The Ups and Downs of run-flats

[M_Six]

I was heading to work this morning and decided to take the shorter, off-highway route. It cost me. As I was driving through a village at 40MPH I heard a soft pop, almost like an acorn had hit the soft top. Two seconds later my tire pressure warning goes off. I was a good 15 miles from the nearest tire place, but the car felt fine. If it weren't for the dash warning, I never would have known. When I got to the tire place, I didn't even know which tire had blown. That's the upside. Blowout and instant loss of air with zero effect on handling.

Turns out a piece of metal had sliced through the inside of the left rear right where the tread meets the sidewall. No way to patch it. So now I need a new tire. $489 mounted and balanced. That's the downside. Plus they didn't have one in stock, so I had to rent a car to get home and back to work tomorrow. The rental wasn't bad thanks to the BMW Roadside Assistance discount. An Impala ran me $40 for the day. But this blowout cost me as much as four new tires for my wife's Civic. (Not that I'd ever trade cars with her. )

[WhoU4]

Originally Posted by M_Six

So now I need a new tire. $489 mounted and balanced.

Mark,

Glad to hear the run-flats did their job, really expensive replacement cost. I'm guessing that you are only replacing the blown tire?

I've always wondered what I would if I had a blowout, wondering if I would replace the opposite side of the blow out just for tread matching.

Dave

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by WhoU4

Mark,

Glad to hear the run-flats did their job, really expensive replacement cost. I'm guessing that you are only replacing the blown tire?

I've always wondered what I would if I had a blowout, wondering if I would replace the opposite side of the blow out just for tread matching.

Dave

I had to do that with the fronts because there was a noticeable difference in tread. But the rears have only 8k miles on them, so I figure I'm ok for now. If it causes a problem, I'll wait until spring to buy the matching tire. I don't plan on driving it much longer this year anyway.

This is only my second blown tire in 34 years of driving. The other was a blowout on my 633CSi on the autobahn in Germany. That was far more exciting than the incident today.

[Rick F.]

Mark,

Sorry to hear about the tire damage--not to mention the wallet damage. Your experience definitely illustrates the "ups and downs" of run-flats. My Bridgestone run-flats still have a lot of life left, but I still keep having this mental debate about whether to replace them with another set of run-flats when the time comes or to switch to conventional radials.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Rick F.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Rick F.

Mark,

Sorry to hear about the tire damage--not to mention the wallet damage. Your experience definitely illustrates the "ups and downs" of run-flats. My Bridgestone run-flats still have a lot of life left, but I still keep having this mental debate about whether to replace them with another set of run-flats when the time comes or to switch to conventional radials.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Rick F.

I had planned on switching to traditional tires and storing a pump and fix-a-flat. But this blowout would not have been repairable with those two things, even temporarily, which means I would have needed a tow. Oddly enough, my E38's radiator blew up within a few hundred yards of where my Z4's tire blew today. Bad area for me.

[Matty C]

Glad everything went well but as you stated runflats are expensive. On my old Z4 I replaced the runflats with normal tires and purchased a tire repair kit almost like the one in my Z4 //M. I noticed a immediate positive response in both my wallet and in ride quality.

[Huz-Z]

Here in my town, the winters play havoc with the roads through multiple freeze-thaw cycles and repeated damage through multiple plowings to clear winter snow. The result is that the streets are commonly "beat up" by spring and while the potholes are patched, the resulting roads are still bumpy.

So, when driving a Z4 with run flats here, the car pulls all over the place. I need two hands on the wheel or the car will steer off the road or into the other lane! The car is fine on the highways here, but in the town itself - yipes! I really am inclined to replace the run flats with conventional tires when they wear out for the reasons noted above, and try to get something that will get me out of a jam if I have a flat.

Huzz

[Jakey]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

Here in my town, the winters play havoc with the roads through multiple freeze-thaw cycles and repeated damage through multiple plowings to clear winter snow. The result is that the streets are commonly "beat up" by spring and while the potholes are patched, the resulting roads are still bumpy.

So, when driving a Z4 with run flats here, the car pulls all over the place. I need two hands on the wheel or the car will steer off the road or into the other lane! The car is fine on the highways here, but in the town itself - yipes! I really am inclined to replace the run flats with conventional tires when they wear out for the reasons noted above, and try to get something that will get me out of a jam if I have a flat.

Huzz

You could try Michelin run-flats. They aren't as twitchy as the stock Bridgestones, and better ride quality too.

- Jakey

[M_Six]

I now have two front tires with about 7k miles on them and one new rear. The other rear probably has 10k. So far I've replaced 3 tires (one paid for by the dealer) in the 9 months I've owned the car. If they keep failing like this one at a time, I'll never get to where they're all ready to be replaced at the same time so I can dump the runflats. But I hate to replace perfectly good tires.

Are runflats inherently fragile?

[WhoU4]

Originally Posted by Jakey

You could try Michelin run-flats. They aren't as twitchy as the stock Bridgestones, and better ride quality too.

- Jakey

Isn't there a new generation of run-flats available that was to allow for a smoother ride and better handling? (I remember hearing that they would be less costly then the current run-flat)

Again I like the idea of a tire that will perform for a period of time allowing you to get to a place to hopefully get it repaired. I just hate the "Tram Lining" (sp) as described by Huz-Z ... as I've experienced it on well worn roads.

Originally Posted by M_Six

Are runflats inherently fragile?

I wouldn't look at them as fragile since they continue to work after losing pressure, but more like those solid hard tires you may have had on your first bicycle when you were a kid. (At least I did)

They work, but not the smoothest ride around.

[daveysew]

WhoU4 has it right, they're not really fragile, I think you've just had some really bad luck with tyres. If I had that bad of luck with tyres I think I might have kept my run-flats. I replaced the run-flats with standard tryes on my Z4 and am very happy with the ride quality, but I do carry an air compressor to deal with flats along with roadside assistance for catastrophic tyre failures. It is a bit of a risk but I prefer the ride quality.

GL either way you decide to go.

dave