Run Flats... advice?

[TC2002]

Just bought an X3 from Ryan, who has been phenomenal to deal with at BMW Gallery. Thx Redlyne.

What are your experiences with the BMW run flats? The finance guy is asking us to buy warranty on them. Do you think it's worth it?

There's some construction near where I live, but other than that, it's the usual daily drives of Deerfoot or Elbow and within the Core. Never had a flat tire at all with my Mazda 3 over the past 8 yrs.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I wouldn't buy any tire warranty but that's just me. I got rid of the run flats on my 135i without even using them and put some other tires and wheels on.

[G]

if leased yes else no.

I bought it when I leased a 335 replaced both my nearly bald rears prior to returning the car because I ran over some "nails". The tires would not have passed lease return inspection.

If you bought throw those pos tires out.

[RickDaTuner]

Sell the OEM wheels and tires, and get a new set of Non run flat wheels and tires. Purchase warranty for that set.

[TC2002]

Thanks for the tips! I'm leaning towards no on the warranty.

Leasing it but got the excess wear & use protection included, so I don't have to worry about that before returning the vehicle.

[vtec4life]

Excess wear and tear covers you up to a certain amount and only on certain things. I would check the fine print to make sure it covers bald tires.... I can't remember now.

IF you are keeping the run flats, get the warranty. The cost of the warranty is basically the price of one of those tires should something go wrong or you "drive through a construction site" .

Mind you its not so bad on the X3 but one tire on a X5 M-Sport will make the average person break down and cry.

[TC2002]

Ok. Will look into it some more.

I'm still considering swapping out the run flats instead. A friend told me he really hated the drive with them so that's always the other option too. Great to hear all the opinions.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Originally posted by TC2002
Ok. Will look into it some more.

I'm still considering swapping out the run flats instead. A friend told me he really hated the drive with them so that's always the other option too. Great to hear all the opinions.

Stiff sidewalls make them kinda crashy over bumps and rough surfaces, I wanted a stiff more performance oriented tire on my car so I got rid of them, my parents did the same with theirs as soon as they were worn out.

[Aleks]

If you ditch the Run Flats make sure you have a means of fixing a flat or at least getting somewhere to repair it as the car has no jack or spare tire.

Newer Gen runflats are much better than older versions. If you decide to keep the run flats on buy the tire warranty. I said no to my warranty last time and 2 months later I got a flat. Cost $600 bux installed for 1 rear tire on the 335 as they are not repairable

[vtec4life]

Originally posted by TC2002
Ok. Will look into it some more.

I'm still considering swapping out the run flats instead. A friend told me he really hated the drive with them so that's always the other option too. Great to hear all the opinions.

How do they feel to you??

Usually road noise is the biggest complaint.

[max_boost]

Congrats!

Did you get a 328X drive as well? Ryan is awesome to deal with. The excess wear and tear package looks wicked on paper.

Yes I contemplated the exact same thing. I said no to the run flats because of the cost, $695/4 years. I am leasing mine for 4 years. For the tire size I think 225/50/17 I can buy two run flats for that price and I've only had 2 flats in my 16 years of driving. It also covers the rim but I have never destroyed a wheel in my years of driving. Or for $695 I will buy a new set of tires and put the run flats back on when I return the car.

[CanmoreOrLess]

^^^^ This is a very good idea. ^^^^

Am I wrong in thinking run flats are far worse in the winter than normal tires?

[TC2002]

Originally posted by vtec4life


How do they feel to you??

Usually road noise is the biggest complaint.

Husband and I test drove it and it felt great! Very comfortable ride if anything. Less noise than the winters on my Mazda 3 right now so I guess that's hard to compare. Ha ha.

Originally posted by max_boost
Congrats!

Did you get a 328X drive as well? Ryan is awesome to deal with. The excess wear and tear package looks wicked on paper.

