Flat with a run flat? We want to hear your experience

bimmerzone commented:
October 23, 2012, 7:58 am

Thank goodness i toss all my run flats as soon as i can... so no experience here
but i did want to share a similar personal story with regular tires and a spare.
I was traveling with my kid and got a flat, swapped out the flat tire with the spare and was off in 15 mins...

If i had run flats, I might have been able to drive back home, but its a big IF.... if the damage was too bad, i would have needed a tow truck to take a car, and my wife to pick up, because there is no way my kid is ridding in a tow truck.....

My 2 cents....

vern commented:
October 23, 2012, 8:42 am

On my 2005 530i I hit a very bad pot hole on Christmas Eve and figured I would do what they suggest,drive under 50 mph but that didn't workout for me as the flat was to bad to do that so I pull over and called BMW Assist. They came within 1/2 hour and changed the tire for me and I was I my way. A few days later I went to the dealer,JMK BMW, and they replaced the tire under insurance and checked the rim that was ok. End of story.
cheers
vern

BenF12400 commented:
October 23, 2012, 8:56 am

If you hit a curb that suggests your sidewall was damaged and I don't think anyone will repair sidewall damage in any type of tire. I believe the difference between runflats and non-rf tires is that the side wall is "heavy" and can support the weight of the car until you get to a safe place - maybe a puncture in the tread could be repaired by an independent but a hole in the sidewall is a different story.

WaxComb commented:
October 23, 2012, 3:01 pm

All I ever get is slow leaks from running over nails/screws.

Even then, a normal go flat tire with a low aspect ratio is fine as long as you keep the pressure up.

mr_clueless commented:
October 23, 2012, 3:09 pm

I'm assuming your car had a spare...what would you have done if the car did not?

mr_clueless commented:
October 23, 2012, 3:15 pm

It was too dark/wet and I was bit worked up because I had to take a call for work later in the evening, so I didn't try to check what the damage was. But I'll find out.

My car is old and had a full-size spare, so I was back in business in 20 min. I started this thread to ask people how they would have handled such a situation in a car with run flats and without a spare. It sounds like Vern already said that run flats did not help in one of his situations, but it sounds like he too had a spare. What happens in such a situation if there is no spare and it's too late in the day for any shop that would have such run flats in stock to be open? Do emergency services have a supply of run flats? Or do you just tow the car to the dealer/shop and take a cab home and figure out how to deal with it the next day?

vern commented:
October 23, 2012, 3:18 pm

Being that it was a holiday not much I could do other that get towed to the dealer. Wait 3days later for the dealer to open because of the holiday and get a new tire. I guess you could say I was lucky at the time I had a spare.
cheers'
vern

nanotech1 commented:
October 23, 2012, 10:05 pm

Can't stand them. Noisy and rough, and I've had two flats on both my 6 and 7 series this year alone. 6 series cost me 6 hours and a $300 dollar tow because the tire only lasted 20 miles even at 50 mph lightly loaded before sidewall separated. That in turn cost me the whole tire ($500)...if I'd had a spare I would have only suffered 10 min delay and 15 dollar punture repair. So $750 loss and time delay on the first one.

Second one was on the 7 two weeks ago. Stranded in a town for two days while I had a tire overnighted (none in town either RF or non RF in that size)-cost $700 plus the lost time. I was able to limp around town on the RF in this case, but didn't dare venture out of town.

Bottom line, heavy cars cannot handle RF tires, and having no spare is irrational on a luxury car, especially when so much of America is 100's of miles from any city/towns that have tire selection.

mr_clueless commented:
October 23, 2012, 10:16 pm

Thanks...did you share this with BMW? I wonder why BMW is adamant on this. None of the other car manufacturers have joined them. Maybe this is their way of trying to make all of the yuppie BMW owners have a bit more adventure in their otherwise mundane lives...and since we pay for adventure parks, we pay for BMW adventures too.

nanotech1 commented:
October 23, 2012, 10:23 pm

Yes, I shared my frustration on the 6, but haven't had a chance on the 7. I will reconsider BMW if they don't add a spare going forward. I tried to get away from BMW after my 6, but the new TTV8 7 was too damn beautiful and powerful and I got sucked in.

mr_clueless commented:
October 23, 2012, 10:35 pm

Even in that class, it looks like the Lexus LS is the only car that offers a full size spare.

safetyman_5 commented:
October 24, 2012, 12:20 am

Had a a nail in one of my tires and a chunk taken out of the inside sidewall of my RFT on my 528i. Got the warning but didn't see the damage, only the nail. I continued to drive my car without any problems with the damaged tire until it was repaired. So I've had no problems using the RFT's as advertised.

