run flats

ok. so we have established that most (at least on the site) like and even love the active steering. anti-roll stablization also gets rave reviews. now--howz about run flats? i hear they run rough, theye are very expensive to replace. i have yet to hear anything convincingly positive about these tires (other than the obvious). the funny part about that is, if i am in central oregon and get a flat, limp along for awhile, who says the garage i make it to is going to have a replacment run-flat. they wont. run flats may well be the wave of the future but for now i would rather have regular tires.

Originally Posted by wagonman

ok. so we have established that most (at least on the site) like and even love the active steering. anti-roll stablization also gets rave reviews. now--howz about run flats? i hear they run rough, theye are very expensive to replace. i have yet to hear anything convincingly positive about these tires (other than the obvious). the funny part about that is, if i am in central oregon and get a flat, limp along for awhile, who says the garage i make it to is going to have a replacment run-flat. they wont. run flats may well be the wave of the future but for now i would rather have regular tires.

Well the garage you make it to is not likely to have a non-runflat replacement either. I'm very happy with my runflats...I too read all the internet babble about them and was ready to replace them when I got the car...but frankly the ride is great and the handling from the stiff sidewalls is a plus. Since my car came with a spare as well, when it comes time to replace them, I will decide if I want RF's or not.

Originally Posted by TGray5

Well the garage you make it to is not likely to have a non-runflat replacement either. I'm very happy with my runflats...I too read all the internet babble about them and was ready to replace them when I got the car...but frankly the ride is great and the handling from the stiff sidewalls is a plus. Since my car came with a spare as well, when it comes time to replace them, I will decide if I want RF's or not.

that's good to hear. so often, the criticism in the magazines is overstated. i opted out of the run flats since getting them did not get me the anti-roll stab since that doesnt work with x-drive on my 06 530 xit. to have an x-drive and not be able to use the tires that came with car on any kind of snow or ice made no sense to me. so i got the normal tires..

Run-flats seem fine to me so far.

For those leasing, do we need to make sure our cars are turned in with run-flats on them??

Originally Posted by wagonman

ok. so we have established that most (at least on the site) like and even love the active steering. anti-roll stablization also gets rave reviews. now--howz about run flats? i hear they run rough, theye are very expensive to replace. i have yet to hear anything convincingly positive about these tires (other than the obvious). the funny part about that is, if i am in central oregon and get a flat, limp along for awhile, who says the garage i make it to is going to have a replacment run-flat. they wont. run flats may well be the wave of the future but for now i would rather have regular tires.

I think the RFs ride hard! Not very forgiving when catching the edge of a manhole cover or driving into a parking lot.... I also have the sport package... but I think the "hard" ride can be attributed to the tires. I had sport packages on my last 2 cars and they didn't ride this hard.

Most likely I will not replace them with RFs.

Originally Posted by Spartacus_33

I think the RFs ride hard! Not very forgiving when catching the edge of a manhole cover or driving into a parking lot.... I also have the sport package... but I think the "hard" ride can be attributed to the tires. I had sport packages on my last 2 cars and they didn't ride this hard.

Most likely I will not replace them with RFs.

Did you have 18" wheels on your last 2 cars as well? I can tell you from experience that moving from a 17" to an 18" wheel made a big difference in steering feel and ride quality. A buddy of mine did this to his 2001 530i.

Originally Posted by Ågent99

Did you have 18" wheels on your last 2 cars as well? I can tell you from experience that moving from a 17" to an 18" wheel made a big difference in steering feel and ride quality. A buddy of mine did this to his 2001 530i.

A99,

No... I had 17" on my last 2........

The RF's on my 545 really started howling at around 7000 miles and at about 50mph. Now they really drone from about 43mph up to around 51 or 52mph, with the worst harmonic being at 49mph.

-MrB

What tire brand do you have, mrbelk? My car came wrapped with Dunlops.

Originally Posted by Ågent99

What tire brand do you have, mrbelk? My car came wrapped with Dunlops.

Same. Dun(s)lop SP Sport 01 DSST.

I want to swap them out for Pilot Sports or the Pilot Sport A/S, but can't realistically justify it to the wife-unit.

-MrB

I'm pretty sure I heard claims about these tires and people having issues with noise and other things. You might ask your dealer about it or talk to BMWNA.

Originally Posted by Ågent99

I'm pretty sure I heard claims about these tires and people having issues with noise and other things. You might ask your dealer about it or talk to BMWNA.

I've heard similar stories. I'm going down to my dealer on Thursday and I will speak to my service writer about it then. Some people are getting pro-rated credits and some are getting 100% replacements.

I've read that it's an isloated batch of tires put on cars built right about when mine was (March , '04).

-MrB

Originally Posted by mrbelk

The RF's on my 545 really started howling at around 7000 miles and at about 50mph. Now they really drone from about 43mph up to around 51 or 52mph, with the worst harmonic being at 49mph.

