Ditch the run-flats?

The ride in the x5 35d is a little on the rough side. Okay, little is an understatement. If I was to change out the run-flats for regular tires would it make that big of a difference? Does the regular turbo 6 engine ride the same as the diesel? I am asking because my brother has a dodge ram with a diesel and it rides rougher than the v6 or v8 versions. I wasn't able to test drive the gas 6 cylinder engine and just ended up buying the diesel.

Yes, ditch the RFTs, many threads here. Make sure you get the space saver spare from BMW, assuming you don't have 3rd row seats.

Do you have 18s or 19s? I have the 18s on our x5d. The non rft will definitely make the ride better but I am ok with the 18" RFTs. Much better than the RFTs were on my e90.

I started a thread a while back. Do a search for rough ride. I am in the same boat as you. I have 20" rfts on mine and the ride is rough. This was my first suv and I was only able to test drive it with the 19s. I didn't remember them being rough so when my friend suggested the 20s for looks, I thought nothing of it. You live and you learn.

I have decided to swap mine out. I would have bought some 18s but the fenders for the 20s are flared. Not sure how that would look w/thinner 18s. Also, the space saver spare is about 400.00 (was 150.00? as an option) and the popular dws tires in 275 are out until, who knows when.

I also want to swap because this is a leased vehicle and I'm pretty certain the tread after 30k+ miles will not be accepted upon return. In addition, I was on a trip to Vegas and I caught a nail in my front right and the dealer would not patch. I needed to get home so I paid the 500.00 to replace. I assume that at lease end they wouldn't allow a patched tire to be returned as well. What are some other guys thoughts on this and leasing w/RFTs.

BTW, anyone have a good alternative to the DWS that they really like? I need a smooth ride and they must last for 25k.

Happy Easter to all.

@Gian: Which brand tire did you have on your 20's? If they were Dunlops, they are covered by a road hazard warranty, as detailed in the CD in your owner's manual. Repairing or replacing them should not have cost you a dime. While a BMW Center will never patch a RFT, your local authorized Dunlop dealer will.

@pjain: My non-RFT snow tires (18's) ride much better than my 20" Dunlops. FWIW, here is my plan. I am going to run the Dunlops through the fall, then next spring I will swap them out for DWS's. When I am nearing the end of my lease, I will put the Dunlops back on (car must be returned with RFT's). And yes, I ordered the $150 spare from the factory, as I've been down this road before (this is our 3rd E70 X5).

This page has all the junk required for a spare for $335:

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...egoryID=135734

I didn't order a space saver spare from the factory because I want the spare compartment 'carpeted' up all nicely. I'll take the carpet out and put in the spare for extended trips (like once a year). Otherwise, I'm well within range of the service truck (or guilting my X into bringing me the spare).

PS I am assuming the OP has checked his tire pressures. If not, he should as dealers have a nasty habit of over inflating them.

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Originally Posted by quackbury

@Gian: Which brand tire did you have on your 20's?

I have the Dunlops on 214s. This nail incident happened in January, so I guess I'll have to eat it.

Originally Posted by quackbury

And yes, I ordered the $150 spare from the factory, as I've been down this road before (this is our 3rd E70 X5).

I'll have to remember this for next time. $150 vs $385 is huge. Maybe my dealer should have mentioned this, but ultimately I need to do my homework.

Originally Posted by barbja

This page has all the junk required for a spare for $335:

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...egoryID=135734

Thanks for this link barbja. I see shipping is 50 flat.

Originally Posted by Gian

and the popular dws tires in 275 are out until, who knows when.

btw tirerack has stock of Conti DWS in 19. Worth checking again.

I don't know what size tires the OP needs but I need the 275/40ZR20s. I have been checking tirerack on a daily basis and they have been b/o for weeks, maybe even months.

Originally Posted by quackbury

PS I am assuming the OP has checked his tire pressures. If not, he should as dealers have a nasty habit of over inflating them.

Sent from my HTC Inspire using BimmerApp

+1000, when we took delivery in February I kept thinking for a couple of days that this thing rides rougher than the test drive, checked the tires, low and behold they were at 42 PSI all the way around...after I corrected the pressures the ride was a TON better. FWIW, we have the premium with only the 19s, Continental RFT.

I have the 18 rft's. If I get the non rft I want to buy the 19" wheels from the 35i premium. Why did BMW have to choose the most boring design for the 35d wheels? Is it possible to change the wheel and tire size like that without problems with the brakes, suspension etc?
Thanks Quackbury for the heads up about checking the tire pressures. I did and the front are 32-33 psi and the rear are at 36 psi. Ironically, the X5 I test drove was a diesl with the optional 20's and the ride wasn't overly harsh. Of course, I only got to test drive it about 2 miles on a busy highway, so it wasn't really an accurate gauge for how the vehicle would drive. It also had the multi contour nevada leather instead of the active ventilated seats that I ordered. Boy, was that a mistake.
I bought the vehicle to replace a Hummer H2 to do mostly highway driving. It's like going from a not-so-luxurious yacht to a speed boat. I have to get used to driving smaller vehicles on the highway now. The x5 is fine for short trips around the city and even highway drives as long as they don't go over 30 minutes.

