Rip

Hello All,
Please excuse me if I sound redundant to any previous posts. This is my first post so here goes:
I recently purchased a 2008 550i w/ Sport Package and 19" rims. I found out recently that there was a nail in my rear driver tire(in the middle of the tread) so I had a local tire shop check it out. Now I drove on low tire pressure(like an idiot) for a few miles before I got to the shop. Turns out the tires wore internally and I could clearly see rubber shavings in the interior of the tire. The repairman told me the nail could have been repaired however because of the damage to the interior sidewall, they wouldnt touch it. He suggested I buy a new tire. Now I asked around a few Bimmer owner buddies and they were shocked to learn that I DIDNT have the runflats. Can someone clarify this if they have the knowledge? Did te dealer rip me off by putting cheaper tires on my car? Im going in to see them in a couple days so any insight would help me out...thanks.
rip
BTW The tire is a Continental ContiSport 2 275/30/19 zr XL 96y in the rear.

EBMCS03

550 sport 19" #172 wheels does not come with runflats. So the dealer did not rip you off... it is correct.

Welcome aboard...

EBMCS03

BTW please enter in your location and spec of your car in your signature.

Rip

So I suppose I'll have to replace them on my own...should I save a trip to the dealer then?

Rudy

I agree, your car was never supposed to have runflats. If it makes you feel any better, repairing the tire with either a patch or a plug would've affected the speed rating of the tire. A rule of thumb is that a repaired tire should not exceed 80 or 85mph so replacing it was the safest thing to do in the long run.

I replaced one tire already (after only about 4K miles) due to a nail. It could have been repaired but I opted to replace it to err on the side of caution. (I replaced another tire at 2K miles but it was due to pothole damage -- the sidewall started to bubble out...)

As a side note, at least you didn't suffer as much damage as this guy did!

JSpira

Welcome and to echo the above sentiments, you got the correct tires for your car.

I guess I was wondering, what made you think you did have run flat tires?

Rip

Well Ive got 9500 miles on my car since July 07....I looked it up on bmwusa.com and the specifications for the 5 series is runflat tires...theres a highlight and everything....im actually surprised that BMW DIDNT equip the 19" wheels with runflats. You guys think there could be a case of misleading advertisement? The site clearly has a feature on runflat tires in the 5 series tab....also a friend just bought an 08 535i sport and he's got runflats so I guess i just figured i should have them too....
rip

Rudy

With all the conflicting and/or obsolete information out there, and clearly there is an abundance of it, I always double-check things for myself. When I took delivery of my 2008 car, I looked at the tires specifically to see if they were runflats or not (my 2004 car had them.) Page 15 of the 2008 brochure outlines which cars have runflats as standard or optional:
http://www.e60.net/information/2008_...s_Brochure.pdf

As I said above, you did the right thing by getting a new tire -- even if it could have been repaired...

EBMCS03

I dont see where he said he actually got the new tire...

Rudy

Well if he didn't yet, he doesn't have much of a choice now, does he?