Fitting Non RFT's. Any Warranty Issues?

[Paul.B]

Can we expect any warranty issues if we fit non RFT's on the wifes 120d? It is the M-Sport and the ride is not great over our lovely hampshire roads! She has just taken a huge lump out of one of the rears in a pothole. Now both have to be replaced. Luckly they are down to about 2.5mm so would need replacing soon anyhow.

I know the pros & cons from a practicle point of view, just wandered how people who have swapped have been delt with when they have had other issues?


Paul.B

[christer]

You do not mention whether this is the 3 year manufac warranty or the extended insurance policy warranty. I would imagine that in the extended warranty they could specify whatever they like which you would have agreed to so its possible I suppose. No idea how any problems would be treated in a case like this though, although I can confirm that a 535d Approved Used BMW being sold at BMW Cooper Croydon was for sale a couple of months ago with non-RFT's.

I would not worry (and have no RFT's) personally!

[phelix]

Can't see it being an issue and as a data point my 535d was bought as an AUC with conventional tyres after the previous owner ditched the RFTs.

[Paul.B]

The car is 2-years old so still within the 3-year warranty. When she mentioned using non RFT the dealer tried telling her this was not possible as the car is "Set Up" to only use RFT's!

How a more compliant side wall and less unsprung mass can be detremental is a mystery to me. Why are BMW prepaired to compromise their product for the marketing dept when the engineering compromises are so bleeding obvious? A space saver doesn't take up that much room does it?


Thanks for the replies.


Paul.B

[PartsGuru]

I wonder if the two dealers even know that the tyres are non RFT?? I assume they would need to make any purchaser aware so that they didn't try and carry on driving a 50mph thinking everything was ok!!!

[baz1985]

The E87 116 now comes with conventional tyres. Run-5h!ts are an option.

[x5x3]

I think you need to change the rims also, if they have RFT tyres then they are RFT specific rims and may not work with "ordinary" tyres.

There was a thread on this a while ago, plus I heard a story (from a reliable source) about an insurance company not paying out after a crash (it was caused by tyre deflation).

[335Diesel]

Nope - you can't put RFTs on non RFT rims but non RFTs on RFT rims is absolutely fine.

It's what I'm going to do when my Potenza RFTs wear down - Conti SportContact 3s all round and a compressor and tyre weld in the boot. Loads do the same. RFTs are still in their infancy and not properly developed yet although having "taller" rubber (higher profile) makes a huge difference in comfort and ride quality.

[x5x3]

335Diesel said:

Nope - you can't put RFTs on non RFT rims but non RFTs on RFT rims is absolutely fine.

I'm not sure you are right there - have you checked that with the manufacturers?

[phelix]

x5x3 said:

I think you need to change the rims also, if they have RFT tyres then they are RFT specific rims and may not work with "ordinary" tyres.

Not true - I have two sets of OEM wheels for my E61 that are RFT-compatible and the conventional tyres were fitted without issue or comment.

[Z4monster]

Both my Z4's have been swapped from RFT to standard tyres with no problems over the original rims. It improves the ride and handling no end.

[martin vr6]

This is smething that i intend doing on my 335d M Sport, purely on an expense basis, i can literally get non run flat tyres (Goodyear asymetrics) for half the cost of Run flats

Then there is the added comfort bomus

[pete]

x5x3 said:

I'm not sure you are right there - have you checked that with the manufacturers?

Yes, definitely no problem with this. I recently asked a service rep at my local dealer and he confirmed there was no warranty problem, and that it was increasingly common among his customers.

Pete

[phil-k]

Run Flats are a bit of a bugger really and BMW seem to be one of the mfrs to flog that particular horse to death. All in the name of "weight and space saving".

The difficult way is someone trying to put RFTs on normal wheels...usually messy.

On a more nerdy side, I was at a tyre technology conference last year for work where the goodyear RFT manager was saying that BMW have set the industry a challenge of designing an RFT that has the same perf characteristics when flat as when inflated! i.e. the carcass does all the work irrespective of inflation pressure. Watch the weight and cost increase exponentially as a result!