Originally Posted by mhs525' post='964377' date='Aug 3 2009, 07:59 PM

Well with regular tires you can attain warp speed and travel through time with doc... Well maybe not...

To clarify a bit my car has the sport pkg and associated staggered tire set up. The OEM run flats are Dunlop SP 01 and where replaced when I bought the car as a CPO 2 years ago.

When I first started driving the car on the highway I thought there was something wrong with it. It tramlined horribly. When I changed lanes at speed it would dive to one side or the other, very unnerving and felt nothing like my prior BMW's (my 545i is my 4th). When cornering they felt slick and easy to lose traction when going around corners. The run flat tires are heavy and the sidewalls are very stiff, the car rode hard. The car just felt very awkward, didn't like changing directions, rough riding, noisy. I honestly was considering dumping the car because I just wasn't happy with it.

When I switched to regular Michelin tires it felt like a different car. Stable on the highway at any speed (I dare to go anyway). Changes lanes smoothly, no tramlining or diving into the next lane. Much better traction, smoother ride, better handling and quieter on rough roads (which is about 1/3 of all roads where I live). I love the way my car drives now. Awesome car with proper tires.

I also swapped to lighter forged wheels when I changed tires so I removed a lot of unsprung weight however the weight reduction affects the suspension and acceleration more than traction and ride quality.

The newer model run flat tires are improved and I think the difference in performance between a RFT and Non RFT increases with tire size. I have driven brand new 525xi's with RFT's as loaners and they felt OK to me but I was just commuting. The sport package RFT tires on my car were horrible, they are in my garage attic ready to go back on the car day I trade it.

Originally Posted by mhs525' post='964140' date='Aug 3 2009, 04:11 PM

You forgot one thing for the OP

ENJOY!!!!!! You're going to like your car a lot better

Originally Posted by v_therussian' post='964777' date='Aug 4 2009, 01:31 AM

Guys, can we just make it a sticky - NO FRIGGIN' RFTs!!! Seriously, I've written more threads than I can count on RFTs - let alone those that I've responded to!


I had to leave something for you to add

Originally Posted by sdg1871' post='964781' date='Aug 4 2009, 01:35 AM

So does that mean that you are ditching your RFTs in the front of your car?

Originally Posted by v_therussian' post='964791' date='Aug 4 2009, 01:42 AM

LOL

To answer your question: yes, I'll be getting all four soon and I'll be getting some high-performance all-season tires, but no more RFTs for me. I'm sure you remember my wonderful experience with attempting to have an RFT mounted in Milford and my wonderful puncture in the sidewall (which I totally blame on RFTs btw). I'm also kinda hoping to get me a proper set of 19s or 20s for the next season with some nice sticky summer wrappers...

Originally Posted by sdg1871' post='964795' date='Aug 4 2009, 01:44 AM

Which tires? PS2? General Exclaims?