stanatl

My dealer told me that if the car comes with run flats, it must be returned after lease expiration with run flats. I have no idea if this applied only to my car, my dealer or is a general policy. I have about 12,000 miles on my Dunlop's now and I am thinking of getting a set of Michelins and keeping the run flats to put back on the car when the lease expires.

JSpira

I asked BMW NA management about this over a year ago and got an official response that BMW requires cars that came fitted with RF tires to be returned at lease end with RF tires.

If an individual dealer lets a customer out of this requirement, that is an exception and cannot be interpreted as any change in the rule.

stanatl

Thanks for the clarification. My tires are starting to get really noisy and I having an inner battle over whether to just keep them on and get a new set of RF's free from BMW due to the noise/wear Service Bulletin or to take them off now, get non-run flats and hold these for when I return the car at the end of the lease. I want the ride of the non-run flats, but the practical side of me says free tires.

Rudy

The tread requirement is clearly explained on the turn-in document I posted above. They need to have at least 4/32" on all five tire (if there's a spare).

w84me

If the pdf that Rudy posted (it is effective Feb 2007) matches current pricing, BMW is charging $250 for run flats, all models. That is a pretty good deal if you can make it till turn in.

JPJ

That $250 per tire or $1000 total. If you are going to pay anyway it seems better to do it early and at least get some use yourself instead of only doing it for the next owner.

JPJ

Yes they are 245/40-18's original Bridgestone Potenza's. The car had 4k miles when I got it and I kept those tires on for less than 3 months after.

Wow, I just went on Tirerack.com -- I didn't know they cost that much new! (I usually check non-RF's only for searches). The $250 each from the dealer installed doesn't sound so bad now (maybe they would let you get them now for that price). There are so many better tires for less money in non-runflats.

You should at least try the dealer first -- with that many miles I don't think you would have any luck, but it sounds like other people have been successful (and esp if you will get another car through them it can't hurt to ask).

My wife leases and the tires are usually pretty bad near the end. We got stuck one time for a big bill. Since then I have either replaced early so she gets some use or found used near the end. Her last 2 vehicles have had staggered sizes so I couldn't rotate and I have only replaced the fronts since they were worn the most.

525d MSport

Wow 45,000 miles on a set of tyres.

I once wore out a pair in 14,000 miles on a FWD car, in the days when 130bhp was respectable!

Regards,

kearflex

I would tend to think that if you are going to lease another BMW from them, they may tend to cut you more of a break with the turn in...