Replace run flats?

[Cutters]

Evening peoples, hoping someone can shed some light.
After my 3rd puncture in 2 months ive had a guts full of paying £200 a pop as nobody will repair a simple bd nail....
Upon questioning the tyre guy he stated i cant, id need to buy new suspension(!), brakes and my insurance would be void. I know hes talking rubbish with the ins, already spoken to them, but what about suspension(sounds suss to me but...), anyone had any issues, anything else i should be aware of?
Looking to replace all 4 rft's for normal tyres on a 1 series.
Any help gratefully received

[roofer]

There are many threads on the subject, but briefly, changing to normal tyres with a can of snot in the boot is the only sensible thing to do.

I've done it on all RFT' equipped BMW's i have had, this thread will probably ignite the for and against diatribe. I can only speak from experience. Oh, and your tyre dealer deserves no more of your business.

[Heathwood]

Many BMW drivers have changed to non RF, with no problems whatsoever. As I understand it, as long as the replacement tyres have stiff sidewalls to allow them to work with your suspension you should be fine. Do a search, loads of info on here.

[Webber3]

Cutters said:

Evening peoples, hoping someone can shed some light.
After my 3rd puncture in 2 months ive had a guts full of paying £200 a pop as nobody will repair a simple bd nail....
Upon questioning the tyre guy he stated i cant, id need to buy new suspension(!), brakes and my insurance would be void. I know hes talking rubbish with the ins, already spoken to them, but what about suspension(sounds suss to me but...), anyone had any issues, anything else i should be aware of?
Looking to replace all 4 rft's for normal tyres on a 1 series.
Any help gratefully received

You might want notify your insurance co, just to cover your ass, but the stuff about suspension and brakes is BS, as I'm sure you know.

Here's a bit of a guide and some pros / cons - http://www.car-tyres.org.uk/articles/alternative-t...

[Neil.D]

The suspension has nothing to do with it. It is a normal car.

Run flats are far from perfect - they give an awful ride that has problems with all but the shallowest of pot holes and are an afterthought.

Get rid of them and you will be amazed how BMW has the neck to suggest they are a viable alternative.
You will enjoy your car so much more.

In Europe run flats are a no cost delete option - and most are speced without.

[Cutters]

Cheers for the replies, seems to be the way to go then. I know the suspension and brake thing was bs but just double checking, have heard to look for a stiff rated sidewalled tyre, is this correct?
@roofer, tyre guy was a mobile man, nobody had any rft's, another reason to get shot!
@ webber, ta for the link. ive already spoken to my ins and theyre fine as long as the tyres are the same size so im ok there, the hunt is on, gotta get rid, hateful things

[roofer]

Not heard the stiff sidewall thing before Have always just put a decent tyre on.

[D_G]

Just put some good quality stuff on all round and you will think you have bought a different car - much quieter, better handling and ride.

[Arrive Alive]

I replaced my run-flats with conventional tyres - Falken FK452s. The ride was better, they were quieter, they were less sensitive to rough surfaces and camber changes, they gave a more progressive breakaway and they were much cheaper but they did create more roll and give a less precise turn in. I bought bigger wheels with shallower sidewalls and this improved things. I informed my insurers and they didn't increase the premium. My BMW workshop manager thinks its a sensible thing to do. I'll only put the run-flats back on my car when I sell it!

[Cutters]

Thanks for the info guys, i may look into getting some bigger wheels if it helps the handling.....hmm one of my fave wheels are the sunflower m3 ones

[stewies_minion]

I think I'll be going this way with my E91.

A set of 452s and a can of snot & pump in the boot.

Any pray to buggery fk that it doesn't cause me a problem.

[edc]

I've got an E90 Msport on 17s and runflats and it rides much better than our E46 on normal 18s, my previous A3, an 08 Audi A6 Sline, my dad's old E36 318. I'm not sure what the huge fuss is . ....

[roofer]

edc said:

I've got an E90 Msport on 17s and runflats and it rides much better than our E46 on normal 18s, my previous A3, an 08 Audi A6 Sline, my dad's old E36 318. I'm not sure what the huge fuss is . ....

My previous E90 'M Sport' on 19's and normal tyres rode softer/better than my E46 325i Sport on 18's, how about that

My currrent E92 with some 'M' badges on has just had some Falkens put on its 19" rims, and guess what?

[Beardy10]

roofer said:

Not heard the stiff sidewall thing before Have always just put a decent tyre on.

Could be referring to the Load Index. All tyres have a quoted Load Index and each car has a Load Index specified for it....a good tyre shop will not fit tyres with a Load Index below that of the OEM tyre but many will.

I changed the RFT's on my X5 and was going to fit some Michelin Diamaris which seemed to be the consensus replacement.....Micheldever said they wouldn't fit them because of the Load Index which is when I became aware of it.

It's very,very unlikely that it would become an issue but I think changing tyres to something below maufacturers recommended spec is something that techinically should be declared to your insurance company.

[edc]

roofer said:

edc said:

I've got an E90 Msport on 17s and runflats and it rides much better than our E46 on normal 18s, my previous A3, an 08 Audi A6 Sline, my dad's old E36 318. I'm not sure what the huge fuss is . ....

My previous E90 'M Sport' on 19's and normal tyres rode softer/better than my E46 325i Sport on 18's, how about that

My currrent E92 with some 'M' badges on has just had some Falkens put on its 19" rims, and guess what?

Without doubt by sticking with the same size wheel/tyre combo and changing to non RFT you may get a more compliant ride. But, if you were to read all the Internet postings about RFT then you would think they were akin to a horse and cart and; filling rattling, bone rattling and all the other hyperbole.

Nobody complained as vehemently about their E46 with normal tyres having atrocious ride quality but they do when it comes to E9x and RFT.

I have never driven a car with RFT until 3 weeks ago and I read with interest all the postings about the 'need' to get rid of the RFT. In my opinion, on my car, there is no desperation to do this. Of all the normal cars on normal tyres I have driven for decent perods over the past year or so (A6 S-line on 18s, E46 318 on 18s, mk6 Golf tdi on 17s, TT on 19s, Honda Jazz on 15s?, A3 on 17s, Clio on 14s?) none have had a ride as good as my E90 on 17" RFT ironically.

[Sticks.]

They do vary. I had them on the Z4 for ages before replacing them and there's an improvement, but not as big a change as there was with the 120d M Sport.

FWIW I added @ 0.1bar on the 120d (17s), but keep the same pressure on the Z4(18s).

Def tell your insurance company.

[Magnus Barelegs]

If you're ditching runflats, I would urge you to buy the BMW spacesaver and jack set (approx £200)
All very well for people to recommend 'cans of snot', but I can vouch for the fact there are occasions when the wheel/tyre can be too damaged for the foam to make any difference.

[Riff Raff]

Not all RFT's are the same. I've just changed the OEM spec Michelins on my E91 to Yokohama RFT's. Changing all four to the Yokos was about £150 cheaper the the Michelins would have been. I think the car rides better and 'crashes' a bit less over bumps. I'm happy. Not sure the tyre fitter was though - it took him over an hour to change all four. Looked like hard work to me, watching from the sidelines!