Well after putting up with the horrendous tire roar on my 04 545i, BMW has agreed to replace my Dunlop runflats with Bridgestones. I have 11,400 miles on the car (picked it up on 1/17/04) and like many on this board, I have seen the noise worsen over the past 2000 miles or so. This is my 7th BMW, all with Sport Packages, and the first one with tire noise at such low mileage. In the past, I have gone at least 20,000 miles before I've noticed wear and noise. My Dunlops show little sign of wear, but the noise from these tires is unbearable. My SA indicated that he has had many complaints from early Dunlop runflat owners, so I guess our complaining is finally resulting in BMW doing something about it. Needless to say, I am very pleased with the outcome having just recently been quoted $1000+ for new tires. While I would have preferred to go with Goodyears, I guess that I can't be too picky since BMW is picking up the tab.

I'll provide a report on how the new Bridgestones hold up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

That is great news. Do you have the impression this something BMW is doing or just your service/dealer? It would be great to get the tires replaced - it is very distracting from the appeal of the 5 series.

 

That really is good news! Are the repalcements going to be runflats as well?

 

Good news. I have the Bridgestones and i like them. No road noise yet a 7800 miles.

 

Did Dunlop change the compound or tread design along the way? Some people complain and others don't. Is there a reason for that other than just personal opinion? I am not looking forward to dealing with this in 10K miles if it is still a problem.

 

My 545/6sp was built in March, 04 and the Dunlop runflats started to really roar at >50mph starting around 7500 miles. Treadwear is minimal; it's like I've worn off some outer rubber layer and gotten to some compound that's rock hard. The Michelin Pilot Sports (non RF) on my 330i were never this loud, even when they had 30,000 miles on them and almost no tread left. I'm very curious to know if this is a BMWNA thing or just an isolated dealership greasing a squeaky wheel.

-MrB

 

I changed mine to bridgestone too. It is S-03 and its GREAT! Much better than the run-flats.

 

I suspect that my SA and dealer had a lot to do with it. I have had many problems with my car and have been very patient and developed a good relationship with my SA who went to bat for me. He mentioned that Dunlop has a new production of runflats (not sure when this change occurred) and that earlier versions were problematic. I specifically requested that if they replaced them that I did not get new Dunlops. I suspect that the replacement Bridgestones will also be runflats, but since they haven't come in yet, I'll have to wait and see. Worse case scenario is that I can go another year or so without having to revisit this issue again. I had planned on replacing tires at 30,000 miles anyway, so I can now put this off for a while.

 

 

I dont think youll get 30,000 miles form the Bridgestones