[Moop]

Ok, maybe "blowout" is a bit dramatic. The vehicle started shimmying badly around 80 mph and I quickly pulled over. Back right tire was destroyed. The previous owner had replaced the run flats with regular tires and the bottle of fix-a-flat I bought for emergencies wasn't helping this thing.

I waited an hour in the hot mid day sun. When the tow truck driver arrived he said "Get used to it. Welcome to BMW. It'll happen again". Is he correct?

Afterwards he did add "Of all the richy-rich cars BMW is the best" which I thought was cute.

At the tire place the employee I talked to gave me some interesting info: all four tires on the vehicle were from 2006! They all had good tread but he said they're bound to disintegrate soon. He strongly recommended that I DO switch back to run flats as soon as possible. $1200 installed; doesn't seem outrageous. I'm not planning on driving this thing a ton of miles a year.

The only previous owner of this car must have babied this thing. I don't know if that's good or bad but I'm trying hard to make up for it.

By the way - the flat tire warning did NOT come on when I had the flat. It DID come on right after I left the tire place. Weird.

 

[gunyvw]

you know i had to read this about 3 times to get the grips of it...

i'm try na figure... yes i said try na... ...how the tires themselves have a darn thing to do with the bmw itself... now i have heard the rims on some types will have problems the ellipsoids for example will crack or something like that and maybe that's been his experience with it all.

but the part about the 'richy rich best' though is the killa... and yes i said killa... lol...

 

[Moop]

you know i had to read this about 3 times to get the grips of it...

i'm try na figure... yes i said try na... ...how the tires themselves have a darn thing to do with the bmw itself... now i have heard the rims on some types will have problems the ellipsoids for example will crack or something like that and maybe that's been his experience with it all.

but the part about the 'richy rich best' though is the killa... and yes i said killa... lol...

Yeah, the guy seemed pretty sure about the fact that BMWs have a higher rate of tire problems than other makes. He must have some experience - he is an tow truck driver.

But then the tire store employee tells me they're 10+ years old and bound to blow out soon anyway. He said 10 year old tires are over their lifespan and the rubber breaks down, or something.

I'm just glad that an sitting an hour in the heat was all I had to pay for a tire problem at 80 mph.

 

[rebel.ranter]

BMW would be no different when it comes to tyre blow outs, any comment that says otherwise is just nonsense!

Over here (in Ireland) our NCT national car test will issue a fail advisory for cars that have tyres that are 5 years or older, this is because the rubber breaks down over time. 5 years is what Michelin and other manufacturers state as the service/shelf life of a tyre is too.

http://moto.michelin.ie/advice/buying-guide/when-should-i-change-my-tyres

Continental say 10 years provided they are stored in good conditions:

http://www.continental-tires.com/car/technology/tire-knowledge/lex-1-2

Not all manufacturers agree with the 5 year, some say 6 and others say 5 years of use or 10 years after manufacture, whichever comes first. Here's an article on this:

http://www.moderntiredealer.com/blo...6-years-10-years-it-s-time-to-make-a-decision

So in you case OP it seems like tyre age is the culprit as to why the tyre failed not the car!

As for the debate between runflat v non-runflat? I removed the runflats from my 630i 5 years ago and I've done about 55k miles (mostly highway) on two sets of Pirelli non-runflat tyres without issue. I immediately notice a reduction in road noise and also comfort.

On my M6 it came with non-runflat from the factory, Continental tyres. Again, no issues with these.

I suspect that the tyre shop is obliged to recommend what the manufacturer states in relation to tyres. Hence them sticking with the runflat recommendation. Back in 2012 Bridgestone had an exhibition stand in Times Square, NYC and I asked one of their technicians/reps about switching from runflat to regular and he advised not to.

After cracking a wheel in 2011 that was when I decided to make the switch to non-runflats. My local dealer had said to me that they saw a marked increase in the number of cracked wheels since runflats became common place but didn't offer to replace the wheel. I bought a replacement wheel and went with regular tyres after that, haven't looked back since.

Tyres (or Tires as you guys call them) are the only thing between you and the road. It is therefore important to have the best you can afford and also to keep them in optimal condition, be that age, sidewalls, thread depth or air pressure. Hugely important component.

I've two e63 on the drive, driving many other BMWs since 1997 too, and have had no blowouts....but that's just my experience.

 

[FredoinSF]

You had a flat. Sorry, don't think it's a big deal. That tow truck driving was just throwing shade, probably most fun part of his job.
Tire are getting old indeed. Since you gave a bad one replacing all four might be good idea, I would...
Plenty of chatter here about run flat tires, switching to non RF, not having a spare, inflators kits, spare tire kits, Tex, etc, etc... Do a little searching / reading and decide what's best for you, there are compromises to both. I've had 6 BMWs (OK, two were Minis) and probably logged 300k miles without spares. I've always gone non RF at tire replacement time.

 

[HerbP]

The rear camber makes the tire wear badly on the inside part of the tire. Most people never look that far under the car to inspect the tire, when the outside looks fine. I have not had a flat with the non run-flats, verses 8 to 10 with the run-flats. The ride with run-flats will rattle your teeth!

 

[Rick D]

I have a old dodge muscle car and the Old tire blowout stories are quite common on that website...

I have 6000 miles on tires that are over 10 years old and really need to get new ones even though mine look brand new( on my 67 dodge)
The consensus on the Mopar website is the rubber in tires will dry out and rot even stored in a garage out of sunlite...
So YES, age has a lot to do with tire blowout NO MATTER what you do to the tires...