vern

I don't know what dealer you are using but JMK BMW gave me a new set at 14,000 + miles just because of the noise problem. The wear on the tires, to the best of my knowledge, was ok. Good luck
cheers
vern

Rudy

I know that this bulletin applies to US cars but I seem to remember someone here getting a replacement set of Dunlops outside of the US (I may be mistaken though.)

It's true that the "endless loop" exists -- as long as the tires exhibit the irregular wear pattern and don't have 20K miles on the tires (not the car), they'll replace them for free. I think Dunlop is eating the cost of the replacements since the bulletin specifically states that the coverage is offered by Dunlop above and beyond the normal tire warranty. I think there's something between the Dunlop runflat and the E60 that doesn't get along well -- active steering maybe? The suspension geometry? I'm not sure. What probably happened was that BMW went to Dunlop and said "We have a problem" and since it was only happening on the Dunlop tires, not the Bridgestones, etc., Dunlop probably agreed to eat the cost of replacing the tires to stay on BMW's good graces and remain on the supplier list. Using a new set of replacement Dunlops makes sense because if they were to replace them with another brand, Dunlop's cost would be higher. (It's probably cheaper for them to replace multiple sets of Dunlops than to pay the higher price for a competitor's brand.) Also, it was speculated (but never really proven) that Dunlop made some small design change to the tires to prevent this from happening. If they did, it didn't seem to work or they keep putting the older design tires on the cars to use up the inventory...

Does that answer your questions?

IrishEyes

It does indeed, thank you very much.

It's a sort of a crazy situation. I suppose they calculated the number of people likely to come complaining and took a chance that the numbers would be acceptable and not break the bank. I wonder if it happens on other makes of car?

It sort of says something as well about the level of testing that BMW and/or Dunlop did with the tyres before 'signing them off' as acceptable to BMW's high standards. When I had Bridgestone run-flats for the few days before changing to proper tyres, I couldn't believe the tyre roar, especially from the back. As I drove it from the stealership, I thought someone had forgotten to put on the rubber door seals on the rear doors in the factory.
Maybe during their testing, the additional noise due to wear went missing so to speak within the normal cacophony generated by the RFT's.

I wonder if there is anything else we could complain about to get an 'endless' supply of whatever. Oh, I think my engine oil is a little noisy?

Rudy

I don't know what numbers they estimated but I can tell you that this forum was instrumental in the service bulletin even existing! If it weren't for E60.net, they may never have been free Dunlops at all!

I think this is the thread that sort of starting things rolling:
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=3451

Of course once the bulletin was posted for all to see, it was copied from board to board and the thing just snowballed...

vandal1x

how hard was it for you to get the tires from bmw? and i have a 08 is the problem fixed by now or no? i dont mind the run flats and if i could get brand new ones for free i would take them in a hartbeat.

Rudy

Once the service bulletin was released, it was a piece of cake.

My first replacement set was done before the bulletin since I was one of the first people to complain about it. At that time, BMW claimed they weren't hearing any complaints (could have been true at the time) and my dealer hadn't heard any complaints either (which was true at the time.) There was a bunch of finger pointing going on -- BMW told me to call Dunlop, Dunlop told me to call BMW, etc.

Once I started seeing so many people on the forum having the problem, I knew it was something bigger than just me and my car. We encouraged everyone here to call BMW and at first, BMW would offer to pay 50% of the replacement cost. Many people took that offer and felt it was fair. I was figuring out what I was going to do (take the 50% or bail out when they wore out) when someone here posted a message that he refused the 50% offer and BMW came back with a 100% offer. Once that precedent was set, I knew I could get the same deal. It wasn't long before other people started posting that they were able to get the 100% deal too after refusing the 50% deal. Bingo! Now the secret was out!!

I asked my dealer to contact BMW on my behalf to see if they could get them replaced. My dealer told me that BMW was going to replace them at 50% cost. I asked them to push harder (and explained that BMW had already paid 100% to others) and sure enough, the dealer ended up getting authorization for the 100% reimbursement. The dealer had to jump through a ton of hoops to get it done -- they had to measure the tread depth, document things, and call BMW since at that time, everything was being treated on a case-by-case basis. I think they even had to return the old tires to BMW for inspection, etc. Clearly BMW was learning about the problem and trying to figure out what to do. They were also likely putting the pressure on Dunlop to join in on the issue and help "make things right" for the customer.

I think it wasn't too much longer after I got my first replacement set that the TSB came out and made the process much easier. The best thing about the TSB is that it does not stipulate that a customer can't get more than one free set. It simply states that the tires can't have more than 20,000 miles on them. My dealer knew the exact mileage of my tires since they were the ones that mounted them, etc. I was always well under 20,000 miles when I got the replacements and part of the miles on the odometer were during the winter season so it only made my case better!

All I can say is if you have Dunlop runflats, think twice before dumping them. These tires aren't cheap so if you're able to get free replacements, it might just be worth the small price you pay for the harsher ride, etc.

550i now

Armed with the TSB that I was made aware from this forum, I was prepared as each set of the Run Flat's became noisy.

First and third set NO problem. Second set the BMW regional dude wouldnt authorize as they had already been replaced once, but after I pointed out that this wasnt a stipulation he relented.

I am on very good terms with my SA, which certainly helps, but he had no clue of this TSB. Without this TSB and guidance from fellow E60'ers I imagine the process would have met more roadblocks.

This most recent replacement event met with no resistance.

So, looking out to sometime early next summer I figure I'll encounter the same issue, and go for round 4.

Rudy

'Atta boy!

khooger

Just brought mine to the shop....about the humming noice and hard brake when stopping.....see what they say....car has 19800miles.

Rudy

Hope they don't test drive it too much!