pbarch1

Rudy - Mine too, damn these things are loud !!

speedracerF4i

Tires will always get noisier as they wear.

I just put 2 new Falken 451 to my 328i 234/45/17 (I am selling the car in 2 months so I cheaped out in getting 4), and the noise from the rear axle is completely gone. Now, instead of dolby surround noise, I get 2-channel stereo from the front axle. The new tires also glided over the botts dots, whereas the semi worn tire crashed them.

The moral of the story is, all tires will gradually become noisier and harsher. Switching old tires to new ones, albeit same ones, will give you a "night and day" difference. I would just keep using the runflats until it's time to replace them. But if you're leasing the car, it's smart to leave at least 25% (1/8") thread, and save them till the end of lease.

jtxc

Yes I'm at about 6800 and just started to turn up the L7. I also lease Rudy so I'm thinking the same thing. Too bad, I thought this tire issue was going to go away.

I love the stock look of 124 with low profiles. I'd really like to see the 124's without low profiles (good pic?) but I don't think I can do it.

Some definitive findings as to price vs. looks vs. handling vs. longevity would be appreciated (delegate, delegate).

Rudy you're also going for a winter set up too, thats gonna take a bite out of the wallet

JDN

Oh boy, I remember going through the noisy tire thing with the 540-6 and OEM tires. I thought I had that behind me. If I have the same noisy experience again, I'll be going for the Michelins -- maybe not quite as good for handling, but good enuf and much quieter.

jtxc

Tirerack

Goodyear Eagle F1............Best performer

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 and AS....... less performance, less noise

PZero....best all around

Thats how I'm interpreting their site.

It's a $1K purchase so I'll be looking long and hard at this one..........

Rudy

Well sure, tires always get noisier as they wear but there's an acceptable noise level, and then there's the noise I'm getting after only 7000 miles on these runflats. The last time I heard this type of sound was on a jacked up 4-wheel drive Jeep with big mudders all around!

I may end up just running these things until they're done. I wonder if the noise will be a bit less once some more tread is worn? Right now, it's almost like some perfect harmonic frequency is being hit with the tread depth as it currently is. If I try to save these for lease end, I'm running the risk that I'll be pulling off good tires and be stuck with them. Also, I'd have to pay once more to have the runflats mounted and balanced. It may be simpler to simply raise the issue with the dealer to see what can be done.

Rudy

I'll be figuring out my winter setup soon. I usually go with a full set of wheels & tires from the Tire Rack. Since I'm likely to lease another E60 after my lease, I can use the same winter wheels for both cars (which is what I did on my two E39's).

John W

I concur that these tires don't handle all that well and are harsh-riding. Mine aren't noisy yet - 2,500 miles, so I'm okay there. Also, they like to squeal on turns.

On the '01 540i, the Bridgestone S-03s I tried squealed like nuts, too, so I ended up with the Goodyear F1 GSD3s - I loved them. Super sticky, quiet, very smooth, and good in the rain. Great all-around tire, in my opinion. I will definitely be getting those after the factory Dunlops.

tab545

At 3,200 miles, my Dunlop runflats haven't yet had these problems, but I'll be on the lookout.

One thing nobody has mentioned is the safety/convenience of runflats. With my wife and maybe kid on board, I am really reluctant to drop the runflats.

I'll be switching my stock Dunlops (275 rear, 245 front) to Winter Sport M3s (225/50s with 17" wheels) for winter soon, anyhow. Then see how the summer tires do once they're re-mounted next spring. I know the runflats will always be harsher, but I put a lot of value on the insurance against having to change a tire, or my wife having to do so, on a dark highway in the snow.

Rudy

I somehow think that the runflats aren't going to be very good in the snow. Do they make runflat snow tires?