Yes I contemplated the exact same thing. I said no to the run flats because of the cost, $695/4 years. I am leasing mine for 4 years. For the tire size I think 225/50/17 I can buy two run flats for that price and I've only had 2 flats in my 16 years of driving. It also covers the rim but I have never destroyed a wheel in my years of driving. Or for $695 I will buy a new set of tires and put the run flats back on when I return the car.

Hey S!
Will talk to Ryan about the specifics of wear and tear re: tires later. I just didn't want to put him in a strange position for trying to "sell" the warranty as his job vs. what he may think outside of his job, so I posted on here.

Thanks for your perspective. Leaning toward getting winters from Gary at UrbanX to put on the X3 and using the run flats through summer months. Won't have a spare, but I'll probably get some cheapo patching kit that'll make due to get me to his/other shop should I run into a flat. Like you, I've never had any issues with destroying wheels at all in my years of driving.

No to warranty. Kind of decided on that now.

[D. Dub]

The run flats on my 335xi were horrible, noisy, terrible handling and had weird wear patterns on them.

[Strider]

I have an X3 with runflats as well, I don't really have any complaint about noise or harshness... but I will likely replace them with non-runflat when the time comes (haven't had a flat tire in 14 years of driving).

Regarding flats though... conventional wisdom would have you replace all the tires at the same time on an AWD - does this still apply for xDrive? I've read everything from replace one, replace in pairs, to replace all 4. Will the warranty cover multiple tires if only one is damaged?

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Originally posted by Strider
I have an X3 with runflats as well, I don't really have any complaint about noise or harshness... but I will likely replace them with non-runflat when the time comes.

Regarding flats though... conventional wisdom would have you replace all the tires at the same time on an AWD - does this still apply for xDrive? I've read everything from replace one, replace in pairs, to replace all 4. Will the warranty cover multiple tires if only one is damaged?

How many you replace depends on how much difference in tread depth there would be between new and old tires.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by Strider
I have an X3 with runflats as well, I don't really have any complaint about noise or harshness... but I will likely replace them with non-runflat when the time comes (haven't had a flat tire in 14 years of driving).

Regarding flats though... conventional wisdom would have you replace all the tires at the same time on an AWD - does this still apply for xDrive? I've read everything from replace one, replace in pairs, to replace all 4. Will the warranty cover multiple tires if only one is damaged?

Only covers one so what you would do is poke a hole in the other 1 or 2 or 3 if you want those covered but who does that? lol

You replace two minimum is what everyone tells me.

[CokerRat]

Now that I've had runflats, I'm totally sold on them -- especially for winters and especially if you live in an area with new construction. When you run over a nail and get a low tire pressure warning on the middle of Deerfoot on the way to work, it is awfully convenient to keep on driving and get it fixed when it's convenient. Besides that, there's the safety component... who wants to have the car pulled over in the dark on a icy road in cold weather to replace a tire? Only caveat is that if you have a complete failure (like a tear in the sidewall), you're stranded until you can replace it.

Runflats can be repaired for small holes like any other tire.

Warranty.... why buy any additional warranty? Odds are you will not get your money out of it, which is why they push it. If you actually do have to replace a tire early, it's not going to break the bank.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Originally posted by CokerRat
Now that I've had runflats, I'm totally sold on them -- especially for winters and especially if you live in an area with new construction. When you run over a nail and get a low tire pressure warning on the middle of Deerfoot on the way to work, it is awfully convenient to keep on driving and get it fixed when it's convenient. Besides that, there's the safety component... who wants to have the car pulled over in the dark on a icy road in cold weather to replace a tire? Only caveat is that if you have a complete failure (like a tear in the sidewall), you're stranded until you can replace it.

Runflats can be repaired for small holes like any other tire.

Warranty.... why buy any additional warranty? Odds are you will not get your money out of it, which is why they push it. If you actually do have to replace a tire early, it's not going to break the bank.

If you drive on a run flat when it's too low on air your gonna ruin it and have to replace it anyway.

[heavyfuel]

Runflats? Move over. I want these!