Originally Posted by pjain

(...) It also had the multi contour nevada leather instead of the active ventilated seats that I ordered. Boy, was that a mistake.
(...)

just wondering - I ordered multi contour + active ventilated seats (in the pkg), you have only active ventilated seats? did not know it is possible

Originally Posted by kanar200

just wondering - I ordered multi contour + active ventilated seats (in the pkg), you have only active ventilated seats? did not know it is possible

The multi contour part is standard on the active ventilated seats. The dealer tried to charge extra for them, but I told him they were included. He acted dumbfounded, but he has been selling BMW's for over 7 years. You got to watch out for them sneaky salesmen. They are always trying to make a buck. I'm glad I frequented the BMW website before I bought the vehicle.

Originally Posted by Gian

I don't know what size tires the OP needs but I need the 275/40ZR20s. I have been checking tirerack on a daily basis and they have been b/o for weeks, maybe even months.

For clarity, the 20's are 275/40-20 front and 315/35-20 rear; front are back ordered. Rears are in stock.

a tire dealer told me the Conti DWS would not last on an X5 due to weight. any thoughts on that? also, while I don't like the way the run flats ride, I have to make this point: I live in NJ. the roads this spring are absolutely horrific. the potholes could eat anything. depressing really sometimes in that it makes it very hard to have a nice car here without it getting destroyed. having said all that, i have fallen into some pretty unbelievable potholes while driving. on other vehicles I've had, these potholes easily bust the tire and damage the rim. but with the run flats, i am amazed this hasn't happened. so I'm wondering if the stiffened sidewall of a RFT has kept them from popping in some of these potholes? if so, I guess that's an unintended benefit.

The 19" Contis are XL load rated. To be sure, you need to check the actual load rating of the stock tire make and size in pounds and ensure that any replacement tire is no less than that rating.

I had my new X5 less then 550 miles and picked up a nail, The dealer said they could fix it and they did for $110.00.
I then did some research after the fact and found out that Bridgestone will give you 50% off a replacement runflat tire within the first 5,000 miles.

[QUOTE=quackbury;6019048]@Gian: Which brand tire did you have on your 20's? If they were Dunlops, they are covered by a road hazard warranty, as detailed in the CD in your owner's manual. Repairing or replacing them should not have cost you a dime. While a BMW Center will never patch a RFT, your local authorized Dunlop dealer will.

Thanks Quackbury for this heads up!
I had a right rear blow on Rt495 here last weekend. Limped home and was about to order a replacement from Town Fair for $480.
I have the 315/35-20 Dunlops.

Thanks to your post I found the tire warranty information/Cd and called the GoodYear/Dunlop service center just down the road from me.
Only 8000miles on them still had 7/32 of 10/32 left so it will cost me 30% of Retail for a replacement which should be around $150 vs the $500.

I am thinking of Toyo Proxes ST II's come next spring or Conti DWS if they ever come off backorder as these originals will be worn out by then with another 10K on them most likely

If your car came with 3rd row seats and you've decided to convert to standard from rft's, can you buy a spare tire if you didn't order one because of the 3rd row option? Where can you buy a spare? Can you just leave the 3rd row up and stow the spare on the compartment?

I plan on replacing my dunlop rft when they wear out with the conti dws. I am going to deal with discount tire and they have have them in stock for the staggered 20 inchers. One option they provided me was to purchase a tire replacement warranty for the contis and if ever the dunlops ever had an issue I would just replace them with the contis. If I bought a warranty for the dunlops it would cost a small fortune, around $480. The conti warranty price is only $190. A substantial savings if it would ever be needed. Good luck.

Originally Posted by pohldawg

If I bought a warranty for the dunlops it would cost a small fortune, around $480.

Dude, did you read the above posts? The Dunlops COME WITH A FREE WARRANTY direct from the manufacturer. Check the CD-ROM in your glove compartment, or go on their website to confirm.

Yes, but for how long? I bought a cpo and I need to check to see if the cd is there again. But in the short run I want to lose the rft. And also there is pro-rated for whatever wear there is. It all is a crap shoot. I had a r-32 with a can of fix-a-flat in the trunk. I made 3 round trips 0f 2000 miles with no issue. I drive down the highway 3 miles from my house and run over some **** in the highway and blows out two of tires on one side of my charger daytona running twenty's staggered. Luckily my insurance paid for one of my wheels and hazard insurance from discount tires replaced both tires. So who knows, but thanks, I am aware of the dunlop warranty.

Originally Posted by pohldawg

So who knows, but thanks, I am aware of the dunlop warranty.

Not to beat a dead horse, but if you were aware of the fact that the Dunlops come with a no-cost warranty, why did you say in an earlier post that the warranty would cost $480? Makes no sense to me.

That $480 was for a four tire replacement through discount tire. I got this info before finding out about the dunlop replacement. My intentions was to eventually replce the rfts. I do not have a big issue with my ride with the dunlops, but I know it would be better without them. I have a spare. So spare the horse