How noisey are run flats?

How noisey are run flats?

Author
Discussion

boony

Original Poster:

382 posts

237 months

Monday 28th July 2008
quotequote all
Just picked up a E60 530d this weekend and now i've driven a few hundred miles I'm beginning to think the road noise I can hear is more than the run flats. It sounds like a wheel bearing could be on the way out? Is the noise normally that bad - I've done a search and there's a lot of people not that happy with the run flats - the noise doesn't bother me too much to be honest, I just want to be sure that's all it is and I don't have a more serious problem.

Great cruiser though.

Cheers all,
Boon

carlovers

424 posts

193 months

Monday 28th July 2008
quotequote all
my 2 pennoth, my i20d with eff. dyn. is fine .Actually cant believe how quiet it is on the motorway. Believe they developed better runflats for the newer versions (may be wrong)

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

224 months

Monday 28th July 2008
quotequote all
If it is a new car I am surprised, if it is a 2006 or older then I bet the car is starting to get noisy, the run flats are noisy and because they are so hard they amplify normal road noise a lot too.
There have also been cases of seriously worn bushes and knackered suspension and control arms as well, all though to be becuase of the run flats.

rich_vw

814 posts

192 months

Monday 28th July 2008
quotequote all
carlovers said:
my 2 pennoth, my i20d with eff. dyn. is fine .Actually cant believe how quiet it is on the motorway. Believe they developed better runflats for the newer versions (may be wrong)
Agree I have the 118d Eff Dyn on 18's and very quiet...thats with the bridgestones

boony

Original Poster:

382 posts

237 months

Tuesday 29th July 2008
quotequote all
Thanks to all for info - much appreciated.

The car is a 54 plate with 98k miles - so no spring chicken. Its the M Sport model too so has the 18" alloys.

Is it easy enough for a mechanic to tell if the bushes are worn & replace them?

The car is on Goodyear tyres - am I better off replacing those with bridgestone ones when they're due or even moving away from run flats altogether?

StuB

6,695 posts

239 months

Tuesday 29th July 2008
quotequote all
Hi Boony

I love my E60 530d too. Mine's at 90k now and the only real noise I notice is when the fronts get worn down (inner edges especially). They always crash over rudges/ruts.

I've tried various makes of RFT too and they're all much of a michness, excepts costing so much more than none RFT.

I now have none RFT on the rear and so far, no adverse effect on Tyre Pressure Sensors, DSC, etc.. I have a can of tyre weld in the boot now though.

No major wear problems with my suspension, other than a rear spring broke recently, which was a fairly easy job. Only car I've ever know have different spring rates between near-side and offside though (mine has a tow pack and does quite a bit of towing).

One more thing, I also had a cracked rear rim when I finally ditched the RFT's, reportedly can be caused by gorilla tyre technicians forcing the bead over the wheel rim - who knows. I also had a puncture in the same rim a while back and destroyed the inner tyre wall in about 5 miles of very sedate limping to a tyre fitter in Italy!

HTH

KenD

144 posts

262 months

Tuesday 29th July 2008
quotequote all
I have found that runflats get noisey with age / miles. I have an E92 with 17000 miles on tyres made in 2006 and I will change them next month because the noise is too loud. I have heard that run flats made in 2008 are way better the thoose made in 2006 - I hope so!

welwynnick

107 posts

192 months

Wednesday 30th July 2008
quotequote all
boony said:
Just picked up a E60 530d this weekend and now i've driven a few hundred miles I'm beginning to think the road noise I can hear is more than the run flats. It sounds like a wheel bearing could be on the way out? Is the noise normally that bad - I've done a search and there's a lot of people not that happy with the run flats - the noise doesn't bother me too much to be honest, I just want to be sure that's all it is and I don't have a more serious problem.
Does the noise you hear vary with the roadsurface you're driving on? If you drive from a very coarse surface to a very smooth one, the road noise should largely disappear.

Nick