Petes550i

Well, I hit a small pothole today which I couldn't avoid and thought it was nothing. However, 30 minutes later, I get a low tire warning on the dash. I checked my front tire and notice a bulge and small gash on the sidewall and hear air coming out! . I called my BMW service and they told me the tire alone would cost $450! and will take 4 days to arrive due to the limited availability of these runflats. Fortunately, I purchased tire and wheel insurance when I leased my car so it'll cost me nothing ....however, I need to take a day off from work to get it fixed so that sucks. The service guy told me that the Goodyear Excellence runflats (which I have) had issues lately with weak sidewalls and other problems. Great.

I wonder if I replace the damaged front tire with one from a different brand....will that cause a problem?

Ricracing

Sorry to hear about your accident and problem, Pete!

Firstly, sue the street administration!

Secondly, how is it possible that BMW in a big city don't have a spare tire available at once?

A new BMW should have 100% same brand and featured tires on one axel, front and rear!

Petes550i

I hear you. My service guy told me these tires are "special" and had to be imported from France which is why it takes so long to get them. I hate these runflats. The cons outweigh the pros by a large margin in my opinion. I'm sure the F10 would perform better in acceleration, grip and handling in regular tires, not to mention ride smoother. The absence of a spare tire in the trunk forces you to be very careful when you drive. Everytime, I hit a pothole or a large bump in the road, I cringe. Whoever came up with this idea is a complete idiot.

If I had purchased my F10 instead of leasing it, I would have gotten rid of all 4 runflats!

luigi524td

They're even back-ordered at Tirerack.

BTW, for the OP, you should know that Goodyear includes, at no additional cost, one year of road hazard coverage.
http://www.tirerack.com/images/pdf/warranty/GYEAR2.pdf

So, in effect, the wheel and tire warranty may be picking up the replacement cost from Goodyear.
Since these are relatively new tires I suspect the limited supply is due to a higher than average failure rate

Petes550i

I think the Goodyear coverage is only when you purchase individual tires and not when it's already on the car when you buy/lease. I'm glad I got the tire and wheel insurance when I leased....I knew driving around Chicago's shitty streets would present problems and I was right. It's a good thing I also have winter tires to change out for half the year. I feel sorry for those who have to put with these run-flats all year.

Petes550i

UPDATE:

Those bastards at BMW told me my run-flat tire is now backordered for 3-4 weeks!

Thank god I have a set of winter tires so that I can still drive my car.

I advise anyone here with run-flat performance tires to buy a spare tire and keep it just in case something like this happens to you!

Ricracing

The "best lie" I have heard in a while, "special tires" and import from France
What a asswholewitchcon... And now 3-4 four weeks - I'm speechless

I quit RF's at 2008 and will not go back. BMW is the only brand that goes for them, for some reason?

luigi524td

A supplier problem isn't your dealer's fault and rather than take it out on them try to see if TOGETHER, YOU and the DEALER GM, can come up with a creative solution that doesn't punish a customer who ponies up $70,000 - $80,000 to buy one of their products.

I think one solution is to ask your dealer to replace all four tires with new RFTs of the "other" brand than is fitted to 550's like yours. I think that's the

SP Sport Maxx GT DSST
And that way they'll avoid the wrath of a dissatisfied customer ... we all know how fast BAD NEWS TRAVELS!

BTW, this sort of remedy is best worked with management ... it's beyond the authority of a service advisor.

Ricracing

Yes, the car must get new tires AT ONCE!

MarkLL

I have had to replace 4 tires on my 2011 550i Sport, while waiting a week each time for the replacement tires. I have not had this problem with any of my prior 5 series BMW's.

It is absurd that the 2011 does not have spare tire, thus allowing the use of non runflats. My 2008 550i Sport did not come w/ RFT's. My 2005 Sport came with RFT's which I relaced with non RFT's as soon as they wore out.