BMWFatherFigure commented:
October 24, 2012, 5:57 am

My partner had torn out a side wall on one of her tires. (Long story -Don't go there, pilgrim). Anyway the next day I drove the car to my workshop where I had a spare RF wheel ready to go on. I drove on a tire with a 2 x 3 inch sidewall rip at speeds up to 40mph (60kph) a distance of 30km (you work it out). There was no real difference in the car's performance or handling. Left rear was the damaged tire. I believe that MINI Roadside Assist will bring a wheel if required, even if it is a 'loaner'.

vern commented:
October 24, 2012, 7:12 am

A friend and also a doctor that has to be on the road in all conditions has had so many tire problems on his 7, RFT and others and cracked rims that he has had enough of BMW and going on to a Audi 6 when his lease is up in a few months.
cheers
vern

bimmerzone commented:
October 24, 2012, 8:36 am

wow, thats a tough one.....

in the end, both tires has its pros and cons... none is perfect...

kayjaysa commented:
October 25, 2012, 10:35 am

Drive a 2008 335i Coupe, purchased new, fitted with Pilot Sport 2 18in. Had a flat warning light come on at 4800km, stopped and found a posidrive screw thru the face of the left rear. Drove at 70k/hr for 30 odd kilometers to a tyre centre where they removed the tyre and inserted a plug. No problem with the handling or anything during the drive. Have just replaced the tyre, 49100km and 3 years later, as it is finished and did not have a single problem during that time. Runflats do have an advantage, in my opinion, BUT, the non RF's do have a better driving feel and are quieter. My son has non RF's on his Z4, and definately is better than the RF's.

JL2672a commented:
October 26, 2012, 10:40 am

How damaging is it to drive a car with a fully flat tire (non-RFT)? I see people changing their tires on the freeway all the time, dangerous as heck. Their butt is hanging out ready to be clipped by someone going 70.

I've never gotten a flat on the highway before but I assumed that unless the tire was shredded and fell off the rim, I'd be driving it slowly to the nearest off-ramp before swapping it out.

mr_clueless commented:
October 26, 2012, 1:18 pm

The first thing to get completely destroyed would be the tire, next would be the rim, ...
But I think the main issue is that you can't really drive a car with a flat at anywhere close to freeway speeds...one could probably limp along the shoulder at 10-20 mph and take the next exit, but I don't think the tire will have any chance of being saved at that point.

JL2672a commented:
October 26, 2012, 2:04 pm

I'd rather do that than risk my life changing a tire on the freeway. Not to mention the traffic you would cause by blocking up traffic. Best to limp it to the next exit and pull off the highway, even if it means a new tire.

BMWFatherFigure commented:
October 28, 2012, 10:13 pm

I agree that run flats are rougher and noisier but do offer safety and convenience. I cannot offer experience on a larger car but on my 3 MINIs they work fine and mean my partner or daughter can drive to safety, or home. Non RF will be destroyed in 200 yards (or less) of total flat driving. $500 rim to follow in the next 200 yards. Also warning light on dash lets them know when a problem has occurred.

mr_clueless commented:
October 29, 2012, 12:16 am

You can have warning lights even with non-RF...in fact almost all cars have it now.

BMWFatherFigure commented:
October 29, 2012, 2:44 am

Neither my E23, E30 nor my E38 have tyre deflation warning lights. They rely on driver awareness. My daughter is good (and would probably notice a problem). RF's are safer and better for ladies driving alone. Can there be a limit as to how many idiot lights an idiot driver needs?

gpburdell commented:
October 29, 2012, 2:21 pm

I want the idiots around me to have as many lights and buzzers and bells as necessary to keep them from hitting me or my family. If TPMS alerts the other driver to a low tire and it avoids him suffering a front wheel blowout at 75MPH and swerving into someone, then I'm all for it being in every car out there.

Dave 330i commented:
October 30, 2012, 11:12 am

god must like me. I've never had a situation where a flat occurred while away from home. I hear nothing but sad stories about run flat tires. They go flat too? I would get rid of them ASAP if I had them on a new car.

james_socal commented:
November 8, 2012, 6:54 pm

I live in L.A. where potholes are ubiquitous. I hit a big one a few weeks ago (with my previous ride, a 07 335i w/sport pkg) and 2 days ago, my flat tire warning light came on. This happened before and it was just sensor error so I continued my commute to work (about 25 miles). A couple hours later, after the tires had a chance to cool, I drove to a gas station to take a cold temp read. When I got there, I noticed there was about a 2-3 inch tear on my right front tire. I drove to a tire shop and it took $360 and about 3 hours (they didn't have the tire in stock and had to get it from a warehouse) before I was out of there.

I guess the lesson to be learned was I should always pull over right away if the tire warning light comes on and next time I hit a pothole, I'm going to pull over and take a picture of it. That way if I get another flat, city of LA can refund me.

