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      07-20-2014, 12:27 PM   #1
Shredjim
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Who has really "run flat"?

I've read a lot of threads on ditching the run flat tires etc. but I'd like to hear some stories from peeps who have actually used the run flat capability and try to gain some insight on my next tire purchase. For those who hopefully chime in here - what I'd like to know is: did you suffer any rim/wheel damage? Given the situation - would you choose to tow your vehicle next time? Did the run flat tire suffer any damage, and we're you able to repair it? - or did it need to be replaced?

I am inquiring about all this because my X1 came with 17" wheels with Goodyear run flat tires. They are ok but quite noisy IMO. I located a great set of take off 18" BMW wheels and now I'm trying to figure out what high performance all season tires to put on them (square set up). The best tire for my purposes I can find is the Nokia WR G3 in either regular or run flat. Problem is very few places can get them - and they are ridiculously expensive. Would appreciate suggestions.
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      07-20-2014, 06:03 PM   #2
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I'll chime in. A few moths ago in my x1 35i with already 19k miles I suffered a puncture in my rear passenger side tire. It was a huge piece of metal after the TPM sensor triggered the light, pulled over and saw the surprise. Hard to believe I didn't suffer a blowout. However, I ditched the other three run flats and just got all four non run flats due to the cost and noise of the run flats.
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      07-20-2014, 06:05 PM   #3
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I have a 2013 x1 s28i with included run flats.

I was driving on a Saturday evening an hour away from where I live. I had my car pop up a warning light indicating that tire pressure was low on my passenger rear tire. I pulled over at a gas station to check all the tires and compare pressures. All tires were correct pressure except the leaking tire, which had about 30 lbs of pressure. I filled it up to 38 and decided to drive home for the evening since I wouldn't be able to get the tire fixed until Monday.

The next morning I checked the tire pressure. It was down to about 15 so the leak was somewhat slow but still decent. I decided to fill it up to 38 and continue to use the car that day and then take it to the dealership the next day.

The next day, same thing... tire pressure around 20. I filled it up one last time and drove to the dealership. The dealership that I use doesn't do patches, but only does replacements. I had bought the tire warranty anyway so I was happy to have a new tire put on.

I can definitely say for sure that I am sold on run flats. I would not have had the confidence to drive my car home Saturday evening on a leaky tire and then turn around and drive it for 2 more days and back to the dealer which is also an hour away. I knew that if my tire got down to sub 20 psi, I would be ok to be driving on it and that is a great feeling.

I have been in similar situations with cars that do not have run flats and I would be a lot quicker to switch to a donut which requires me to jack up the car and do all the hassle of switching it, and then having to drive under 55 mph on the donut.
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      07-20-2014, 07:55 PM   #4
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Havent had an issue on my X1 but on my e92 335 I was leaving dinner one night and turned the car on and bam Right rear low, get out and find someone had slashed it. Called the cops and had the cameras checked at the restaurant which was useless and then the officers asked if i wanted a tow... I said no thanks im on runflats and drove it back to my shop and replaced the tire the following day. They can be noisy but they do serve a purpose.
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      07-20-2014, 08:08 PM   #5
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I had a flat in my left rear with the run flats on. Worst experience ever. The car wobbles. A lot! I honestly wouldn't trust them for the speed and distance they advertise. Once I got a new tire at $450, I decided to get normal ass tires and take the free tow to any shop that can put a plug in my tire.
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      07-20-2014, 08:36 PM   #6
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I suspect run flats are the future. Fewer parts to stock in the car, less weight, more cargo space. I'm seeing them more and more on new cars. The tech has greatly improved over the last several years.

Knock on wood I've not had a flat in my 25 years of driving. I have no complaints on noise, handling etc. Very pleased with them.
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      07-20-2014, 09:43 PM   #7
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Yep, my wife clobbered a botz dot and the light came on. She drove it a few miles home and I drove it the next day to get it replaced. It was a little squirrelly but nothing like driving a regular tire once it's flat and it certainly didn't cause any rim damage. For the wife's car, it's a no brainer, especially since the Pirelli P7 A/S is about $140 for non RFT and $150 for RFTs. I paid about $20/ea for tire warranties at Discount and have had three replaced for free already.