-MrB

isnt always better. i am not surprised by this at all. why is bmw insisting on pushing these things. talk to knowledgable tire people and they will tell you to stay away from run flats.

Originally Posted by wagonman

isnt always better. i am not surprised by this at all. why is bmw insisting on pushing these things. talk to knowledgable tire people and they will tell you to stay away from run flats.

1700 miles in my 545 and the run flats have been great. I know the early builds had problem but my tires 01/05 and 51/04 builds are doing great. We'll see how it progresses as the miles pile on.

Originally Posted by wagonman

isnt always better. i am not surprised by this at all. why is bmw insisting on pushing these things. talk to knowledgable tire people and they will tell you to stay away from run flats.

A few reasons...improved safety, reduced roadside assistance costs, saved money on no spare tire/wheel, save weight and space from no spare tire/wheel and the tire companies probably gave them extremely good deals on the RF's knowing they would make it up on pricey replacement tires sold at retail.

Originally Posted by arnolds

1700 miles in my 545 and the run flats have been great. I know the early builds had problem but my tires 01/05 and 51/04 builds are doing great. We'll see how it progresses as the miles pile on.

Because there is so much controversy about Dunlop RF Tires and the noise you hear as you put on mileage I got in touch with Dunlop to find out about the Tires I have on my car.The Tires were produced on 4304,43 being the week and 04 the year. They told me that my Tires had the new design and that I shouldn't have a noise problem.I have 3300+ miles on the Tires and so far they are right,no excessive noise.(so far)
cheers
vern

Originally Posted by vern

Because there is so much controversy about Dunlop RF Tires and the noise you hear as you put on mileage I got in touch with Dunlop to find out about the Tires I have on my car.The Tires were produced on 4304,43 being the week and 04 the year. They told me that my Tires had the new design and that I shouldn't have a noise problem.I have 3300+ miles on the Tires and so far they are right,no excessive noise.(so far)
cheers
vern

That's good to hear. I read about the new design about a week ago and immediately checked my tire build dates. Here's hoping that dunlop means what it says.

Thanks for that info Vern...Since my car was a March build I should be ok...in fact I just checked my tire mfg date and its 5304....53rd week??? of '04. Hmm, I could swore there were only 52 weeks in a year ;-) Anyhow, looks like I'm in the clear. Also, good to see that these Dunlops were made in Germany!

Agent and Arnolds, when were your tires made?

Originally Posted by TGray5

Agent and Arnolds, when were your tires made?

Originally Posted by arnolds

1700 miles in my 545 and the run flats have been great. I know the early builds had problem but my tires 01/05 and 51/04 builds are doing great. We'll see how it progresses as the miles pile on.

Looking at my tires, they have 4904, 5304, 5304, and 5004. Looks like I'm okay if vern has the date code figured out correctly!

Originally Posted by mrbelk

Same. Dun(s)lop SP Sport 01 DSST.

I want to swap them out for Pilot Sports or the Pilot Sport A/S, but can't realistically justify it to the wife-unit.

-MrB

There is a BMW bulletin outlining a free replacement of Dunlop runflats on the new 5 series. Talk to your local service manager.

Is there any way that anyone can post a link to that service bulletin? My dealer told me a flat "no way" when I asked about this tire noise and possible replacement or even a pro-rated replacement a few months ago when my tires started to whine. I didn't notice it until I drove the loaner, a 530, which was very quiet.

My dealership is not up to speed with the latest service bulletins, and I have taken a few in to them that I have gotten on this forum which they state that they "haven't seen before."

The tire noise is really annoying. I have thought about replacing them, but that is an expensive option. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

I just purchased a set of Pirelli P Zero nero RF's for my 528 with 17's, I've only put a few hundred miles on them, but I think they are great. They had great reviews on tirerack.com, but the reviews were the same for both the runflat and non runflat p zero nero. As of now I like these tires better than the non runflat dunlops that I had

Originally Posted by jamurr

Is there any way that anyone can post a link to that service bulletin? My dealer told me a flat "no way" when I asked about this tire noise and possible replacement or even a pro-rated replacement a few months ago when my tires started to whine. I didn't notice it until I drove the loaner, a 530, which was very quiet.

My dealership is not up to speed with the latest service bulletins, and I have taken a few in to them that I have gotten on this forum which they state that they "haven't seen before."

The tire noise is really annoying. I have thought about replacing them, but that is an expensive option. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

You might try calling BMWNA for help with that...dunno if they'll be able to help but they might!

Run Flats! I have 12,000 mile on my BMW, and just had a flat. Called BMW and they do not recommend fixing, just replace. Anyway, the tiire was not repairable, had a razor blade zlit on the flat portion of tire. I was going to attempt to repair regardless what BMW said. Bottom line, I had to replace the one tire, one place quoted $401, I ended up buying it at the tirerack.com for $295 and just had it installed today for $22. I would never buy as replacements run flats again.