Q. Senna commented:
November 8, 2012, 9:42 pm

Run flats are a safety feature. BMW's philosophy is that if you get a puncture you are able to keep driving to safety or to the nearest garage. This example holds most true during freeway driving where being on the side of the road changing a spare can be dangerous. Also think of it as a convenience tool. If you have a job that requires travel without interruption or as limited interruption as possible, run flats can be an amazing tool.

gpburdell commented:
November 12, 2012, 1:01 pm

Which is great unless you're on a holiday weekend trip and get a flat after the dealer's closed. Kinda f's up the weekend trip.

This is why I think I'll carry a small compressor and temporary plug kit for out of town trips. I figure if I can keep the tire inflated and off the sidewall I give myself more time and options.

Anyone have experience using a temporary plug (mushroom or string) and the BMW tire/wheel warranty?

lexhair commented:
November 12, 2012, 1:16 pm

You're lucky they could lay hands on a run flat that day. 18" run flats in stock are like hen teeth around here.

SD Z4MR commented:
November 12, 2012, 2:44 pm

My experience with a flat with a run flat was under quite different circumstances than most people will experience.

We did Euro Delivery on my wife's 335is Coupe in May 2011 and spent 14 days driving the car through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and France. Pickup was on Thursday, 5/12. On Saturday, 5/21, we were driving into Trier, Germany and had just exited the Autobahn when the Tire Pressure Monitor warning went off, both in the instrument cluster and on the iDrive. We pulled over and got out to look and sure enough, our run flat tire was about as flat as a run flat tire can be:



We were on a main thoroughfare coming into Trier, so we used the Navigation and looked for the closest BMW service location, Auto Orth, which was just a couple of kilometers away. This was at 16:35 on a Saturday afternoon in Germany, which means that any service-related business is closed. When we picked up the car at BMW Welt we were given a packet of information including a toll-free number to call if we had any problems. We called the number, and long story short, were told that there was nothing that could be done until Monday morning, so BMW put us up in a local hotel for two nights. (This is all part of the comprehensive insurance and trip coverage that is included with European Delivery.) They told us to drive to the hotel and then drive to the BMW service location on Monday morning and call them back. On Monday morning we drove to Auto Orth, less than a kilomoter from the hotel, they put the car on a lift and found a screw embedded in the middle of the tread of the right rear tire:



They don't patch tires in Germany so the tire had to be replaced. The rear tire is a Michelin PS2, 255/35ZR18. Apparently this tire is fairly rare in Germany and we were initially told that it would take 24 hours to get a new tire. Auto Orth did some more searching and found a tire about an hour away, so someone was dispatched to get the tire. Bottom line, the tire was procured, replaced, and we were on our way again around 14:30. The worst part was that we had to pay for the tire, since tires are the only part of the car not covered by the no-deductible all comprehensive insurance by Allianz, provided as part of BMW's Euro Delivery option. The charge that came through on our credit card statement was $580 for the tire, mounting, and balancing.

Our plan had been to spend a few hours in Trier then drive to Cologne where we had a hotel reservation for Saturday night. On Sunday morning we were going to get up and drive to the Nurburgring Norschleife for a full day of Touristenfahrten. We had planned to buy a four-lap ticket, two for me and two for my wife. After that we were going to drive to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, where we were going to spend Sunday night, all day Monday, Monday night, and then head back to Munich on Tuesday where we had a reservation for Tuesday night, and our return flight on Wednesday morning.

So how did having run flat tires affect us in this circumstance? Because it happened in Germany on a Saturday afternoon, even if we had a mini-spare, there was really nothing different that could have been done and a new tire still couldn't have been found until Monday morning. Cologne would have been too far to drive on a mini-spare, particularly on the Autobahn. Since the whole purpose of driving north was to drive at Nurburgring, we wouldn't have done that on a mini-spare anyway. A full-size spare would have been the only way that our trip could have continued uninterrupted. But our car has a staggered setup with 225/40ZR18 tires in the front. So what size should the spare be? If it were the 255/35ZR18 rear size then having a flat front tire would result in having a mismatched front set. If the spare were the 225/40ZR18 front size, then having a flat rear tire would result in a mismatched rear set. Bottom line, there were no other alternatives that would have resulted in a better outcome.

If this had happened to us on a Saturday morning on our way to Costco, then the outcome would have been much different. We would have called BMW Assist (BTW, BMW Assist isn't enabled in Europe, different radio frequencies), the car would have been flat-bedded to a local BMW dealer. If the service department was still open and if they had the tire in stock, it would have been replaced and we would be on our way. If not, then we would have been give a loaner, we would have gone on our way, then returned to the dealer on Monday afternoon to pick up our car with a new tire. If we had a mini-spare then I would have had to change the tire, possibly on the side of a freeway, and a visit to the tire store would have followed. Alternately, call AAA and either have them replace the tire or flat-bed the car to a tire store. Bottom line, a flat tire is a bummer, and interrupts your plans, and regardless of whether you have a run-flat tire or a mini-spare, it will result in a trip to either the BMW dealer or a tire store.

