[Boulder Bill]

Originally Posted by Bmw doubles

Run flats have nothing to do with comfort or performance. It's a safety measure in case you get a flat which is about less than a 1-2%chance. If traverse alleyways a lot then maybe run flats are good for ya.

Your posts are terrifically confusing to me.

Can't tell if you like them or not!

But I switched out my OEM RF at 35,000 miles and, placebo effect or not, can't believe I waited so frigging long. Smoother, more "connected" ride, and when I cross RR tracks, I don't feel like I am getting thrown around so much.

Just my $.02.

Bill

[Bmw doubles]

Originally Posted by Boulder Bill

Your posts are terrifically confusing to me.

Can't tell if you like them or not!

But I switched out my OEM RF at 35,000 miles and, placebo effect or not, can't believe I waited so frigging long. Smoother, more "connected" ride, and when I cross RR tracks, I don't feel like I am getting thrown around so much.

Just my $.02.

Bill

Excuse the rambling. Short answer is they suck. I don't expect my car to drive like a Honda Accord with 75 sidewalls, but a BMW that drives like a 1992 Nissan truck with cut springs and low profile tires is unacceptable.

[TTG]

For those of us that are leasing, we are SOL.

I am thinking about dedicating the MSport wheels that the car came with as summer only and get myself a set of 17' OEM wheel and tire combo for winter use.

[ndinh]

Originally Posted by TTG

For those of us that are leasing, we are SOL.

I am thinking about dedicating the MSport wheels that the car came with as summer only and get myself a set of 17' OEM wheel and tire combo for winter use.

Lots of people just get a set of aftermarket wheels/tires for use for the duration of their lease and just swap them when the lease is over. Depending on the wheels you'll get about 1/2 of your cost back when you sell them.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by visualguy

Some of them are decent-enough. I'm ok with the Bridgestone Turanza ER300 on my 550i. The ride is surprisingly comfortable and quiet. The handling is good. The only issue is their cost - particularly the 275/35R19 rears.

Interesting comments from other drivers, but like yourself I'm pretty happy to stay with run-flats on my F11.

The situation was far different in my E91, where run-flats were a very hard ride and unpredictable drive. Replacing was necessary to get a decent ride quality. When buying the F11 was expecting to require changing the run-flats, but they work well on my local roads which are not the best quality.

At replacement time I went for the same tire again, the Continental Sport Contact 3 SSR. Cost was about 10% higher than the non run-flat version of the same tire. The new tires run even better (softer) than the ones I took off. Run-flats do appear to work harden over their life cycle.

I also run winter run-flats, 1" smaller rims, even softer to ride on, even at colder temperatures. In fact wouldn't want the winter tires to be any softer riding.

[Bbb34]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Interesting comments from other drivers, but like yourself I'm pretty happy to stay with run-flats on my F11.

Not doubting your experience/judgement, but is it possible that you guys are happy because you haven't tried set of non run flats on your current car ?

Similar to you, like I said, I'm pretty happy with my winter run flats, but once I make the switch every spring, I realize again how much "better" they are. Consistently quieter, more comfortable, more precise (more road feel) and better grip.

[visualguy]

Originally Posted by Bbb34

Not doubting your experience/judgement, but is it possible that you guys are happy because you haven't tried set of non run flats on your current car ?

Similar to you, like I said, I'm pretty happy with my winter run flats, but once I make the switch every spring, I realize again how much "better" they are. Consistently quieter, more comfortable, more precise (more road feel) and better grip.

I don't hear any meaningful tire noise with my RFTs, and they are perfectly comfortable and handle well. I don't see how replacing them with non-RFTs could be a noticeable improvement if I don't notice any issues with the RFTs.

Also, the suspension on these cars is tuned for these tires. I'm not a big fan of moving away from factory spec. If I had uncomfortable, poorly handling or noisy RFTs, I would replace them with a different brand/model of OEM RFTs - there are quite a few for the F10. Like I said, the BMW OEM Bridgestone Turanza ER300 are great in my experience.

[TTG]

Originally Posted by ndinh

Lots of people just get a set of aftermarket wheels/tires for use for the duration of their lease and just swap them when the lease is over. Depending on the wheels you'll get about 1/2 of your cost back when you sell them.

Agreed. I am currently in the market for some OEM take off 17 or 18 wheels.

Most of them come with RF tires which I don't mind on smaller wheels

I had RF on my 335 had no issues, MINI did ok on RF for 14 years before I finally got rid of them. It appears that this is a pretty big problem on F10s.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Bbb34

Not doubting your experience/judgement, but is it possible that you guys are happy because you haven't tried set of non run flats on your current car ?

Similar to you, like I said, I'm pretty happy with my winter run flats, but once I make the switch every spring, I realize again how much "better" they are. Consistently quieter, more comfortable, more precise (more road feel) and better grip.

True, haven't tried any non run-flats on the current car, but based on experience with the E91 and knowing what run-flat characteristics are the issue, knew what I was wanting and looking for when choosing the F11 specification.

I don't doubt at all that on some F10/F11 setups I'd be changing to non run-flats, Michelin PSS at that.

I've taken particular note of comments from other F10/F11 users in the UK, and changing over to non run-flats is not reported to be anything like the same, for ride improvements, as doing so in the E90/E60 era.

