mleuba

Hi All,
Planning the F10 purchase sometime in the hopefully not too distant future. I know run-flats are delivered and that to revert to standard tires would be expensive, so my question is - does anyone reading this post have experience with an F10 or prior model with and without RFT's? My guess is the soft ride people complain about on the F10 is in direct response to BMW trying to engineer the harshness out of run flats... if so, what is the ride experience like with standard treads?

Although I am somewhat concerned about replacement cost for run flats ($400+ USD each), my main questions is, will the ride performance improve actually, or is the softer ride and distant-feel in the steering wheel built in to the platform now and the rubber side walls won't make a big difference.

Thanks for your comments and experiences.

Mark

turboawd

runflats cost way more, and dont last as long as regular tires.
the ride is smoother on regular tires, but runflats make the steering feel more precise, if that makes sense, due to the sidewalls being stiffer.

wtlb

+1

GX528i

I had the exact same concern last month before I picked up my new 2012 F10 535i. My previous 09 E60 528i had non RFT Continental ContiTouringContact tires and they were pretty soft and smooth. They had a decent grip on cornering in dry roads ( never drove the E60 in rain during my lease so I can't comment too much about wet weather grip ) . My new F10 535i has GoodYear Eagles RFT and they are STIFF The suspension on the F10 is softer though so it compensated but I can only imagine if I had RFTs on my E60, that would ride like a Hummer H1 I bet It's hard to explain how the tire ride is HARD but the softer suspension compensates for it and makes the ride softer, but once you've driven a new F10 with the RFTs then you'll know what I mean

Ricracing

RF tires are harder (less comfy), makes more noice and do tend to tramline.

A 20" non-RF is about equal to a RF 18" tire.

tooltec

Before buying my E60 I had test drives in two M Sport models,identical except for the tyres.The first had 18" runflats and the second had 19" non-runflats.The ride was harsher on the runflats and more noise was fed into the car on poor road surfaces and that is why I chose 19" non-runflats.I have also heard of some tyre fitting companies who will not work on alloy wheels with runflats because they do not have the expensive equipment that is needed to prevent damage to rims.

AchtungE60

I have a pair of Run Flat's Bridgestone Potenza's that came with the BMW Roadster and they are like 160 treadwear! The ride was hard on them so I ditched them. On my 530 I bought some Achilles tires 245/35/19 and 275/30/19 for around $400-$450 or so. A friend of mine Road Force Balanced them for $10 each and the treadwear is around 400 or 380 and they ride nice. I am not easy on the roads either. I hit speeds of 120-130 daily. I let my wife drive the car this past week and she even said she had to slow down because she's just driving along and all of a sudden she's doing 110mph. First day was funny. I put the speed limit gong on and she pulled over to the side of the road and called me telling me about the going and something coming up on the dash and the iDrive. hahaha.
Anyway I know an E60 is not an F chassis but RF's are RF's.

subterFUSE

I replaced my OEM Dunlap Runflats on my E60 after they wore down to the cords in 18,000 miles.

Went with Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires ever since, and have never gone back. The non-runflats ride so much smoother, with less road noise.

Hyper_545i

+2

Well said!

Ricracing

No, that is not true. One can easily rise the tire pressure to the given max level, in a regular tire,
and get the more precise steering feel, when driving hard.

I now ride with the normal pressure level + a little more. Comfy and precise driving with 20" non-RF's.