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RFT on 19" Wheel changed to Standard Tire

12K views 36 replies 16 participants last post by  rmorin49 
#1 ·
Have you replaced your RFT with Standard Tires on the 19 Inch Wheels?

If so can you share with us...

A) Type of Tire you now have

B) How many miles / KM have you driven on the new tires

and

C) How would you rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 compared to the RFT

Thanks for sharing,

Cheers,

Rolf-Dieter
 
#6 ·
Rolf-Dieter

No, I guess not, but I still plan on changing. I am going to stick with a 30 aspect tire but will go wider with a more pronounced sidewall. If the wheel is the issue, the increase in tire volume should help driving over rougher roads.
 
#7 ·
Sounds like a plan :) I am still waiting for BMW to get back to me with a cheque and another wheel. Then I'll make my move on the tire. :thumbup: Meanwhile I am looking for more opinion on the front and rear wheel size.

My M3 (sold this year in early spring) had 19 inch wheels and regular tires, never ever did I have an issue. Will keep you posted.
 
#8 ·
I'll chime in with my 2 cents:

On my E93 I took off the RFTs immediately after delivery and installed a set of Yokohama ADVAN S4s in the OEM sizes on 18" CSL wheels. Ride was markedly improved, handling did not suffer and I had no problem for the 2.5 years that I owned the car. Sold the RFTs for almost enough money to buy the non-runflat tires.

Did the same thing on my E89 Z4 except I went with the new Yokohama ENVigor UHP AS tires. So far so good but only have 3000 miles on the tires in 6 months of ownership.

Would I do it again? YES. I do not like the ride, feel or cost of the RFTs. I know they are supposed to be getting better but they still weigh more, ride worse, cost more, etc.

OK, maybe this is more like 5 cents.

Cheers!
 
#13 ·
I'd say you will wipe off the rear within 10k and the front would last until 15k. Of course it depends on the way you drive and the roads you drive on too.
 
#19 ·
Rafale you must be turnin and burnin those rear shoes if you expect to wipe them at 10K.

My stones are the RE 050A RFT's on 19" 296's. My first almost 2K miles in Germany lots of curves and at least 750 miles sustained above 100mph. I was not pushing it in the corners as I was trying to avoid motion sickness of the Frau. I haven't even worn the tites (tire molding) off the inside edges of my rear tires yet. So far no sign of excessive rear camber related wear. I'm at an average of 10/32 F&R @ 2500 miles. At 9/32" available wear this projects out to 22.5K miles.

From the pics of Rolf-Dieter tires @ 18K km (~ 11K miles) aside from the abnormal/inside wear, the main portion of the tread seemed to be in good condition. Not knowing the tread depth I'd guess the rear tires would easily made it to 20K miles.

Rolf did/do you have any tread depth of your tires at removal? New is 11/32" or 8.7 mm for the RE 050A.
 
#15 ·
Well this is also because we have these Bridgestone RE050 which are only rated 140 for treadlife... The same tires in non RFT are rated the same but have the reputation not to wear as fast as RFTs. I do not know how long they would last though. For reference the PS2 on my 330CI of the same size are have a 220 rating and last me about 20k.
 
#17 ·
I assume that there are advantages to having a lower treadwear rating, e.g. 140 on our Bridgestones. For example, is the tire compound softer resulting in better handling but shorter tread life?
 
#18 ·
yes in general but it is more complicated than that. You will have some tires which will have better treadwear but handle just as well or better (PS2, GY F1 etc)
 
#20 ·
#21 ·
I guess I must have driven on different German roads than you because they were not all pristine by any stretch of the imagination. Construction zones on the Autoban feature narrow uneven lanes and surface roads are in general not that much better than those in SoCal. When the Bahn is in good shape and weather/traffic conditions optimal yes they are smooth and unlimited fast. I hit my share of bumps in Germany. They are certainly better at patching potholes than in the states. Plus EU in general is better at keeping the pases clear of rain debris/gravel wash across the roadway.
 
#22 ·
Well, I read more of the reviews and amazingly some people got 30k miles out of these tires. I don't know how it is possible. The vast majority though change them at about 13-15k in average. Some only after 5k. So Cal has pretty nice roads trust me. The concrete might be a little rough at some spots but compared to Oregon where people drive with studded tire in the winter even when there it snows an average of 7 days a year...
I only have 3000 miles on my car and I only drove 800 of them as I bought it used. The rear are already down to 8/32" I usually change my tires with about 2/32" left so I am basically 1/3 through the treadlife already.
 
#26 ·
I think most peoples idea of a harsh ride is an abrupt feel in either the steering wheel or seat of the pants when crossing expansion joints, lane markers, pavement transitions that are perpendicular to the direction of travel , etc. The RFT sidewall is stiffer & shorter which give it the ability remain on the rim with little to no internal pressure. It is the nature of the design.
 
