640d GC and run flats?
Discussion
Local garage just told my wife they don't repair runflats, and then when she asked to replace with non run flats she was told that the cars suspension is set up for them and she would have all sorts of trouble such as poor handling and cracked alloys if she didn't fit the same tyre. The car is a E93 with 18"s. I assume this is poor advice and I should order non RF and get them fitted elsewhere?
c4sman said:
Local garage just told my wife they don't repair runflats, and then when she asked to replace with non run flats she was told that the cars suspension is set up for them and she would have all sorts of trouble such as poor handling and cracked alloys if she didn't fit the same tyre. The car is a E93 with 18"s. I assume this is poor advice and I should order non RF and get them fitted elsewhere?
Nonsense, the alloys are more likely to be cracked as the RFT tyres don`t have any give.Also, you can spec non RFT tyres when buying new anyway
I have clarified what is going on. I spoke to Micheldever who I completely trust. The front tyres on my car are like new with 7mm tread. The rears are down to 3-4mm with the left rear flat and unrepairable. The issue for me is I wanted to change out the rears for non RF until the fronts are shot and then swap them out for non run flats. Micheldever said they would refuse to change out only the rears for non RF as the handling balance would never feel right and the car would never feel planted until all 4 are swapped out. He recommended RF for the rears until all 4 can be swapped out. Made a lot of sense to me and he was happy to lose money rather than allow the mix. I don't want to dispose of 2 good tyres or sell them for peanuts so I'm going RF for the rear until I can swap all 4 out unfortunately.
P.S. Blackcircles seem to have some great prices on tyres at the moment for anyone in need any time soon.
P.S. Blackcircles seem to have some great prices on tyres at the moment for anyone in need any time soon.
Edited by c4sman on Friday 29th July 19:34
c4sman said:
I have clarified what is going on. I spoke to Micheldever who I completely trust. The front tyres on my car are like new with 7mm tread. The rears are down to 3-4mm with the left rear flat and unrepairable. The issue for me is I wanted to change out the rears for non RF until the fronts are shot and then swap them out for non run flats. Micheldever said they would refuse to change out only the rears for non RF as the handling balance would never feel right and the car would never feel planted until all 4 are swapped out. He recommended RF for the rears until all 4 can be swapped out. Made a lot of sense to me and he was happy to lose money rather than allow the mix. I don't want to dispose of 2 good tyres or sell them for peanuts so I'm going RF for the rear until I can swap all 4 out unfortunately.
P.S. Blackcircles seem to have some great prices on tyres at the moment for anyone in need any time soon.
They're talking bP.S. Blackcircles seem to have some great prices on tyres at the moment for anyone in need any time soon.
Edited by c4sman on Friday 29th July 19:34
ks. Done it numerous times for the same reason. No noticeable effect.Took the RF's off the X5 today ( 315/275 20's) sublime....
T16OLE said:
c4sman said:
Local garage just told my wife they don't repair runflats, and then when she asked to replace with non run flats she was told that the cars suspension is set up for them and she would have all sorts of trouble such as poor handling and cracked alloys if she didn't fit the same tyre. The car is a E93 with 18"s. I assume this is poor advice and I should order non RF and get them fitted elsewhere?
Nonsense, the alloys are more likely to be cracked as the RFT tyres don`t have any give.Also, you can spec non RFT tyres when buying new anyway
Mercedes and Jaguar, for two, have both had significant cracked rim issues with the rims of non RFT low profile tyres.
Having said, that you're right; the local garage's advice was nonsense, in more ways than one.
I was quite surprised that the handbook for our 640d said you could fit non runflat tyres, as long as you fitted 4 the same. I actually handed my leased 640d back to bmw with a set of non runflat winter tyres fitted. As others have said it was much better on Michelin Supersport - grip, ride, wear, cost....
Just got a 640dGC last week, I think the ride is ok compared to previous cars, car is running 19s rft not experienced noise issues yet but it would have to go some to beat my worse experience, Porsche Cayenne running standard tyres, Yokohama's 21" on a certain stretch of the M25 in Surrey, I literally thought the car was falling to bits. as long as I never have that experience again I'm happy!
I wouldn't run a car on both RFT's and non-RFT's - it's definitely not recommended, they have a much stiffer sidewall and it will impact handling.
When my RFT rears were down to 3mm I swapped all 4 tyres for non-RFT's.
The cost isn't that much more since the cost of non-RFT's is around 40-50% less, so in effect you pay for 3 (if you were buying RFT's).
When my RFT rears were down to 3mm I swapped all 4 tyres for non-RFT's.
The cost isn't that much more since the cost of non-RFT's is around 40-50% less, so in effect you pay for 3 (if you were buying RFT's).