One note about RFT's though, if you drive on one at low or no pressure, it's toast and needs to be replaced.

Our previous 135i had older RFT's that were horrible and we replaced them with regular tires that were better in every way, my wife just knew to call roadside if she ever got a flat. Now the X1 tires are fine for her needs and it's a little extra piece of mind. If you're talking about performance cars and track times, skip RFT's, but for a daily driver, I don't mind them.
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      07-21-2014, 03:56 PM   #8
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I ran over the big version of a botts dot too in my previous BMW. Hit it going quickly - and blew out front and rear passenger tires. Also damaged the fender too somehow...

Drove 5 miles home on it. Had to replace the tires obviously, and the wheels needed repair - but that had more to do with the low profile tires and hitting a solid object really hard, but definitely sold on the runflats. I had a hole so large I could stick my hand into the tire.
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      07-22-2014, 09:47 AM   #9
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I had one blow on my passenger rear of my E92-335. It made a noise like a gunshot. I couldn't go over like 20 mph without it squirming all over the place because the sidewall was damaged too. Never figured out why it blew unless I hit something. I got it to a Bridgestone/Firestone dealer since it was Bridgestone Potenza RFT and the closest BMW dealer was like 80 miles away at the time. It took them a day to get the replacement tire which was a pain. The tire was $389
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      07-23-2014, 07:03 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gort View Post
It took them a day to get the replacement tire which was a pain. The tire was $389
So how would your situation differ if you didn't have a RFT tire? I assume that you'd have to be towed (although if the hole wan't in the sidewall a can of tire fix might have sufficed). Then the big question is if was likely that you'd lose a day waiting for a non-RFT tire? Possibly not in any reasonably stocked tire shop.

I've heard this story before by other people who've had to wait at least one day to get a replacement RFT tire. I'm still not convinced that the pros of RFTs outweigh the negatives from a car owner perspective.
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      07-24-2014, 12:49 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Can_Car View Post
So how would your situation differ if you didn't have a RFT tire? I assume that you'd have to be towed (although if the hole wan't in the sidewall a can of tire fix might have sufficed). Then the big question is if was likely that you'd lose a day waiting for a non-RFT tire? Possibly not in any reasonably stocked tire shop.

I've heard this story before by other people who've had to wait at least one day to get a replacement RFT tire. I'm still not convinced that the pros of RFTs outweigh the negatives from a car owner perspective.
I was talking about RFT vs non-RFT with say a doughnut spare available so its simple. I would have put on a spare doughnut and would have been able to drive the car while waiting until the next day for the replacement rather than having it in their garage overnight. Obviously if there were no spare available there's no difference.
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      08-03-2014, 06:18 PM   #12
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My 2cents:
If it was me being the only one driving the car, i can care less to go with non run-flat even without a proper spare but with a fixit can + pump.

But when the car is driven by family, I would rather having the capability and yes, it has been used before and I am so glad that I kept the run-flats for that reason despite the many downsides on weight, grip, cost, and comfort.
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      08-07-2014, 03:50 AM   #13
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i'm thinking of replacing the run flat with normal tires + a can of Fix-A-Flat standby in the trunk. would that work?
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      08-07-2014, 07:04 AM   #14
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i'm thinking of replacing the run flat with normal tires + a can of Fix-A-Flat standby in the trunk. would that work?
That's what I did in my 135. I also got the BMW Mobility Kit, Tischer had it on sale a couple years ago.
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      08-07-2014, 07:06 AM   #15
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I've heard this story before by other people who've had to wait at least one day to get a replacement RFT tire. I'm still not convinced that the pros of RFTs outweigh the negatives from a car owner perspective.
I've heard that story twice myself. Just give me a doughnut spare, thanks.
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      08-08-2014, 08:55 PM   #16
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I was driving about 75 mph on the highway tonight, when I received the dreaded low tire warning on the screen. I was surprised as I didn't feel or hear anything. Nonetheless, was hoping it was a slow leak, despite it being a low warning (the red one, not yellow). I slowed down to about 55 and took the next exit, which was about a mile away. Got off the highway and pulled over to check it out.

