Goodyear RFTs and undercar noise

I have a 2006 "S" with Goodyear runflats with -20K wear. They have a reasonable amount of tread left. Anyway the car has started producing this groaning, scrunching noise at slow speed over rough surfaces - sort of like an old car that badly needs lubing.

The dealer says that the noise is coming from the Goodyear tires. "Doesn't happen with the other brands."

Has anybody else encountered these symptoms? Was it the tires or something else?

(I emailed Gary at TireRack yesterday and he was, lets say, quite skeptical of the dealers diagnosis.)

Could be a cv joint???

If it happens when turning could be the steering rack???

Try posting this on the mini2 forum as well.

lol it's the goodyears

All runflats get noisy no matter the brand especially a car with agressive suspension settings. On my 335 Bridgestone runflats were noisy when new. My X5 has 21k miles on the runflats and they are noisy as shxxt now and they still have life left. Give the tires another 4k to 5k miles and they will really be growling and you will be able to feel it through the steering. Also, CV joints don't growl, they click when they start to go bad. Wheel bearings growl.