Now, about the run-flat tire itself and the screw that caused it to go flat. From the time that we exited the Autobahn until we got the warning was less than a kilometer. We drove less than two kilometers to Auto Orth, only to find it closed, then less than a kilometer to the hotel and less than a kilometer back to Auto Orth on Monday morning. Take a good look at the screw in the tire (the pictures don't do it justice, the head of the screw had been ground completely flat). Do you think that the screw would have been that damaged with only a few kilometers on it, in other words, did we pick up that screw after exiting the Autobahn or did we pick up the screw on the Autobahn or before we got on the Autobahn? Prior to the exit we had been driving for several hours at speeds of 110-120 MPH (not KPH!) and had a brief run at 145 MPH. When my wife saw the screw in the tire she said she sure hoped that we had picked up that screw after we got off the Autobahn. My reaction was the opposite, I said that I hoped that we had picked it up and driven on the Autobahn like that, because that would be a huge testament to the safety of run flat tires.

Different circumstances result in different outcomes, but this was our circumstance and our outcome. I don't think the outcome would have been any different, regardless of the type of tire and flat tire remedy.

mr_clueless commented:
November 12, 2012, 4:10 pm

Thanks for sharing your story.

Indeed in your situation that seems to be the case. For me at least, that would be a deterrent enough to not buy a car with a staggered setup for use on long trips. (Of course, the lack of a full-size spare means there's no benefit anyway.)

The only thing that really matters is how things performed after the time that the TPM came on because that is when the tire pressure dropped. So even if you had the nail before getting on the Autobahn, as long as it didn't result in a drop in pressure, not sure that it matters. Or is it that run-flats are more resistant to getting punctured than regular tires?

BMWFatherFigure commented:
November 12, 2012, 11:12 pm

Any car system is only as good as the driver. Ford or BMW, a brain dead driver is: A Brain Dead Driver!

mgarciah commented:
November 20, 2012, 12:25 am

I really have a great experience with run flats, we have an E90, F25 and E70 with run flats all, on the E90 my wife got punched tires a lot and she never had to stop or wasting time on them, just after the flat tire light comes on she just go to the tire repair center and she is on her way on minutes on day light and a save place, same thing happened with the F25 she smashed some glass piece and got a severe damage on a dangerous zone in the capital the flat tire light comes on right away but she could drove almost 4 Kms away until a safe place, then some weird sounds came from the tranny, the tire was totally destroyed and the morning after dealer told us that when one of the wheels has too different RPMS due the reduced circunference fromm the flat wheel the tranny start to do that sound and block it itself to avoid damage, the tire was replaced, but the tire has sufficient capacity to get my family away from that place... $300 for a tire and get your family safe back......bargain!!!!

keechisan commented:
November 26, 2012, 8:55 pm

New to the Forum but have had several experiences with Run Flats on various BMW products.

I recommend keeping a good quality plug kit and compressor in the trunk. You can't fix a damaged sidewall but you can fix a nail, screw, or other tread surface puncture. Most major tire shops in the US will not repair even a nail puncture in a RFT due to perceived liability issues. From experience, BMW roadside assist will only cover the towing of your vehicle to the dealer for tire replacement. If it is a Sunday and the dealer is closed---the tow is on your dime!
Driving a distance on a deflated RFT will ruin the sidewalls just as on any tire. The key is catching the deflation early before the tire is damaged beyond repair!

Coder commented:
November 28, 2012, 2:34 pm

Based on 22,000 miles of experience with our 2011 X3 equipped with the Pirelli P7 All Season RFTs, I suspect things may have changed in the RFT arena over the past few years. Our tires are quiet and not at all harsh but they are certainly heavy and expensive! Perhaps some of this is due to improved RFT construction and some to better suspension tuning. We haven’t yet had a flat however and I appreciate the fact that one may be stuck waiting for a replacement tire. It seems that BMW is doing their best to push RFT usage. With improvements in noise/harshness, perhaps RFTs will become more common over time.

gpburdell commented:
November 28, 2012, 4:10 pm

Agreed. I came to the same conclusion after my first RFT flat. I was very lucky; 9am on a Saturday when I didn't have any particular place I had to be. But I got to thinking what if it was Saturday night? Or if I was on a weekend trip out of town? No, a plug kit won't solve all situations, but it covers a lot of them and if I can keep the tire inflated I have a LOT more range to limp the car home. (I'd be very cautious with any external plug, things get pretty exciting when your tire spits one out...)

BMWFatherFigure commented:
December 1, 2012, 9:40 am

Driver awareness will never replace all the idiot lights in the world. Some drivers (I use the term loosely) can even ignore idiot lights!