I was absolutely amazed to see the size hole in the car. If I was driving a non runflat, with this size hole, I am convinced I would have had a blow out while driving 75 mph. That would not have been fun.
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      08-09-2014, 09:35 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Randy7fx
I was driving about 75 mph on the highway tonight, when I received the dreaded low tire warning on the screen. I was surprised as I didn't feel or hear anything. Nonetheless, was hoping it was a slow leak, despite it being a low warning (the red one, not yellow). I slowed down to about 55 and took the next exit, which was about a mile away. Got off the highway and pulled over to check it out.

I was absolutely amazed to see the size hole in the car. If I was driving a non runflat, with this size hole, I am convinced I would have had a blow out while driving 75 mph. That would not have been fun.
So, did you drive it the rest if the way home? I carry a tire plug kit and a small compressor. I'm imagining you could plug a hole such as that fairly easily with the tire still on the car.
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      08-10-2014, 04:14 PM   #18
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So, did you drive it the rest if the way home? I carry a tire plug kit and a small compressor. I'm imagining you could plug a hole such as that fairly easily with the tire still on the car.
I drove it about 7 miles to a BMW dealership...
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      08-10-2014, 06:20 PM   #19
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I carry a tire plug kit and a small compressor. I'm imagining you could plug a hole such as that fairly easily with the tire still on the car.
Of course anything is possible but imagine a situation where you're trying to plug a hole in a tire on the traffic side of a busy highway. In the dark. In the rain.

In that kind of situation are you likely going to say to yourself: "good thing I have that plug kit and compressor so I can get under the car and fix this?"
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      08-10-2014, 10:20 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Can_Car
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redsoxx1918 View Post
I carry a tire plug kit and a small compressor. I'm imagining you could plug a hole such as that fairly easily with the tire still on the car.
Of course anything is possible but imagine a situation where you're trying to plug a hole in a tire on the traffic side of a busy highway. In the dark. In the rain.

In that kind of situation are you likely going to say to yourself: "good thing I have that plug kit and compressor so I can get under the car and fix this?"
Well, I guess it all depends. I mean....let's say I'm coming back from a trip to the White Mountains of NH. Let's say I'm 100 miles from home and it's a Sunday evening. I'm too far from home to drive on the runflat. Most runflats specify safe usage, without air pressure, as 50 miles with a maximum speed of 50mph. It's a Sunday evening so driving to or getting a tow to the closest BMW dealership does me no good unless I'm willing to sleep in my car until the morning and hope they have a tire when they open on Monday morning.

At least, with the runflat, I can drive the car to the next exit and find a safe lighted area where I can attempt to plug the tire. Seeing as the tire doesn't collapse, plugging it would be pretty straight forward. One or two plugs would have sealed the hole shown in the OP's post. A few minutes on the compressor and I should have a repair that will hold me long enough to get home and perhaps permanently.

You can purchase AAA plus and they will tow you home up to 100 miles. But I think I'd rather plug my tire than ride 100 miles crammed in the cab of a flatbed with my wife, daughter and Jeb, the tow truck driver.
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      08-11-2014, 08:37 AM   #21
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I'm on the horns of this dilemma as well. Originally, I planned to replace the runflats with normal tires when they wore out, but I'm not so young as I once was. I have a compressor and plug kit in the car, but the prospect of fixing a flat in some really inconvenient spot isn't encouraging, tho' I do like having the option of plugging and proceeding.
What is the 'mobility kit' that was mentioned? Also, is there any reasonable prospect of getting a donut that will stow without drama in the X1? If I could get and stow a donut, I'd do it in a flash.

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      08-11-2014, 04:38 PM   #22
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Halfmoonclip, I'm with you. While I appreciate all the advantages of RFTs, I really despise not having a spare, nor a convenient place to stow a spare or even a donut, that doesn't basically ruin what little storage space exists in the rear of the car.
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