#27 ·
I drove a loaner 328 with 16" RFTs. The RFTs work actually really great on higher profile tires (50 and above) since the sidewall is tall enough to make up for their stiffer characteristics. I think it is so bad only because our tires have a shorter sidewalls.
 
#28 ·
alright, swapped my tires to PS2s that I bought a couple of months ago... what a difference does it make on my 18"... The ride is so much smoother. No more of this echoing bump sounds when I drive on road transitions. The low profile RFTs are just a bad idea. I also felt the difference carrying the PS2 and the RE50 RFT. You can definitely tell there is a huge weight difference. I am not going back that's for sure.
 
#30 ·
LOL..... A harsh ride is my CaymanS Base Suspension on 19" non-RFT..... The ride on my wife's 18" RFT's is much smoother. If I change it will be because of the increased cost not the ride.........
:violent:
 
#31 ·
Sorry to ask 2 stupid questions -
One - is there a possible replacement for the RFT of the E89 Sport Package rear tire (255/30/19) to standard tire, same size ? Am asking b/c when I look on bridgestonetire.com and michelinman.com, I can not find a 255/30/19 tire in non-RF models (PS2, for instance).

Two - Alternatively, on a factory Sport suspension shipped with 19", is it possible to install 18" tires without modifying the suspension settings and not messing up later with alignment / camber, etc ?

Thanks for your help.

(I owned a Z4 2003 and I know the pain of the RFT - am looking at purchasing a E89 only if I can get rid of the 19" RFT. If possible I intend to re-use the very good Bridgestone 18' RE760 Sport from my VW GTI on the E89).
 
#32 ·
1) yes, there are a number of regular summer tires that are available in a 255/30/19 Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric, Kumho Ecsta SPT to name a few. There is also no problem with upsizing. The car easily accommodates a 265 or 275. Some folks are even running 285 rears with the standard sport package adjustable m suspension.

2) yup, you can easily downsize to 18's if that's the route you want to go.

There are a few considerations about the 19's. Do yourself a favor and do a search on 19" wheels cracking. The style 296 wheels are cast wheels that in combination with the RFT are prone to cracking and bending. I know, because I bent 2 rims going over a pothole at 40 mph. I'm running regular tires now at 275/30/19. I'm hoping that the additional .24" sidewall height in combination with a softer sidewall will do a better job at protecting my rims.
 
#34 ·
I'm ditching my RFTs now that I've worn them out at 8k miles. My fronts were pretty scrubbed on an edge from autocross but thought I could get some more use out of them. I went in for an alignment and realized my rears had major inner wear. You can't get a lot of camber out of the Z4 without major mods but the tweaks done should protect my rears from this level of damage so early.

I wish I had gotten an alignment immediately after I got the car a year ago, like I did with my previous gen Z4. I'm not that hard on my car on the street and it was only 8K miles and three autoxs.

My next set is either going to be the Yoko Advan AD08 or Bridgestone RE-11 in a couple of weeks. I'm in the south and my lease is up in a year in a half and I know I'll have to put RFTs back on it to turn it in. Either tire should hold up for an autoX season and a track day or so and give me a good combo of street ride and autox grip. I considered a separate set of track wheels but I didn't want to make my husband do all that work (he changes wheels for events already).
 
#35 ·
RFT 19inch changed to normal tyre

I changed my 19 inch Bridgestone Potenza RFT's to conti Sport contact 5p's (non runflat). Made huge difirence to smoother ride and road noise. Also got a mobility kit from dealer which is an electric pump that runs off gig lighter connection. Comes with pucture sealantt in case of emergencies.

Difficult to get this size in other makes of tyre. (255/30's and 225/35's). I hear new Bridgestone S001 non runflat is quiet. I have Michelin Pilot 3's on my 5 series and they are the best in my opinion. (couldnt get the right size for the Z other wise i would have gone Michelin.). So far very happy with Conti's.

Still want to to do more sound insulation in wheel wells and door wells. I will use a combination of foam and Dynamat.
:thumbup:
 
#36 ·
Runflats can't be fixed - my experience

Run flats are a pain because it's hard finding a tire shop who will patch a hole if you run over a nail. Apparently BMW (and the tire manufacturer) prohibits these tires from being patched :cry:. So if you have even a tiny hole, you have to buy an entirely new tire (or a pair to keep the car balanced).

Check out my car's profile at: http://autop.in/alex (Is your car worthy of it's own URL?)
 
#37 ·
Run flats are a pain because it's hard finding a tire shop who will patch a hole if you run over a nail. Apparently BMW (and the tire manufacturer) prohibits these tires from being patched :cry:. So if you have even a tiny hole, you have to buy an entirely new tire (or a pair to keep the car balanced).

Check out my car's profile at: http://autop.in/alex (Is your car worthy of it's own URL?)
Not my experience: I picked up a nail in the tread area of my RF tire on my 335d. Took it to the local Continental dealer, I have Contis, they removed the tire from the wheel, removed the nail, patched and plugged the hole. I have been driving now for over 6 months with no issues.
 
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