Held Hostage By Run Flats

[bdejong11129]

As some of you may know I had a small leak in my right rear tire due to a crack onthe inner lip of the rim. Being a good owner I immediately ordered up a new rim and it arrived on Friday.

So I head out early saturday morning to the local Firestone tire shop. They are a very new shop so I assumed they would have the latest and best equipment and they did.....But....

While waiting they bring out my tire and show me how there is some rubber residue in the tire from the sidewall stiffeners. I figure, great, new tires will be comming sooner than I expected. So I tell them to just remount back on the old rim and I would order in the tires I want. I mean, I dont wat more crappy RFT's. These still have plenty of tread on them but since they were run low on air they are already broken.

Then they hit me with the following statement.

"We cant re-mount the tire, its a liability issue...a long pause ensues as it sinks in. I am at a firestone dealership, guess what...they only carry Firestone. I dont want Firestone or fun flats....They again state they cant re-mount the tire because of liability issues....I tell them that I dont mind replacing the tires, I just wont be putting firestone or bridgestone tires on the car.

Long story short, after I make it plain to them that they will be house sitting my car and leaving it on the rack until I get a set of tires ordered in they finally cave and make me sign a release and re-mount the tire. (on the old rim of course)

Never again will run flats grace my car. Look at it this way. If I get a flat all I have to do is call a tow truck. Chances are the tire will be repaired and I will be on my way, worse case is I have to replace it for around 200.00 (average for the tires I am looking at). With a run flat, sure I can run on it to the shop, but then I get to pay 460 for a replacement and be on my way. These things make zero sense to me.

I am now at a decision between The Falkin and Hankook tires...I dont track the car but I do drive it every day to work and back so I need a tire that will wear fairly well. Any opinions on these or other suggestions?

[pokeybritches]

I ran into the same issue when I cracked a wheel on my 3.0i. I wouldn't drive the car on the highway until you get new tires.

As far as wear concerns, you'll get a lot more life out of your tires if you reduce the amount of negative camber in the rear to about half of what the factory calls for. I did that on my 3.0i and got pretty even wear with mostly highway driving, with occasional spirited driving. I definitely wouldn't recommend it if your car is a weekend car that's only driven hard, or you track it. If you don't like the results, you can always have it returned back to spec.

One additional consideration is that we're approaching winter temps, so you'll want a tire that performs well in your climate.

[bdejong11129]

Yeah, without a doubt the car will be limited use until the new shoes go on which it within the next few days once I decide on which ones to get.

Right now I am leaning heavy towards the Hankook. Seems there are a lot of people who like them and they are reasonably priced which helps a lot at this time of year what with Christmas just around the corner..

Still pissed that they made such a big deal about it and really pissed that I have to put new tires on the car when the ones on it have so much tread left. Another thing I found interesting is that the Run Flat tires are listed as having no mileage warranty. The more I learn about them the less they make sense.

[SteveInfante]

Once again.....BMW change your run flats out and give us the mobility kit.