Never thought I would own a car that changing from summer tires to winter snows would improve the ride. Getting rid of the Dunlop run-flats on my 545ia sport has created exactly that result. Really happy I made the decision to go with NON-RUN flat winter tires. The ride is now what I would expect it to be. The bumps are no longer jarring and every crack in the road is no longer telegraphed to the interior of the car. The ride is still firm as it should be with the sports suspension, but now feels well controled and smooth. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Won't be sorry to see my summer run flats wear out and there is no question in my mind what-so-ever,but to replace them with a top grade NON-RUN FLAT when the time comes.
We are lucky in the states that BMW put a spare tire in the well of the trunk.Makes change over a lot easier.
The extra added bonus is that my car no longer tramlines. There is a stretch of highway on the Cross Westchester Expressway in Westchester County in NY State that I could not ride the middle lane without feeling I would lose control of the car with all the swaying back and forth. Today with the new tires I drove that four mile stretch in the middle lane straight as an arrow.
The tramlining might not be the fault of the run flats. The improvement might be due to changing over to a narrower 17" tire with the same size tires in front and rear. I don't really no why, but the difference is dramatic.
As a matter of information,I put on ASA JH3 wheels (which look great) with 225/50R17 Dunlop M3 Winter Sports as recommended earlier this year on this terrific board. Got them at Town Fair Tires at a great price which includes free change over each season.
The information you pick up on this board is priceless, and with no trolls to screw it up, it is a real plus. Beautifully run and maintained. Keep up the great work.
YOU GOTTA LOVE THESE BMW's

 

This is great info to hear. I'm about ready to put on my winter tires. I got 17" mille miglia wheels with Blizzak LM-22 tires. I hope I get similar results. It would be good to share tire impressions as well on the e60.net.

Did you put them on yourself and use a torque wrench? to what torque levels if so?

 

Put my winters on this morning and had the same improvement in ride comfort, as well as a decreace in noice. I too switched to 17", with the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 and the same ASA JH3 wheels. I posted pics earlier today.

Hopefully BMW will catch on and either get rid of the run flats or give consumers an option.

 

Supposed to be 120 Nm for torque level.

 

Town Fair Tire did the install. They use a torque wrench, but I don't know the setting. They were very careful and really respected the car. I watched the entire procedure and tipped them for doing the job with such great care. The balance is perfect. Thet also will give you a free alignment, but I declined. Only would trust BMW to go that route.They do it all over again in the spring at no charge. A great deal.

 

I have exactly the same experience with my Dunlops M3 wintersports runflat wintertires. My ride is also 10 times more comfortable and less harsh.. I would have never dreamed changing from 18 to 17 inch would give such an improvement in ride quality..

 

Interesting post, however I think it's important to compare apple's with apple's as 18" will offcourse give less comfort. I made testdrives with allmost all different wheel tire combinations and found that for me at least, the best mix between comfort and drive accuracy is the 225/50/17".
I would be interested to hear when somebody changes over from run flats to non runflats in the same size, what the experience is in noice and driving comfort.

 

This is exactly what I want to ask!
Is there anybody who puts non-RFT with same rim size? How is it?

 

This is exactly what I want to ask!
Is there anybody who puts non-RFT with same rim size? How is it?
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I did last season. I had the dealer put 18" snows on my stock wheels and as you'd expect the ride was a little noisier, a little bumpier and the grip suffers. I can't remember the make (I negotiated for them when I got the car last year) but they are going back on on Tuesday so I'll update you then with the nitty gritty if you're interested. I will say that last year my dealer couldn't get the low profile snow tire on my wheels with their equipment and had to outsource the job to someone else in town (who promptly scratched two of my wheels). We'll be dealing with that on Tues. as well....

 

I changed from runflats on 18" to non-runflats on 19" and the ride and handling improved substantially. I'll be putting on my 18" wheels with all-season non-runflats in a few weeks and I expect the ride will be even better. The handling of course, won't compare to the 19" wheel/tires in the dry and wet.