that if the new tyre is listed as OEM for BMW, then it did not matter if it was RFT or non-RFT - strange, but that was Direct Line view couple of years back.
I'd just call up the insurance company and be safe.

[DougMcL]

And that is just some jobsworth in a call centre being a jobsworth. BMW offer these cars with a choice of RFT or non RFT in other markets. Do you really think that if you put, say, Nankang tyres on a Mondeo, which are definitely not OEM that your insurance company would need to know. I think not.

The tyres do need to meet regulatory standards and be the correct size, load and speed rating, nothing else. The only thing that changes with runflats is your ability to drive after having a puncture and perhaps your comfort.

If an insurance company EVER decided it wasn't going to challenge paying out a claim on that basis, I think I would be straight on the phone to the FOS.

Here is the ABI's document on fitting winter tyres for example. You now do not need to inform your insurance company if you do this...

https://www.abi.org.uk/Insurance-and...657A699FB.ashx

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by DougMcL

And that is just some jobsworth in a call centre being a jobsworth. BMW offer these cars with a choice of RFT or non RFT in other markets. Do you really think that if you put, say, Nankang tyres on a Mondeo, which are definitely not OEM that your insurance company would need to know. I think not.

The tyres do need to meet regulatory standards and be the correct size, load and speed rating, nothing else. The only thing that changes with runflats is your ability to drive after having a puncture and perhaps your comfort.

In my experience it isn't the fact we may be fitting different tyres to the same load and speed rating for our cars, it is the fact we are making a change from the original equipment on our specific car. (Never mind what other models may or may not be fitted with). If our UK model comes with RFTs then that is the basis for the insured risk the insurance companies make.

If you read the terms and conditions of your policy you may find it specifically says you need to notify them of any change to original specification (or similar sort of statement). That doesn't mean they change the policy if you notify them, it may be as was my case with two different companies, they simply want to know, (their entitlement according to the T&C's). They make a note on the policy, but no change to the policy as long as we confirm we are using tyres to the same load/speed rating (or higher) as specified for the car.

Risks have not changed, T&C's are met. We as users have peace of mind. All for a simple phone call.

On the winter tyre issue. This past year is the first year where there has been common agreement, even last year, there were still companies requiring notification of a change to winter wheels/tyres.

[morellomax]

Originally Posted by DougMcL

I don't know where you got that idea from. The tyres are the correct size, load and speed ratings. There is no need to inform the insurance company. This has been discussed ad nauseam before.

Do you want to tone it down a bit ? People are just trying to help you. And while it has been discussed ad nauseam, your view has not been unanimously agreed as correct.

Can you show us where in the EU BMW will supply a 520d from the factory with 19" non-RFTs ?

[the_rangdo]

It's a never-ending argument.

For me, 4 years ago I bought a winter wheel set direct from my dealer. Told my insurance, they didn't care that it was a change to winter wheels, or the fact it was a change to non-RFT. Not even any notes added Tyres are within spec, inflated to correct pressure and maintained correctly, that's all they're bothered about.

If we extend this thinking, surely we'd be stuck to only ever using whatever brand/model of tyre the car is tested with

[shiner]

Originally Posted by DougMcL

I don't know where you got that idea from. The tyres are the correct size, load and speed ratings. There is no need to inform the insurance company. This has been discussed ad nauseam before.

This is a friendly discussion forum where BMW 5 series enthusiasts "discuss" and share opinions and experiences. I offered you my own experience on this matter and you reply in a rather terse, dismissive manner. If you so readily dismiss people's replies, in favour of your own notions, then why ask the question in the first place?

I suggest you take your attitude somewhere else.

[DougMcL]

Thanks everyone for the help and advice. There was no particular "attitude" meant. The tyres are on order and I will report back once they are fitted.

Terms and conditions are interesting with insurance companies. I once had a problem with an insurance company and they quoted their T&Cs at me. I ended up making a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman about a)their refusal to meet the costs involved and b) unfair T&Cs. The FO found in my favour on both counts.

Just did a quick fiddle on the German configurator and you do have the option to select non-runflats although perhaps not on 19" wheels.

[the_rangdo]

The only issue I ever had was when I first started using winters about 6 years ago, the BMW branded insurance wanted to increase my premium for switching.

So I cancelled the policy. And my new insurer's attitude was along the lines of "winter tyres are safer in winter, yet they want to charge you more for being safer - go figure".

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by the_rangdo

It's a never-ending argument.

For me, 4 years ago I bought a winter wheel set direct from my dealer. Told my insurance, they didn't care that it was a change to winter wheels, or the fact it was a change to non-RFT. Not even any notes added Tyres are within spec, inflated to correct pressure and maintained correctly, that's all they're bothered about.

If we extend this thinking, surely we'd be stuck to only ever using whatever brand/model of tyre the car is tested with

Some of us have been involved in these discussions for over 10-years now, and to be fair the whole situation has 'mellowed', but it wasn't the case at the beginning.

BMW were much more adamant about not changing to non RFTs, made some very strong comments based on the "designed around run-flats" statement. The tyre manufacturers also put out some strong statements, some being current. For example, Bridgestone don't even recommend mixing the Potenza RE050A RFT with the Potenza S001 RFT. Recommended to replace in sets, due to the different tyre characteristics. The comment on different tyre characteristics was also a strong argument for not changing to non run-flats, certainly not to mix the tyre types.

The British Tyre Manufacturers’ Association and Tyresafe also made specific comments, recommendations putting customer queries on the subject back to the car and tyre manufacturers, so not surprising the insurance companies (who insure the risk) had views as well. Hence requiring users to notify them.

Even some tyre outlets required users to sign a disclaimer, if the user insisted on going against industry recommendations, fitting non run-flats.

So not surprising there has been debate and different opinion.

As to 'simply' changing tyres of the same type, that is a different issue, there is not the contention of very different tyre characteristics. Even then there are recommendations, such as BMW recommending an approved star marked tyre.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by the_rangdo

The only issue I ever had was when I first started using winters about 6 years ago, the BMW branded insurance wanted to increase my premium for switching.

So I cancelled the policy. And my new insurer's attitude was along the lines of "winter tyres are safer in winter, yet they want to charge you more for being safer - go figure".

The winter tyre issues show how the whole insurance thing is full of oddities, but hopefully evolving for the better. I recall the same for many users, no logic at all, when users knew they were taking the safer option, reducing the insurance risk. Took a while to play catch-up, obsessed with views of changing alloy wheels from OEM fitments and/or the modifying/tuning money maker.

[the_rangdo]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Even some tyre outlets required users to sign a disclaimer, if the user insisted on going against industry recommendations, fitting non run-flats.

I had to do that when I ditched my summer RFTs (before the winter wheel change)

Then I phoned the same BMW insurance that wanted to increase my premium for putting on winter tyres, but in this case they weren't bothered in the slightest.

So from experience, and whether right or wrong, I treat tyre changes now the same as I did before I'd even heard of RFT - if it fits, the rating is correct for the car, etc then the rest is just unnecessary white noise arising from lots of shoulder shrugging and no-one wanting to make a decision.