BMW Run Flat Tires Pros/Cons

[Anonymous]

They say the car can be drive 50 miles at a lower speed with run flats, and then they have to be replaced. Vehicle has no spare tire. But what do people do if you are on a 10 hour trip on rural interstates on a Sunday evening when there are no tire stores in the vicinity, let alone open? It would seem you would be stuck vs. changing a flat.

[Anonymous]

if you make enough to buy a bmw, couldn't you just buy extra tire/rim yourself?

[Anonymous]

Many new cars don’t come with a spare. In the scenario you describe, you’re spending the night in a hotel, no matter what kind of car it is.

[Anonymous]

I had a BMW with run flat tires. The car rode like crap be cause of them. The tires were just too stiff.
Tread life was horrible. I’d get 10-15k miles out of a tire.
I sold the car because of the run flats, although I considered buying a spare rim and tire and putting it in the trunk. That would have eliminated almost any space in the trunk for luggage.
Never again.

[Anonymous]

I sold mine for the same reason. We take several 8-10 hr trips per year, and, especially once we had kids, I just didn’t like the idea of the scenario OP describes.

[Anonymous]

They're also annoying because they are more sensitive to big potholes. And since DC is becoming like a third-world country in terms of the conditions of its roads, ride-flat are a negative.

[Anonymous]

Newer run flats are much more capable and produce a smoother ride than the ones sold 10-12 years ago. I have them on my X5 and the ride is fine. This issue has been discussed on the bmw forum (bimmerpost) quite a bit, OP, I and you should take a look there.

[Anonymous]

Our vehicle is not a BMW, but comes with runflat tires. After the first set wore out pretty quickly, we bought better tires and just keep the highest level of AAA, so we can call for a tow if we need it. Fortunately we have not gotten stuck anywhere so far. When I went to buy my last set a replacement tires at Cosco of all places, the sales man was really snippy with me about not getting the run flats, but they really are inferior tires. I drive 20,000 miles a year I don’t need to be replacing my tires annually.

[Anonymous]

This is my first BMW with run flats and I don’t like the ride either. I can’t wait until they are done so I can get regular tires. I have a cell phone, my insurance has a tow/roadside assistance, BMW has roadside assistance, and I plan on carrying a can of fix a flat in a pinch. While having a spare tire make me feel a little better, the chances of having a flat is extremely low so I am ok with that.

But to sell a car over a spare is just silly unless you only bought the car for the badge.

[Anonymous]

Push the button to call BMW Assist.

That is all.

[Anonymous]

My run flats are super thin and sporty, which means I'm always scraping up my rims

[Anonymous]

BMW offers a regular spare tire for your car for any of the X model and maybe others. They have certain amount of them in the area or you can build one with the spare tire coming as an add on option. Just go to BMW.com and build a car and pick a tire option. What happens is that in case of X3 or X5 for example the car comes with higher floor in the trunk that has enough room to accommodate a tire inside. Go visit a showroom and ask them to show you a car that has this option.
You will see how it works. If you open a car that has spare and one that has not, the difference is that the trunk floor is just little bit higher up but otherwise you can not tell the difference. It does not make the trunk space significantly smaller by no means but other nifty feature it comes with is that they add an automated sliding mechanism for the trunk cover so when you open the hutch that thing fold itself and slides downwards into a space in the floor and closes. So cool. You need to see it to believe it.

You can just get it if you are so concerned. The thing is that the trend is such that nobody is making spare a standard anymore and nobody frankly cares either as the run flats are good enough to get you through the emergency situation to the nearest hotel and service safely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is my first BMW with run flats and I don’t like the ride either. I can’t wait until they are done so I can get regular tires. I have a cell phone, my insurance has a tow/roadside assistance, BMW has roadside assistance, and I plan on carrying a can of fix a flat in a pinch. While having a spare tire make me feel a little better, the chances of having a flat is extremely low so I am ok with that.

But to sell a car over a spare is just silly unless you only bought the car for the badge.

Spare tire has it's pluses but the minus is that if you get flat tire and plan to rely on spare, imagine doing it in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. I will take run flat any time not having to do it in some extreme situations like heat of the summer, extreme cold or late at night.!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Newer run flats are much more capable and produce a smoother ride than the ones sold 10-12 years ago. I have them on my X5 and the ride is fine. This issue has been discussed on the bmw forum (bimmerpost) quite a bit, OP, I and you should take a look there.

They make my dog carsick though. (I think) She is fine in our other cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Newer run flats are much more capable and produce a smoother ride than the ones sold 10-12 years ago. I have them on my X5 and the ride is fine. This issue has been discussed on the bmw forum (bimmerpost) quite a bit, OP, I and you should take a look there.

They make my dog carsick though. (I think) She is fine in our other cars.

Get rid of the stupid dog then. Problem solved!