I bought a runflat from an online company and free fitting was arranged at National Tyres in Huddersfield. They put three scrape marks on my wheel yet said nothing to me. I noticed as soon as I got home and sent pics to the National customer service line. They agreed to pay to have the wheel repainted which I arranged and it cost them £80.
You do know all the non Indi drivers jumped ship to Audi a while back. However it's still expected that BMW drivers of a certain age carry on just swapping lane without warning. I've extended this rule to my R1150RT too. HTH I have run flats on my BMW Mini as the Mrs is sometimes allowed to drive it I prefer the run flats even the the ride is harsh, unless it's the 2 inch lowering that's making it a harsh ride....... However if I were you I'd switch to normal tyres, I've done 160K in my van and not had a blowout. I usually just get slow punctures not tyre blow outs.
I've got non run flat budget tyres on the back of my 2 series, put on by the garage before I bought it and they are absolutely horrid, the rear feels like it's on a skateboard. I am replacing them with RunFlat's mainly because my missus and daughter drive it a lot and don't want them to get stranded even with RAC cover. I spoke to a mechanic mate and he said that BMW's are super sensitive to tyres, almost to a point where they are set up for the couple of homologated makes, and really no good with anything else.
Just be mindful as someone said get a suitable tyre... I took the GTR (silly fast thing) to get the tyres changed (as mate lent me his car with warn tyres on) and they could not get the runflats off the Nismo wheels, the tyre walls were so stiff. I had to take it to a couple garages one refused, and one struggled like mad, saying he would not have done it if he knew. Worried about damaging the wheels, almost bent a bar with some rim protectors trying to peel them off. The car is high performace so may differ a little bit but... needless to say, normal tyres are much easier to get off, so make sure the tyre fitted will do the same job (on a performance car anyway). I'd not be happy to drive this thing as hard as I have and can (the owner won't drive it like that). I found when normal (affordable) tyres were fitted (against my advice) the car did feel sketchy to me even in a straight line. However they don't use run flats when racing. So it is purely down to tyre construction (note may require suspension changes in a race enviroment). A better tyre might have worked equally well. A more normal car might not suffer so much.
I have Bridgestone turanza RF on my BMW and they are great, not noisy at all, got 22000 out of my previous rear tyres and 26000 out of the fronts.
Well two years later and the near side run flats were done and the offsides weren’t far behind so bit the bullet and swapped all 4 for non run flat Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5‘s. Huge difference in ride quality and noise, so much nicer than the Bridgestone OE run flat tyres, and that’s just the run back from the tyre centre. Only £50 more than medium brand Falkens and a £80 Tesco voucher to boot. (So cheaper if you look at it that way) A more noticeable difference than when I changed to non run flats on my old BM but then that only had 17” rims on it and the one now has 19” ones.
My 2 series felt better as soon as I switched to Run Flat's at the back, just felt more composed. That said, I am sure it would have been better with high end non run flats, but as I said in a previous post, my missus and daughter use the car most, so anything to try and avoid them being stranded is worth it.
Missus had runflats on her golf and they were horrible. Replaced them with bridgestone potenzas which weren’t good. Then turanzas (same story). im getting her to bang on some Michelin pilots next
My Tiguan has Pirelli Scorpion Verde Seal Inside tyres. Now on 54k and due a full change, front and rear, before winter. The fronts were changed at 25k ish, the rears are still the originals. Not a run flat tyre but has built-in gloop coating the inner surface of the tread area. Have only had one slow puncture that I've noticed, on one of the earlier fronts, and as soon as the nail was removed 'sssccchhP!' and it then retained pressure for the remainder of its life. Not that noisy but seems to get worse as they wear. Not cheap at around £200 per hoop but given the mileage and the puncture resistance I'm sold.
I ditched the run flats on my 330i, and I now get part worn branded tyres with 6mm tread and perfect condition fitted for £60 each
I just replaced the OE front tyres on my Cooper S with Michelin Primacy. They are a little quieter than the OE’s but that’s about the only difference I’ve noticed so far. Although run flats are harsh and noisy I went for them again because I’ve experienced what they can do for you. Not long after I got the car I pulled out to overtake on the M90 and hit a boulder on the road. I was doing over 70. There was a big jolt and I got a tire pressure warning but the car steered pretty well. No drama. I got off the motorway, drove a couple of miles to a garage. The collision blew out the front tyre, the sidewall was trashed and the wheel was wrecked. I’ve had a front tire puncture on an ordinary tyre that deflated quite quickly and the car was all over the road.