I know if I was changing to non run-flats on my F11, I'd seriously be thinking of up sizing the rims to run lower profiles, get a higher spring rate in the tires to firm up the ride and handling.

This time around I wasn't wanting the same hassle of carrying a spare wheel in the trunk space, so getting a good run-flat compromise was how I chose my F11's specification. Pleased to say it has worked and almost 4-years on have no regrets on how the car drives.

Now the E91, that was a disaster before changing wheel sets, tires and suspension damping.

Just to put my drive in perspective. With Adaptive Drive and 18" run-flats the ride is smoother than my brother in law's Jaguar XJ with CATS and 19" non run-flat tires. I thought the Jag was good before getting the F11 and riding in both vehicles.

[NV GUNS]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

also if i may add there's nothing worse when the Dealer will assume you hit a pothole when you're pointing out the bubble on the sidewall. especially when there's no appararent rim damage or marks of any kind! all he said was "yeah, looks like you may have hit a pothole?" i said "may? so you're just guessing?" he looks at me like i just offended him and walks back to the SA desk and says, "it's not covered under BMW, you will need to buy another RF which will cost $500 which we will do the install, wheel balance for free!" that's pretty much where i told him in front of everyone and told him to go "f himself"

lol. they are always trying to make the pain of the cost by adding some crap for free

[gatorfast]

Replaced my RFT with regular tires as soon as they were worn. Huge improvement in ride quality and performance.

[Boulder Bill]

Originally Posted by Bbb34

I'm pretty happy with my winter run flats, but once I make the switch every spring, I realize again how much "better" they are. Consistently quieter, more comfortable, more precise (more road feel) and better grip.

Like you, I run a smaller set of wheels with snows in the winter. My plan this winter was to replace my worn out RF snows with new RFs, figuring that if something does go wrong, it would be significantly more wrong on a dark, snowy night. Sounds like you are content with that arrangement.

Bill

[Bbb34]

Originally Posted by Boulder Bill

Like you, I run a smaller set of wheels with snows in the winter. My plan this winter was to replace my worn out RF snows with new RFs, figuring that if something does go wrong, it would be significantly more wrong on a dark, snowy night. Sounds like you are content with that arrangement.

Bill

Very yes, Dunlop Winter Sport 3D DSST are just fantastic in my opinion.
Not cheap, but simply great winter tire.

I still consider Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 by far the best winter tire I ever owned. Amazing tires for snow, ice and slush, and shockingly long lasting too. They are a bit louder on wet and dry pavement comparing to these Dunlops. I believe they now can be found in run flats, but only in certain sizes, check them out, I know that's what I'm getting next when the time comes.

[Boulder Bill]

Originally Posted by Bbb34

Very yes, Dunlop Winter Sport 3D DSST are just fantastic in my opinion.
Not cheap, but simply great winter tire.

That's what I purchased when I bought the car and will likely replace with the same. Still a few more months with the fun tires.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Bbb34

Very yes, Dunlop Winter Sport 3D DSST are just fantastic in my opinion.
Not cheap, but simply great winter tire.

That's what I'm also running, find it a very comfortable run-flat winter tire.

From experience, my Continental run-flat summer tires feel very similar in summer temperatures (~20C), as the Dunlop in winter temperatures. Exactly what I was hoping for when choosing the wheel setups.

[BMWrules7]

Originally Posted by mgattmch

In the last year I have had to replace 4 run flat tires (Goodyear Eagle LS2 245/40R-19 RFT in my case) and have two cracked rims repaired due to failure of the tires. I have finally had enough of RFT after getting a split in the sidewall on a new tire! Yesterday I went to Tire Rack (I live near their major distribution center in South Bend IN) and had 4 conventional Dunlop Signature HP All Season tires installed. What a difference; now when I go over a bump in the road I am no longer in fear of another tire failure and a +$300 bill to replace the tire. To say nothing of the inconvenience to do so.

Performance of the conventional Dunlop tires versus the Goodyear RFT is comparable IMHO. The one major difference is the conventional Dunlop tires absorb bumps in the road far better than the RFT. No longer does the suspension sound like it is bottoming out if I hit a bump/pothole. Best of all the Dunlop tires only cost $155 each before a $50 mail in rebate for purchasing a set of 4 tires.

OK, so I no longer have the ability to continue driving if I get a flat. No problem, I purchased a Continental Comfort Kit (tire sealant and 12V compressor) from Tire Rack. Alternatively, I am OK with calling a tow truck if need be.

Wish I had made the decision to switch from RFT to conventional tires a year ago. I am a happy BMW 550iX driver again! RFT are a complete disaster in my opinion.

Before run flats, I would put 30,000 in my tires and always replaced worn tires without getting flat. I could go 3 years without having to throw on a spare.

Post run flats, I am putting 2 new tires on a year. Not because they were flat mind you, but because the sidewall bubbled.

Run flats are an unmitigated ecological disaster and they should be outlawed for the damage they do to our land fills.

[Bmw doubles]

+1 on low life tread and Eco damage

Extra PITA-perks include vibration, cost, and inability to repair

[Don N.]

I am not a fan of RFT. Once I switched them out on my X5 to non-RFT, I gained 2 mph and the ride was significantly better. Tires were cheaper as well.