Must admit, I don't like mixing tyre brands even on separate axles so tyres of different construction doesn't feel like the right thing to do. The difference in my case between RFT and normal was only £30 so couldn't justify ditching all 4 tyres to switch to normal, so for now I will be bumping along with the Bridgestone and hoping my driving style wears the fronts out as quickly as the rears!
T16OLE said:
Further to reading this thread, I`ve had the RFT`s swapped for 4 x Falken 453`s (245/35/20 & 275/30/20) this morning.
Cost all in £512. Sold the front Dunlops on eBay for £200
What a difference, its night and day. So much nicer to drive.
I suspect you'll be seeing rather more of the traction control light in the future! Those Falken's always felt over-rated on far less powerful cars, they must be somewhat interesting with 640nm and 300bhp!Cost all in £512. Sold the front Dunlops on eBay for £200
What a difference, its night and day. So much nicer to drive.
Fox- said:
I suspect you'll be seeing rather more of the traction control light in the future! Those Falken's always felt over-rated on far less powerful cars, they must be somewhat interesting with 640nm and 300bhp!
So far, albeit, limited mileage, it's actually the complete opposite compared to the worn brittle runflats.The turn in is so much crisper and controlled, I always felt a little short changed on the "feel"
Department, that's been drastically improved.
The 453 is a reasonably recent model
Whatever tyres you get fitted, make sure you check the pressures yourself and don't trust the fitter. I checked the 330i when I got home after my wife took the car to have new rears fitted. Near side rear was at 75psi. Offside was at the correct pressure (I.e, less than half of that). Needless to say I was fuming that the garage had sent my wife and child off in a car with a tyre pumped up to explosive levels. I have given black circles and their fitting partner a piece of my mind.....
640D GC with RFTs on 18" rims: you'll get unrepairable punctures, new tyres are £200 a corner, then you'll need regular wheel balancing and wheel alignment checks, poor surfaces are harsh and noisy, you simply can't enjoy driving a fantastic car because you're obsessed with defects in the road, and UK motorways will cause you heartache. BMW's engineers did not have banana republics in mind when they designed this car. No room for a spare. Avoid.
I had dunlop sport maxx gt 245 35 20 fronts and 275 30 20 RFT rears and they had done 17k and the fronts had 4.5 mm on them rears had 3.5mm. I did hit a few pot holes and thought the tyres were ok for grip and comfort and thought they would last 20k plus.
I then had my MOT and the front tyres failed with bulges and ply cords exposed on the front tyres. I didnt notice or see this as they were on the inside tyre wall.
I now have goodyear eagle f1 assy 5 all round on RFT and the difference is night and day. The goodyears are much smoother and softer over bumps then the dunlops. The dunlops are a 1st gen run flat tyre and it shows, the goodyear are a 2nd gen run flat tyre and they are getting close to normal tyres in terms of comfort.
I keep the runflats on as i have had a few punctures on previous run flats and they are a life saver and got them safely repaired too with no disruption to my day. I do 20k a year so cant be messing about with punctures etc.
I then had my MOT and the front tyres failed with bulges and ply cords exposed on the front tyres. I didnt notice or see this as they were on the inside tyre wall.
I now have goodyear eagle f1 assy 5 all round on RFT and the difference is night and day. The goodyears are much smoother and softer over bumps then the dunlops. The dunlops are a 1st gen run flat tyre and it shows, the goodyear are a 2nd gen run flat tyre and they are getting close to normal tyres in terms of comfort.
I keep the runflats on as i have had a few punctures on previous run flats and they are a life saver and got them safely repaired too with no disruption to my day. I do 20k a year so cant be messing about with punctures etc.
I have a 640i GC with 19” Conti non-run flats. The ride is superb. I have a space saver in the boot just in case. It takes up a bit of room as there isn’t any space under the floor but we never fill the boot to that extent anyway.
My FiL has an E90 330i M-Sport with 18” runflats and it’s incredibly crashy. I had earlier 3s (E36 and E46 coupes) and the ride was superb so it’s entirely down to the tyres.
My FiL has an E90 330i M-Sport with 18” runflats and it’s incredibly crashy. I had earlier 3s (E36 and E46 coupes) and the ride was superb so it’s entirely down to the tyres.
I had a 2005 E90 325i as a company car and that had an appalling ride (and skippy handling) on run flats. Some years later I bought a new 2014 F31 335d which came with 19’’ run flats (from memory both cars had Bridgestone’s). The ride on the F31 was much better but massively improved when I switched to Michelin PSS non-run flats. The car was on a PCP and when I traded it in to the supplying dealer they sold it quickly as an approved used car with the non run flat tyres on it.
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff